Jason and Jonie Mellinger

Tribal Truck

Posted in Ministry on Oct 2nd, 2009 | Discuss This Post

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One of the biggest things we needed to do before we left the country was to find someone to store our belongings, as well as our truck. At first we thought we’d leave it in Manila and have someone start it up every once in a while. Then one night we were talking with some tribal missionaries who were considering options for getting their supplies. A while ago part of their runway eroded away and in a few months when we switched types of airplanes, the new plane can’t land on that short of a runway. Their options were either to close the work there after 15 years, or use an old abandoned logging strip about 5 miles away. However, how would they carry their supplies for 5 miles on the deteriorating trail, through the river and up the mountain to their village.

The missionaries came to our house in Manila one evening to talk about the possibility of buying a truck like ours. During the course of the evening it came to our minds, our supporters have bought this truck in order for us to reach tribal works that no one else can get to. The best way we can use the truck is to make sure that it’s doing it’s work for the tribes that our supporters expected. So…

We boarded a very large boat (nothing like a cruise ship ) from Luzon to Mindanao (with the truck). We were supposed to be on by 4 pm, but with they way things go, it was delayed several hours. So, we ended

up staying up all night doing the paperwork and loading the truck on the ship. We climbed into our little beds in our cabin, and after a 36 hour ride, we finally arrived in Mindanao at 2 in the morning.

The next day, along with our friends Trevor and Judy Clarke, we drove to the mission home about 2 hours away to pick up cement, groceries and a large water tank. They had bought the tank 3 years before but it wouldn’t fit into the plane. Now was the perfect opportunity to get it in! Then we drove 12 hours to their village.

The final 2 and a half hours were on dirt roads, which got progressively worse as we went on. We were met by the entire village who had never seen a vehicle like this in all their lives. We stayed in the village four days, teaching Trevor how to drive off-road, making some repairs and just enjoying tribal life, including church.

Thank you from all four of tribal missionaries whose life has become easier with the truck.

Moving Out

Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 2nd, 2009 | Discuss This Post

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It was a sad day moving our things out of our apartment. We had been looking forward to moving, but only because it meant moving to another town to begin our aviation ministry there, not because we had to go back to Arizona. The guards and janitors of our condo complex were very sad to see us go and many of them stayed after their 12 hour shift to help us carry our boxes and stuff down to the moving truck. We sold some of our things, but mostly we stored them at a friends house, including the dog. She hates Arizona and was much happier with the huge yard of grass and swimming pool at our friends’house that are watching her.

Saying goodbye to all of our friends there wasn’t easy, we had grown close to many over the last year. One of the cultural things they do with good friends, is giving a remembrance. Jewelry, clothes, shoes, anything that is special to the owner makes for a good remembrance. I gave necklaces, sneakers, sunglasses, my swiss knife, t-shirts, shorts and flip flops, as well as my Xbox. And we received many remembrances, as well. They told us, “So you don’t forget us, wear/use this!” We will miss them and look forward to seeing them again.

Our Despedida (Farewell) Party

Posted in Family on Oct 2nd, 2009 | Discuss This Post

S6300551 One last hurrah before we left. All the guys and girls from the Manila Offroaders Club got together for a lechon (roast pig) party before we left for the purpose of saying goodbye. What a great bunch of guys! And we will certainly miss them. We feel very honored to have them do this for us. We’ve become one of them! See you guys on the trail!

Trail Testing the Truck

Posted in Ministry on May 20th, 2009 | Discuss This Post

Though our plan is to use this vehicle for traveling to the tribes, it had never seen mud before in all it’s 9 years. After we built it up, it seemed like a prudent idea to field test it. Good thing we did because we blew the hose off the power steering reservoir since it was pulled to tight with the lift, realized we can’t fill our fuel tank all the way because the hose was torn, and heard the engine fan hit the shroud every time we went up a steep hill. The engineer who built it was riding in the truck behind and was able to see what was going on. We realized we need a winch real bad, and will have to build a new bumper on the front to accommodate it. We also realized we need two batteries. We had to keep the truck running all day because the battery was junk. If for some reason, we ever kill our battery on the trail, we’re going to be very glad to have a back up to get started again! Besides getting an idea what we would need to adjust, it gave Jonie a chance to drive so that she would become more comfortable with it. And lastly, and very importantly, we made some priceless friendships. These guys are just as in need of a Savior as the tribal people. To have this truck and be able to be involved in their lives and interest, will give us an inroad into their hearts.
I Corinthians 9:19-23. Read the whole thing, but the gist of it is in verse 22, “I have become all things to all men, that by all means I might save some.” Thank you for giving us another tool to reach, with the Gospel of Christ, the Filipino people of a different class and social status than the very poor tribal people that we are striving to reach.

