Tacoma to Portland

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Welcome back to reminiscing with Breanna (written by Jerry). This leg took us to Centralia, where Breanna spent her senior year in high school. We visited a friend, then went on to Morton, a small town in the Washington mountains surrounded by trees. It is where Breanna was born just a few years ago. :)

"Oli the logger" from a picture taken when Breanna was growing up

"Oli the Logger" revisited

We spoke at First Church of God in Morton for Sunday School and during the service. The shirt was a gift from my great uncle Harold on July 7 (see previous post). It came in handy, since it always helps to look nice when in front of a lot of people.

On the way out of town we thought we saw Mt. Adams erupt. Breanna said it looked "like a volcano poof." Then someone flagged us down. "Did you see it! Mt. Adams just blew"

We found out today it was just a forest fire, started by lightning LAST week.

July 7-10

Imagine the most ambitious, consuming, life changing goal in your life. Something tangible, something you can touch. Something you want to guard because you know it sounds half crazy.

Then you sit down with friends and family and put it out on the table - answer any questions, put your heart into it, and ask them to be a part. It is a mix of joy to be sharing this with people you love, but there is also apprehension on how it will be received.

That's kind of what we are doing. Sometimes the response is shock, sometimes it is joy and excitement. Usually they want to think it over.

After we pour out our heart, however, we know this goal of reaching Africa is in God's hands.

And so we pack up our suitcase and move on. Never quite sure of through which means God will choose to provide for His work.

We are certain of one thing. The only complete solution to what is afflicting Africa is grace. There is only one way to break the chain of revenge, violence, and abuse. A belief that compels us on and lives in our hearts. A belief that only God's Son can change the world, one heart at a time ... no matter how hardened or sour. What greater cause could we share?

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Sunnyside

Breanna filming on location in her old hometown, Sunnyside. We filmed the old paper route, and ticked off a local resident who wanted to know why we were driving around with a video camera. The price of memories...

"Home"...maybe not so hard to picture or imagine for many, but for those of us who have grown up in multiple locations, home is sometime just "where the suitcase is". But I was glad to be back in Sunnyside, my home from 1985-1990, where I had a paper route, had my first boyfriend and was baptized. The Sunnyside Church of God, where Mom and Dad pastored, was the church that sent a team on a missions trip to Costa Rica in 1990, that led to my family moving to Costa Rica as missionaries....probably the earliest step in MY journey to the mission field in Africa!!! (because it planted the love of missions and other cultures in my heart). 

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with my BFF, Sarah and her family, and other friends who my heart swelled to see and learn how well and happy they are.

Sunday morning, Jerry and I spoke at the church and enjoyed lunch out with a group from the church. It was a joy to be surrounded by these familiar faces from long ago that all had a hand in the development of my spiritual life!

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We took a breather Sunday afternoon to catch a movie.We left Sunnyside this morning and high tailed it to an urgent care clinic in the "Tri-Cities" area. I started feeling rotten when we got after church and lunch on Sunday (at least it was after!!)...it was an infection I've experienced before, and knew I needed medication before the pain got worse. 

Praise God, though a little long waiting in the examining room, I got my medicine and am already feeling better!

 We drove north to visit with some of Jerry's family in Moses Lake. They surprised us with a birthday cake and even homemade ice cream to celebrate Jerry's 31st birthday a day early! Thanks, Aunt Grace & Uncle Harold!!

Tonight we're in Spokane with a friend of Jerry's from Dallas days. They are enjoying catching up, reminiscing and talking shop (He's a missionary pilot too!). I enjoyed playing with their darling nearly two-year old, that made me miss me nearly three-year old all the more!! Love you, Olivia, Grace & Izzy! Miss you!

P.S. (from Jerry) The catching up with friends and family is always wonderful. However, the true nature of our trip remains very critical, even though it does not lend itself to photographs, it is constantly ongoing. We are excited today to learn that with a recently added member to our team, our monthly support level is now 54% !! Climbing slowly but steadily (the airspeed indicator will be updated at our next breathing spot!). Thanks for coming on this journey with us!

Walla Walla to Sunnyside

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Much shorter drive today. I spent the time working on sending out our electronic newsletter, while Breanna drove.

When we first arrived in town she said she didn't recognize anything. This was the last place she lived before moving to Costa Rica. I was beginning to wonder if she was the native Sunnysidian I imagined her to be. Then we passed Skipper's and everything was familiar.

We plan on going with Sarah, Breanna's childhood friend, to see fireworks tonight. Breanna keeps looking for a newspaper to read about the events tonight, but I think she just wants to look at our picture that Sarah told her about.

We will call people and hope to meet with them tomorrow.

Along our trip so far, everyone has been very interested in our future involvement in Africa. It is always exciting to share our vision and see people respond.

This Sunday I will be speaking at Sunnyside Church of God.

