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February 2003



A New Phase in my life begins!


I attended the Winter 2003 Non-technical Candidacy at MAF and have been accepted as "career staff" with an assignment to the island of Papua in Indonesia. I was blessed to be in this process with three couples also seeking to serve the Lord with MAF. It was our privilege to study for two weeks how MAF serves the needs of the mission community and national churches around the world. God has led each of our lives, skills, and gifts to this point where we can offer our service for His Kingdom. Our class will serve all over the globe: (from left to right) Terry and Lori Blaisdell serving the worldwide Avionics needs of MAF programs, Dale and Katie Shaylor will fly in Ecuadorian jungles, myself in Indonesia and John and Kelly Attwood will serve with the Distance Education program in Eurasia. Our candidacy was followed by a two-week seminar to prepare us for ministry support raising. This gave us many tools with which to effectively share about the ministry of MAF and our passion for how the Lord will use us.

Where is Papua?


Papua (Pah-pu-ah) is the easternmost island in the country of Indonesia. It is located on the equator just north of Australia and is covered in thick jungle with rugged mountains in the interior and enormous swamps on the south coast. Through aerial and radio service, MAF provides the way for doctors and patients, evangelists, teachers, community development workers, and supplies to reach their destinations in this very difficult terrain. There are between 25-30 staff MAF families serving in Papua at any given time. Papua has been very close to my heart for a long time as it is where my parents served with MAF. I grew up there and it is very exciting to see God leading me back to serve there myself!! He has definitely been preparing me for a long time to return there.

Though I have spoken Bahasa Indonesia since I was six, I plan to attend language school to ensure I can communicate as a professional pilot before beginning my flying in Papua.

 What's Next Then?
Ministry Partnership – this is a process of raising a team of prayer and financial supporter to stand with me in my ministry. This began immediately upon completion of the last class and is an opportunity to share what God is doing in my life and the ministry He's preparing me for. This is an exciting time for me to share my testimony and see His provision and working through the hearts of His people. The MAF average for ministry partnership is approximately one year. Please be praying for opportunities to share my ministry and don't hesitate to call, write or email if you would like to meet with me personally – I'm thoroughly looking forward to the chance to meet new people or to refresh our friendship if I haven't seen you in a while.

 How can I Help?
  1. Please pray for the Lord to work in the hearts of those I share with and that it will be His story I share. MAF has asked me to raise $4,200 per month for personal and ministry expenses in Papua and $15,700 as a one time, outgoing expense (covers language school, travel to the field, shipping costs, technical orientation, licensing, immunizations, etc.) Please prayerfully consider joining me in my ministry with MAF.
  2. Pray for my health and safety as I drive and speak. As you can see, there are many miles in my first 5 months of ministry partnership and probably more to follow. I would seriously covet your prayers while I'm on the road.

Short Devotional Thought


I have claimed I Corinthians 15:58 as a life verse as a reminder and an encouragement. Starting back in vs. 51, we note the mystery of our coming "change". Paul is eager and so am I to reveal the Good News that will bring that change to the hearts of the Lost. This short phrase reminds me to give Him my best effort in this ministry – to be found "…steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Pray with me that He will remind us all daily of our responsibility to share.

Maranatha,


Kevin Lynne




AUGUST 2003
Dear Friends and Partners,

Seems I can't write and get these out fast enough to keep up with what God is doing in my life and how He's working.... I enjoyed a safe and uneventful drive back to Redlands the last week of July -- I really want to thank all those at Finley Crossings for praying my Jeep would make it -- there were no leaks, no problems and He answered your prayers!! Took my time and spread it out over 3 days to make it less of an endurance event and allow me to arrive rested and ready for Technical Orientation and Standardization (more on that in a moment). It is of course, hot and dry here on the edge of the desert - but it's good to be back at MAF for a bit and ever closer to my departure for the Indonesia.

