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Roberts, Robert Franklin (1951–2014)

By Larry Windiwani

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Larry Windiwani

First Published: October 4, 2022

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Robert Franklin Roberts and his wife, Jan, served as missionaries in several countries in Africa from 1976 to 1992, until they were called to serve at the Adventist Aviation-Indonesia in the territory of Papua, Indonesia, for more than twenty years. Under Robert’s leadership, Adventist Aviation Indonesia (now Adventist Aviation) developed and expanded.

Early Life

Robert Franklin Roberts (known as Bob) was the son of Franklin Leslie Roberts and Norma Kirkland Roberts. He was born on June 14, 1951, in Walla Walla, Washington. He had one sister named Verna Canaday. Robert’s father was a farmer, and his mother was a registered nurse. Both of them were faithful Adventist Church members.1 Thus, Robert grew up in a strong, faithful Seventh-day Adventist family. Roberts spent his childhood in College Place, a city in Walla Walla County. He attended Rogers Adventist and Stateline elementary schools, and then he finished his elementary schooling in 1966. Three years before Roberts finished his elementary education, he was baptized in 1963 by Elder Estel Richardson. Then he continued studying in Upper Columbia Academy and graduated in 1970.2 He was a trustworthy young man.

Education and Marriage

Robert attended Walla Walla College in 1970, and after one year, he moved to Eastern Washington State College in Cheney, Washington, pursuing his degree in Canister. He hoped that he would finish his studies and become a dentist. Roberts had a longing to fly when he was very young. He went to dental school so that he would be finished and make enough money to buy a nice airplane so that he could fly. Roberts took his flying classes under a lady instructor in Spokane, the place where he received his flight license when he was still 17 years old.3

Roberts married Jan Parker on June 17, 1973, in Auburn, Washington, two weeks after Jan graduated from Walla Walla College with a B.S. degree in Nursing. Jan’s parents were Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in several places such as South America, India, and Burma. God granted this faithful family three children. Their firstborn, Eric, was born in Auburn, Washington. Their second son Gary was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Their daughter Stephanie in Lukanga, Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo).4

Ministry

The Roberts were missionaries in Africa from 1976–1992, until they were called to serve at the Adventist Aviation-Indonesia in the territory of Papua.5

After three years of their marriage, Bob and Jan Roberts served in Empress Zauditu Hospital, which was located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They worked in this hospital for one year, from June 1976 to June 1977. During that time, Roberts was the director of maintenance for that hospital, and Jan was a nurse in that same institution. At this time, Robert’s dream came true–he could fly an airplane. He flew doctors, nurses, and dentists to several places not far from the main hospital to a medical clinic on Sundays.6

Bob and Jan moved from Zuditu Hospital to Gimbi Hospital. This took place because Zuditu Hospital was nationalized. Jan also worked as a nurse in this hospital, and Bob served in the Maintenance Department. And at the same time, he taught Chemistry and Math at Dongoro Academy while still flying in the afternoon.7

In May 1977, Bob and Jan were asked to move to Tanzania to serve in the hospital in Tanzania. While there, Bob continued flying at times, helping the hospital. Then Bob and Jan moved to serve God in the Democratic Republic of Congo for almost 14 and a half years, and they were serving several places in Congo such as Lubero, Zaire. They were there until 1992.8

In August 1992, Bob and Jan received a call to relocate to Papua, Indonesia. They came to Doyo Baru, a place where a hangar and an airstrip were located, and they served God for several years there. Bob, Jan, and even the children soon could speak the local language very well, and the people around that area loved all of this family very much. On April 9, 2014, during takeoff of his plane, a Quest Kodiak at the AAI headquarters in Papua slammed into the bridge at the end of the runway, killing the veteran pilot and several other passengers.9

He had served Papua, Indonesia, for more than 20 years at the time of his death. He was really beloved by those around him, particularly the local people. That was seen by how they mourned and how many came to his funeral service.10

Legacy

Robert Roberts and his family have been a blessing to many people in the places where they served. Roberts helped the people in the town of Lubero, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), who did not have enough water. Jan wrote a proposal to the European Economic Union and received $12,500, the necessary funding for this project. Bob involved the local people and volunteers to help build the project. The source of the river that was used for power was located in the mountains. The project was soon finished, and it was a blessing to the people around. The people use the water for their daily life needs and also for their wheat, cassava, and cornfields. These mills still continue in operation until today.11 In addition, Jan built and operated a health center, and Robert opened a dental clinic for serving the people nearby. Robert was good at extracting teeth, doing the fillings, x-rays, root canals, and even surgically removing the third molars. People came from many kilometers away to access the dental care with anesthesia he provided. Thus, many people received blessings from God through this family while they performed their ministry in Lubero. For several years, Roberts flew from Zaire to Kenya, transporting various supplies such as food, building materials, and school supplies.12

