Milestones & Accomplishments & Travel

Grace has turned 5! And Olivia won a third place trophy for her pine wood car design at her AWANA Grand Prix Race! Isaiah is just sure Olivia's car is HIS, because, after all it IS a CAR!!!



Please pray for us next week as we hit the road for a four-day whirlwind trip to our former home, Wichita, Kansas, to develop ministry partnerships.

Planning the next 20

Breanna worn out from planning school curriculum and graduation dates around future Africa and home assignments... Up until Isaiah graduates from high school. Hey, that could be any day now. He's almost out of diapers...

Sudan, Lost Boys, and Youtube

When I have time, I read. We checked out all the books on Sudan we could find. AIM-AIR lands in Southern Sudan to help rebuild that region. So I knew it would be valuable to have a better grasp on the recent history of that country.
One book "God Grew Tired of Us" by John Bul Dau grabbed me right in the introduction.
He was a group of what has been called "The Lost Boys of Sudan." Thousands of children who evaded capture, bombing, shooting, and wild animals to leave their war torn home and the smoldering remains of their families and villages.
Yet John concludes his introduction to the book by saying- many people call us the 'Lost Boys', yet I know God found me.
Here is a video of John that I wanted to share:

AIM-AIR and the Kenya Election Crisis

Several have asked us about the state of our future home country. I know from several friends that Africa Inland Mission has taken steps to ensure the safety of the missionaries there. It seems the violence erupted in pockets throughout the entire country mainly along tribal lines. The church in Kenya has responded remarkably, and AIM-AIR was there to assist. There is more credible ;) info at AIM-AIR's website, AIM's website, as well as a friend's website.

We have a Departure Date!!!

January 9
That's the word from Pearl River (our US AIM headquarters)
If you received our latest newsletter in print form, we had listed our departure target as December, not knowing when we'd need to leave the US to be on time and over jet lag for Africa Based Orientation. We can't wait ! When Jerry has a chance (since I don't know how) he'll change the countdown thingy (at right).
So much to do! Yikes!

Oh, and P.S. thanks for all your birthday wishes. It was great. Lots of cake & having a DATE with my fantabulous husband, what could beat that? The only thing that topped it was the Remote car starter he got me for my birthday!!!! Just what I need here in the always frozen north! Now I can start the car from inside when it's caked in a sheet of ice like this!

Shhh .... Breanna's Birthday is today

I just thought I would give you a heads up ... Send her an e-mail, give her a call ... buy me some time while I go shopping :)

-Jerry

P.S. This isn't a big "Something - Oh" birthday, so you can put away the black ... for now.

Supah Cold!

Welcome back to Minnesota! Maybe I got un-acclimated while in Tennessee and North Carolina....or else it's just been extremely cold the past couple days.
It's cold that takes my breath away and makes it hard to get it back; the cold pinpoints the locations I thought I had covered with long johns, jeans, boot socks, boots, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, coat, gloves and hat... but discover can't be covered because that millimeter of skin feels like it 's freezing and burning at the same time. My eyes water from the cold, but the tears come very close to freezing immediately. I berate myself for putting my hair up instead of covering my ears, or for wearing metal earrings at all that pull heat away from ears lightning fast.
They say there was one day above freezing while we were gone...so that means WE haven't seen a day over freezing in months here. I keep telling myself I'm getting the cold weather out of my system should we end up posted in the desert area of northern Kenya...where it will be 100's most days. I'm thinking of the sand and dirt that blows everywhere and on every surface...but I am craving it, especially after last night. I think I would have preferred blowing sand to snow. Yesterday we had 35 mph winds all day.

We cam home, about 11 p.m. to find a snow drift across our driveway. We have a rugged 4wd SUV, and barreled through, only to get stuck; spinning tires, even with the center diff lock on. Jerry went to get the tug from the airport to tow us out. We put the kids to bed and then he went to get the airport snowblower (one of the perks of living at/working for the airport) and worked on that over an hour. We even had to tow the snow blower out of the snow with our Land Cruiser at one point. Jerry finally got it cleared and we went to bed. Only to awaken hours later to another snow drift. Jerry went and got a snow fence this afternoon. Hope that helps.

What were we doing when we came home to the drifts? We were celebrating the fact Jerry passed his TE with the folks that made it happen at Proclaim Aviation, and our dear friends: John & Gioconda Armstrong, Cameron & Jackie Johnson and Jim & Kim Soderholm. We made home-made pizza and cake and played Scene It. They even surprised me with a birthday cake. (My b-day is Tuesday, looking forward to a date with my hubby!) We're so grateful God has brought all these fantastic folks into our lives, and that he's brought us here, even if it is supah cold!!!

