Blog
Jon’s Marathon
Jon has served at the Hohidiai base in Indonesia as he waited for an interview for Medical School. He had plenty of patience and after three years he was accepted into a medical school program. Jon is now finishing his second year of his medical training. Jon taught piano and helped the Hohidiai school children with their school work. He has a big place in his heart for the little children in the school. Jon also likes to run. He would run around the soccer field at the base for his training. He made many trips around that soccer field. Jon...
read moreHeroes
Define a hero for me?!!! Who are our heroes? This simple question can reveal your values and even your core beliefs. Do we look for our heroes in Wall Street or athletics? The media and the athletic leagues count on us to worship their leaders. We are being told who to view as heroes—if you can’t find a hero they will find one for you. Maybe for some it is the football player who is the 1,000-yard rusher or the best of the best at his position. We humans are drawn to heroes—competitive eater, Joey Chestnut, could be someone’s hero when he...
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School Construction Trip
Trip Purpose — Gary, Hunter and I will be installing the electrical system in the new Hohidiai Library building. This is the ‘stated’ purpose of the trip, but as usual the Hohidiai Experience is seldom confined to the stated purpose. I look forward to seeing what adventures are up ahead. Our travel dates are November 29 – December 23, 2017.
read moreUpdate–Hohidiai School
We are thrilled that over 170 students are now receiving high quality education at Hohidiai School. Our students won first, second, and fifth place in an English reading competition. Well done! Our top grade level this year is Year 7, and we’ll add Year 8 next term. Recently, two brothers began to attend our school. Their blind father asked us to take them in, but instead we offered his wife work and enrolled the children in our school so the family could remain intact. Construction on our second school building is over 50% complete,...
read moreThe Road Less Traveled–The Life of Winda Selong
It might be up for debate when you claim someone or something is the greatest. How do you measure greatness? We measure by the best or highest standards of the time. The Koh-I-Noor 105 carat diamond is listed as priceless. It is known as the “Mountain of Light” when it was the world’s largest known diamond. It is currently owned by the British crown. Mt. Everest is the undisputed tallest mountain on the planet at 29,029 feet above sea level. Mt. Denali is the tallest peak in North America and is known as the “Great One.” Babe Ruth hit...
read moreHe is at the Door of His Future
Eka, his mother, held his mouth to keep him silent. Hiding in a room of the head of their village. Christian’s family was in serious danger. This was the beginning of the conflict in the North Maluku region of Indonesia where organized militias were going from village to village looking for those of the Christian faith. Lody and Eka, Christian’s parents, were the only Christians who lived in a Muslim village. They had friends in the village, and thankfully the head of the village risked his own safety in hiding them. Christian does not...
read moreAn Angel Among Us
Winda was 30 years old when she lost her struggle with T.B. but found the hope of eternity. She was an amazing person. She was educated and could speak English as if it was her first language. She had a University degree in English language. Winda told me–she prefers to write in English because Indonesian words were too long. We would laugh but I know how difficult the English language is to master. She was academically gifted. The thing that set her apart was not the grasp of language but the person she was. She had a deep love for...
read moreFamily Dinner
The evening was a wonderful success. It was just two hours together with the IFC family here in Alaska but is was filled with videos and updates. The catered food was exceptional and the testimonies were also uplifting. There were around 300 guest who joined us. One of the highlights of the evening was the dedication of the Hohidiai School building to the memory of Patrick Huffman. “Patrick’s House” is under construction as I write. It is the second building of a 15 building school facility. The school is growing but has a...
read moreCrashed and Lost
We have all heard about computer crashes. It is another thing to have your computer crash before your eyes. The hard drive was corrupted and only some of the files were recoverable. The crash happened at the end of January. I was off to Indonesia in February and traveling once I got back to the U.S. I have not been writing for the blog because I had my hands full recovering my files and traveling. There are so many feeling you have when you lose many of your files and photos. I know life will go on but it will take me a long time to rebuild....
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