Hello Everyone,
Dave starts the day early, and heads off to the MAF hangar for some "manuals and forms" as he completes his induction process as a new pilot. He has been able to visit the surrounding homelands as the "right hand seat" observer. This gives him the opportunity to learn about the location of each homeland, and understand the relationships they have with others nearby.
At this stage he is finishing up with the majority of the preparation stages, and will start his ICUS (In Command Under Supervision) stage next week. In the ICUS stage he learns the routes and gets used to different landing strips while having passengers and working a normal day. After that, he will be flying as the Solo pilot in command.
So far I (Kimberley) have been very busy in and around the community, at the MAF ministry resource centre and on outreaches. In the resource centre I helped with preparing the tracts for Easter, and helped Tiina Higham to sell some resources in the Yirrkala village area. I have also done a few odd jobs for some of the staff members, assisting them with all sorts of odd jobs - such as stitching epaulettes!
I had an opportunity last weekend to visit a homeland and help with an Outreach. This was such a highlight for me, we had dinner around a Yolngu campfire and set up a movie on the projector to share with the village of Dhuruputjpi. We watched the story of Samuel Morris, and African man who after witnessing a miracle sought out more information about Christ to minister to the people in his home village. Many of the Christian Yolngu were encouraged, and we discussed how he was so bold, sharing the gospel with everyone he met. We prayed together that they would have that same boldness, and the passion to continue searching for more about Jesus.
While I was out in Dhuruputjpi, Dave was awaiting the weather forecast to hear if he would be going fishing locally... And he was blessed with an opportunity to go out with "Robbo" one of the engineers, and have some quality bloke time out on the water. After a hard days work trolling through the bay, and learning a hand-line, Dave came home with a bounty that we could share with friends and neighbours.
The final blessing for me, was an opportunity to go and visit Lake Evella, and see the work that Emily Vautier is doing there with the local Yolngu women. She has a small training centre which has a multitude of resources... And a shortage of trainers.
She mentioned to me last week that they had a Massage table, but needed a trained therapist to come and show them... And "where would she find someone to help?" I eagerly offered my services and within a few days of our discussion, I was hired to teach the ladies the basics of massage.
We had an excellent day, learning together about the human body, the benefits of massage, techniques and different opportunities to use massage to bless friends and family, as well as the opportunity to use it as a trade. Emily has a small hair and beauty salon that is being set up as an Employment Program, to help the ladies get into work. Hopefully the interest in Spa Therapy will grow, and we can offer some more classes again soon!
Bless you guys!
Kimberley and David Caradus