There was a time when two missionaries were with Roberts in an airplane that flew from Zaire to Kenya. While they were over the mountains of Rwanda, the plane's throttle cable broke, and it could no longer maintain altitude, so it kept dropping lower and lower; Roberts was looking for a possible landing place. One of the missionaries was a young man; he kept on grabbing Roberts and crying. Bob had to hit him to get him to leave him alone so he could try to land the plane safely. Jan was talking with Bob, her husband, on the HF radio while he was flying. Roberts said that he would probably crash the plane. Roberts said, "Goodbye, I love you." And that were the last words Jan heard from her husband. Jan was a spiritual and prayerful lady who gathered their children–Erick, Gary and her were praying for his husband's safety. Later, after a few minutes, Roberts called them and said that they were safely on the ground with only some damage to the plane. The family praised the name of the Lord because of the salvation of Roberts and the two missionaries. Roberts had been able to land in the ridge of a mountain. A Catholic priest had heard the plane and saw it went down. He came riding up on a motorbike and asked them to come to his mission and have an alcoholic drink! Of course, the drink was refused. The authorities heard about the plane and came looking for Roberts, who had entered Rwanda without a visa. They detained him for several hours until someone from the Embassy came and resolved the situation by getting him a visa. Roberts and the two missionaries were able to get a ride to Goma, Zaire, and once there, one of the other mission pilots picked them up and brought them home. After Roberts got the necessary tools and parts for the airplane, he went back to Rwanda to make the repairs. Once the airplane could be flown, he returned home safely and made permanent repairs. Roberts family was still living in Lubero and ministered there for several more years.13 God's hand can always be seen in helping His servants in their ministry. Many miracles happened in the life of Roberts family.

Roberts had the vision to serve unreachable people in the remote areas of Papua Island; he built a new hangar as an adequate place for the airplane and its tools in 2006.14 In addition, under his leadership, Adventist Aviation Indonesia bought a new airplane-a Kodiak, in 2008 to support the ministry in the mountains of Papua.15

Adventist Aviation had reached some remote areas as part of his vision. Adventist churches in the remote area at the border between Papua New Guinea and West Papua, particularly Tinibil village, were established.16 Roberts worked together with the Ambassador Ministry team, under the leadership of Edward Tauran, to construct the buildings for the church at Sasawapece and the school at Segarmebur, Sarmi.17

The life of this family has been a blessing to the Papuan physically and spiritually. They have been a channel for many students of Papua Adventist boarding school, which is located near the airstrip, to receive a scholarship from Maranatha Ministry. In addition, through Roberts’ vision, many remote areas in Papua have been reached, with many churches built and organized. Several schools were also established. They also have heard the good news of salvation. Roberts was known by his missionary colleagues as the brave man who answered the challenge to go to very difficult places to do mission.

Sources

Adventist Aviation Indonesia (AAI) Minutes. AAI/09/06, May 10, 2006, AAI/07/08, April 22, 2008, and AAI/35/13, December 30, 2013. Adventist Aviation Indonesia archives, Sentani, Papua, Indonesia.

“Adventist Mission Pilot Dies in Plane Crash.” Adventist Review, April 10, 2014. https://adventistreview.org/news/adventist-mission-pilot-dies-in-papua-plane-crash/.

Deles, Gay, Kevin Costello, and Teresa Costello, “Adventist Mission Pilot Dies in Plane Crash.” Adventist Record, May 13, 2014.

Notes

  1. Jan Roberts, email to author, October 19, 2018.↩

  2. Ibid.↩

  3. Ibid.↩

  4. Jan Roberts, email to author, December 29, 2018.↩

  5. “Adventist Mission Pilot Dies in Plane Crash,” https://adventistreview.org/news/adventist-mission-pilot-dies-in-papua-plane-crash/. Accessed September 28, 2022.↩

  6. Jan Roberts, email to author, December 29, 2018.↩

  7. Ibid.↩

  8. Ibid.↩

  9. Gay Deles, Kevin Costello, and Teresa Costello, “Adventist Mission Pilot Dies in Plane Crash.” Adventist Record, May 13, 2014. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/AAR/AAR20140503-V119-09.pdf. Accessed September 15, 2022.↩

  10. Jan Roberts, email to author, December 29, 2018.↩

  11. Jan Roberts, email to author, February 1, 2020.↩

  12. Ibid.↩

  13. Ibid.↩

  14. Adventist Aviation Indonesia Minutes, AAI/09/06, May 10, 2006. AAI Archives.↩

  15. AAI, Minutes, AAI/07/08, April 22, 2008.↩

  16. AAI, Minutes, AAI/35/13, December 30, 2013.↩

  17. Edwar Tauran, interview by author, January 4, 2022.↩

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Windiwani, Larry. "Roberts, Robert Franklin (1951–2014)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 04, 2022. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AAS6.

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Windiwani, Larry. "Roberts, Robert Franklin (1951–2014)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 04, 2022. Date of access March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AAS6.

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Windiwani, Larry (2022, October 04). Roberts, Robert Franklin (1951–2014). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AAS6.

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