A Change of Perspective

Posted in Ministry on May 14th, 2009 | Discuss This Post

It’s now been one year since we’ve come to the Philippines. During this year we have seen and experienced many things that adjusted the filter through which we view the world. We have been in a clash of cultures. Us, at the beginning, trying to make our lives here as similar to our lives in America as possible, only resulting in frustration. The Filipinos of Manila, as they moved constantly toward adopting the dress, music and language of America, and the Filipinos of the provinces that are struggling daily to survive and couldn’t care less about American culture if they don’t have food that day.

There is a saying I’ve heard in America, that kind of translate into Tagalog. “Kapanganakan ako ng Amerikano, pagpili ako ng Pinoy.” Basically, “American by birth, Filipino by choice.” Though it took a while we realized until we become one of them, it’s going to be impossible to reach them. This has given us opportunity to live in some of the poorer Provincial areas, remote tribal villages, and one of the largest cities of the world. We have seen personally in peoples lives, poverty of extreme levels and wealth beyond anyone I know in America. We have slept on the floor in the tribes and the beds of luxurious hotels at the instance of our hosts. And in every place we have seen the true Filipino. No amount of Western clothing, music, movies, etc. can truly make them American. And likewise, no matter how much we learn about Filipino culture, dress like they do or act like they do, we will still be American. However, Filipinos have such a unique characteristic in relationships that is not common among Americans, and it sure would change things back home, if we could be more like them.

The other day I observed something that is the norm here, and although we’ve been here for a while, my first thought of how to deal with the situation was from my persecutive, not theirs. There was two boys standing on the corner of the four lane street. Now, crossing the road here isn’t unlike going out onto the interstate and running across the traffic. Here, they are going much slower, but there is no constant direction. Cars are passing each other, spilling into the oncoming lanes. People are turning right from the far left lane, passing in front of 3 rows of vehicles stopped at the light. Motorcycles, including me, weaved their way to the front of the line and waited on the white crosswalk lines to be the first to go. From the other direction, drivers see an opening and sneak through the red light.

These boys watched carefully for a chance to make it at least half way across. From there it’s a gamble of how long you might stand on the yellow line, hoping you don’t get hit, until you can sprint the rest of the way. The elder, maybe 10 was dressed in a dirty t-shirt and shorts with cheap plastic flip flops that were about 5 sized too big. Judging by the black sludge on his feet, his little brother, maybe 7 or 8, didn’t have his own pair. Neither did he have a shirt, and his red shorts were too big and needed a constant grip on them to keep them from falling off.

Seeing their chance they dashed to the middle of the road. Reaching the yellow line they realized they picked the wrong time as the light changed and they were forced to stay there. While traffic turned in front of us, I was able to watch. The 8 year old was dancing around, gripping his pants for dear life. I thought, if you stand still for a second your pants won’t fall down. Then I realized what was really going on. His bare feet were being scorched by the blazing hot roadway. All the callouses on his little feet couldn’t help him. But I could, I have money, I could get him some shoes, the nicest ones around. This is our way, find a need and deal with it. It wouldn’t have made much of a dent on my finances, and I could probably find some for a couple dollars at the market.

But, that wouldn’t help him now. Only his brother could, and seeing his little brothers plight he took off one of his flip flops and give it to him. Now they both stood there, balancing on one foot, leaning on each other so as not to fall into the on coming traffic. As my light changed and the honking of drivers urged me on, I wondered if I would have done that to my brother. If he asked, I would have probably told him to get his own. If I saw him dancing, would I have laughed at him for not remembering his own shoes. But this is the Filipino way. No one I’ve ever met, save for one or two, have taken care of each other like these people do. There’s rarely fighting amongst the kids for “their” toys, food or whatever.

This is one of the many ways we have changed in our thinking over the last year. And a reason why a short term missions trip is such a great idea for teens and adults. Get out of your world, enter someone else’s.