Jerry's take on the TE trip

The following is what Jerry shared with our church family here in Minnesota this morning.

As many of you know, last month was a big milestone for our family...and I'm not talking about the 92 hours spent together in a car. We drove together as a family to North Carolina where I went through a two-week evaluation as a pilot and aircraft mechanic. This was a critical step in fulfilling a dream God planted in our hearts, to work as missionaries and serve the church in Africa.

With so much time spent in the car, several themes usually re-occur. On this trip, one major theme was Star Wars. Lego Star Wars was a playstation game the kids got for Christmas. They played it in the car, at Grandparents', in our apartment. Grace even asked me the profound question, "Does God use the force?"

If I remember right, Luke learns to "feel" the force while flying his space ship with his eyes closed. Turst me, this didn't help me at all during my evaluation. While the characters in Star Wars strain and wave their arms; God just had to speak and everything rushed into being. God is a Force with a capital "F".

While feeling the "force" didn't help me, I felt God. Anxiety and hints of illness came at bedtime, but a little before 8 in the morning, I headed out the door filled with calm confidence. I was stretched well away from what was comfortable. In many ways, I felt all I could do was to hold on till the very end and trust God for strength, wisdom and the proper outcome.

Amazingly, God with his unlimited power prefers to work with us and has. Through your prayers and notes of encouragement, we made it through and stayed safe. The icing on the cake was finding out we passed. Our first clue, before hearing the official results, was from one of my evaluators, who said, "When you're tired of flying with your mission, com fly with us!" So, we are exhausted, glad to be home, and relieved.

This year, we will continue to work with Proclaim Aviation Ministries, go back to North Carolina for additional training, and prepare to arrive in Kenya by next January. We will also be putting together a support team for finances and prayer, to, in a sense, journey with us to Africa.

In east Africa, we will use aircraft to support the African church, reaching those who have not hear of God's love; flying the desperately ill to a hospital, or a pastor to a remote, dangerous assignment. I am humbled that God has given us these opportunities, and I am also humbled by your support for us. I want to say thanks again for your prayers. We will continue to need them, more than ever! I can't wait to see what God will do through us together.

Yahoo! He Passed!

It's over, he passed the T.E.! Praise the Lord and thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. And a special thanks to the guys (and gal) at Proclaim Aviation that gave us a huge assist in getting ready!

What's next? Well, first, we'll go as fast as we can to Indiana to hug and kiss our kiddos we've been missing somethin' fierce! Then back to the frigid north in Minnesota!!

What's next in our journey toward mission service in east Africa? Jerry will continue to work in the hangar to gain as much experience as possible; then Support raising (A Biggie!); then back here, JAARS, in North Carolina, for 10 weeks of training in the T.O. (yes, yet another acronym!), the technical orientation. In the T.O., Jerry will learn, among other skills, the precise art of taking off and landing on rural and bush runways in jungles, on mountainsides, in the mud, etc...

And yes, we still ask for your prayers! We're so glad you're along with us for this incredible ride!

Update - Thursday Edition

Maintenance portions of the Technical Evaluation are complete (yeah!). The maintenance debrief will be tomorrow. Because of weather, flights have been delayed. Tomorrow we will plan on two flights and a cross country Saturday morning. IF weather cooperates, that means the flight debrief will be on Saturday afternoon, and we will know the results then.

Thank you so much for the e-mails and the prayers. I have really felt God's strength during this time!

-Jerry

The TE, so Far...

JAARS, the technical support "wing" of Wycliffe Bible Translators, here in Waxhaw, N.C. is where Jerry is taking the Technical Evaluation AIM-Air requires
Jerry by the Helio-Courier he is flying throughout the TE
We chuckled over the hand-written note on this snack machine in the hangar. Leave it to super-frugal missionaries to try their foreign coins!!
Jerry in the plane. They're "getting to know each other", as he hangar-flies and perfects his pre-flight, as he's done nearly every free moment he's had while here.

You'll have to ask him how he feels about the TE today...but last time someone asked, he said, "hopeful". After the first day's work, he was very anxious and had trouble getting his mind off the evaluation, with the anxiety of the upcoming flights. Now that he's had two flights, he's more calm. But please, keep praying!
Weather has prevented two scheduled flights from occurring, so it looks like we'll be here through the weekend to hopefully get those completed.

