It Is Finished!

Our presentation is complete, along with a powerpoint slideshow and a short video! We'll be presenting tomorrow morning in front of lots of people we've never shared with before, so it will be just like the real thing! We will also be going as a couple in front of a mock mission committee, and they'll ask us all kinds of questions.

Joy is feeling a little better, but the cough is still hanging on. Thanks for the prayers. I think we're both glad it's getting to the weekend--we need a break. Next week we'll be designing and writing our first official MAF newsletter (and it might be different than the ones you've been seeing lately). We'll be polishing our phone skills and learning how to meet with pastors. Then they're going to give us a nice lunch and kick us out the door.

Off to dinner...see ya!

Of Presentations and Illnesses

The past two days have been filled with creating presentations, practicing them in front of live audiences, and refining them as folks provide their input and criticism. We've been coming up with videos and powerpoints to use during our presentations, and collecting pictures and music to incorporate as well. Joy and I are both pretty tuckered out from constantly thinking, speaking, and listening to pointers and input. We're also studying MAF under a microscope, to prepare for meetings with church pastors and mission boards. We need to know how MAF operates and how they do things so we can answer any questions that may come up during the process. We've got a lot on our plate right now; I wish you could see how feverishly I'm typing, so I can get back to powerpoints and presentation materials! As if all this wasn't enough, Joy hasn't been feeling too well the past 5 days, and isn't really getting any better. So today I made her go to the doctor and they said she probably has some kind of viral Bronchitis--not good, especially when you're in front of a lot of people trying to give a presentation and you keep coughing! Luckily, I haven't really been affected by whatever she has! Please pray for Joy, and that she will get better.

It seems that the MAF apartments are FINALLY nearing completion...just in time for us to leave! We saw a furniture truck in the parking lot today, hopefully delivering the furniture and appliances that will furnish the new apartments. It will be nice if we do get into one of these, because they're right across the parking lot from the MAF headquarters where all our classes are. So we won't have to go anywhere, we'll just walk across the parking lot to and from class every day.

Ahead of the Game

Our weekend has been pretty fun. We've gotten lots of opportunities to get to know other candidates a little better. We had a game night last night where a lot of us played card games and outdoor family games. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures of it. When we weren't playing games and having fun, we were working hard on coming up with a good presentation, complete with video and slide shows for your viewing pleasure. I think we're a little ahead of the game; our homework assignment was just to think about what we wanted to include in our presentation, but we pretty much have a full rough draft of the entire thing. I guess Joy and I are both over-achiever's or something!

Here's a photo of this summer's new career missionary staff, one of the largest classes in MAF's 63 years of existence! These folks came from all over America, and will be sent out all over the world...Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, and Indonesia! All of these people have responded to God's call as missionaries around the globe. Statistics say that this class represents less than half of all the people who formally trained to be missionary pilots/mechanics. Praise God that He has brought us this far! This photo does not include all the short-term (1 year) missionaries that went through candidacy with us.

Feels Like the Weekend

Yesterday we finished up our Security Training seminar; it was a pretty high stress time and a lot of information. Last night we just went for a drive through the countryside with no particular destination in mind. We stopped along the way and enjoyed a nice sunset, and I'll even share it with you!

We started our ministry partnership seminar today, and found out we have another long weekend. This time though, we have homework to do! We need to think about what all we want to include in our presentation, so when next week rolls around we can practice! I'm not much for speaking in front of large groups, but I guess I'll have to get used to it. We've got a lot of reading and thinking to do over the weekend. Blessings!

For now

Well, we finally heard from our regional director about a possible assignment, and it looks like it will be East Democratic Republic of Congo for now. We still would like to be assigned to Lesotho, and our boss is "keeping an open mind" about things. You can read more about MAF's program there, as well as information on the history and current situations there at http://www.maf.org/congo_edrc

We're going through "security training" right now, and will be starting our ministry partnership seminars this Thursday. We're half way done with the summer training here, and will soon be let loose to gather our team around us before heading off to our assignment.

As always, we welcome your questions and comments!

Some Pictures of the Weekend

Joy and her mom test out a bridge over white waters.

Taking a small rest break to stop and listen to the sounds provided by nature...and to wave at the occassional victim of white water rafting.

Joy making our pizza at the Friday night pizza party.

Road Trip

Well, at least we went on a mini one this past weekend. Joy's mom flew up to Boise and was here to spend some time with us. Saturday we decided to take a little road trip and drive up to Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in the country, but we didn't quite make it! Instead we stop several time along the way and ate a "picnic" lunch at a park well South of the canyon. One of the places we stopped along the road had an old cable bridge that was posted "No Tresspassing," but you know what they say..."Like mother, like daughter!"

Friday night we all went to a "Make your own pizza" party with other new MAF missionaries. Dough was provided, and we all cooked our pizza delight!

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get any pictures to upload, so you'll have to do without the visual media today. Maybe I'll be able to get some up tomorrow. At any rate, we had a nice weekend relaxing, driving, eating pizza, and rafting the Boise River. Today we started security training; two more days of that, and then it's on to Ministry Partnership training. After that, we'll be let loose for six months to find prayer/support partners. Still no update on the country assignment. At least we know where in the world we're going, but we're still waiting on "where in Africa will we be going?"