I got in on Friday, 1 August and have been able to encourage the latest group of "prefielders" (MAF term for those of us preparing to go the field for the first time) as they wrapped up their Ministry Partnership seminar and headed out to share at their home churches and build their support teams. Thank YOU ALL for being such dedicated Pray-ers and for blessing me with your giving as well -- it is because of your partnership that I can confidently answer His call to go fly and serve in Papua. I prayed with some of those couples that the Lord would bless them as well with a strong team and speed them to the field where the "harvest is white". I was also able to squeeze in some flying last week with an MAF instructor on Tuesday and Wednesday as a warmup for Standardization which starts tomorrow. It was so GREAT to be back in the plane, knocking the rust off my takeoffs and landings, smoothing my airwork out, and getting used to the way it flies. I noticed a distinct handling difference between the Cessna TU-206G and my 1995 Cherokee I've been "flying" since February... I've got to be one of the most blessed guys I know - I love to fly and the Lord wants to use me in that capacity -- He's So Good To Me!!!

Probably you're wondering what Tech. Orientation and Standardization involve. Technical Orientation is an eight week block of time when the pilot/mechanic is trained how to do it the MAF way. It is true that we fly in the bush, so to speak, but we are anything but bush pilots. We like to say that we are professionals flying in the bush. Just like any airline would take you and train you (or standardize you) the way they want you to fly and maintain their equipment, so it is with MAF. During these eight weeks we (there are two of us in this class) will be standardized to fly and maintain MAF aircraft according to the MAF way.

Flight: The flight portion of this course entails one week of ground school followed by 2 1/2 weeks of intense flight training. The last week of the course includes a trip to Idaho where we will fly into the 'back country' airstrips. This week in Idaho is the culmination of all we've learned during the time at the training center in Redlands, Ca. Ever flown an approach to an airstrip that suddenly appears at the last minute after your turn onto short final? Ever flown into a steeply sloped airstrip where you have no option but to land when you are still 1/4 mile out? Ever wonder what to do about all the animals on the airstrip you are planning to land on? And how about the muddy airstrip below you? Can you safely land there? It is during this training time with MAF that we'll learn to do all of these and more. And most importantly, to do it safely, with confidence. All in all it will total about 40 hours of flight training during this time.

Maintenance: There is also one week of ground school during the maintenance training and then 2 1/2 weeks of hands-on work on the MAF airplanes as well as special projects set up for us to learn what we'll come up against on the field. Some of the hands-on includes inspections on the training aircraft as well as working on preparing aircraft for the field. And then there is "Big Red". This is an actual engine bolted onto a frame that allows us to learn the systems and 'repair' items that the instructors like to break! Big Red is actually better than the real thing since you can achieve certain trouble shooting and repair things that would be impractical on a "live" engine.

This eight week Technical Orientation is just the beginning of my training process. When I get to the field the training continues and is fine tuned to teach exactly what is needed for service in Papua.

Praise the Lord with me: 1. Safe travel - I'm back in Redlands for training on time. Thanks, Lord for oppportunities to share and encourage the Body; and for keeping me awake and safe on the roads. 2. My monthly support has risen to 71%!!!! Outgoing support has reached 78%!!!

Pray with/for me:

1. Please pray for my Grandma Lynne - she fell a week and a half ago and broke her hip (this is the second time), had surgery and is recovering. They said she did well in there, but there are some ongoing health concerns, a lengthy recovery and issues to resolve and my brother Kurt had to drive up and make some biggg decisions because the rest of the family is not too concerned... Pray for us, for wisdom and for provision of anwers to these tough questions up there in Ohio.

2. For my diligence and preparation as I start Tech. ground school tomorrow - that my study and time would be well-used in preparation for service in Papua.

3. Pray for God to continue to lead and provide the remainder of my support needs. He knows what it takes, where and who will be involved and I'm leaning on His promise to provide because He called me for this.

My schedule for August:

1. August 1-10 Redlands, CA - visit various friends and fellowships in Southern California (Redlands, San Diego, Solvang. San Bernardino)

2. August 11-October 17 Redlands, CA - Technical and Non-Technical Orientation (Oct 6-17).

NOTE: Projection beyond October 17th is dependent on support levels - if at 100%, I will be scheduled for the November 19th start date for language school in Bandung (I'll share more about that in my next letter). If not at 100%, I'll be praying the Lord will lead me out again to share my testimony and ministry. Praise Him I have such Good News and exciting ministry to share and that He's called me and all I have to do is be faithful to that calling!!

I want so much to thank each and every one of you for your prayers, friendship, emails, and a hundred other things... God has used you to bless me and I hope my life and service will bless and encourage you also. Don't hesitate to call or write if you would like me to pray for you or to hear more.