Every night we talk to the kids. It seems we miss them more than they miss us! I feel especially direction-less without my typical days' activities of getting them up (or them getting me up!), dressed, fed and educated! But we're so glad they're having fun at Grandma & Grandpa's and get this opportunity to spend an extended stay with them. They'll cherish those memories & miss them when we're living overseas!

-Breanna

10 Days to find out the direction of our lives & Desperate Situation in Kenya

It's finally here, the dreaded TE aka, Technical Evaluation, the must-pass intense ten day testing of Jerry's skills as a pilot and aircraft mechanic to determine if he will be allowed to serve as a pilot/mechanic with AIM Air.

We are in Waxhaw, North Carolina, home of JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Service), which is the technical branch providing support to Wycliffe Bible Translators. It was JAARS' pilots that flew Jerry and his family to and from the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, when he was a boy and his father, a Bible translator for the Naasoi language group. JAARS has made it their business to train missionary pilots to safely deliver precious cargo to and from the mission field and all its jungle/ bush airstrips. AIM Air has partnered with JAARS to borrow on their experience to determine the skill & safety of potential missionary pilots.

For a couple years or so, this has been Jerry's focus: to get the hours, experience and knowledge needed to demonstrate his skill and competency here at the TE.

Jerry studied nearly nightly for almost a year. We moved to Minnesota, and partnered with Proclaim Aviation, in order for Jerry to get more hands on aircraft mechanic experience. He flew with an AIM Air pilot, an AIM air recruiter or two, JAARS evaluator; and most recently spent two weeks with a topnotch former Moody Aviation instructor, all to be at the top of his game. As his wife, I can say confidently that Jerry could not be more prepared.

That said, we are fully relient on God. We trust the outcome to Him. With your gracious prayers, we know, that God will ease Jerry's anxieties so he can perform to the best of his ability for these ten days of testing under the watchful, note-taking eyes of the JAARS evaluators.

We trust God implicitly, and though I forbid Jerry to mention it now, should he not pass this evaluation; we understand that simply signifies God means for us to take another path of service to Him and the people of Africa.

Please, continue to keep Jerry daily in your prayers during this time. Pray also for me, as I try to be a rock of support for him, and our kids -who we miss fiercely (it's much quieter around here then we're used to!), being cared for by my parents and sister in Indiana.


On a side-note, but also forefront in our minds... Please pray for the people of Kenya, the country in east Africa we anticipate to be our home in a little under a year. You have probably heard the news of the post-election violence and fighting there, cause mostly be age-old tribal differences. We have personal friends, Andy & Lesa Brown, a five-minute walk away from the largest slum in the world, Kibera, where hundreds are homeless after losing their homes and meager belongings to the violence. 600 people have lost their lives, from the last report I read. Africa Inland Mission has set up the Kenya Crisis Fund (Which you can find a link to on the right sidebar of this page), which will be used:
To provide food, water, clothing and other commodities to refugees
To rebuild homes of pastors in affected areas
To rebuild churches burned down in the crisis
To assist with funeral expenses of members of the Africa Inland Church who were killed.

AIM will rely on AIM-Air heavily to transport needed food and other aid to areas of Kenya in crisis, which include: Mombasa, Kisumu and the slums of Kibera in Nairobi. We long to be a part of God's human hand reaching out to love His people in Africa in situations such as these. I'm certain you see how great the need is for missionary pilots to fill these roles. Our hearts ache to get there as soon as possible, to add a few more willing hands to this "bucket brigade"of hope.

~Breanna

Kenya photos by Andy Brown
Caravan in Sudan photo by Mike DeLorenzo

We’ve been practically “off the grid” since we arrived in Tennessee seven days ago. While Jerry’s getting an intense Aviation Focus with a topnotch instructor, 20 minutes away in town and cell-phone coverage area; the kids and I are staying at a little cabin in the Roan Mountains with no television, cell phone coverage or internet connection. This place is great for its intended purpose -as a retreat center for anyone in ministry. But for this modern family used to Googling anything that crosses their minds, regularly face-booking and e-mailing… we feel quite a bit cut off. We joke that this is training for living in the bush in Africa. (Although, Jerry notes, at least there we’ll have internet via satellite!)

