There’s a rumour going around the local community up here on the hill that a white woman was raped early one morning while out jogging. We know all the expats that live here and this is a fabrication. There is a church here called the GKI (Gereja-Church Kristen – Christian Indonesia). This church has in the past year or two experienced a split. The group initiating the split claims that the expats involved aren’t concerned enough about freeing Papua and other such outrageous claims. I don’t know all the details but the splinter group calls itself the Christian Church of Indonesia Papua. They are in fact more politically motivated than anything else and have resorted to using violence and the threat of violence. They have also demonstrated in front of the MAF base at the interior city of Wamena. They did so because MAF refuses to fly for this splinter group as they are teaching things that are Biblically false. Some of our neighbours who are involved in this church and do a lot of teaching and counseling in this church have also been threatened. Two of the wives jog every morning up here and so we think that this splinter group is trying to play with their minds. Our neighbours have had their home threatened as well. This couple is now going on furlough for the summer and are removing all valuables from the house and storing them elsewhere and have hired a young man to take care of things while they are gone. In fact, some Papuan pastors have had their houses destroyed by this group. There is a big beautiful church just down the hill from us that is not being used because the GKIP wants it and the original GKI wants it so it is closed up and no one is using it. Some people meet in a small building beside the church and others meet in the youth Centre across the road from us. This church situation is really sad because it is so obvious to us on the outside that Satan is working really hard. But to many of the Papuans who are easily swayed by promises, it isn’t always so obvious. There have been a few expat church leaders who’ve been hauled in for questioning by the police as this splinter group has told lies about them and are trying to get them kicked out of the country. So far that hasn’t happened. Please pray for the church here that the issues with this splinter group may be resolved and that no more violence will occur.

This is a completely unrelated photo of the amphibious aircraft that we had hoped would be able to go to Myanmar and help out with the relief efforts there. This photo was taken last weekend when the plane made its first ever water landing at this village. Pieter-Jan and Maaike deVries live in this village with the Korowai people. He's the one in the lower photo talking with the pilot of the plane, Tom Bolser. The deVries family has always used a helicopter to get back to their house in the village but it is nice for them to know that the float plane is an option especially for larger items that may need to be brought in. I think Pieter-Jan had a small boat brought in which he can use to get to other villages in the area. I'm sure you've noticed that everyone is wearing clothes on the photos. The Korowai feel that if they are going to the village they need to wear clothes but if they are out in the bush living in their tree houses, they often just wear traditional "clothing". For the men that means an artfully placed leaf...