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Lightbulb the Lizard

Dustin has for a long time now been very interested in lizards. One of his regrets is that he can't live in the States and have a pet iguana. There are iguanas in Ecuador, but so far we haven't figured out how to get one in Shell. Months ago I asked Dwain out in Makuma to keep his eyes open for a large and slow moving lizard for Dustin. Yesterday he told me he had one, and today it came in on one of the MAF planes. It's a beautiful lizard, and Dustin is ecstatic. One of the other MAF families had a rather large aquarium they were willing to part with, and tonight after dinner we went over to buy it from them. After cleaning it out, filling the bottom with some dirt, adding a large flat rock and a couple branches, the new home was ready. Dustin thought the name Lightbulb sounded good, but I notice he keeps calling it Lizzy. We'll see which one he finally goes with. I think he'd forgotten that we had asked Dwain to find us a lizard, so he is one happy kid tonight.

Copius Clouds

One of the things I really like about living in Shell are the clouds. They are spectacular. Here are some clouds after a rain storm at the end of the afternoon. The view is down the road towards Puyo.

Makuma Mail Fix

Late last night I received an e-mail from the author of the radio e-mail software I've been using to send/receive mail with our MAFLink clients in Makuma. He's been working with me to fix three problems we found with the software when we implemented it here. He told me where to download an update and asked me to try it out. It was too late to come over to the hangar and do that, so I logged into the server from home, grabbed the update, and installed it. The problems we were experiencing are gone, and I hope this will be a long term fix. I think time will tell though, as it's a bit soon to say everything is OK. I'm so thankful for prompt and solid support from the programs author. Woo hoo!!

Wednesday Afternoon

It's been a busy day, but not too hectic. At least from my perspective. It's a warm afternoon, and the NSMS kids (all 18 second through eighth graders) are going to the pool for their swimming lesson/PE class. I'm sitting here downloading patches and updates for Windows 98 so I can burn them to a CD. Most of the computers I maintain are Win98 SE and I recently lost my CD that had some updates on it. So I've decided to make a CD with all the updates. The guys are busy flying. Bruce and Dan are both flying and the weather has been good. Dave is about to take off with a load of sightseers--three working visitors and a short-term teacher. They all want to get out and see the 'jungle'. Brian came down from Quito in HC-BZE, and he's on the bus right now heading back to Quito. The plane is going to stay here for maintenance. Right now Bruce has started working on it. He's going to re-install a radar unit that used to be on the plane several years ago. It's a long story, but the radar is back now--minus part of the mounting unit. So Bruce is going to have to manufacture that part, and figure out how to do it so he can get the unit aligned properly when it's installed.

Just A Wire

I took this photo yesterday when the traffic was backed up in front of the hangar because they re-painted the line on the road. As I looked at it, I noticed the two sets of wires crossing the street from the hangar roof to the roof of one of the MAF house's across the street. Those wires are quite important, and very central to the electronic communication work I do here.

By the way, we've had to work hard to get those wires strung high above the road. It's been a while since it happened, but way back in early 2001 a truck with a tall load ripped down the phone wires. We were without phones and an internet connection in the hangar for several days. Usually what happens when there is a really large load is that a guy will stand on the back of the truck with a long pole and push the wires up so the truck can get by! It's quite a sight!

Makuma Matters

It looks like we're finally making some headway with the computer problems in Makuma. I was not able to get Glen's USB printer to work with his laptop when I was out there the other week. After I arrived back in Shell, I downloaded the updated driver and an un-install utility as well as the directions for the procedure necessary to get things to work and sent that out to him on CD. Today I received a note back saying that they got the printer working with the laptop.

Jim had been trying to get the library computer working on the local area network and he also wanted the operating system to be Spanish. Once we reinstalled the Spanish operating system, the network connection was lost. In the end I sent him a different network card and the necessary driver. Today I heard from him that he got it going.

I also heard from Dwain today. He had sent me his computer last week and it wasn't working. I checked things out, and was able to get it going. I'm still not sure what the problem was, but I think it might have been resolved when I took out the memory modules and reseated them.

What has been most frustrating though, has been the problems we've had with the new radio e-mail software. The mail does transfer, but we've had missing lines in the messages, trouble with attachments, and problems with the way messages display in the inbox. I've been working with the author of the software, and today he thinks he found the problem. That is very good news to me. Now I'm hoping and praying he'll be able to figure out a solution.