Before and After–The Truck

Posted in Uncategorized on May 3rd, 2009 | Discuss This Post

After we talked to many people using off road trucks through out the country, looking at pictures of the roads our missionaries use and even making measurements of the deepest ruts that we would have to go through, we decided that we needed at least 13 inches of ground clearance. To get that we needed to be able to fit 35 inch mud tires, replacing the 29 inch bald tires that came with the truck. In order to squeeze these under, we needed to put some lift on. For those of you who care, we got a ProComp 4 inch Stage 2 suspension lift and a 3 inch body lift. I really didn’t want the body lift, but it just wouldn’t work without it. In order to turn the bigger tires we regeared the front and rear to 4.80:1 and put an ARB air locker in the rear. Looking at the pictures, there will often be little or nothing to winch to and we will need all the traction we can get! Doesn’t make sense to you? Watch this video:

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Because we will sometimes be hauling very heavy things, like gravel, bags of cement and drums of fuel, we added on a 3 leaf Rancho add-a-leaf springs to the rear suspension and Rancho RS9000XL adjustable shocks. This way we can have a soft ride when we’re in the city, and beef it up when we’re off roading for maximum control and stability. Finally, we put on a ProComp Steering stabilizer to help keep the wheels going straight and we’ve gotten what has been described as “the last vehicle we will ever need.” I certainly hope so! We are so amazed and incredibly thankful for all of you who gave so ridiculously generously to this project. We still have a Warn Tabor 12,000 lb winch in the mail, which will require some bumper fabrication. But we plan our first trip to be to the tribe in the first week of June. And we’ve got calls already from two tribes on other islands wanting to know if we would be able to help them some time too. Good thing we have a ferry system here!

Although language school is still priority right now, we will use the truck to the best of our ability to reach out to the Filipino people. Even the Filipinos that helped us with building it were able to get a detailed explanation of what we plan on using it for and why: to reach people with the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Now along with the airplane we have a second tool here to reach places that until now were inaccessible to us. Thank you so very much!

Plane Talk

Posted in Uncategorized on Apr 16th, 2008 | Discuss This Post

Being in the aviation world, you realize one thing very quickly. Pilots can talk. They tell great stories of their superior skills evading even their judgment and dodging certain peril. It is a tapestry woven of tall tales, that only get better with time and repetition. I often wonder what the airplane’s version of the story would be, or what stories airplanes would tell. I suspect they would be slightly different versions than the pilot’s but nevertheless I imagine they would be great.

Over time certain airplanes develop personalities and become a part of you. One such airplane is here in McNeal with us now, and lately it has been my main arena of training in preparation for the Philippines. In 1961 it became the 190th Cessna 185 ever built and was one of NTMA’s first 185s ever purchased. It has recently changed ownership and will be flown by one of my good friends in Alaska, and I am sure the stories will continue.

This particular 185 has traveled in shipping containers from the US to Indonesia, to the Philippines, and back again; a total of over 30,000 miles. It has over 10,000 hours of carrying missionaries, supplies, tribal people, and a variety of other items over harsh rainforest. With a conservative estimate, that would equal over 1.2 million miles!

It was first sent to Indonesia to help with the flying load that a single Supercub was unable to sustain. During it’s 18 years of service there, it enabled missionaries to take the Gospel where it could never go without it. Day after day it was pounded in and out of jungle airstrips, loaded and unloaded, inspected and re-inspected to make sure it would always be ready for anything it might be called to do.

Eventually it was fitted with a very famous set of replacement wings. They have over 8,000 hours of their own stories, one of which is the night that they flew Paul Dye out of the Columbian jungle in dense fog with almost no fuel on board in his escape from captivity by guerillas. He landed with only his landing lights illuminating a field in the jungle and both he, and the airplane were unharmed. The book and movie “When Things Seem Impossible” tell the story.

Another time, these wings were flying Charlie Patton over the rainforest when a propeller blade decided to fly on ahead of the airplane. It was immediately followed by the other blade who apparently didn’t want to be left out. As they left they nearly ripped the engine off the airplane. These events occurred in a split second and left the windshield completely obscured with oil. By God’s grace, Charlie, who could not see through the windshield, was able to safely glide the airplane into a field and neither the airplane or its occupants were harmed any further.

Now this airplane is in pieces, and I am a small part of the restoration process. I can’t help but wish that I could hear all about the things this airplane has seen and heard and the adventures it has been on.

I remember as a child in the Philippines hearing Paul Dye’s story on an old cassette tape and being inspired to someday be a pilot like Paul. Now Paul is my flight instructor, our stateside representative for the Philippines, and I am helping to rebuild the famous wings that God enabled to carry him on an impossible flight.

