Tuesday, June 12, 9:30 am. Our last breakfast in the USA with our parents was complete. All 13 checked bags had been weighed and re-weighed; each was just under the 23 kg limit. Our 4 large carry-on bags were packed and pretty close to the 8 kg maximum. Personal carry-on bags full of child entertainment items? Check.Time to load all of it into Grandpa Jay's pickup for the drive from our hotel to the Seattle Airport. By 10:30 we were unloading and checking bags at the Lufthansa counter. Grandmas Holly and Janet kept an eye on the kids as we processed the totes and bags holding almost everything we own.
Our Checked Luggage is Loaded!
Breakfast Hugs!
All the activity of the morning had kept our minds from the inevitable final goodbyes. Now with only our carry-on items we lingered at the entry to the secure area to take some photos with our parents and have our last hugs. Now it's real. We are going to Africa!
Bye Grandpa Scott!
Bye Grandpa Jay!
Bye Mom
Bye Grandma Janet
Grandma hugs are the Best!
Grace's New Friend
Of all of us, Grace seems to be the most excited. She sits down at the gate and immediately makes friends with a family from Montana who is on our flight and bound for Paris. She is delighted when she finds out that the mom's name is Karen!
Tuesday, June 12, 1:30 pm. We board the plane and are ushered to our seats. Now here is a pleasant surprise! We had extra room in our row that allowed us to stand up in our row and to let the kids walk around. Karen had called the airline a few weeks prior to request a child bassinet for Tim, but was denied. Since she could not have the bassinet, she asked the agent if she could do anything for us. The agent told us she would give us seats with extra room. We did not realize how much room this afforded us. Truly it was God's blessing to have all this space for our kids on our flights.
Look at all that legroom. We were able to play with the kids on the floor!
All Ready to Go
Wednesday, June 13, 8:30 am, Frankfurt. After 10 hours of flying and losing 9 hours to time zone change, we disembarked from our aircraft and cleared customs. As planned, we had a long layover to sleep before our flight to Johannesburg. We feel pretty disoriented as we wander through the huge Frankfurt airport, but we do manage to stop for some German soft pretzels. Grace and Tim devour them as we make our way onward to the in-airport day room. Too bad we only have 3 of our 4 carry on bags as we leave the shop. Who needs that pesky roller bag when there are pretzels to eat?
Pretzels!
Wednesday, June 13, 6:00 pm. Good thing we got some sleep, because as we gather our bags to check out of our room, we finally realize that our bag is missing. We are certain that we left the bag at the pretzel stand, so we retrace our steps as best we can in our jet-lagged state. It's a race against time because our flight is at 10 and we need to re-clear customs, get through security and get to our gate by boarding time. At last we find the pretzel stand. The girl behind the counter texts her co-workers and they tell her that that the police took the bag a few hours earlier. There's hope! Off to the lost-and-found. Too bad it closed at 6 pm. We find a friendly policeman and ask him for help. He finds no trace. Well, time is up; we have to get to our flight. We are again blessed with the row with extra space.
He's finally asleep and Mom can rest
Sunrise over Africa
We are really in Africa!
Thursday, June 14, 8:30 am, Johannesburg. Our second 10-hour flight is complete and we are in Africa! We are able to text our MAF program manager, Matt, about our arrival. He is waiting for us just outside of baggage claim. All of our baggage is waiting for us and nothing appears to be damaged. The porters help us load it all onto several carts. As we pass through customs, the agent beckons us over to the X-ray machine, but as advised, I tell the agent that we are going to Maseru and we have only personal items. He waves us on. Thank you, Lord! With the help of our awesome porters and Matt we navigate half a dozen elevator rides on the way to the MAF van. Only one more leg on the journey remains; the drive to Maseru. We begin the journey south with Matt and Carolyn. Why is Matt driving on the wrong side of the road?? After a few miles kilometers, the kids fall asleep. The scenery reminds us a little of Central Washington State, except that we see a wildebeest and an ostrich.
No, You are not looking in a mirror- Right hand drive cars and left side driving are the thing.