While Jerry’s down at the airport flying, the kids and I really are cut off as we don’t have a vehicle either. But it does provide me plenty of uninterrupted time to home school the kids with few distractions!! And once “school’s” over for the day, they love walking alongside the creek that runs under our cabin or on the hill behind it. I love the beauty and quiet of it here too except for my dear internet connection I pine for; and the fact that the snow covering we arrived to has melted off and allowed…something…I’m apparently allergic to, to drive me mad as my nose has become a veritable faucet. (Yes, we did venture into town for meds, but they make me so drowsy I have to weigh the benefits of relief and letting the kids run around attended only by a very sleepy mommy!) On the occasions when the kids and I go with Jerry down the mountain into town, we’ve enjoyed the scenery. And Grace noted the relief of pressure in her ears by announcing at one point, “Hey, I have my loud back!” Sarcastically, we celebrated with her.

We decided to conquer our every increasing pile of laundry on Sunday afternoon, when, to our chagrin we discovered the retreat center’s Laundromat was closed. So down the mountain into town to wash clothes and check e-mail we went. At the airport, we learned how much junk mail we were missing. We also discovered Olivia had won 3^rd place in her age group in an art contest she had entered with other home-schoolers before Christmas! She was to make a collage of a family holiday tradition. She cut and glued pictures of her, Grace & Isaiah sledding in the snow and decorating the Christmas tree. We wonder if both of those traditions will be only memories in Africa. I think you should be able to find her name on the website for Miller Pads and Paper (a home-school art supply store out of Wisconsin that put on the contest), but I don’t know for sure and don’t know the website because I’m internet-deficient, you’ll recall J Anyway, please congratulate her when you see her!

Soooo, back to the laundry excursion, we found an open, mostly clean-Laundromat and had everything in a washer and kids mostly content coloring with mom, when more patrons entered and we discovered tour launrdromat was a “smoking certainly allowed” Laundromat! So after the 45 minute wash and half hour dry plus folding time exposure to second-hand smoke, I do have doubts for a load of mountain-fresh smelling clothes. So if you should have the pleasure of smelling us in the next couple of weeks, you’ll understand why we smell like a tiny Tennessee 24 hour Laundromat. About 20 minutes into the washing and already bored coloring with mom, Grace remarked to Dad, “This is way more unfunner than it first looked!”

This post is being made on a very solitary laptop up in Roan Mountain, TN, and will be posted on our blog by my wonderful hubby tomorrow…who by the way is learning a lot from his instructor but at times feels overwhelmed by all there is to be learned or is at times unhappy with his progress (like pattern work….whatever that is J) All to say, He IS doing great, but spending almost eight years as en engineer has rubbed off on him and he wants to be perfect up front!

This coming Sunday we’ll drive to somewhere in Kentucky to meet my parents and exchange children and vehicles. They have bravely offered to watch AND HOME SCHOOL our kids while Jerry takes the Technical Evaluation Jan 15-26 in North Carolina. Please pray for them. J

In conclusion, please remember to be thankful for your home washer & dryer, your internet connection, cell phone coverage, wonderful parents that will watch your kids when you can’t, and please continue to hold us in your prayers, Jerry especially!

As if you couldn’t tell it was me writing,

Breanna :P

Here We Go!

Tomorrow afternoon we'll leave home...and will be gone a whole month. For a family of five, that means lots to pack and plan for! Entertainment for the road, winter gear, diapers, home school books and supplies, clothes, snacks, camera, cat, litter box, cat food, gps, and lots more!! We'll spend two weeks in Tennessee with Jerry doing a lot of flying and studying getting ready for the T.E. (Technical Evaluation....yes the one we keep talking about and have been preparing for a looooong time, or so it seems, the one Jerry must pass so our acceptance with AIM-AIR - at least with Jerry as a pilot/mechanic- can become official official...ready to fly to Kenya official!)
...then the kids look forward to the next ten days being spoiled rotten by Grandmaita & Grandpa Sellers at their home in Indiana while Jerry faces the ten day evaluation in North Carolina. Breanna will tag along as moral support.

We crave your fervent prayers for this time!! We know God is in control, and will trust...but need the holy spirit's calming of our sometimes fraying nerves. We'll try and keep you updated here as much as possible (assuming we have internet connections where we'll be staying, don't about that yet!) Please pray the kids travel well and handle separation well(maybe we should be praying for Breanna, here!) They don't spend this much time apart from us normally :)

Since we don't yet have trip photos...here are some from our awesome Christmas together here in Minnesota.