A lot of Firsts in December

Thanks to the pandemic: the constantly changing travel dates have allowed our kids some unique experiences. Not only did they celebrate the first Christmas with a real fir tree and real candles, but they also saw their first snow, built their first snowman, and had their boots filled with goodies from St Niklaus.  

Hiking in the first snow

Frozen pond in our garden

The first snowman ever

What did I get from St Nikolaus

Lots of snow ...

... but all gone by Christmas.
Looking for the perfect tree

Real tree and real candles

O Christmas Tree

Our kids waited 9 years to do this: cut a Christmas Tree in the forest, set it up in the living room, and decorate it. Christmas is a-coming!!

Picking a Christmas Tree ...

... and then decorating it.

Our time in Switzerland

Our time in Switzerland has been both busy and relaxing. We held several talks at churches and other groups, met with supporters and spent time with family. As we did before, we also tried to show our children what and who Switzerland is. So, we visited castles (history), a chocolate factory (trade), walked through the alleys of Bern and traveled to several picturesque places (geography). Below a few impressions.

Our temporary home in the heart of Ostermundigen

Homeschooling continues in Switzerland

A rest with a view - Aletsch glacier

Eating blueberries straight from the bush

The impressive eagle on the Simplonpass

Sunset in Sardinia

Madeleine and I enjoy Sardinia - just the two of us

View down the impressive Lauterbrunnental

Traffic education for our children

25 years ago we've been married in this church

Beinwil am See - Place of our wedding reception

Visit to Lenzburg Castle

First snow of the year - for us it has been 9 years

Klick here for more pictures

Silver Wedding Anniversary

25 years ago Madeleine and I made our marriage vows in the Reformed Church of Bolligen. Today, we revisited some of the locations of that well remembered day.

As we decided to celebrate this milestone together with our children we first visited the Hallwyl castel. Then we ate a splendid lunch at the same restaurant we had our reception at. The room we used then is still the same – as, according to Madeleine, is the carpet.

Time did not allow to go on a boat trip on the lake of Hallwil, however, we payed a visit to the church in Bolligen on our way back home. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day making the colours of the trees shine as they did 25 years ago.

1995: after the church service

Beinwil am See where we held our reception

Reformed Church of Bolligen

Switzerland – at last

After the three-month wait in Mt Hagen we have finally made it to Switzerland. Eventually, we did not travel on our booked route through Singapore, but with Qatar Air via Doha with layovers in Port Moresby (for the night) and Brisbane (12 hrs waiting). Despite having to wear a face mask for 21 hours straight, the travelling was pleasant enough. Now we enjoy Switzerland and our current home.

Boarding in Mt Hagen

On the Grimsel pass

Our house in Switzerland

Stuck in Mt Hagen

April 6th we were supposed to depart Papua New Guinea for Switzerland. However, due to a nationwide travel restriction and a major lockdown of airports along our intended route of travel, we never made it out of Telefomin. Only on April 10th did we leave Telefomin for Mt Hagen, but again it was not by our choice. With all international air travel still impossible we thought of staying in our home in Telefomin until things calmed down and we could journey to Switzerland. However, the PNG government decided to isolate the border provinces to Indonesia, which would have made it impossible for us to leave later on. So, Mt Hagen was a saver place to wait.
And now, 6 weeks later, we still are in Mt Hagen, with no prospect of leaving soon. Living out of a 23kg suitcase each we stay in an empty house at the Kagamuga compound close to the airport. Markus is working in his role as Crew Training Manager in the office, doing the occasional, State-of-Emergency approved flight, while Madeleine has resumed her role as a Family Manager, schooling the children and making sure we can survive on the few things we brought along. The kids are doing great, finding and making new toys (we had no space to pack any) with stuff they find in the surrounding gardens. As there is no complete lockdown, we can actually move about and had the chance to visit a nearby cafe a few times. Also, there is quite a bit of interaction going on on the compound itself, with Bibel study, morning/evening workout, and volley ball being just a few.
All in all we are doing well and hope to resume our travelling in June. By that time, most of Switzerland will be opened up again, too, so that we can actually do our home assignment as planned, including public speaking engagements.

Homeschooling for Joelle

Making friends with the compound guard

Niklas doing exercise with colleagues ...

... and Lucien joins in as well

Homechurch during lockdown

Building a plane with dad

Kathy's Walk to a Changed Life – Part 1

It all started with a visit from a YWAM team in Agali, one of the most spectacular places in PNG. Located in the Strickland valley, Agali rests on a plateau with the steep Strickland gorge in front and a high rising mountain range at the back. It is days from any other village and probably weeks from the next town – walking that is. With the plane it is 20 Minutes to Tari and about the same to Tabubil.

Agali looking towards the Strickland Valley

Micha Lucht is a young, enthusiastic German with a passion for Jesus. In 2019, he spent quite a bit of time in Papua New Guinea. First, he came for ten weeks as part of an outreach programme of the Discipleship Training School he attended at Queenstown, New Zealand. Later, he returned for a longer mission: to teach the Discipleship Bible School himself to young Papua New Guineans enrolled at Camp Kalina, situated on the outskirts of Mt Hagen. During a two-week outreach in Agali Micha met Kathy, a local woman, and decided to teach the Gospel in a practical way.

Click here to read the story as PDF

Strickland Gorge near Agali

The Blessings of Remote Bible Schools

February and March of 2020 were filled with training a follow pilot of Telefomin on the Cessna Caravan. Though already familiar with the area and the airstrips, a new aircraft type poses its own challenges as procedures need to be adapted to accommodate differences in things like approach speed and general handling. But even though the flights we did mostly targeted training purposes they still had an impact on God's kingdom.

Click here to read the story as PDF

Mission Aviation Fellowship, 75-Year Anniversary

This year MAF International celebrates its 75-year anniversary. For this occasion a video clip was produced. Most scenes were filmed in Lapalama, a village close to Mt Hagen, headquarter in MAF Papua New Guinea.

If you would like to read more about how MAF came to be, here is a short history:

Visiting Munbil

New Tribes Mission (NTM) is an organisation planting churches in remote areas. The missionaries move to a certain village and live with the local people in order to learn language and culture. Having acquired this knowledge they will start translating strategic Bible passages into the local language in order to teach about our Christian faith.
Joelle had the opportunity to stay with an NTM-family in Yifki. Another two families live in Munbil, just 15 minutes flight to the North-West of Telefomin. We had the privilege to stay with them for a night as a family. It has been an encouraging experience for us all.

Joelle in Yifki

Wii-Super Mario is always fun

Hattons und Allens with some village kids