More On Monday

It looks like Brian is heading right back up to Shell. There's a baby down here that is very ill and needs to be transferred to the hospital in Quito. I had thought about going along, and taking Dustin, but I'm going to pass. Dustin had braces put on the top teeth a couple weeks ago. Almost the first day back in Shell, we started having trouble with one of the wires. Finally, it broke a couple days ago. He has a scheduled appointment next Monday, and I've decided to wait for that instead of trying to get on this flight and force an appointment in today or tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I took out a pair of wire cutters and snipped off the offending wire!

Oh, about Betto and his wife. They didn't come down after all. They were able to get the surgery done in Quito on Saturday.

Monday Again

The weather is good and Bruce and Dan are off flying. It was a busy weekend. Fred worked Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is a day we schedule flights and the weekend pilot flies them. That same pilot is also on call on Sunday in case there are emergencies. There were enough emergencies on Sunday that Dave also came in and flew a second plane. The Quito plane is coming down with Brian this morning. He'll have a full load, and then he's going to stay the week. Brian will be doing a PFR (performance flight review) with Fred this week. I think Brian will be bringing Betto and his wife down with him, as well as two other guests. Betto works for us up in Quito. Over a week ago his wife fell and hurt her arm. She did not get a good diagnosis and it turns out that her arm is broken in two places. She'll need surgery and needs a pin, and they would like to have that done at the HCJB hospital in Quito. But the $500 deposit is a problem for them, so we are flying them down so they can have the surgery here at the HCJB hospital in Shell. I don't think they need to pay the deposit if they have the surgery done here. Not sure why, but I think that's the reason they want to come down here. More later.

Riding With The Dogs

It was a later start than I intended, but at 8 AM I was on my way to Hola Vida. It's normally a trip we make in a vehicle, but today I was going there by bicycle. Hola Vida is a small nature preserve where we enjoy hiking the trail to the spectacular waterfall.

Several years ago, when we first arrived in Ecuador, I was very nervous to ride my bike outside of Shell. The reason--the many dogs that like to chase bikes, especially gringos on bikes. I even went ahead with the rabies vaccination, despite the fact I can't stand needles. I wasn't going to take any chances with those dogs. Now that I've been on many rides here, I don't think twice about heading out on the road on my bicycle. On the routes I normally ride, I know where all the dogs are. No problem. But when I head out on roads like the one to Hola Vida, those dogs are strangers to me.

I have a variety of strategies. If I'm riding faster than 17 MPH, then I can likely outrun them. But that takes up a lot of energy if I have to do that many times on a long ride. Another option, if I'm going just around 15 MPH, is to steer right at the dog at the last second. This forces them to jump out of the way, and throws them off balance. By the time they figure out what happened, I'm gone. If the dog is small and yappy, I'll stay just ahead of it to tease it a bit--it's not going to catch me anyway. If the dog is big, I might stop before I get to it, and pick up a rock or two. Normally that's enough to make the dog lose interest in me. Another technique that works well if I'm in a place where I'm riding slowly is to slow to a walking pace and tell the dog 'no'. They usually listen.

I don't know how many dogs chased me today, but I do know I rode 44 miles and had a wonderful time doing it. It didn't rain on me, and the road was almost dry. There were a few muddy spots, but nothing terrible. A great morning. Next, a ride to Arajuno. That will be in a week or two.

NSMS Fine Arts

Tonight the community gathered in the library media center at the Nate Saint school for a Fine Arts program. The entire student body participated, as well as a couple of the ninth graders in Shell who don't attend Nate Saint school. Dustin and Taylor were great. Taylor recited a Shel Silverstien poem, 'Smart'. Dustin participated in a choral recitation of 'Casey At The Bat' with three other boys in his class. There were almost one hundred missionaries and their children in attendance, and we all enjoyed refreshments afterwards. Now I need to head to bed. If the weather is good, I'm going to get up early and go on a forty mile bike ride out to Hola Vida.

Water On The Floor

I was home for my Spanish lesson this morning when for some reason I needed to go downstairs and out the back door--and I found the floor in the laundry room covered in water. The washing machine had overflowed. My Spanish tutor never arrived, and I headed over to Jungle High to help them with a couple computer software things. While I did that, Ron came over to the house and took a look at the washing machine. Turns out the switch that turns off the water when it gets to the desired height is not working properly. He's going to try and fix or replace it. Just as there are those who are glad I'm here to help with e-mail and computer problems, I'm glad Ron is here to help with maintenance and home repair problems.

Battle Against Corruption

If you have a minute, here's an interesting article on a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow to Ecuador. He's in Quito today, and he says, "Ecuador needs to tackle corruption and control spending to rebuild confidence shattered by a 1999 default and attract investment to its oil industry."