Matt, our Program Manager and Awesome Driver
Thursday, June 14, 4:00 pm, Maseru. Matt tells us that the mountains we see in the distance are Lesotho, and a few kilometers later we see the sign for Maseru. We have arrived at the border! Out come the passports and birth certificates. The kids are not happy to be awakened. Matt begins to whoop with delight when he sees that the line at the border is only 2 cars long; the best he has seen in months. We try to say lumela, ntate (a respectful greeting to an older man) to the border agent. He says all kinds of words back and then tells us hello and welcome in English when he sees our blank expressions. After 5 minutes of driving through Maseru, we arrive at our house. Most of our MAF team is there to welcome us and help us carry in our luggage. A fire is burning in our coal stove. Bryan and Mari make us dinner, do our dishes, and then depart.Beds and furniture have been loaned to us. All we have to do is collapse into bed. Tomorrow we will unpack and begin our life here.
Border Crossing into the Kingdom in the Sky.
Total trip time from HOTEL to HOME: approximately 46 hours.
Home!
Thanks to all of you for your all your kind messages over that past few weeks. Above all. thank you for your prayers. The trip went so well; we praise and thank God for overseeing that. We have been supremely welcomed and blessed by our team here in Lesotho. We look forward to working with the team to bring the love and hope of Jesus as we together serve the people of Lesotho. PS: After just over a week here we are doing great; Joe is driving, Karen has been shopping several times, and we are almost fully unpacked. We had a visit to the MAF hangar where we were introduced to our team. Jet lag is mostly gone and the kids are sleeping normally. We have begun language training. Recently we tried authentic local food and loved it. Oh, and the bag left in Frankfurt? We are still chasing it down. Stay tuned for more details.
Mountain Airstrip During Joe's Standardization Flying
March, April and May passed in a whirlwind of training, packing, repacking, more packing and goodbyes. We are within a week of stepping on an airplane in Seattle to begin a 40 hour journey to Maseru, Lesotho. "How long will you be gone?" has been a common question over the past few months. This query gives us pause because we don't quite know ourselves. We intend to be out of the United States for a period of several years and to only return for relatively short visits for at least the next decade.
Grace's Birthday Party at MAF housing in Nampa
Wilson Bar Airport - Flight Standardization Training
Flight Planning During Flight Standardization
Even though we have known that this is coming for a long time and have been working toward it as a goal, now that it's happening, it is a big change for us, for our kids and for our families. We will be moving to a place that does use English but also uses several other languages, one of which (Sesotho) we will intensely study and learn to speak. Regardless of the langauge, the culture is far from our own. Due to the nature of work in which we are engaging, we will see people suffering and dying. Our children will grow up thinking of Africa as home and wondering why we talk about the place we go every few years on vacation as "home." They will see their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins perhaps once a year, when either they visit us, or we visit them. Everything we own right now fits into the back of a pickup truck and will be going on the airplane with us to Lesotho.
Aircraft Inspection During Maintenance
Standardization Training
Magneto Inspection During Maintenance Standardization Training
Tim Helping Dad Work on his Bike
Making Memories in our Hometown
How do we feel about all of this? How can we describe feelings we don't fully grasp ourselves? Our overriding emotion is true excitement and anticipation at the privilege of bringing hope and help in the name of Jesus to isolated and suffering people in Lesotho. We know this is God's calling for our family and that the gifts and passions we have fit well with the mission we have been given. Nonetheless, we are giving up culture and country, face-to-face time with family and friends, and the comforts of life as we know it to fulfill this call. There is loss there, and the many goodbyes of the past few weeks put an exclamation point on some of what is being left behind.
Grandpa Love!
Goodbye Hometown!
Alison Ranch, ID - Where Postcard Photos Come From!
All our stuff, Packed for Africa
Field Orientation Training at MAF Headquarters
Goodbye to these three!