I really believe we have the most privileged job in the world. What other profession do you get to come face to face with men and women with such amazing stories of God’s faithfulness and provision. It is in their wake that we ride into a life of adventure, joy and certain hardship all because there are people who do not know that Jesus stands in their place, condemned, so that they can be right with God. It is worth every minute of it. Just ask the 190th Cessna 185 ever built, and it will tell you stories of how it took the Gospel to people who could have never heard without it. I’m sure it would tell you that all 600,000 minutes of flight time were worth it. Even though it means that it has to retire now, and go to the cold climate of Alaska on its new set of snow skis.

…Christmas card tradition involves you

Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 7th, 2008 | Discuss This Post

One by one, Christmas and New Year’s cards rolled in, totaling over 75 and that doesn’t even include the newsletters! As we opened up each card, Jason and I felt deeply blessed that we were thought of by so many people. We loved reading the little messages and words of encouragement.

It was hard for me to be away from my family in Alaska this Christmas, but I have to admit that receiving all the love from the many cards helped me feel not so far from home.

So here it is our new tradition…each day we will take down a card and pray for the people who gave it to us. We are so excited to go before the Lord on your behalf and thank Him for you. We do truly hope that your family had a blessed celebration of our Lord’s birth!

Havasupai Canyon, Arizona

Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 7th, 2008 | Discuss This Post

Sixty miles off of Old Route 66, and an eight mile hike down the canyon wall lies village of Supai, Arizona, population 437 and some tourists.

While the locals prefer pack mules or helicopter that ferries people and supplies dozens of times daily, we chose to walk the steep path from the canyons edge to the shadows below, guided by Jonie dad, Jim who came from Alaska especially for this.

Times like this I abandon my need to blend in with the locals and switch into the rarely seen tourist mode. Eight miles and 250 pictures later we sat as the only people in the tiny cafe eating fry bread and burgers. The next morning we headed out to see the waterfall that make this canyon such a desired destination. In six miles we dropped hundreds of feet closer to the Colorado River following the mangy dog that decided we might be his ticket to a free meal. Well, he got his meal of rice and peanut butter and jelly tortillas, our normal backpacking meal, and we got to see stunning turquoise waterfalls not common to the Arizona desert. The last part of the trail was a chain draped down the face of the cliff. A 60 foot decent to test the nerves of climbers.

Two days later we climbed back out of the canyon, this time with four dog guides, 500 pictures and wonderful memories. Thanks Dad for the great idea!

Praying in the New Year

Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 19th, 2007 | Discuss This Post

If you desire to pray for some of our needs this year, we listed several requests that are so important to us.

Our relationship with the Lord: daily we are to take up our cross and follow Him. I just began a new daily devotional called Streams in the Desert, and I am trusting that the Lord will use it, as well as scripture to speak to my heart. Pray that Jason would make the time to also be in the Word and make that relationship a priority.
Our marriage: It seems all too easy to allow our ministry and other “good things” to get in the way of having that romantic, loving bond between us. Please pray that we would know when to say no to others and when to say yes. Please pray that Jason and I will both grow in knowledge and wisdom concerning our spouse, so that our love will continue to deepen.
Our family: For the first time, Jason and I will be moving far away from both of our families—to another country. It is most likely that several of our family members will not be able to visit us while we are away for our first term (four years). This drastic change will be very difficult for us and our parents. Please pray that God would grant peace for all of our family concerning our departure and time away.
Our friends and coworkers: Surrounded by Jason and I are our many friends who, like us, are headed to foreign countries to serve fulltime. Many of them are still struggling with raising support, as well as many other issues. We desire to be an encouragement to them in these things, as well as their walk with the Lord. Pray that we would be a tremendous blessing to those we love so much.
Our ministry: Pray that God would give Jason the knowledge and skills to excel in his duties. Please pray that he would have clarity of mind when working on the planes, and that he would be able to complete tasks well in a short amount of time. We ask that you pray for me (Jonie) to be a good keeper of the home, have the energy and motivation to host and serve often, be able to use my skills as a nurse as needed, and that I would also be involved in different women’s ministries within the mission. I may even be in charge of the finances of NTMAviation once we arrive, so please pray for me in that area also.
Our health: It is quite common to regularly get a number of “bugs” once we move to the Philippines, and this will directly affect how we are able to respond to daily tasks. It is so important for us to practice good hygiene and be careful of contaminated water in order to aid in our protection. Please pray that our Great Healer would guard and keep us from things that would hinder or hurt us.

God has given both Jason and I an incredible call to serve in the Philippines. But He promises that once we follow Him, things will not be easy. The devil will try to use any one of these relationships to take us off of the field, putting a halt to our ministry overseas. Please pray that God would use us and that through our lives we would be glorifying to Him.

NTM