After a year of planning and lots of arrangements made for our team to come to the U.S. from Indonesia, the U.S. Consulate denied their visas. They were coming to share their stories and Indonesian cultural dance.They went to the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya on January 23. The team was Hendra, the principle of Hohidiai School, Fani, a Hohidiai School teacher, and four students; Tison, Esther, Feron, and Tessa. The plan was to start in L.A. where...

We are so looking forward to the team representing Hohidiai School coming to the U.S. This will be such a blessing if they can get their visas approved. Hendra Pontomudis, the principle of Hohidiai School, has done the extensive on line applications for six people. It is a lot of work and costly to process all the travel and applications. The time is getting short as we want them to come to L.A. first, then Idaho and finally to Alaska. We have...

Many have heard about the tragic tsunami, earthquake and volcano in the Central Sulawesi region and specifically the city of Palu. I have been to Palu and have good memories of the people I met. The loss of life is over 1,400 and climbing and thousand more injured. There are heart wrenching photos and stories of the wreckage due to the 20 foot high wave that wrought the destruction. Our base is a long way from the destruction in Palu and we are...

What if you were asked to choose the most important thing in your daily life. I am talking about a physical item, the thing or device that you cannot live without. It is the most used and your top necessity. You might call it a priority. Maybe someone would say, “My iPhone is my top necessity. I cannot live without it.” If you go out and about nowadays, you’ll see people are all looking down at their phones. We could be called...

I was up at 5 a.m. this morning and looked outside to see the the snow falling. It is May 1 and there was an inch of snow on my car by 8 a.m. I was just reminded of the unlikely connection between Alaska and Indonesia. The frozen arctic and the equatorial jungles do have something in common. Compassion was the Almighty’s glue that put Alaska and Indonesia in the same conversation. It has been 17 years in the making. In the morning I will...

I am not sure how you define a great day. I think a good day is playing cards with three men who live at the Tamariska–Dwelling Place of Kings. Hendrik, William and Johanis were all rejected men. Hendrik and William are lepers and Johanis is an old man who had a stroke. Johanis has a son who works for our organization but he is low functioning and needs 24/7 care. Hendrik and William are rejected men–because of leprosy they are not...

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...

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 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...

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....