As I remember it, it was my eighth-grade year at Centralia Junior High School. Some of you guys might remember the hopes of making the starting football team on offense or defense.  Every guy wanted to catch the eye of the coaches. I was no different. The practices were hot and hard. I wondered if I could finish each practice with drills and lots of running, but the driving hope to make the starting team was what kept me going. I was five...

There is a song that has a line–I can see for miles and miles–well we drove for miles and miles and miles. It was nice to be home. It was a valuable trip with new partners and even two new groups opened to us. I have been invited to return to share at the new groups as well. It will have to be next year when my memory of those long driving days are forgotten. Cathy and I drove nearly 8,000 miles. We were in 20 of the U.S. States and...

Yes–for all you golfers and those who just hit a little round thing to green patches in a field. We are happy to announce the first IFC Charity Golf Tournament for Saturday, August 24, 2019. This event will be raising money for the construction of a school building for the Hohidiai School. The force behind this event is Jim Ridgway. Jim has a huge heart for the less advantaged and started doing charity golf events three years ago with...

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...

Thanks to a generous grant from the Australian Embassy new dental equipment has been purchased and is in use at the Hohidiai Clinic. It is like walking into a modern dental suite with a reclining chair, overhead light, stainless steel trays and dental tools. The dentist and dental nurses have been serving the dental needs of the patients in what I would describe as an old barber chair. They have helped untold numbers of people with tooth...

There are things you just cannot do without help. I know that the work of helping people takes a committed band of people. IFC has a large group of partners from all over the U.S. world. Last year there were 27 teams that went to serve at the base in Indonesia. That would be at least 200 people who decided to go, paid their own way, traveled from their home and served at the base. In the last 15 years some 3,000 have come to stand with the...

Davis and Autumn arrived in Fairbanks two weeks ago and came into our circle of friends. They are here to serve our community with their group of young people. I was surprised to meet an Indonesian couple in Alaska.  Davis and Autumn grew up in Jakarta and moved tot he U.S. for their education. We got to use some of our Bahasa Indonesian language with them–it was great to interact. Their English language is very good plus they speak three...

This month, is the 15th year of IFC. Those years have gone by fast–with many great memories and some big challenges as well. The origin of IFC (January 2001) was working in refugee camps near the city of  Manado. In 2003, a new door opened to move to North Maluku to set up clinics to serve the families as they went home to rebuild their villages and lives. Since those foundational days there have been thousands of lives helped and even...

It hardly seems possible the work of IFC began 14 years ago. It was not in our imagination that we would be serving over 10,000 sick and injured annually. The work has advanced quickly and to this day we have the challenge and blessing of helping those who suffer from HIV/AIDS, T.B. and Leprosy. It is an honor to stand with those who have infectious disease. In the last 14 years we have brought six children to receive expert medical care in...

A welder and a rodent do not normally have anything in common. Unless you travel to the remote region of Indonesia. A team from America had come to volunteer their time and abilities.  There was a skilled welder on the team and he was organizing some needed projects. After finding the welder and looking it over, he realized it was not working. After a close inspection of the welder it was clear the wiring had been chewed by a rodent. Another...