One Week!

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

Joe's Uniform Shirts Arrived!

Together Hiking Time in Boise!

Time with Cousins!

Hiking in the Idaho Woods with Family

February: Packing and Clicking

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, p^ha (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. 

3300 miles...

Cessna 206 in the MAF Hangar in Nampa

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.

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Monson