Snow is to meet later today with Ecuador's Finance Minister Mauricio Pozo and President Lucio Gutierrez. The new government was elected in November on Gutierrez's promises to reform congress, fight corruption and reduce poverty in the oil and banana exporting Andean nation.

"What he needs to do, and he campaigned on it, is first of all deal with this corruption issue, which is a wet blanket on investment,'' Snow told reporters today after he arrived in Quito, midway through a tour of South America.

More On Short Strips

It turns out that we are still operating on airstrips shorter than 500 meters. I had reported earlier that we had been told by the Civil Aviation Department that we couldn't use strips that short. We've actually received conflicting reports at our three bases of operation in Ecuador. It appears the Civil Aviation Department hasn't quite got their act together on this decision. That's great news for the indians who live at these short strips and rely on them. Some of the strips would require a lot of work to lengthen, while there is no way to lengthen others.

Teachers Needed

We're in need of two more teachers at the Nate Saint Memorial School for the 2003-2004 school year. We are looking for teachers with a teaching credential from their country or state, and who have at least a year of experience. Oh, they also need to be a Christian. The openings we have are for kindergarten and for either grades 5-6 or 3-4. If you are interested (or anyone you know), send me an e-mail.

End Of The Day

It's almost the end of the work day, but there is still work to be done. Oscar is out running up the engine on HC-BMO. They are finishing up an inspection on that plane. Panchito just finished fueling HC-BXK while Patricio loaded the plane. They were readying the plane for a flight first thing tomorrow morning. Right now Panchito is out washing HC-BQV. With all the mud out there on the jungle s, and ten or more takeoffs and landings a day, the planes are washed 3-4 times a week. The pilots are out in the small conference room having a pilots meeting. It was scheduled for Thursday morning, but they are all here now, so it makes sense to meet now. That way they can get an earlier start tomorrow. That is, if the weather is good.

Flying Today

Thy guys have been busy today. That's in contrast to yesterday, when it rained most of the day. Yesterday Dave managed to get a flight in very early, and that was it. Today the Quito plane has been down here twice, each time with two pilots. Bruce went up on Monday. He's based in Shell, but today he flew the Quito route twice, once with Brian and once with Mike. Brian and Mike are the two pilots stationed in Quito. Bruce isn't yet checked out on the route, but he soon will be. It's a bit different than flying in the jungle, as it requires flying up the BaÒos pass, and then on over at 12,000' pass to reach Quito. There is often a lot of instrument flying on the route, and altitudes up around 15-18000'.

Dan flew today, as well and Fred and Darryl. Darryl was up from Sucua for several days so he could complete a PFR (performance flight review) with the regional chief pilot, Fred. Fred is based here in Shell. Along with the PFR they carried passengers. At any rate, it was good to move some people and cargo today. Right now the wind is picking up and the rain is moving in.

Oh, I just found out the scoop on Bruce. He went up to Quito for his physical. The guys under 40 go once a year. Older than that and you go twice a year. You also have to complete a certain number of instrument hours to renew your license. He forgot to keep track of all his instrument hours, and was short. So by flying back and forth from Quito twice today, he picked up more than three hours of instrument flying just today. I imagine he flew under the hood most of each flight to get those hours.

Another Trip

I'll need to make another trip to Puyo. Paid the people at the pizza place the money we owed. But when I went to pay my ticket, I was told that the ticket wasn't in the system. The clerk pointed out that I had ten days to pay. It was if he was trying to tell me, "Gringo, you have ten days to pay, so why are you here the very next morning?!" So, as is usual when I need to do something at the police station, I'll have to make another trip. At least.

No Change

You know, the really crazy thing is that I can't go just yet. All I have is a $10 bill, and I need to find change first. I just know that if I show up at the police station to pay with that large a bill, they won't have change. It's so typical here that it's frustrating.

