What does it look like to be a Missionary Pilot in Indonesia?

Ever wonder what it would look like to be a missionary pilot in Indonesia?  So do I!  So I asked one of the Mission Aviation Fellowship pilots and this is what Isaac from Palangkaraya gave me.

Palangkaraya is a city located in the interior of the Island of Borneo

-A Day with a Missionary Pilot-

Story used with Permission

Morning pre-flight of the aircraft

By the time I got to the hangar at 7 a.m. on Monday things were in full swing for me to cancel the days scheduled flights and pick up two different patients.  The plan was to fly an hour north and pick up a stroke victim in the town of Puruk Cahu, then fly the 1 ½ hrs south to the big city of Banjarmasin and meet the ambulance there.  Fly home, refuel, then fly 50 minutes northwest to the village of Tumbang Miri to pick up an old man who was critically ill and bring him back here to Palangkaraya.  The weather started off ok, but quickly turned ugly but workable.  I landed at the first destination and we loaded the patient into the plane.  A pretty large group of people were there helping and saying their goodbyes.  Most (if not all) were Muslim.  Just before I got into the plane to start up I decide to ask if it was ok if I prayed for him.  They heartily agreed and so I prayed:

Me- “Father, thank you for good weather so that I could get here to pick up this sick man.”

The crowd- “Amen, amen!”

Me- “Father please give us good weather and bless our flight to Banjarmasin.”

The crowd- “Amen, amen!”

Me- “Please bless this man so that he will get healthy quickly.”

The crowd- “Amen, amen!”

Me- “And thank you for new life in Jesus Christ, and in his name I pray, amen.”

The crowd- (silence…)

            Ha!  I think that last part threw them for a loop.  After departing, I had to wrestle with the weather a bit as it kept getting worse the farther south I flew.  I was worried that I wasn’t going to have good enough weather to land in.  The river we use in Banjarmasin is huge!  It’s like the Columbia River near Astoria.  But for the second time now, God blew the weather away right over the section of river I use.  

Weather moving in

Seriously, this is the second time I have been down there with a patient in my airplane, completely surrounded by rotten weather and massive rain, commercial airliners circling in a holding pattern waiting for the rain to clear away from the paved airport 15 miles away,

Glorious area of calm amid the rain storms raging around

and I have this weird glorious area of calm to land and taxi in!  I wish you could see it!  So after getting the patient loaded into the ambulance, saying goodbyes to the folks on the rickety little dock (it starts to sink when too many people are on it), getting my picture taken with however-many people and kids, I blasted off and headed back home.  

Kids love getting their pictures

Patient getting helped to the ambulance

 Blasting off for home again

            I landed back at Palangkaraya and, thanks to our amazing Indonesian staff, I was able to takeoff 15 minutes later.  The weather was a lot better going northwest which was nice after battling bad weather for the last 2 ½ hours.  I landed at a Tumbang Miri, a challenging little village on the corner of a quickly flowing river.
 

Self-docked on the opposite side of the river

The dock that I have used in the past wasn’t there (I learned later that it was sold and moved down river a few villages), so I self-docked on a nice dock on the opposite side of the river from the village.  After yelling across the river to explain that I couldn’t park at the their dock (because my wing and tail would hit the outhouse on the dock) they decided that they could use a boat to bring the patient to me.  A few minutes later an old man was brought in a boat over to my side of the river, I had them tie up on my float, and we quickly got him loaded into the boat.  

Patient being carried to the boat so he could cross the river to the float plane

Part of loading and unloading patients is removing the door of the airplane.  This is easily done as only three pins need to be removed to get the door off.  However, this time I had to walk across the little cable bridging the front of the floats with each other, with the door in my hand. 

River Water...can't see below 4 inches.

 One of the dudes on the dock suggested, “Don’t fall off and lose the door.”  Right, don’t fall off.  And don’t drop the door into the river with zero visibility….  Good. 

