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Summer Travel

We're in Colorado for one last night. Tomorrow we'll be in Idyllwild, California. We've had a great time visiting friends here, people we haven't seen for years.

Important Meeting

Please, if you remember, pray tomorrow for the Alas de Socorro board meeting in Shell. I won't go into details, but pray for a resolution that will bring unity to those involved with MAF in Ecuador.

Big Apple

New York City was our destination today. My Dad accompanied us as we travelled from Fair Lawn, NJ into the Big Apple. We didn't do a lot, but it was fun to take the boys through the city. We rode the PATH train right into Ground Zero, and spent some time reflecting on 9/11. We then walked through Battery Park to get a view of Lady Liberty. We passed on the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty, and headed over to Wall Street. Taylor enjoyed the statue of George Washington, which was at the place where the first US President took the oath of office. Next was the Empire State Building, where we enjoyed the view, but could only imagine the lower Manhatten skyline with the Twin Towers. What a contrast today was, as we look ahead to Saturday. By tomorrow, we'll be at 9,000' next to a National Forest in Colorado, where we are going to see our friends, the Dells.

Leaving PA

I'm sitting downstairs at my parents' house running an online update on my mail server in Shell. While I'm waiting on that, I'll catch you up on what's going on here. I really didn't intend to put to much on the web log while I was in the States, but since it's also something for me to look back on in a few years, I think I'll go ahead and put up a couple updates a week.

We're leaving for New Jersey in a few hours. Tomorrow we'll spend the day in NYC and then Saturday we're off to Colorado. It's been a great time here with my family, and it's not easy for them to see us go. For me, a long time MK, goodbyes seem to come easily, as I slip from one world to the next. Goodbyes come so often that I think I'm almost calloused to the process.

Wednesday morning I went for a bike ride with my brother. It had warmed up, but it still was a great time together. The roads of Lancaster County are so different from Shell, and so is the view. I can't think of a greater contrast. After two years of not riding a road bike, the ride was ecstacy! It was enough to make me seriously consider taking my old road bicycle back to Shell with me. I've had a crazy idea for a long time now, and that is to ride a bicycle from Shell up to Quito. For those who haven't been to Ecuador, that's a 155-mile ride over an almost 12,000' pass, going from 3,400' to 9,300'. I think that could be done in one long day.

Wednesday evening my brother, his wife, Ellyn, and I, took my parents out for their forty-second anniversary. We had a good time sharing together, and the kids stayed home with my cousin who is staying with my parents for the summer. Afterwards we came home and looked at slides from PNG, when my brother and I were in elementary school. I wish I had a slide scanner and could share some of those photos with you. We found one of Ellyn and me singing in a school program when we were about ten years old.

Tuesday we all went down to my brother's place in York. They moved into a new house in October, and the garage needed to be organized, as well as a few other things. The main thing my dad and I wanted to do for him was something we had to put off, so we all helped Ellyn clean and organize the garage. In the end we were able to help them get quite a bit done. By 5 PM we had a few minutes to run off and browse through Target. Afterwards Dustin decided he never wants to go back in there, since there are so many things he would like. I told him a felt the same way. I seriously need to cut my credit card up before we spend another day in the States. The temptation is too great, especially since we see so many things we can't get in Shell, and that we 'think' we need to have.

From what I can remember (the days seem to blur together), Monday was a day just to hang out. Sunday we had also been down to Dan and Tracie's and went to church with them. Taylor was sick that day with a cold. Actually, all of us have picked up to some degree a cold and sore throat, but they haven't lasted very long. We had Sunday lunch together at their house. It's been good to spend time with them, and for the boys to get to know each other a little. We finally got around to a family photo late yesterday afternoon. What memories!

Update From Bruce

Thanks again to Bruce for another photo from Shell. A work team started work on a storage building project a couple months ago. Progress was halted when we found out that even though we had local authority's permission to build, we still need permission from the Civil Aviation Department (DAC). I haven't heard the latest word on that, but from Bruce's report, building is continuing at this time. As you can see, work continues despite the continued rainy weather.

License Update

A short update on the licensing status. MAF pilots are flying on sixty-day temporary licenses. From what I can remember, they have a little more than thirty days left. To understand where things are at now, you'll need a little history.

Sometime within the past ten years, MAF-US attempted to begin the process of nationalization, with the hope that some day the Ecuadorian church could take over the support of the MAF flight program in Ecuador. An Ecuadorian organization, Alas de Socorro, was established, and a board was elected. During that time, two Ecuadorians (that I am aware of) flew as pilots with Alas de Socorro. In 1997, one of those pilots was killed in a plane crash. A young Ecuadorian man was sent to Moody Aviation to train as an Avionics Technician. Although it was his original intent, he has yet to return to Shell to work for Alas de Socorro. Late in 2002 the remaining Ecuadorian pilot left Alas de Socorro. However, he was, and is, the president of the board of Alas de Socorro. Meanwhile, MAF-US is 'sponsoring' the training of another Ecuadorian, David, at the Asas de Socorro facility in Brazil. More recently, Alas de Socorro hired a young Ecuadorian man, Richard, to work at the hanger in Shell. Richard has hopes of one day being a missionary pilot in Ecuador.