Stopping At The Corner

Ah, the joys of living in a foreign country. I just came back from my Spanish lesson. That went well, but we haven't met for a couple weeks. I've done little homework in that time, but have practiced my Spanish in daily living situations. Because Spanish study isn't my main focus, it can be slow going at times, and that is frustrating. But, my IT job is my priority, and it does take up a lot of time. However, I certainly do need to know Spanish, even though almost all of my work is done in English. Last night we went out for dinner. Ellyn wanted to try a new restaurant in Shell. It was closed, so we drove on to our usual, La Casona de Maria. But, as soon as Ellyn walked in, she walked out. She saw what was being served, and decided she'd pass. Maria serves what is called a 'merienda' where everyone is served whatever she made for that meal--no menu. So that meant it was off to Puyo, as there were no other places in Shell where we wanted to eat. On the way we discussed whether we'd go for pizza, Chinese, or typical Ecuadorian. Three of us opted for Chinese, but Taylor wanted pizza. Wouldn't you know it, but the Chinese place was closed! So that meant we'd go around the block to pizza. At the intersection where there is a stop sign for other traffic, but not those going in my direction, I saw the intersection was clear, and started my left turn. Rats! I missed the policeman who was standing in the middle of the intersection with a white hat and whistle! I was immediately pulled over by two other policemen and given a ticket! I was supposed to have stopped, but somehow missed that. I'm going to go in and pay the ticket today, and I hear it's only about $3 or so. We'll see. At any rate, we finally made it to the pizza place. Ellyn ordered, and ordered a small pizza for the boys--half Hawaiian, and half pepperoni. Guess what? We ended up with two small pizzas--one Hawaiian and one pepperoni. So by the time we went to pay, we were $5 short. No, we didn't have to do dishes. We just asked the owners if we could come back today and pay. And of course that was OK. Guess I'll head down to Puyo in a few minutes. And of course, I'll drive carefully!

PhotoShow

I just finished trying out a new program called PhotoShow. Here's a slide show with some photos of the work in Ecuador. (It's a 4.5MB download and you'll need Flash 6 to make it work.)

Work This Week

I was looking forward to getting started at work today. I'm using a new system to transfer radio e-mail out to Makuma, and it hasn't been smooth sailing. I'm trying to figure out why parts of some messages are being lost, and why some messages that come through the system show up in the user's inbox without a sender or subject. Imagine trying to go through an inbox full of fifty messages when you can't tell who any of them are from or what they are about until you open them! I've been working with the writer of the program to try and figure this out. It's been disappointing to run into these problems, as I was really looking forward to using this software, and had heard such good things about it from other MAF IT people.

Something else to be excited about though, is the receipt of some donated items. One of the readers of this journal has sent me quite a few items, including mice, keyboards, network cards, CD-R drives, and hard drives. What a blessing that is. All the items are very useful and certainly needed. Most of those items came down to Shell with our program manager, who had been at an MAF managers' conference in Florida the past week. He also brought back a couple new motherboards which I had ordered. I'll try to install one of those tomorrow, although I'll likely get started this afternoon.

I've also been helping some of the non-MAF missionaries with their computers. Miriam, a community health nurse practitioner with HCJB, has brought me her laptop to take a look at. Nothing major, but a few things to tweak. Reinaldo, a missionary from Columbia who works with the Waorani indians brought me his computer to take a look at. Again, nothing major, but he had questions he needs answered. And as soon as it can get in on one of our flights from Makuma, I'll have Dwain's computer. Dwain is with Gospel Missionary Union and does Bible teaching, leadership training, and church planting work with the Shuar indians. His computer is a different story, as it seems to be really dead. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Flying

The Quito plane, HC-BZE, is heading back up to Quito for the second time today. Brian is in a hurry this time, as he'd like to beat the late afternoon weather in Quito. It will be almost 3 PM before he gets there, and that's about the time the afternoon thunderstorms are likely to roll in during this time of year. On this flight he's taking back some of the MK high school students who go to school at the Alliance Academy in Quito. The two pilots from Sucua, Darryl and Chad just flew in also, Darryl will be staying here in Shell a couple night, but Chad heads back to Sucua this afternoon. Dan is out flying around, and he got a late start this morning. Not sure why, but it was probably because of poor weather in the jungle. Dan was on call Friday, and he picked up a couple emergency patients. I'll have to ask him about the patients we picked up this weekend, and pass that info on to you.

The Mower

OK, I can't resist. I'll show you a photo of the lawn mower I use. You'll laugh when you see it. It belongs to the program, and I use it to mow our small lawn. The program has a larger mower, and someone to cut the grass, but that large mower won't easily fit in our yard, so I mow it myself. Yesterday I fought a little more than usual to get the mower started. Out of that frustration came this photo.

The Weekend

The weekend is almost over. It seemed extra long, and I guess it was. I went over to the hangar to work on Friday, and the place was locked up. Of course, it was Good Friday and we all had the day off. I worked a half day anyway, to make up for some time I lost when I went to Quito earlier in the week. Not sure which day it was, but we enjoyed watching the C-130 one afternoon. It comes in and out of Shell on a regular basis, and is always exciting to watch.

Saturday was a bit more domestic, and I mowed the lawn and washed the truck. It was hot, and when it was all done I took the boys up to the river for a swim. Unfortunately the river was high and brown, so we didn't swim. It wasn't safe for the boys. I've swum in it when it was that high before, but it seemed a bit smelly to me for some reason, and I didn't even want to get in at that point. Too bad, 'cause I was looking forward to a nice cool dip in the river.