Ok, so we finally got everyone ready, I prayed again as before, then took off for Palangkaraya.  On my way home the weather in Palangkaraya went very bad; thunderstorms, huge rain, and angry wind. 

"Working" the weather and trying to get to back to Palangkaraya

When I was about 20 minutes from home base I ran into the wall of angry weather charging at me from the southeast!  I quickly turned around and headed northwest again.  I was right over the Rungan River and was able to find a nice stretch of river to land on.  I had seen a dock/house earlier (I was scoping out places and ideas the closer I got to the wall of rain and clouds) and landed near it in the hope that we could park there to wait out the weather.  I landed, unlatched my door (standard procedure), and began to taxi towards the house.

The wall of rain has arrived

At least it is dry inside the aircraft

 All of a sudden my door blew open, the water went rough, and the trees bent and waived like crazy in the just-arrived wind!  I knew I couldn’t dock at the house now, and I couldn’t beach the plane (plan B), so I turned around and started a slow taxi down the Rungan River.  I’ve been on this river before in a boat.  It was so peaceful and beautiful and calm and serene that day, with tea-colored water reflecting the green rainforest on both sides.  Now, I am taxiing an airplane down the brown wind-waved river being battered by wind, huge rain, and watching the treetops disappear in fast moving cloud.  

Taxiing on the brown wind-waved river

With a dying man lying on the floor.  And his very concerned wife, son and sister looking at me.  I ended up taxiing on the river for about 40 minutes, when finally I felt that the wind had died down enough and the overcast had risen enough to depart the river for home.

The patient endures the long taxi to wait out the storm 

Taking off and trying to reach home for the second time

I took off and enjoyed about 10 minutes of comparatively nice weather.  Then I hit a second wall of angry clouds, rain and wind.  This time I was 4 miles from our river.  I slowed down and took my time probing into the mess, ready to turn around any second.  I was able to get to our stretch of river (our “runway”) but the crosswind and rain were too much. 

Stretch of straight river

I opted to fly away from home (again) and was able to land on a straight section of river very close to home (as the crow/floatplane flies) but a jaunt as the river winds its’ way around.  I was able to step taxi (high-speed taxi) for about 7 minutes until I was finally able to park in our slip and unload my poor patient.  The planned 50-minute flight ended up being 1 hr and 45 minutes, with 2 landings and an unplanned “scenic” tour of the Rungan River. 

God is wild and amazing!  I love his weather, the display of his power!  I also appreciate when he gives me safe haven on stretches of his rivers!  I am blessed to be here doing what I know I can’t do without his strength and protection.  Why did he put a fire in my heart to serve him overseas?  I have no idea, but I am so thankful that he has given me the faith to follow him wherever he leads us.  Please pray for us as we serve Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior in Central Kalimantan.  And know that he has a plan for you too; ask him what it is and be open to whatever he says to you.

 -End-

Here is a great video of the float plane operations in Palangkaraya

This is just one part of the larger program that Mission Aviation Fellowship has in Indonesia.  Even though we don't know where we will be assigned yet we are excited to see where and how God is going to use us to further His Kingdom with the tool of aviation.

In His Hands,

Tyler & Renae Schmidt

Friend blessings

We have been on the road 10 weeks now.  Yes, we are exhausted.  Yes, we miss our home, our stuff, our church, our friends, and any kind of "normal routine".  Yes, we have wondered why in the world we decided to be gone for so long.  BUT, our travels have been SO worth it.  We have reconnected with friends and family, been encouraged by people that support us and have found new people that want to partner with us.  We have been overwhelmed by gifts from people who have little.  We have been blessed with meals and homes to stay in.  Our kids have made new friends, loved playing with new toys at each new house, and charmed many with their smiles.

As we see God bringing more people alongside our ministry team, we are reaffirmed in His leading for our lives to overseas missions.  We owe a huge thanks to those that have traveled with us on our team for many years already, as our time with them has been so uplifting to our souls. We also are so thankful for the new people He has brought alongside us on this journey that we could not have anticipated.  Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse into our lives these last couple months.