Yet, the wistful feelings for the people we are leaving highlights the fact that our Creator made us for relationship. We were made to be in relationship with God, with other people, and with the creation around us. As we have prepared to serve in this mission we have seen these relationships grow and improve. Karen and I are so happy that we are on this journey together. We have grown much closer as we have mentally, emotionally and vocationally prepared to go. Along the way, we have also developed deep friendships with those who have encouraged us, as well as with those who think we're crazy (yes, we know you do). We also have learned to trust in God and believe in His provision more deeply as we have moved toward this mission. We have seen that our own strength is feeble and foolish and that His power is made perfect in our weaknesses, when He enables and we follow. The journey of preparation alone has made this quest worth the sacrifices it has required.
Fishing With Grandpa!
We also know that it is easier to be optimistic and passionate during the honeymoon period of this journey. We do appreciate your continued prayers for us and our family as some of the harsh realities become clear when the inevitable culture shock sets in. Even now we occasionally find ourselves on edge with big emotional reactions to mild stressors. The joys of the chaos of transition!
Joe Gets a Break while Another
Standardization Pilot Flies
Put the back of your hand close to your mouth and say out loud: "pill." No, really, try it. OK. Now, with your hand in the same place say "spill." If you are a native English speaker, you probably felt a puff of air hit your hand when you said pill but not when you said spill. Intrigued? The p in spill is known phonetically as an unaspirated voiceless stop, whereas it is an aspirated stop in pill. Why is this important? Because many languages begin words using both aspirated and unaspirated p's or t's. For example, in Thai, pha (aspirated) means cloth, but pa (unaspirated) means "aunt." English speakers have trouble differentiating and saying unaspirated stops at the beginning of words without receiving training. So you could accidentally call an aunt a piece of cloth! OK, if you're still reading, thank you for being patient, and, you're probably also a geek, so the past two weeks learning about phonetics and other subjects surrounding acquisition of a second language would have been as
fascinating for you as it was for Karen and me. We came away from our Second Language Acquisition training with CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) both with an appreciation for the challenges of learning a second language and with a plan and a set of tools to meet that challenge head on. We also learned a bunch of awesome terms like fricative, alveolar, labiodental and schwa.
If you've been following our blog you know that we will be moving to Lesotho in Africa in June. The language spoken there is one of the African Bantu languages. English is widely spoken in the capital city of Maseru where we will be living. However, to effectively communicate with the hearts of the people, especially those in the mountains, we will be spending our first months in the country learning how to speak Sesotho with a language tutor. In order to take the most advantage of the tutor and to speed our acquisition of the language, we attended the SLA program at CIT in Western North Carolina. Both Karen and I came away with a detailed plan to learn Sesotho, a plan that fits our situation, our learning style and our aptitudes. We are looking forward to putting these plans to work when we arrive.
How to Learn a Language Domain
One of the challenging aspects of the Sesotho language is the alveolar click which is not a sound made in English. Though we aren’t good at making the click yet, our phonetic coach helped us start making the noise. If you want to hear it, go to this video. We were really impressed with the how the training program also had a structured lesson set and personal instruction for Grace, to help her to acquire language learning tools so she can learn along with us in Lesotho. It wasn't all work in North Carolina; we had weekend getaways and the kids had a great time. First the big news: Timothy is now a mobile crawling boy. He is also a scientist who is carefully investigating gravity by dropping his food from his high chair after he is no longer hungry. After being freed from the high chair, he takes up the task of exploring and finding treasures of food that he earlier dropped (yuck). Grace, as always, made several new friends, young and old. She also loved going to the "castle" (the Biltmore estate in Asheville) and to real bat caves where we saw an underground river and experienced total darkness. Parents also forged good friends and enjoyed fellowship with our class of 18, all of whom are headed to other continents with the calling and the heart to share the love and hope of Jesus with people of another language and culture. The quiet of the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina gave us opportunities for quiet walks and good rest. Babysitters let us get away and spend time with friends and as a couple. We felt refreshed and blessed by our time there.
Biltmore House in Asheville
About to enter Linville Caverns
Linville Caverns Interior
Almost 10 Months!