Today we went over to the Manock's house for a tasty lunch. We even had ham, something we rarely get here. I was so stuffed after dessert, but a ride for an hour and a half at the end of the afternoon was just what I needed. It didn't even rain, so that made it a really nice ride.

Assassination Plot

The news is a bit old, but I'll post it anyway. A week ago Ecuadorian police said they had learned of an alleged plot to assassinate President Lucio Gutierrez.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Visit

VOA News article on US Treasury Secretary Visit to Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia.

Basilica Del Vota Nacional

Dustin has wanted to visit the Basilica in Quito for a couple months now. The past couple years the kids visited the Basilica when they went on the Quito field trip. This year they did some other things instead. So, I told him I'd take him sometime. Turns out we had time to do it on Tuesday morning this week. Dustin didn't feel too well when he woke up, but I bought him a Sprite, and gave him a painkiller. I figured he wasn't feeling too well because of the altitude and the fact that he probably hadn't had enough to drink. We got on the trolley and headed down to old Quito. The trolley is very cheap to travel on, but also a great place to have your wallet pickpocketed. For that reason I left my wallet at home and was travelling with a few dollars in my sock. The trolley was a bit crowded, but a lady noticed Dustin wasn't feeling well, and let him have a seat. Once we got off the trolley, we walked up hill for a block, very close to the Basilica. Dustin had sat down once or twice already, but by this time he was sick, and threw up in the gutter. He was ready to go home then, and I didn't blame him. But, I convinced him to walk on up to the front steps at the Basilica and wait ten minutes to see if he wouldn't feel better after he threw up. Sure enough, we went on, and twenty minutes later he was fine. The Basilica was built at the turn of the last century (boy, that's confusing now, isn't it? Let's just say at the end of the 1800s) and because folks around here aren't concerned with liability, much of it is open to the public. Even way up at the very top of the bell towers. It's outrageous, full of awesome views, and not a place for those scared of heights. In this photo I've circled the two towers you can climb to. The one on the left is way up there. When we got to the highest level we were above the bells. This photo is taken from the tower circled on the right in the previous photo. I've circled a person there so you can get some perspective. And finally, this photo of me is taken at the top of the clock/bell tower, at a point that I circled in the photo with the two circles on the towers--the left circle. Follow all that?! Anyway, it was a great time for the boys as they climbed and explored.

Back To Shell

Taylor and I took the bus back to Shell yesterday, arriving about 2:30 PM. As usual, it was good to be home. Lou the Beagle and Lucy the Scarlet Macaw were very happy to see us again. Our trip home was uneventful, and Tay was a real trooper riding home on the public bus. That's not always easy, and can leave one a litle out of their comfort zone. We made one stop in Ambato to stretch and change buses, and then on home. The trip by bus takes about five and a half hours and costs $5 a person. Not too bad for an economical way to travel. The downside is that you can't practically take much stuff with you. You can put a suitcase under the bus in the compartment, but there is the outside chance that you could have it stolen.

Ellyn and Dustin are on their way down right now on the bus. They could have stayed until tomorrow as they had a ride available in an MAF van, but they just want to get home. They just missed an MAF flight by about an hour or so, but the plane left before they were done at the dentist. Dustin had a tooth pulled yesterday, and then today had braces put on the top teeth. I talked to him on the phone for a minute, and he was in good spirits, and his mouth didn't hurt. That's good, as otherwise the bus ride wouldn't be very fun.

Spring Break In Quito

The family is up in Quito for the week. Actually, Ellyn will likely be here until Friday with Dustin. I will be heading down to Shell tomorrow with Taylor. This trip we all rode the inter-provincial bus up here. It is a little cheaper that way than driving the borrowed vehicle that we have. Also, we do not have to put wear and tear on a vehicle that belongs to someone else. (This is hard--the keyboard here at the internet cafe is a spanish keyboard, and I can not figure out how to make the apostrophe, thus, no contractions.) Bottom line is that Ellyn needed to bring Dustin up to start the process of getting braces, and I needed to show here how to ride the bus, as she had never done that before. We will be making the trip once a month, and if we need to we can take the bus. Our first preference would be to hitch a ride with others where possible. It might not be as convenient as getting braces in the US, but it is cheaper to get braces here.

