AHHHHH, VACATION AT LAST

Day 1 of vacation and only 2 calls to/from MMS for Mary and 1 for Dennis. That's pretty good for us - so far, vacation is a success :-) After lunch out at Chicago Pizza (where Seniors get their drinks free with the buffet on Mondays), it was time to head to Zanesville for a little tool shopping errand (the one type of shopping Dennis actually enjoys). Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart here we come!Okay, let's try this thing out! Well, it was fun (?) while it lasted, but back to WalMart to return the paint spray gun (which did not work as well as Plan A's old paint gun try). Time to put Plan C into action. At least, I'm counting on Dennis having a Plan C (and I hope it's not for me to paint the fence by myself again with an old fashioned paint brush).

What do "accountant types" do on vacation? While Dennis is trying to make at least a little progress on painting the fence, I thought I'd organize some of our own paperwork, work on our blog, and a quick link to Facebook. It's pretty slow going with dial up internet connection. After several frustrating attempts to upload photos, I think I'm about ready to head to the barn, clean some stalls, and see if I can find a horse to ride. After all, I am on vacation :-)

These two REALLY know how to enjoy a vacation!

GOING BY AIR

Yesterday, it was "brought home" to me once again what a valuable tool the airplane can be. A 3 day trip was reduced to 1 day. 2 days of travel were reduced to 4 hours of travel. No overnight lodging was required, no gas stops, and only 1 meal. And - that's here in the United States.




Williams Cheng (Gospel Carrier Intl) graciously agreed to fly Dennis, Tim and I (in a Cessna 310 that MMS maintains for his ministry) to JAARS (support arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators) for a conference with JAARS' Chief Inspector regarding FAA Repair Station work orders and JAARS' procedures.

After a short meeting with Ken (JAARS' Chief Inspector), we went to the Parts Department to talk with the bookkeeping and receiving departments to see how their system was linked (we even got in a little "grandparent/Facebooking" conversation time). After lunch, the afternoon was spent going over Standard Operating Procedure Manuals and Repair Station work orders.

As we were leaving, Jim told me that when he became a JAARS member in 1969 there were only a few translations (it was approx 10) of the Bible in the area Wycliffe served. Now there are over 700 translations, allowing those "people groups" to hear God's Word in their "heart" language. Many people in places that could not be reached without the use of the airplane.

It was good to take a day "out of the office" to see God at work in so many ways.

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES

July is hay making season for us. Thanks to the generosity of the friend who gives us his field and another who lends us the equipment, we are able to continue using horses for a ministry to others (something I thought I would have to give up when we went into missions over 20 years ago). After watching the weather forecast, co-ordinating schedules, and arranging vacation leave, we were ready to begin cutting hay Monday morning. As you can see, it was a beautiful, sunny, low humidity day, with a slight breeze to dry hay.

Two neighbors volunteered their help. Two friends serving here with us at MMS came to help, one brought his son for the experience (see photo of Noah transferring hay from bailer to wagon). Noah was a reminder of the days our own son has baled hay with us.

Once again, the hay has been provided for another year of ministry with the horses God has given us.

A BUSY FEW MONTHS

I knew I hadn't "blogged" for a long time, but 2 months is quite "a stretch". The month of May found us putting over 3,000 miles on our Subaru as we traveled at least every weekend, as well as mid-week on some occasions. It was a wonderful time of visiting family and support team, celebrating birthdays, etc.
One of our favorite times in June is when Adam and Melissa take their youth group to S Carolina for evangelism and discipleship training. Levi, Ethan and Anna spend that week at our house. We always have lots of fun. Here is Ethan taking his first ride on our 2 year old Haflinger, Spirit.

We took a week of vacation and spent time at Rolling Ridge Animal Park, Heini's Cheese Factory (took a tour - everyone especially enjoyed the many free samples - did you know they make chocolate fudge cheese :-), swimming, biking in the local park, McDonalds and Wendy's, and making Father's Day Gifts in the garage with Dennis (I admit I was a little nervous when I saw the table saw in operation, but was thankful for goggles and hands on protection from grandpa), and Logan, Ohio's Washboard Festival.

Our first week back from vacation, Richard and Ashley Whittemore came to MMS for their missionary candidate evaluation. Missionaries with SCORE, Richard and Ashley were accepted for apprenticeship with MMS once their support is raised. There are now 5 families raising support to begin training. We had fun getting to know Richard and Ashley when we hosted them at our house for dinner Thursday night. Our Haflinger, Brenda, was a big "hit" as Ashley spent some fun time horseback riding.

As much fun as it is to meet the new families, part of MMS is saying goodbye to those you have come to love and serve with for the past few years. David Mozombite and Gertjan Kamphorst have just passed their FAA exams and now have their A & P licenses (Airframe & Powerplant). This means they are "moving on" to other ministries to fly and/or repair airplanes for those ministries. This was a celebration dinner hosted by Gertjan & Glenda. A new experience for us, grilling your meal while you visited.