As I write this, we are at 38,000 feet on
our way back to Portland. We will be there for just 3 days as we pack up the last of our goods and move out of our apartment. Fortunately we have sold and sorted almost everything in the first two weeks of February before heading to language training. The chaos was real, but now the end is in sight. On March 1 we begin 10+ weeks of training with MAF in Nampa Idaho, that will culminate in our commissioning as field staff in May. After we spend a little more time with our families to say goodbye, we are departing for Lesotho in June. We appreciate the support
The Depth of the Chaos of Moving (it's better now)
and prayers of so many who have gone with us on the journey. We are blessed beyond our comprehension to be going with a purpose to do what God has called us to do. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Karen has written several updates recently, and this time it's my turn (Joe). I love flying airplanes and I have a lot of friends who fly and who are also passionate about aviation. So, some random thoughts on flying, things I've done and what I know so far about flying in Lesotho.
Flying is not "just a job" for me, and it was not initially a career goal. As a kid I did look up in the sky a lot at airplanes and wish that I was flying, but due to economic constraints and parents' concern for safety, being a pilot was not something that I perceived as in the realm of possibility. As at result I came to aviation at almost 30 years of age when I rode with my younger brother in a rented Cessna 172. I was hooked from that point. Karen could see how interested I was and for my birthday in 2010 gave me an introductory flying lesson and a headset. I don't think she realized at that time what a large life change her act would cause. Hopefully she would do it again!
For those of you who are not aviators, you must realize that ratings or certificates in aviation never end. I can guarantee you that the most accomplished pilot is either consciously or unconsciously yearning for the opportunity to fly a different aircraft, or even better, to earn another FAA rating or certificate. Most of the time, an aviator has a mental list of the next achievements he or she wants to attain. Sometimes these are official ratings and sometimes they are personal records or personal goals. There are practical or career reasons for these attainments, but not always. Many times an aviator will get a rating "just in case" or to qualify for an aviation job he or she is dreaming about.
Using myself as an example, as of today, I'm an instrument qualified single and multiengine land-aircraft commercial airplane pilot as well as an instructor for single engine airplanes, including instrument instruction. I am also a airframe and powerplant mechanic. Since I have my dream job with MAF already, I have little reason for career advancement purposes to achieve more ratings. Yet I have a list of desired ratings which I want to attain, for personal fulfillment and a sense of achievement: high altitude endorsement, tailwheel, single engine seaplane, multiengine instructor, air transport pilot (ATP), commercial rotor wing, mechanic with inspection authorization (IA). Time and expense may prevent achievement of some of the goals, but I can always dream!
Karen with my airplane the day I flew it home
Shortly after I became a private pilot seven years ago, this ratings game plus the desire to be able to use aircraft as a real transportation tool drove me to get an instrument rating (a pilot is properly trained to fly through clouds) and then a commercial certificate (so I could be paid to fly). I also began to want to fly faster aircraft than I could economically rent where I lived in Pullman, WA. So I talked myself into buying an airplane. After some research I narrowed my options down to a few different models but there was really only one option for me in my search for speed: a Mooney. I purchased a 1967 Mooney M20F in 2012 and owned it for just over 2 years. I used it for customer service for our family business and for many personal trips with Karen. The ability to go in a straight over mountains and across country at nearly 200 mph brought us to several states and many adventures. Some of the trips in the Mooney stretched my abilities as a pilot, and though I made mistakes, God kept us safe.
Safety was actually indirectly how I got into missionary aviation. In an attempt to be a conscientious pilot, I periodically attend FAA conferences related to aviation safety. In 2013, shortly before the birth of our daughter, I attended one that turned out to be a mission aviation safety conference. Though I had previously possessed a vague awareness of mission aviation, at that conference, I had my first exposure to missionary aviators. I found out that with my degree from Moody and my commercial pilot certificate, I only needed an mechanic certificate to qualify to be a missionary pilot. Over the course of the days after that conference I began to realize that God had been preparing me all my life for mission aviation. I was overjoyed at finding a way to fulfill my call to serve God in His kingdom while helping others and engaging my passion for flying. You can read more about my passion and calling here.
