Jungle Non Sky Team Members
Imagine the small bush plane landing on the jungle grass airstrip. Upon landing there are so many things on the pilots mind. Passengers getting off and all their things. New passengers jostling for a ticket on. Limited seats. Limited weight. Limited fuel. Fuel awareness. Weather awareness. Time awareness. I’m guessing that there are many more things on a pilots mind. These are just the obvious things. On grass airstrips there are no secretaries taking money and selling tickets. There is no hanger help, fueling the plane or loading the items or calculating the weight. Nope. In the middle of the bush, it is up to one man. The pilot.
That is how Simpson’s mother slid onto the plane with her baby. Oh her presence was noted, but there was too much going on for it all to be processed what her intentions were. And normally this is not the pilots job, to ask flying sky team members and non members…..”Why, are you flying today?”
It’s not the first time Simpson’s mom has flown here to Sentani. Approximately a year ago, she and her severely malnourished son were flown out of their village. Simpson spent many days in the hospital with a feeding tube and then he and his mommy spent many months with Kathleen. Patiently Kathleen spent many hours teaching the Mommy how to care for Simpson. Whom we discovered had many complications including mostly blind, poor startle reflex, and sadly undiagnosed brain issues.
So now a full year later, Simpson and Mommy have returned. The mom begins to tell her story after landing here and asking to stay with Kathleen again. The people in her village believe that Satan is in her child. They are filled with animistic beliefs. They are ready to kill him. They are angry with her and her husband for how much attention and distraction this child is causing, as the burden of their other children is beginning to affect the entire village. Simpson’s mommy found a simple solution. Get on a plane and fly away. It wasn’t a bad thought really. I’ll admit that occasionally I am tempted by the same thought.
Yet, it puts us in a real ethical dilemma. Here is a Mom who has several other dependent children and a husband, who is being persecuted because of her handicap child. To return her to that village is to return her to further persecution. To keep her here, takes her away from caring for her children and husband. And there is no permanent housing for her here. It has been discussed to move the whole family to another village, where there is more medical and missionary support. Unfortunately, this is not a simple solution as the language changes and who is to say the new village will accept this family?
Sometimes life gets complicated and difficult. We need wisdom. We need prayer, as we navigate challenging situations without child support systems and secretaries in the middle of jungle airstrips.
That is how Simpson’s mother slid onto the plane with her baby. Oh her presence was noted, but there was too much going on for it all to be processed what her intentions were. And normally this is not the pilots job, to ask flying sky team members and non members…..”Why, are you flying today?”
It’s not the first time Simpson’s mom has flown here to Sentani. Approximately a year ago, she and her severely malnourished son were flown out of their village. Simpson spent many days in the hospital with a feeding tube and then he and his mommy spent many months with Kathleen. Patiently Kathleen spent many hours teaching the Mommy how to care for Simpson. Whom we discovered had many complications including mostly blind, poor startle reflex, and sadly undiagnosed brain issues.
So now a full year later, Simpson and Mommy have returned. The mom begins to tell her story after landing here and asking to stay with Kathleen again. The people in her village believe that Satan is in her child. They are filled with animistic beliefs. They are ready to kill him. They are angry with her and her husband for how much attention and distraction this child is causing, as the burden of their other children is beginning to affect the entire village. Simpson’s mommy found a simple solution. Get on a plane and fly away. It wasn’t a bad thought really. I’ll admit that occasionally I am tempted by the same thought.
Yet, it puts us in a real ethical dilemma. Here is a Mom who has several other dependent children and a husband, who is being persecuted because of her handicap child. To return her to that village is to return her to further persecution. To keep her here, takes her away from caring for her children and husband. And there is no permanent housing for her here. It has been discussed to move the whole family to another village, where there is more medical and missionary support. Unfortunately, this is not a simple solution as the language changes and who is to say the new village will accept this family?
Sometimes life gets complicated and difficult. We need wisdom. We need prayer, as we navigate challenging situations without child support systems and secretaries in the middle of jungle airstrips.
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