Survivor Marathon

Someone put three tapes of Survivor Thailand in our mailbox yesterday. I was a bit hesitant to watch them with the kids, as my past experience with the show hasn't been all that positive. But we decided to try it as a family. We started about 7 PM and finally went to bed after midnight--and we still weren't done. All the episodes have been on the tapes so far except one. And, it's been the cleanest Survivor I've seen. Not that I've seen that many of the shows. (The commercials are something else though. After having been away from US TV for three years, I've become sensitized to the amount of inappropriate junk there is in just the commercials, let alone the shows themselves. Makes me realize just how desensitized I was when living in the US.) Maybe we'll find out who the last survivor is today, as we're watching some more right now. Taylor needs to leave for a couple hours this afternoon to go to Joel's birthday party, and I plan to ride for a couple hours during that time. Towards the end of the afternoon we'll be getting ready for a trip to Quito this week.

Frustration

I'm finally getting around to making this web log page fit the look of the rest of our site. It's taking a bit of time, and there are a couple things I just can't get to be the way I want them. Web page pusblishing can be so frustrating sometimes.

You've Got To Be Kidding!

I just sent out an e-mail update yesterday where I talked about one of the MAF guys here being able to have a ministry with local Ecuadorians because he knows Spanish well. I felt like my ministry could only be to the other missionaries because of my lack of ability to speak Spanish fluently. Here's the rest of the story...

Our family was coming back from the school about 7:30 PM. Dustin wanted me to get some tennis balls down that had gotten stuck up under the cancha roof. So Ellyn came along to help me get the school's extention ladder down from the eves where it's stored. After we were finished with that, I headed over to the hangar to pick up my backpack and computer which I had left there when I went for a bike ride at 5 PM. As I reached the end of the driveway, I saw an army officer walking down the road towards me, and I was a bit surprised that he stopped to talk to me. He was looking for a couple women who he was going to practice English with. I was pretty sure he was at the wrong place, but knew that likely he was looking for Dan Edward's house, just next to the school. So I walked over there with him. We found out that yes, the women he was looking for do take English lessons at Dan's house, but the classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays. The officer said he'd be back for the next class. His English wasn't bad at all, and he really wants someone to practice English with. As we walked back out to the road, I told him maybe I could practice my Spanish with him and he could practice English if we met a couple times a week. We exchanged phone numbers, and as we did he told me what he did for the army. He teaches basic computer classes! He's 33 years old and has been in the army since he was 20. He will be in the army until he's 40, as he's made a career of it. In Ecuador, every 18-year old is required to serve a year in the army. When he gets out of the army, he's not sure what he'll do, but he knows that his purpose now is to learn English. Now, how's that for an opportunity beyond providing e-mail for missionaries!?

Hoffman Family Udate

[I'll post this here for those who aren't on our mailing list. I mailed this out today.]

Greetings from Shell,

I've got a minute so I'll fill you in on the happenings here in Shell. The Lord continues to bless us in our work here, and I'll try to share what we've been up to this past month.

I'll start with the boys. They are getting close to the end of the school year, and still working hard. Taylor came home with a beautiful hardback book about George Washington that he bought from his teacher with 'bucks' that he had earned for his school work. He is so very proud of that. Dustin went on a field trip to Quito at the end of March. Each year grades 5-8 spend three days in Quito for research at the Alliance Academy and to have some fun in the city. This was his first year to go. That was exciting for him. He almost didn't make it though, as he had some sort of flu just before the trip. He was still a little sick the morning they left, but by day two he was much better. Ellyn went up on the bus with them, and stayed at a different place from the kids, running her errands. One afternoon she and Dustin went to the dentist. Starting this month we'll be making monthly visits to Quito as Dustin will be getting braces.

I still have some work around the house to finish the window project. MAF contracted to have the windows installed, but it's now up to me to do the finish work, which entails some caulking and painting. With the new windows in the house, Ellyn was inspired to paint the front door black, and was pleased with the results. She's spent quite a bit of time the past couple months helping some of the other ladies decorate their homes. She's very good at that, and the results are always amazing to see. We live in a remote place without all the 'comforts' of the US, so it's important to make one's home a comfortable haven. Ellyn knows how to do that, and likes to share that ability. Besides all that, she also continues to serve some of the single missionaries with a meal once or twice a week. It's easy for her to make a little more than we'll eat as a family, and then deliver that to Bruce, Faith, or Carol.

The other evening I was heading up to Faith's house to get a replacement modem set up on her computer. I passed by the place where one of the MAF pilots was meeting with several of the local men to study the Bible. I felt a little discouraged for a moment, thinking how limited I was because I didn't speak Spanish and couldn't do anything like that. By the time I was done at Faith's house, I realized, once again, that my ministry is to the other missionaries here, making it possible for them to keep in touch with those back at home. Whether it's keeping in touch with family members at home, or staying on top of financial situations that need to be taken care of, the e-mail service is essential to the missionary living overseas.

