Where we might end up

Here's a video from MAF UK on the situation in the horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya). This describes the "forgotten crisis" of the Turkana people of Northern Kenya who have experienced the same drought as those in Somalia and Ethiopia yet their plight has not yet made the headlines in the west.

This video should give you an idea of the type of work we'll be involved in overseas. 


Of course this is just one of many perspectives on the situation in the region. MAF continues to fly regularly to Dadaab, Kenya which is home to the notorious Dadaab Refugee Camp. MAF does transport supplies but it is more efficient with our smaller aircraft to carry people: doctors, aid workers, organizers and missionaries.

Kaitlyn's First Solo

After much anticipation, the training wheels came off! Here's a quick look at Kaitlyn's first and second days of freedom!

This was Wednesday.

This was Thursday.

Move Again Friend (MAF)

Entering our third week with MAF and we've already moved once! The following is an account of the wild ride this last week has been.
Last Friday and Saturday we contributed to our friend's garage sale. Just getting rid of some less used items with the idea that we'd be staying put until August and then we'd begin our monster road-trip to BC (BC people, we can't wait).

Then Sunday night we got an email from the landlords, in the midst of a bit of a crisis,

"Pre-field Missionaries"

Orientation with Mission Aviation Fellowship Canada is complete; we're glad to be back in Alberta and reunited with our two precious girls. A massive thank you goes out to both Grandma and auntie Beth for looking after them for the 10 days.

Now that the necessary interviews are complete and the paperwork signed, MAF considers us pre-field missionaries!

The End of an Era

The day Toyota made our 1987 Corolla was not a Monday. Nor was it 'Fat' Tuesday or flex Friday or 'hump' Wednesday or any other distracting day of the week.

The all-new 1987 Toyota Corolla

It was a day of focus.

On our way to Guelph.

Well I had posted about our recent camping trip in the pop-up camper but for some inexplicable reason it's been deleted...who knows...must be a conspiracy somewhere.
[Please note...now it's back again...now I just sound paranoid. The following is what I'd posted while thinking the camping post was deleted. Anyway...if you are able to follow that then you're doing better than I]
So I'll re-post the pictures but the 15 minutes I have before our plane departs for Ontario won't be enough to re-craft the previous brilliance and mastery of language (assume lots of sarcasm there).

Let's go camping.

Breakfast in the camper

We had this week off, before going to MAF, so when the forecast showed +20°C temps for the next few days I hooked up the pop-up camper (photo) and we were off. The first camping trip of 2011! It wasn't a long way away, it wasn't a really picturesque campsite but it was open before the May long weekend so we took it. And to be honest...it was perfect.

Moving on...

This weekend signified the end of our run at Prairie. In just under a week, we travel to Guelph, Ontario, to attend the candidate orientation for Mission Aviation Fellowship Canada. It has been 6 years getting to this point and it feels great to be here, looking forward with a healthy mix of excitement, anticipation and a dash of nervousness.

Looking back at my time at Prairie I can think of two things, among many, which I will carry forward with me. First is a sense of community and the importance of building it around oneself. The community which I found at the airport, both as a student and as a staff member, was instrumental in the growth I've experienced during this season. Merilee would attest that the community of young moms in Three Hills has been equally sustaining for her. I only have to look back to times in my life where I didn't actively search out community and I see the negative results of that passivity.

The second nugget that we will carry forward with us into service with MAF is that the notion that being content is an active decision and not a passive result of a situation. Contentedness is the make or break aspect of any situation and realizing that it is a choice made before ever entering the situation will help to sustain us in any situation. As fundamental as the vows made at our wedding are to our longevity, so the decision to be content in any situation is to the resiliency of our character and witness in the midst of anything life throws our way.