One of Those Special Days

What makes your day special? Luke recently was blessed with some experiences that created a special day for him.

Our aviation organization exists to support the Bible translation movement. That’s straight from our mission statement. However, that focus gets lost sometimes in the daily demands of flight schedules, aircraft maintenance, flight billing, etc. Then … every once in a while, we get to see our connection to the ministry more clearly. On October 2, the Lord gave me one of those special days when I flew with YAJASI Chief Pilot Mark Hoving to a couple of villages where translation work is happening.

Our passenger for the day was the mother of my good friend Song Min. Song Min and I have a friendship that began before kindergarten when we were MKs in Indonesia. His parents are working on translation for the Lop* people. My dad worked as a missionary maintenance specialist and my mom taught math at our school. During one year of high school, Song Min even lived with my family while his parents made trips into their ministry area. Our friendship continues to this day.

Luke and Song Min at the 8th grade banquet. Photo credit Cheryl Sjoblom

It took a little over an hour and a half to fly to the village of Dofu where Song Min’s parents work. The runway is dirt with a steep hill at the halfway point. The airplane parks at the top of the hill and takes off downhill.

On the runway with my friend’s mom in Dofu Village

It was a great privilege to see the village where my friend grew up and to support the ministry of his parents.

Dofu Runway

After dropping her off, we made the short flight to our next destination. Janet Bateman, one of the Bible translators with our organization, lives a five-minute walk from the runway. She has lived and worked there for many years. Over time, her solar-electrical system had begun to have more and more problems. Inverters were burning up, some light fixtures were not working, and a couple wires had become a rat’s dinner! Mark and I spent the rest of the day installing a new inverter, a power panel, and running new wires where the rat had gotten hungry.

Janet Bateman and part of her electric system. Photo credit Mark Hoving

I am thankful for the opportunity to help with some very important basic needs of one of our workers in the field. The whole day was a refreshing gift from the Lord.

*Name changed for security purposes

Luke  and Rachelle Sjoblom

Luke and Rachelle Sjoblom

Luke and Rachelle returned to Indonesia in 2017 to serve in Papua where they both grew up as missionary kids. Luke is a pilot-mechanic with YAJASI and Rachelle keeps busy caring for their three children.