But first I had to become an aviation mechanic. It would have been nice to keep my airplane and keep flying while I studied to become a mechanic, but as always in life, there was no way to have it all. So I made the decision to quit my job in the family business, sell my airplane and go all in on an aviation career by becoming a CFI (Certificated Flight Instructor). After several years as an amateur pilot, I was finally becoming an aviation professional. As I studied and prepared for this role, I quickly realized that I had a long way to go and a lot to learn. Fortunately, I had a great and patient teacher in Theresa Nelson at Aero Maintenance in Vancouver, WA, and ended up working for a very professional flight school, Hillsboro Aero Academy, in Hillsboro, OR. Meanwhile, I attended Portland Community College to become an A&P.
I have flown a couple different models of Cessna 206. One of them was for a technical evaluation with MAF, and is the same model that I will be flying in Lesotho with MAF, a T-206G. Before we go to Lesotho I will have opportunity to do a few weeks of training with MAF to standardize on their SOPs and operations in this model. All MAF pilots go through this standardization and I am getting more and more excited about this training after watching several videos posted by other MAF pilots who have gone through this process. To get their pilots ready to fly in challenging mountain terrain and to give them confidence to safely land on airstrips in these mountains that are sometimes less than 1000 feet in length, the MAF standardization takes place in the mountains of Idaho near the MAF headquarters. The terrain and mountains there are remarkably similar to those in Lesotho, where I will be operating the 206 on dirt and grass airstrips that are 6-10,000 feet above sea level.
Mountains of Lesotho
I find aviation to be immensely satisfying, both as a commercial pilot and as an instructor. As an instructor, it's tremendously gratifying to see a student progress and take on the role of being a pilot.
Besotho woman with baby in MAF airplane
They may struggle but then they "get it." They have the satisfaction of having worked to overcome an obstacle to success. They learn to make smart decisions, to be disciplined, to be methodical and to not let the unexpected fluster them. I have the privilege of guiding them in that process, and I get to learn along with them. Often, I have to overcome my own frustration. Many times I realize that I don't know what I need to when I have to explain or demonstrate something to a student. But the net result is that we both learn. I also love introducing people, and especially young people, to aviation. General aviation epitomizes the freedom and community that can be had as a result of investing concerted effort in responsible use of a shared system. General aviation pilots in the United States have the privilege of flying almost anywhere they want and mingling in the same airspace with airliners carrying hundreds of passengers. This privilege is a result of substantial training and careful attention to safety and good judgment that the vast majority of pilots exhibit. It's a special community of which I am humbled and happy to be a part. When I take a young person on an introductory flight and see their excitement and joy as they take the controls of the airplane, I am hoping they will catch the bug and invest the time and effort to become part of the aviation community. I can also use the airplane as a tool to save lives and bring hope to those who have lost hope. How blessed I am to be able to do something I love to help others!
This summer, we logged over 3300 miles on the road. In June we traveled from Portland to peaceful Priest Lake for family time and then to Nampa, ID for MAF orientation. After five weeks there it was back to our hometown of Pullman, WA, on to smoky Coeur d'Alene, ID, and finally past the recent wildfires in the Columbia Gorge on our way back to Portland a few weeks ago. Though we had a great time visiting many dear friends, it is nice to be home (and back in our own beds). Joe is happy not to have to pack and unpack the car for a few months!
MAF assisting in St. Maarten 2017 following Hurricane Irma
Photo courtesy of MAF
Our training at MAF Headquarters was an intense five weeks of mostly classroom training. We learned about MAF's locations of service around the world and how MAF does more than just fly airplanes. For example, we use our technology resources to quickly establish satellite communication after a natural disaster, so that hospitals and disaster response teams can coordinate their efforts. Recently MAF disaster response staff arrived on the ground in St. Maarten, an island nation in the Caribbean that has been devastated by Hurricane Irma. They are assessing the situation to determine how MAF can use our aviation and communication services to best help those in need. MAF pilots also completed an aerial survey over Haiti that was used by both MAF and other organizations to assess the needed response after the passage of the hurricane. This type of collaborative service and coordination with various non profit organizations is a big feature of MAF's ministry.