I just returned yesterday from an overnight trip to Makuma. I installed a new HF radio e-mail system out there. That was a blessing and a relief for two missionary families out there, as they had been without e-mail for a couple weeks. Both couples have grown children in the US, and two of those children are involved in the war in Iraq. You can imagine how badly those families want to be able to get news from the outside world. I still have some kinks to work out of the system, but for now they are able to send and receive e-mail once again.

Please pray for the three missionary families there in Makuma. They are getting close to finishing a translation of many portions of the Old Testament in the Shuar language. The Shuar have had the New Testament in their language for quite a few years now, but the New Testament only makes sense if you have the Old Testament too. As is typical with Bible translation projects, it seems the closer the translators get to the end of the project, the more technical difficulties there are. Besides the e-mail system I set up, each of the guys had a list of things they wanted me to do with their computers and printers. Thankfully I was able to get through most things on the list. Pray for the Lord's blessing and protection on the translation work, and even the specific computers that are being used.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Makuma Trip

I just returned yesterday from an overnight trip to Makuma. I installed a new HF radio e-mail system out there using UUPlus. That was a blessing and a relief for two of the missionary families out there, as they had been without e-mail for a couple weeks. Both couples have grown children in the US, and two of those children are involved in the war in Iraq. You can imagine how badly those families want to be able to get news from the outside world. I still have some kinks to work out of the system, but for now they are able to send and receive e-mail once again.

Please pray for the three missionary families there in Makuma. They are getting close to finishing a translation of many portions of the Old Testament in the Shuar language. The Shuar have had the New Testament in their language for quite a few years now, but the New Testament only makes sense if you have the Old Testament too. As is typical with Bible translation projects, it seems the closer the translators get to the end of the project, the more technical difficulties there are. Besides the e-mail system I set up, each of the guys had a list of things they wanted me to do with their computers and printers. Thankfully I was able to get through most things on the list. Pray for the Lord's blessing and protection on the translation work, and even the specific computers that are being used.

On Final At Rio Amazonas

I'm not sure why, but the airport here in Shell is called Rio Amazonas. We're not close to the Amazon River, but sit next to the Rio Pastaza, which is a large tributary of the Amazon. Yesterday I was ready to head to the house about 5:30 PM, and stopped to take a photo of Dan landing in Shell. The ridge behind him is called Penny Ridge. I'm not sure of the details, but that's the name the MAF pilots gave the ridge after one of the pilots who was here many years ago was involved in a accident with that ridge. When the pilots are checking weather and visibility, that ridge is used as a checkpoint, and if they can see the ridge, then the weather is clear enough in that direction to take off.

MAF Base

As I took off on Tuesday on my way to Makuma, I snapped this photo. Usually our planes take off in the other direction, and I've had few opportunities to get this picture. But on Tuesday the wind was minimal, and I asked Fred to take off in the direction that would allow me to get this photo. Number 1 is the old MAF hangar which was used until about 1981. This was the original hangar used by Nate Saint back in the '50s. Number 2 is the Nate Saint house. Number 3 is the house we live in. Number 5 is the MAF hangar. There are five MAF families that live on the MAF base, and there is one home you can't see in this picture. It's off to the right.

I should also mention that the trees behind our house is what my boys call the 'jungle. It's a steep-sided gulley with a stream at the bottom, and is very much like a jungle. It's a fun place for them to go play and make paths with their machetes. Down in the stream bed we've come across the old hydroelectric system that Nate Saint built back in the fifties. Of course, it's not used any more. That's Loren in the photo. He was one of my students back in the 2000-01 school year, when this photo was taken. He's now a sophomore at the Alliance Academy in Quito.

Where's All The Water?

It's really amazing to live in a place where it rains twenty feet a year. It's especially good that I don't mind all that rain, or it might be miserable. That's an average of .7" every day! But, for the past couple days we've found ourselves rationing water on the MAF base.