Maranatha my friends, Kevin









OCTOBER 2003

Dear friends and prayer-partners,

Wow!! Can you say "pin-cushion"? Got a series of 6 shots yesterday and whatever they put in my left arm is still throbbing away 24 hours later... oh, the joys of prepping to leave for Indonesia. One of the nurses was sure I was coming back in a few months to finish the Hepatitis-B (it was that or Hep-A?) series... I assured her I would finish the series, but most likely in Indonesia. Woohoo!! Can't believe I'm carrying all those live and manufactured viruses (virii??) around in me -- watch out now, I'm toxic! Oh yeah, ran into 2 other missionary couples in the same clinic - 1 couple headed off to Afghanistan (in February they're going also to Indonesia) and the other somewhere else... can you believe that? Huh, must be God sending out a fresh batch -- glad I'm part of it!!

So, since I've not written an e-letter for a couple of months now, now's a good time. Our story thus far....

I have finished my 2 months of training in Redlands, CA and now have an actual departure date for Indonesia -- December 26th!! Of course that's Lord willing; I am wrapping up as many loose ends as possible (got my crate built and ready to ship, and you heard about my shots yesterday...) whilst finishing my deputation. I have 19% to go on my monthly amount ($826 left) and praise God for bringing me this far!! He has been so faithful and has led and worked the whole process -- I sometimes think it was all to teach me some lessons. Maybe that's part of this deputation process - teaching the missionary how to depend on Him for everything... still processing that thought... A new prayer letter should be in the mail to you all later this week or next. ** by the way if you're not receiving my printed prayer letter by mail, drop me a note or call, I'd love to keep you up to date. These 2 formats are different and this one obviously doesn't get the pictures in it **

Having finished my training, the next step is to prepare for language school. This will be in the city of Bandung on the island of Java, Indonesia (obviously). This is at the Inter-Mission Language and Culture School there where the average period of study is 6 months to test up to MAF's desired level of fluency. I'll be attending basically for a refresher - much of the vocabulary from growing up speaking the language is still with me, but I need to polish my grammar and usage so I can use it professionally as a pilot/mechanic now. I turned in all the paperwork for visa and language school app while I was in Redlands and am waiting on Him to see it all (that and support levels, etc.) come together by 26 December.

What will I be doing for the next 7-8 weeks? I hope to visit with some of you near my Grandma in Ohio and Pensacola, FL. And spending free time at my brother's home in Missouri. That's all I have hard-scheduled for now, if you or your fellowship/home group/Sunday school would like to hear from me, feel free to drop me a line and I'll work to fit it in.

Praise the Lord with me:

1. Safe travel - I'm back home at Kurt and Bridget's in Nixa, MO after driving to/from CA and spending 2 months flying out there. 2. I also had a chance to share my testimony and ministry at several churches while I was out there - praise the Lord for the encouragement and partners out there on the on the "Left Coast"!! 3. My monthly support has risen to 81%. Totally all His doing, I see it as confirmation that He means to send me now. I'm so ready I can't wait!! 4. Outgoing support has reached 95% -- again, He gets all the credit. I'm truly blessed that He provides through you -- thank you, thank you, thank you. And I especially thank those of you who have send personal gifts to help out with my travel expenses, getting my stuff crated, etc. It really helps - and blesses as I see Him provide exactly what I need usually before I realize I'm going to need it. You've been and continue to be a part of that and I thank you so much for your gifts and prayers. Pray with/for me:

1. Please pray for continued growth in ministry partnership so monthly support will reach 100% by 15 December. He is able and I am ready, so I am praying that He would speak specifically to hearts that He wants as partners in my ministry - and that I would be sensitive to how He is providing and remember my responsibility to my partners (financial and prayer) to share the ministry as I prepare to go.

My schedule for July and August:

1. November 1 - 6 New Hampshire, OH -- visit Grandma and fellowship.

2. November 8-10 Oak Harbor, WI -- visiting at Harvest Community Church.

3. November 10 - 25 Pensacola/Gulf Breeze/Milton, FL -- visit friends, fellowship, churches and the beach!!

NOTE: Projection beyond Nov 25th is dependent on God, His schedule and you... Don't hesitate to call or write if you would like me to pray for you or to hear more.

Lastly, I've started praying through my list of partners -- it's a slow process and will take a while, but I'm praying He will bless and use each and every one of you for His kingdom-work. I am particularly lifting up your pastors and their leadership in your lives -- tell them you love them and appreciate them, ok? I sure do and I thank you again so much for your partnership in this ministry.