 Chad, Tammy, and Isaac

 Mark and Molly

 Friends at our open house so we could see many friends all at once

Enjoying some food while Tyler does some stretching

 My former band professor and his wife, Jeff and Pat, 

we were so blessed to have them there!

 Steve and Becky

 Kids enjoying playing

Jocelyn is growing so much and can now hold up her head...

...although all this hard work makes her tired

 Fun with the alligators at the Zoo

This is what you get when college friends get back together

Fun time with the Wrights

Quick self portrait with Jeremy in Omaha

Three little fishes swimming in the sea...

MAF candidacy friends we reunited with while in Nampa ID

Caleb's 4th birthday party, I think we are having more fun

with his present than he is

Uncle Trevor showing Aaron and Caleb the finer points of flying

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  We have unexpectedly extended our stay in NE because of more opportunities to meet with people.  Please pray for us as we are trying to renew relationships and gain more people on our ministry team this next week.

In Christ,

Tyler, Renae, Caleb, Aaron & Jocelyn

Sahara Challenge training in Minnesota

In preparation for serving in a country that is almost 90% Muslim, MAF sent several families to a week-long seminar called the Sahara Challenge, or Crescent Project, in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The goal of the training is to equip us to be able to build bridges in relating to Muslims and sharing the love of Jesus with them.  We spent 6 very intense days sitting through a variety of seminars, from learning about the history of Islam, understanding the basics of how Islam works, learning about the variety of cultures among Muslims, understanding the New Testament in relation to how Muslims interpret it, question and answer times, and a panel of believers who had converted from Islam to Christianity.  It was fascinating and a lot of information to take in.  Our minds were on overload by the end of the week, but we definitely feel more informed and equipped in our understanding of the religious culture we will soon be living in. 

We also were so encouraged and enjoyed spending time with some of our classmates from candidacy in January, as well as meeting a few MAF couples we didn't know who are heading to Indonesia or Central Asia countries.  Here is a snapshot of some of our time.

 We stayed in the dorms at Bethel University, definitely brought back college memories!

 Our classroom all day long

 Footwashing ceremony during our final send-off

 A group of us MAF couples headed to Indonesia

 Enjoying our small group meeting during lunch, yay cafeteria food!

 Tyler must have had a very deep thought going on there....

Deputation Trip and Crescent Project

We have officially "hit the road" on our first LOOOONG deputation trip as missionaries.  On May 23rd we loaded up the van (thankfully it didn't drag under all the weight) and drove 1,000 miles to Rugby, ND, where we have been living for the last several weeks as we visit churches, family, and friends.  We have reconnected with supporters, met with new people, shared at new and old churches, and generally been encouraged and strengthened in the confirmation of our call to serve with MAF.

 yup, that's a full vehicle

 at one of the rest stops.  can't beat western Montana for beauty!

 Overall the kids did really well on the 2-day trip to ND.  I did hang out in the backseat for awhile

 The boys had activity bags to help divide up their time, 3 bags for each day, with some new

and some repeated activities.  Yay for silly putty!

 Aaron and cousin Abigail, 6 weeks apart.

 We have spent LOTS of time at the parks in Rugby, trying to expend the boys energy during the days

 Gotta love the slides!

 Lunch/play date with my high school friend Kayla, who is such a blessing in my life

 I can't get enough of his silliness

She's all grins now and loves talking to us!  Wow, almost 3 months already...

 Family picture time...growing so fast

Right now we are in St. Paul, MN at Crescent Project, which is a week-long seminar about building bridges with Muslims.  We are excited to be here as it helps prepare us to live alongside and build relationship "bridges" to share Jesus with Muslims in our future home in Indonesia.


We look forward to sharing with you how God is working as we continue our travels over the next 6 weeks.  Already we are seeing our contact list grow, new partners in our ministry coming alongside us, and churches that have decided to partner with us.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

The Schmidt's