Ogden to Walla Walla

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We actually slept in this morning. I had calculated the wrong departure time to be able to meet a friend of ours in Nampa for Lunch. So, while the extra sleep was wonderful after the long drive through the night, Breanna had to make several phone calls and sheepishly explain we were off of our planned ETA's!

We arrived in Nampa, ID at 2:30 and had a great time with our friend Tony from LeTourneau. We also met his fiancee, Janat.

Here would be a picture of them, except we forgot to pack a mini-usb cable to dump our pictures from the camera onto the computer!

We are now in Walla Walla, WA. That's a lot of w's and a's. We are staying with some friends overnight.

News from the home front indicates the little people are less restless and things are feeling more like normal.

On the phone, Grace whimpered, with a bluesy tone, "Dad, I miss you sooo much ..." Then two minutes later she asked, "Can I go watch the rest of my movie now."

Wall, SD to Ogden, UT

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Jerry drove 98% of the way here from Minnesota. I'm useless when driving at night. So I only did the last 2 1/2 hours of Wyoming to Ogden.

Jerry teased me when I was talking to my mom on the cell phone and the call was dropped a couple times. I told mom it was the, "ups and downs" in the road. 

Jerry reminded me they're called "hills". Funny guy.

The mountains here are beautiful and our priceline hotel find awesome...beautiful rooms, the most comfortable bed ever! Perfect for catching up on all that lost sleep before  our drive to Boise, Idaho in the morning.

Please pray fervently for our kids and Jerry's mom, Phyllis. We talked to them and it seems their day went well, although the girls had a tiff, and I think that combined with her first day of all the responsibilities overwhelmed mom. We have full confidence in her, though. Things will get better for them and they'll find their groove, but please keep them in your thoughts and prayers!!

And We're Off!

...Like a herd of charging turtles. We had planned to leave at noon yesterday, but our last minute "to dos" coupled with the more pressing need of finding a phone for Mom to use while we are gone (since we have only a cell phone and no home phone), changed our minds for us about our departure. We ended up leaving 1am-ish to two crying children (the other was asleep, fortunately). They kept asking, "Why do you have to go," and the more soul crushing, "I don't want you to leave." 

Jerry asks me to pray as we drive off, saying dryly, "We're gonna need it!"

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Last Day, Here we go!

Friday was Jerry's last day at the hangar.

Today Jerry's on the second leg of the drive from Dallas, TX. to here with his mom, Phyllis, who will bravely watch our three kids, while we drive and visit the west coast for three weeks, catching up with friends and family and sharing about our journey to the mission field in Africa and how we will get there!

We will REALLY miss the kids. And as we learned from our January trip for the TE, we will miss them more than they will miss us (Grandparents are just a whole lot of fun!!) So please pray for us,
Olivia,

Grace,
and Isaiah

especially at night when their absence will be felt most! (he, he!! Jerry will not be happy I posted this. He rolls his eyes at my love of pictures of him and the kids sleeping)

I am not sure if this is the start of the “big plunge” after climbing the start hill. That’s always the most anticipated part on roller coasters, right? Yesterday I finished up at the hangar where I have been working for the past ten months. Now I am a passenger in an Airbus A319 airliner somewhere over southeastern Colorado and heading to Dallas at 39,000 feet.Earlier today I flew with Cameron and Chris in a single engine Piper from Worthington to Omaha. Chris is the next Proclaim candidate and will takeover at the shop as well as flying.
The flight seemed significant to me. As I made my way to a shuttle to take me to the airline terminal, Chris jumped into the pilot seat to fly the Piper back. A completed transition ... I’m moving closer to the mission field, and Chris is coming up right behind.
I have mixed emotions. Leaving is hard, but it is satisfying to think of the new guys that are stepping up into a desperately needed role in the farthest corners of the Earth.On the flight from Omaha to Denver I whipped out my handheld GPS to get a better idea of where we were (the onboard maps have these annoying commercials that keep popping up!) I felt like I was cheating as I could see the oncourse direct route and see we were a little off as well as 200 feet below assigned altitude. It was almost like peeking in on what the pilots (well, OK the autopilot) was doing. I am sure it was the GPS that was in error.

On the ground, I remember a time at Cessna when we were developing the flap system for the Citation Mustang. An issue came up on how slow was too slow for the flaps to move. One engineer reported, after returning from California on the airlines, all the flap speeds he observed on that trip by looking out the window. 72 seconds for one type of Boeing, 47 seconds for another ... The Airbus I was riding on to Denver retracted full flaps in a stately 11 seconds. :)
In Dallas, I will stay overnight with Dad and Mom and also my brother, Steve. It has been awhile since I have been to Dallas. Tomorrow after church, Mom and I will drive back to Minnesota. She is going to watch the kids while Bre and I meet up with as many people as possible in July. Mom is really excited about this chance to care for these three... spirited grandchildren. The kids are excited too. Mom will continue to be my hero, especially during these weeks!
This is an exciting change for us. As the unknown seems to loom ever larger, and our pulse quickens, I am acutely aware of my Provision. God has cared for us even when we thought we were caring for ourselves on our own. He will surely be with us as we plunge further, and further, down (referring back to the roller coaster analogy, definitely not the airliner I am in!)