Because of His Good News, I gotta go,

Kevin Kevin Lynne









December 2003

Dear friends and prayer-partners,
Seems I can't send these updates fast enough to keep you all up to date on how God is working and answering your prayers. Since I sent the last update, my monthly support shortfall is down to $300/month remaining. WOW, huh? God is certainly blessing me and teaching me a strong lesson about His timing and how He works. Please pray He works in hearts (and budgets) to bring in the last of my support requirement - I'll be packed and ready for my part. It;s not much, all it would take now is 2 churches at $100-150/month and 2 or 3 individuals or families giving $50/month. Could you or your church be the one to put me over the top and send me on my way?

This week I've started packing some of my winter clothes away for storage in my brother's attic (don't need long johns, wool sweaters and stocking caps in the tropics!) I'm wrapping up various details: gotta prep my Jeep for sale (I'll miss it for sure), got my 2nd Hep B shot (apparently there are 3), I have last dental appt and cleaning tomorrow.... stuff like that. Nothing super-spiritual for sure, but I'm aware it's all part of getting ready to go do His will in Indonesia. By the way, my last update mentioned I'm going to Jakarta on the 26th. That's sort of true, I'll leave Springfield on the 26th -- arriving Jakarta on the evening of the 28th of December. Monday, the 29th will be for checking in with the Indonesian Immigration and Police Offices and then taking a train to the city of Bandung on 30th.

Bandung is a university city of several million people, located ina valley about 2500' MSL. It's where the IMLAC language school MAF uses for our language proficiency -- I'll be taking my refresher language training there (length determined by how long it takes for the language to come back to my English-addled brain). More on Bandung and life there in my next letter. Speaking of letter, you should be getting my Christmas prayer letter this week - sorry no pics this time. I am praying the next one has pics from me in Indonesia in it!!

Please remember to keep praying that He will continue to prepare me and provide. I'm praying you're experiencing the wonder and joy of His sent Son this Christmas.

Maranatha, Kevin















FEBRUARY 2004 Dear friends and prayer-partners,

Greetings from Bandung (pronounced "bon-doong")!! I've been meaning to
write sooner and share all my first impressions and experiences as I return
to Indonesia after all these years. Because He loves me, I had a safe trip
here and have already made several good Indonesian friends in my immediate
vicinity. Another blessing: I met a man that used to come to out home when
I was a child for a Bible study that my dad was leading when we were in
Papua. He and his wife were visibly moved to see me returning to Indonesia
to serve where my parents served.


Praise God for allowing me to encourage
him as he works here now with another mission group in Bandung and is an
elder in a church near the school. He has asked me to share my testimony,
pray that I will be able to give God the glory for bringing me here and that
He would use that testimony to encourage the church here in this city that
needs the Gospel so badly.


As far as the culture here goes, there is quite a bit still familiar to me
from growing up in Indonesia - but I wanted to share some impressions
anyway:

1. I still speak the language - praise the Lord, they still understand me
and even enjoy my attempts to get to know them and share why I'm here in
Indonesia.

2. The food is fantastic - it's spicy, cheap, and the rice is just
delicious!! The fruits are so delicious - beyond description!! Papaya,
pineapple, bananas, rambutan, lychee, oranges, jambu, apples, etc....

3. It's hot and muggy, I seem to sweat continuously - probably the extra
pounds I'm carrying. But....

4. I've lost some weight already - had to move my belt buckle in a notch
and my pants are noticeably looser. Feels good too!!

5. Things take longer here. I went out to get a copy of the key to my apt.
made this afternoon - took a 1.5 mile walk through the "kampung"
(village/neighborhood) and then an angkot (jeepney-like public

transportation - more on this in a future letter) to the key place. Angkot
back down to the supermarket - some groceries and another angkot back up the
hill to my kampung. Total time enroute (TTE) = 2+00 hrs, distance covered =
3 miles. Oh yeah, the 2 key copies cost 7,000 rupiah (approx. 84 cents).

6. The teachers at the language school love the Lord and we share a common
excitement about what we're doing here preparing me to serve the people of
Papua. Praise the Lord He wants to use me!

