In recent years, Arjan and Aartje Paas, both graduates of the University of Amsterdam, lived with their five children in Goroka, Papua New Guinea. Arjan was in charge of the pilots at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), an organisation that provides aid in the most remote areas. In early September, the family emigrated to Cairns in Australia. How did they come to this decision, and what is life like in Australia? Arjan and Aartje tell us all about it.
How are you getting on now?
“Things are going quite well. As we’d been on holiday in the Netherlands before this, it took us about a week and a half to get over the jet lag. But we’ve found a lovely temporary home and we’ve now got the first few weeks behind us.
Why did you move house?
In Papua New Guinea, we all still felt quite at home. We had a nice place to live, lovely colleagues around us, and the school was great. But we also knew that we couldn’t stay there forever, not least with our children’s future in mind.
We asked our children in which environment they feel most at home: it turned out to be an English-speaking one. That is why we started looking into the options available there. On top of that, MAF had already indicated last year that they could really use Arjan at their head office in Cairns. There was even a vacancy for which the organisation was keen to recruit Arjan. Furthermore, our eldest daughter would like to study medicine, and there are good opportunities for that in Australia.
What’s more, we’ve now lived in developing countries for fifteen years. That does take its toll. All things considered, we think that living in Australia is the best option for our family at the moment.
You used to live in Australia. What were you doing back then?
Before we started working for MAF, we completed our training in Australia. Arjan also completed his pilot training there. We then spent two years working for MAF in Northern Australia amongst the Aboriginal people. During that time, we developed a fondness for Australia.
How is life in Australia different from life in Papua New Guinea?
Whilst Papua New Guinea was a developing country, Australia is more like the Netherlands. In practical terms, life is therefore easier here. On the other hand, we really enjoyed our time in the community where we were based. We were close to the people we were helping. And we lived, worked and spent our time together with our colleagues. Now we live in a big city with neighbours who have no connection whatsoever with what we do. That, in turn, brings its own set of challenges.
Our children will also have to learn what it’s like to live in a Western world. They’ll be doing little things for the first time, such as travelling by bus or placing an order at McDonald’s. But they’re good at adapting to new surroundings and are quick to seek out connections with new people.
What exactly are you going to be doing here, Arjan?
Here in Cairns, I have the same role as I did in Papua New Guinea. I’m in charge of the pilots and ensure they can carry out their work safely. The difference is that I now do this for programmes in Northern Australia amongst the Aboriginal communities and in Timor-Leste. I spend about three-quarters of my time at the office in Cairns and a quarter of my time at the programme sites, helping out there and delivering training. In Papua New Guinea, I usually flew along for two or three days a week. Back then, we lived close to the programme sites. Now, I’ll be flying out to a programme site for about a week each month.
And what are your plans, Aartje? And what about the children?
My top priority is to be there for the children and help them settle in at school. They go to a private Christian school here. Our eldest daughter will be working for the time being. She hopes to start her medical degree at university at the end of January.
I’m also looking for a part-time job. In Papua New Guinea, household chores took up a lot of time and I often helped out at school, but here I expect to have more free time. We also hope to attend a Presbyterian church here as a family. There are lots of young people at this church, and it seems like a lovely congregation.
How do you feel about the time ahead?
We’re usually in good spirits. Although we do occasionally wonder what we’ve got ourselves into, we say to one another: we’ll take it one step at a time. Every time we sort something out, another problem seems to crop up. We can’t do and sort out everything in one go. If we tried to, it would make us feel down. That’s why we’re taking it step by step. And fortunately, we have faith: we believe that God has everything under control. He also knows where the children and Aartje will end up. We’re convinced of that.
What can we pray for?
- We make a point of praying that everyone should have at least one good friend. Because having lovely people around you makes a huge difference.
- Let us bear in mind that the mission field is everywhere. It is not only in developing countries, but also here in Cairns and in the Netherlands. We are called upon to spread God’s love and be a light wherever we live. We think it’s easier to lose sight of that now that we live in the Western world.”
Let us also pray that Arjan, Aartje and the children will soon feel at home in their new home. May Arjan’s work be a blessing, and may Aartje also find a suitable job.