It all started late Sunday night when Ellyn and I heard the pump for the pressure tank running every ten minutes. I went out around midnight to check on things, but I didn't know that much about the system at that point, and wasn't sure how to shut it off. It was obvious to me that there must be a leak in the system somewhere, as the pump normally runs every thirty to sixty minutes during the day, and only a couple times at night. The pump and tank is right next to our house, so we hear it well, and the other families don't notice it as much when it is/isn't running. By 7 AM Monday the leak was found--a broken water pipe by the Harcey's house--and Ron had things fixed by noon. But the next problem was that our water reservoir has been seriously drained by that point. The reservoir is filled with a combination of city water and rain water off the Nate Saint House roof. We had a normal amount of rain the past few days, but that alone wasn't sufficient to fill the tank. By late yesterday we realized that we also weren't getting any city water. This morning Ron found the problem--a broken water line just past our base, which mean that the pressure in the line was low and it wasn't allowing the water to go down the tee and into our reservoir. Upon a little more investigation, we found that once Ron fixed the break, we still weren't getting water. Turns out someone had shut the valve off and water couldn't flow onto our compound at all, even with the break fixed! Wonder who did that? Maybe the people who live farther down the hill thought they might get some water if they turned it off to our compound? I'm not sure. The other thing I'm not sure about is how water can sometimes be such a scarce commodity in a place where it rains so much. And we're not alone on our base. Many Ecuadorians don't have good water storage systems, and constantly deal with a lack of water in their homes.

What Not To Do

How many times have you been told not to criticize your spouse in public? It seems the wife of the Ecuador's president doesn't mind sharing her views on her husband's government.

Quiz Time

If you really know your geography, you'll know which currency is used in Ecuador.

MAF Staff

I was able to get a photo of almost all the MAF staff in Ecuador. This was taken Sunday afternoon, after our lunch together. I say almost all, because Mike and already gone to the hangar to pre-flight his plane for the flight to Quito. We have nine pilot families, two maintenance specialist families, one avionics technician family, and the support team of teachers, information technology, and maintenance families. It's a great team!

Monday Again

I'm trying to get things ready to go out to Makuma. I've put in a request to fly out tomorrow and spend the night. I need to install a new HF e-mail system. Today I'm making checklists and going over them two and three times. You can't be too prepared--once you get out there, if you've forgotten anything, it's too late.

On top of that, I can't believe it's Monday again. I've lost track of how long the server in Makuma hasn't been working, but I'm sure it's too long. I'm sending mail back and forth on floppy disk when there is a flight.

Conference

Since Thursday evening the entire MAF staff in Ecuador has been together in Shell. We're here for a Christian Community and Team Building conference. I was surprised out how large our group is when we all get together. We have three bases in Ecuador: Sucua, Shell, and Quito. There are three family units in Sucua, three in Quito, and the rest are here in Shell. I believe we have thirteen family units here in Shell if I'm not mistaken. All that to say we're quite a large group and it's been fun to meet together. Right now I'm taking a little time out from the Sunday morning meeting to get a computer put together for the Sucua base. They've been having problems with their computer for a while now. When that happens, Chad, who is a pilot, does the work on it. But it's gotten to the point where it just needs more help than he can give it. So I had them bring it up, and I'm putting their hard drive and CD drives into a different machine with a new motherboard. I was hoping I wouldn't have to reload the operating system, but I that was necessary, so here I sit and write while I'm waiting for software to load. They'll be leaving in a few hours to go back to Sucua, so I need to have this ready for them.

Is It Friday Yet?

I'm beat. That's how I feel about a computer sitting here on the floor. I can't get an internal modem installed and working. It's a computer that belongs to the librarian at the school, and she lost the old modem to lightening. I'm ready to give the computer back and tell her I give up. I have got an old external modem working with it, and I 'll give her that for now. But, she'd like the new internal one to work as she wants to sell the computer. She's leaving Shell in a couple months. I've got a pile of four broken computers laying around my desk that are a cause of frustration right now.

Dan came back from the jungle with after a rough day too. He flew way out to Pindayacu to pick someone up. When he got there, the they told him the guy he was there to pick up was already in Shell. Then, a couple stops later, he has to leave a kid who has an ear infection. There was puss running out of his ear. But the last guy he picked up had too much cargo. And then there was another patient he had to leave. How frustrating that is to him to take off and leave people behind who really need medical attention here in Shell or Puyo. It hurts me to think of that child spending another night with an ear infection like that! Mike came down from Quito for our Family Conference this weekend, and he was able to go out and get a couple patients. That was a big help. There's so much to do.

Photos

I've put together a new page with a few photos I've taken here and there.

Hump Day

I'm over the hump, and it's downhill to the weekend. Lots of computer issues this week, the biggest being the demise, once again, of the Makuma e-mail server. I'm taking a whole new tack this afternoon and switching to a totally different system. I'm doing the testing on it right now, and hope to fly out to Makuma to install the software at their end next week. Monday and Tuesday were bleak days, with two motherboard going bad on me. One of those is in a computer in Sucua. Fortunately I've got a solution for them, but it means giving up a computer here in Shell until I can get a replacement motherboard from the States.