Sometime in early 2003 MAF-US concluded that the process of nationalization was not viable. To put it simply, after about five years of attempting to get the ball rolling, it appeared the local Ecuadorian church was not able to provide the pilots and finances necessary to fly and maintain six aircraft. MAF-US is still interested in getting Eduadorians trained to fly planes, but they are not ready to turn over the facilities, planes, and equipment at this time.

This next part is a bit tricky. What can I tell you without telling you too much? How much can I keep from you without it losing meaning? There is someone who is not happy that MAF-US has stopped the process of nationalization. That person is communicating to the DAC (Department of Civil Aviation). This appears to be the root of the problem. So, how do you pray? Pray that this person would not act on their own will, but be sensitive to God's will. This person is a Believer, so pray that all the interactions between MAF-US and this person would be a good witness to the local community. There is an important meeting on June 12. Pray for a favorable outcome. Pray for the DAC, that they will continue to grant temporary licenses until this situation can be sorted out.

Well, that wasn't so short. But, I hope it fills you in on where things are at.

News From Shell

Just because I'm in the States doesn't mean I can't pass on some news from Shell. Some news from Bruce arrived in the mail earlier this week. He writes that the week that just ended in Shell was full of rain. Very little flying was done. From what I heard from someone else, it's been rainy now for two weeks. Yes, it rains more than twenty feet a year in Shell, but it's not very often that the rain can wipe out a week of flying. Thursday the main road connecting Shell to civilization was closed due to multiple landslides.

So, with all that rain, and no planes flying, Bruce writes, "Medical teams, mission conference attendees, patients wanting to return to their jungle home, not to mention some urgent medical emergencies awaiting evacuation are all anxiously awaiting our service. I am hoping that the weather quickly clears so that we will be able to help out those needing a flight."

In a previous e-mail Bruce told "of a boy who was mistakenly shot in the face by his dad. It was almost a month to the day when, to my delight, I was able to fly the Benjamin and his father back to their village of Chuindia. Benjamin, was doing well. The bullet was still lodged in his head (in an area too sensitive for surgery - for now) and his thumb still healing. He was greeted by a group of friends all anxious to see him and hear about his experience while he was away from the village.

"The father was very appreciative of how we were able to be there and help him out in his time of need. Thank you too for your partnership in helping to make this ministry happen."

Cold Rain

It's been raining all day. Actually, it started raining during the night. I know, because I was outside, sleeping in a tent, along with Taylor, my brother, and his two young boys. We stayed dry, but the rain changed our plans for the day. Ellyn was going to go garage sale shopping, and then later in the day I was planning to go for a bicycle ride with my brother. He brought his mountain and road bike over, My brother rode his bicycle across the US ten years ago. Since then, he's gotten married, and had three kids, and now he doesn't ride. I was going to help him change that, but we'll have to aim for another day. At least we did get his mountain bike tuned up a little. I don't mind riding in the rain in Shell, but it's more than ten degrees colder here than in Shell, so riding in the rain is no option.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting. I looked at the pile of change on the dresser this morning. It's unreal. In Ecuador we use the US dollar, but one dollar bills and change are not easy to come buy. A couple days ago I pulled out a ten dollar bill to pay for an item, and found myself hoping they had change. Of course they did, and I had a hard time not making a comment about that to the clerk. Yesterday in Burger King I had to ask what the difference was between a medium and large combo meal. At the Subway I was overwhelmed by the choices for my sandwhich. In Ecuador we have very few choices, and if we need something, we're really happy if we find one thing that's what we need, even if it's not exactly right. I saw my mom and dad reading mail today. Strange to see mail delivered to the house each day. In Shell we get mail about once a week.

Interesting things we've done this past week. Tuesday we went with my mom to the library in Lancaster. The boys checked out some books. I found out that there was to be a bicycle race later in the afternoon. Ellyn and Taylor went back with me at 4:30 PM. Watching the pros race was exciting. I drooled over one of the new Trek bikes, and regretted not having ridden a road bike in three years. Wonder if I can get mine back down to Ecuador with me.

Went to Hershey Park on Wednesday. Talk about expensive. Seven bucks to park my car? A can of soda for $2.50? Good thing the park was almost empty and the lines were short. We rode the roller coaster numerous times. Taylor didn't want to ride any coasters at first, but by the end of the day, he was riding all of them, even the biggest. Zero to seventy MPH in two seconds. Awesome!!!!

Thursday we enjoyed a visit to a pretzel factory, and enjoyed learning how to twist pretzels. Eating a few soft pretzels was tasty. Oh, got to remember not too eat too much. All this food we can't get in Ecuador is really good, but it's easy to eat too much. My brother and his family came over that afternoon, and in the evening we had a bar-b-q to celebrate Jesse's and Taylor's birthdays.

My dad took us to play miniature golf Friday. The course was beautiful and challenging. We've played miniature golf in Quito before, but this twenty-five hole course was one of a kind. Of course, with all the waterfalls in Ecuador, the hole with the waterfall was one of my favorites. Oh, and I did get a hole-in-one on that one!