July Travel Plan

First to Idaho, then Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona then back home

Faith Lessons from a Five Year-Old

Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited friends from Wichita, meeting part way in Omaha. I (Breanna) took the girls to a small water park while the guys went to the Strategic Air Command museum.

Olivia and her friends, Abbey & Madelaine, that were closer to her age, went down the water slides all afternoon. After coaxing Grace to go down the shorter “mild” slide on my lap, she exclaimed, “I though that was the end of my life!” So I took her to the kiddy pool area, with a toddler-size butterfly slide. She stopped at the top, and I thought she said, “first I want to play.” So I turned around to look for other things to do in the kiddy area, but heard Grace talking, but not to me. She said, “Dear God thank you for today and help me to be brave and go down the butterfly slide, amen.” Then without a moment’s hesitation, she went down the slide.  

Ever since, she’s been a true model of “praying without ceasing”. She prayed her computer game would load on the computer. She prayed her friend Brit’s kite would fly. She prayed that Jerry would be able to drive the lawn mower out of the mud it was stuck in. 

We chuckle at the things she prays about, but shouldn't. She's teaching us a great lesson about praying no matter what the issue, or how important it may seem to others. 

Even so, we couldn't help a chuckle when she prayed that we wouldn't die in Africa (after we'd watched a movie in which a boy in Africa dies from a snake bite)

Butterflies

Homeschooling is amazing. The world is your classroom instead of the classroom being your world. I (Jerry) just usually see the highlights, but recently the girls had a fantastic project we could all observe. A kit came with a jar of caterpillars and a gel at the bottom for them to feed on.
The caterpillars swelled over a two week period from barely visible to large, juicy, hairy wrigglers. Then they climbed up the jar and attached to the lid. They shook and shook, stopped, then shook some more. Over the period of several days, they finished their chrysalis.
Then all was still for a long time. Then one by one new creatures emerged. They looked quite different and had beautiful wings - useless at first, but they held them up for a while as they dried into something capable of carrying their body through the air.
What really amazed me, however, was that not all the butterflies emerged. In fact, the instructions with the kit say it is normal for several caterpillars to not make the transformation.
I thought of myself, especially my courage. My thoughts of butterflies always assumed it was a natural progression for a caterpillar. I never thought of the risk. Could I allow myself to go into an unconscious state in a cocoon with the hope of emerging a brand new incredible flying being, knowing that at the same time this might be my very last breath?
I also think of Jesus’ poignant observation: “...whoever loses his life will preserve it.” I confess, I want Jesus to transform me, but I don’t like to think about the risk too much. The analogy breaks down with the bullet proof guarantee given by God. I won’t die in the cocoon. The transformation will happen, but I have to be ready to give up everything.
So, let me slip into a silken mummy bag of sorts. Everything is out of my control except to trust that God knows what he is doing. When I open my eyes, what will fill my vision? Wait and see, wait and see together.

Gearing Up

Our LAST yard sale is over. Yes, I mean it this time. It took a week of sorting, hauling, pricing, setting up and then slowly turning lobster red sitting outside praying for customers to come by. Profit-wise, it was mostly a flop, but it did get us to sort and pare down the belongings we toted here from Kansas. 

We're now ready to PACK for AFRICA!!! Why are we packing already? Because the 7 months remaining before we leave for Kenya on January 9 will be busy. Here are our tentative plans:

June: Jerry finishes his last month working as an aircraft mechanic with Proclaim Aviation. We'll compose and send a newsletter to update you on what we've been doing and where we're going. We'll plan upcoming fundraising trips, because filling our outgoing and monthly support funds is all that remains to get us to the mission field! Please e-mail us if you, your church, small group desire a vist & want to hear about our journey to Africa: (for our e-mail, see this link)

July: Jerry & Breanna travel to the west coast to raise support. Jerry's mom has graciously agreed to come here from Texas and stay with the kids the entire month. We'll be back to celebrate Olivia's 10th and Isaiah's 3rd birthdays at the end of the month.

August: Jerry & Breanna will travel to Kansas and Texas to raise support. The kids will stay with Breanna's parents and younger sister in Indiana.

September-November: Two weeks much anticipated family vacation, a breath before the plunge. Then 10 weeks of flight training in the science of being a safe bush pilot in North Carolina.

Thanksgiving and Christmas with family along with lots of packing and good-byes.

January 9: Fly out of New York for Nairobi, Kenya in east Africa!!!!

Quote

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
-Winston Churchill

Quote

Do you think God would have allowed His son to be ripped to shreds ... If He knew that there was another way to Him.
-Erwin McManus

Trip "Back Home" and Snow Birds

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.