Another part of our MAF orientation was security training where we learned ways to stay safe overseas (including doing some fun evasive driving maneuvers), as well as ministry partnership training where we learned how to share about our journey to MAF and what the organization does.
Us with the other crazy pilot families
My favorite part about training was feeling like I was part of a new family with MAF. It is a place where I can belong, grow, and have fun! MAF is a place were each person's different skills and gifts are celebrated and can be used to serve God and bless others.
Joe's favorite part about our training was seeing how collaborative MAF is with other organizations. He loved learning how they use their logistical expertise to creatively share Christ's love with isolated peoples.
Gracie loved having lots of outdoor space to play in and meeting lots of new friends. She got to go to her first movie night at a friend's house. Timothy also did really well and charmed everyone with his smiles.
Timmy and Gracie giggles
Gracie with her new friends in Nampa
AND a pet frog!
Many have asked us, "So, what's next?"
Our full-time job over the next couple months is building a team of financial and prayer supporters for our ministry in Lesotho. Our goal is to complete this task by February.
Once we have raised all of the ongoing monthly support needed, then we can begin 12 final weeks of training: language learning, cultural adaption, flight standardization and maintenance standardization.
After that, we will almost be ready to leave for Lesotho! A few final things remain including packing, immunizations, passports, visas and saying goodbye (for now) to family and friends.
We hope to arrive in Lesotho by summer of 2018.
Although it seems like there are still many things to do before we can go, we do not view this time raising support as simply necessary to get done before we can go. It is an opportunity for us to spend time building relationships through listening to others, praying for them and sharing with them the vision God has placed in our hearts.
It has been amazing to us to see how God has been confirming our decision to move overseas and preparing us to go. We can already see how this time of preparation will be one of personal growth. I hope to write more in another blog post the ways we see God shaping and refining us. One of the things I love about this journey is the constant challenge, and sometimes painful push, to reexamine who I am, to face my fears and anxieties, and to surrender more fully my needs to God's will and timing.
We will share a story from the Lesotho team in our next MAF newsletter coming in October. In the meantime, we want to share a few recent photos from our teammates in Lesotho! If you are not receiving our MAF newsletter, feel free to sign up at www.maf.org/adams.
Lesotho is south of the equator, so this is a photo from an MAF flight this August.
Photo Courtesy of Bryan Scott Eygabroad
Matekane Airport in Lesotho with a 1,300 foot runway that extends to the edge of a 2,000 foot cliff.
A takeoff from this runway is quite thrilling (or terrifying) as the terrain drops away suddenly.
We have been in Nampa, Idaho, at MAF for just over a week. It has been a whirlwind of training, orientation and exposure to the mission, vision and values of the organization. We have learned what MAF has done in the past, how its scope includes much more than just aviation, and its plans for expansion and improvement in coming years. The more we find out, the more excited we are to be joining this organization that is so passionate about sharing the love of Jesus with the world.
MAF Plane In Beautiful Lesotho (Photo courtesy of MAF)
All of our training sessions culminated yesterday in an assignment to MAF's Lesotho program. The Kingdom of Lesotho (pronounced li-SOO-too), is a small, mountainous country located entirely within South Africa. Lesotho is the only country in the world that lies entirely above 3,281 feet in elevation. While beautiful, this small African nation is crippled by poverty, famine, and HIV/AIDS. We look forward to learning from the local people and sharing in their struggles and joys. In Lethoso, MAF serves 12 rural mountain health posts from 22 dirt airstrips carved into the nation’s rugged mountains. Since 1980, MAF has provided safe, efficient air transportation for the Lesotho Flying Doctor Service (LFDS). We look forward to serving the people there alongside MAF's existing staff.
We will be sharing more about Lesotho and what we will be doing there soon. For the next month, we are continuing training here in Nampa. Your prayers and encouragement are much appreciated!