7. Prayer calls from the mosques 5 times daily - I can hear 6 from my apt.
Earplugs do not work - praise the Lord I'm adapting to it and am rested and
healthy. Speaking of which - physically speaking the jetlag from the
flight(s) over was KILLER... or maybe I'm not as young as I used to be.
Don't know, but there were bound to be sleep pattern disruptions after 40+
hours of travel and layovers.

Wow, I could go on and on.... probably would if my connection to send this
were faster. But I should share some of the details about where I live. To
whit, the following.

I am living in a 2 bedroom apt. in a kampung off "Jalan Cmbulueit dekat
UNPAR" -- trust me, that's as precise as it gets right now. I receive my
mail at the school at:

Kevin Lynne
c/o IMLAC
Jl. Gunung Agung No. 16
Bandung, 40142 Jawa-Barat
INDONESIA

And my home phone no. is: 62 - 022 - 203 - 9308 (country code, city code,
phone no.).

Mobile phone no. is: 62 - 0815 - 701 - 5021 (Indon. country code, mobile
no.) -- I can receive and send text/SMS messages very cheap on this phone.

More about my schedule and the school, class and learning experiences in a
future update real soon, I promise. Praise Him for bringing me safely to
Bandung - equipping me with friends and partners as I submerge myself in
this culture and learn as much as I can here in language school. Thank you
again for blessing me and do continue to keep in touch and let me know how I

can pray for and encourage you too. I am so blessed to be able to start
this New Year serving Him in Indonesia - and even more so to enjoy your
partnership. Thank you for praying and for writing - I pray this little
note will encourage and share how God answers our efforts; and I especially
pray He uses you and I effectively this year for the Kingdom.

maranatha!
kevin


Kevin Lynne
Pilot/Mechanic with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Indonesia



JUNE 2004

Dear friends and prayer-partners,

I wonder if you'd just indulge a little praise and excitement in this update? (hope so, cause I just need to share...)

Got an email this afternoon when I got home from school - update on the results from my tests at the DGAC (Civil Aviation Authority in Indonesia) and guess what? Well actually most of you shouldn't be guessing at all -- you prayed, HE provided and I passed the tests (2 pilot and 1 mechanic)!!! All of them!

I had heard from some MAF friends that it's been a while since a pilot/mechanic passed all the tests on the first try - so I was prepared to take one or more again. But here I passed them... how is that possible? I know most of you know I'm no genius and I even had to ask for prayer for diligence studying, so we know it wasn't me - It's got to be Him: Isn't He good, good, good?

Wow, I was hopping around my apartment - excited to see Him at work (faithfully doing what He promises in I Thes. 5:24) and happy to be the guy He wants to use to fly airplanes in Papua. And I just wanted to take a moment and publicly thank Him for hearing yours and my prayers about these tests -- I'm sure it was no big deal to God of the Universe to guide me as I studied, guide you as you prayed and then work it all together to good, but He answered, that's the good deal. He wants to use me (Kevin Lynne) here as a pilot and mechanic in Indonesia - you know how I know? He helped me get licensed - a process that started with flight school in October of 1989 - Apr '91 then continued with maintenance training in Aug 1999 - Dec 2001 and the process of growing and learning to be a useful aviation tool for the Kingdom continues with another set of licenses to do His work here in Indonesia. Yowza!! I've got to be the luckiest guy on the planet tonight (I'd go out and celebrate with dinner or ice cream, but I loaned my motorcycle to a friend after school...) Oh well, I'll just celebrate with you - take a moment and thank Him for His answer to your prayers.

Oh yeah and all this comes on the end of Unit 5 of my language study - passed my "evaluasi" for that today and will start Unit 6 in two weeks after a "summer" break. Now there's a concept: summer break in a land where it's been summer pretty much since the Creation! Oh well, it's nice to have a short break in the school routine, I'm going to be travelling a bit and getting ready for the final language school push before I get to move on to Papua for ...(did I mention it already? I'm sure I must have...) --- the FLYING AIRPLANES PART!! Can you believe He loves me so much, He wants me to fly airplanes over here for a "job" -- boy, I must be the luckiest guy in the world!! Doing something I love for a ministry... (sorry, I was going to try to tone the enthusiasm down a little)

Anyway, thanks again for all your prayers and the emails you sent to encourage me. What a privilege to be out here on the "leading edge" (aviation word picture) to see what we (you, me and Him) are going to do next in Indonesia! Can't wait, can you?

Kevin Lynne Pilot/Mechanic with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Indonesia