Aibai Airstrip: Travel Update #7: Busy days

The plan

Thomas and Jonathan Rodgers are preparing for
a 3-week mission trip this August 7-28

to Papua New Guinea (a small island located north of Australia).

The brothers will be working with some heavy equipment the Lord has miraculously provided to finish installing a runway on the side of a mountain at the missionary compound in Aibai, PNG. Aibai is a small village where our friends the Mike Berbin family and a team of other missionaries lead medical, educational, and church ministries.

Both Jonathan and Thomas have experience using such heavy equipment; Jonathan owned a large landscaping company for a number of years, before entering the ministry himself in North Carolina. Thomas learned to operate the equipment while working for Jonathan, and has gone on to use bobcats and bulldozers frequently with his own renovation and property maintenance business. While the runway in Aibai has been "started", it needs to be graded, extended, and then topped with soil from another property to encourage a grass surface and prevent washout.

(the airstrip is located to the left of the Aibai mission compound; note the goats and man standing on the near end of the large airstrip, and the washout lines currently crossing the property)

It will take the men all of their 2.5 weeks on the ground to complete the task, and hopefully will allow the Berbins to see the answer to 15 years of work and prayer, when they fly in and land on the new airstrip. For the first time they will be able to avoid the hazardous road trip to the village when they travel back to Aibai early this fall after their current furlough in the US.

the current method of reaching the Aibai village:
a hazardous mountain trip over washed-out roads

and precarious bridges, through areas favored by theives;
this trip takes 6-8 hours *on a good day*.

The trip is highlighted by the raw beauty of the Papua New Guinea mountains.

How can you help?

Please pray!

-for Thomas and Jonathan to have safety as they travel and work

-for the equipment to work efficiently (no breakdowns!) during the short time alotted for the trip

-for preaching opportunities while the brothers are there - teaching the gospel to some who've never heard

-for safety of their wives and children staying behind in the States

-for financial provision - each brother is raising $4500 to cover trip expenses

Want more information? Email us

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Travel Update #7: Busy days

Wow - I'm feeling spoiled! I think Thomas has emailed an update to me two days in a row! Word from the bush will be sparse, since satellite internet service really costs the missionaries by time/data size. :( Thomas also told me that he wants to call, but "calling from Kiari is very difficult. Can only call down by the church...a 30 minute walk. I have been so busy that I can't get down there. I will try though." Addelyn and I are back from our camping adventure, so when Daddy calls we can try to answer the phone this time - and we'll have reception, for sure. I haven't talked to Thomas since last Saturday, and it's starting to feel like a really, really long time! :(

THURSDAY AUGUST 12, 2010 - Today began bright and early for Jon and I. We got up around 5:30am, did devotions, dressed and enjoyed a nice breakfast of eggs and fried potatoes prepared by our wife-less host, Randy Smith (Elana returns Friday from a ladies retreat in Kilau). Following breakfast we prepared the dozer for a long day of work. We checked all the fluids, greased all of the joints, filled it with diesel fuel and checked the track tension. Once this was done Jon began a long day of grading on the airstrip. He was able to accomplish a great deal. Tomorrow we should be able to shoot grade points and be sure that the airstrip is at a nice 12% slope.

While Jon was grading I left with Jeff and a few men from church and headed off to another village about 35 minutes away where we began setting up the saw mill. Setting up the saw mill took nearly 2 hours. It required a lot of leveling and squaring to get all of the parts to line up so they would not bind while in use. We milled 5 logs today each about 9 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. The wood we were milling was very hard, and very heavy. The milling took till after dark. We finally headed back to Kiari by 7. when Jeff and I were pulling into the compound, we noticed that Jon had just come up from the aristrip with the tractor. Both of us having put in a long day, are exhausted and ready for bed. Lord willing we will accomplish more on Friday.

Thanks for all of your prayers,

Jon and Thomas

1 comment:

Angi said...: Loving the Updates! Thanks!; August 13, 2010 at 2:01 PM