Missionary Pilot Family: June 2018

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!