The Charter: Going Bush.

Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF)

When you are going into the jungle for six weeks, one thing is sure: You better not forget anything. There are no second chances. No Walmart is down the street. Our supply run to Mt. Hagen was to stock up on all the items we needed for our stay at Yehebi.  Since our old mission house no longer had amenities, we needed to make sure we took everything for our stay. We would have a great roof to sleep under, but not much else.  There would be no electricity, no running water, no shower, no refrigeration or cooking facilities. We were leaving all of life's luxuries behind.

We were "going bush."

We planned to purchase all our food, malaria medications, buckets for hauling water, basins for washing, clothes pins for drying our clothes, building supplies and tools needed to complete our projects, and many other things. Of course, we did not want to forget toilet paper!

Mattresses were on the list. We found 4" foam mattresses that would work.  Life would not be pleasant if we couldn't get a good night's rest. Each of us carried bed sheets and towels over in our suitcase.

The chairs in the house were long gone, so we bought some – bright red ones for $34 each (At least the locals liked the color!). That was more than I wanted to pay for cheap plastic chairs, but prices in PNG were shocking. None of us wanted to sit on the floor the entire time, so we splurged and got five of those—one for each of us.

My main concern was the ability to cook. We were hoping to find a small stove or a two-burner  gas top for cooking our food.  Nice gas stoves were available, but we didn't want to spend a lot for our short stay there. I prayed we could find something. Port Moresby had nothing suitable. In Mt. Hagen, we couldn't find one . Our friend, Vern, said he saw a small stove in one of the stores, but we couldn't locate it. I knew I could cook over a fire again, but definitely hoped I wouldn't need to do that. I kept praying.

In our hunt, Dale asked one of the clerks in a store if they had small stoves. He took us to a back corner and showed us a little two-burner camp stove. It was perfect! It was small enough to transport and even had a tiny oven for making bread. We purchased it for $200. I'm sure that the Lord had that waiting for us. I was so thankful.  

It reminded me of the verse:

"Before they call, I will answer; while they are speaking, I will hear," (Isaiah 64:24 NIV). That stove had been in that corner for a long while. 

Here is our little stove. It was perfect for our stay.

To get everything out at once, we had to charter an M.A.F. twin otter plane. Our stay was short, so we had to get things there quickly. Our items were heaped high on two cargo carts—as you can see from the photo. Everything had to be weighed and labeled – even our body weight. (There are no secrets when you fly in PNG.) We sure didn't want to overload the plane and crash somewhere in the jungle—never to be found again.

Loading the plane. (Photo courtesy of Lee Fairbotham.)

Everything is strapped down under netting so it doesn't shift during flight.

We waited while the workers loaded the plane. Some items went in the nose of the plane while the bulk of things were piled inside, secured  with netting, and tied.  Once the plane was loaded to capacity, we boarded, locked our seatbelts, and waited for take-off.

(Photo courtesy of Lee Fairbotham.)

(Photo courtesy of Louise Fairbotham.)

I can't tell you how excited I was to be flying into Yehebi again—after over 13 years!

Next post: The Big Welcome.