You are our sunshine

~post by Brin

Ava turned 9. Not yet actually, but Sundays make a good day for a party. And that we did. Ava invited various friends, from church, from Asas, and from the neighborhood. But really Ava is the sort of person who would have wanted to invite the girl she played with for 5 minutes while we waited for the bus. Not that we ride the bus a whole lot, but you get the picture. I wish I was more like her in that way. She has more friends here in Manaus than all the rest of us combined.

 To get to know Ava, here are quotes of her favorite things (that she came up with in about 10 seconds and then promptly ran out the door).

"Pinky's" (an ice cream store in Tremont, after which she also named her stuffed animal)

"how in life people trust God, I mean a little bit. Some don't."

"waterfall that's really pretty"

"strawberry gum with pus" (Yes, that's right, Brazil translates gum that has a juice center "pus")
"different languages"

"birthday parties"

"love, love, love Dr. Quinn"

"Adventures in Odyssey"

"school and Math-u-see"

We had fun making Ava's cake which is good because Ava's friends found them odd. Ava wanted a hedgehog cake because Ava and her friend Maddie had made one out of sand the year before for my birthday. And we also made a "lagarta de fogo" or poisonous caterpillar in honor of an episode that occurred to Ava just a week earlier. Here is her version: "I was going to wash my feet because I had a cut and when I came back I did not see the poisonous caterpillar on the counter and I touched it with my arm. It (the arm, not the bug) got white and then blistery and stayed for 5 days. It burned like a burn. We saw more caterpillars in the house the next days. Then we sprayed the house because of caterpillars." (It was actually because of dengue mosquitoes but we'll let it slide). Gabriella pointed out how appropriate it was that we lit the birthday candles on the caterpillar. 

And of course, to honor her father and his new passion we had a paper airplane contest of which no one hit the target, the generous bulls-eye being our pick-up truck bed.

Per Ava's request, the party ended with each participant allowed to break an egg on her (a Brazilian tradition). Her chest or her arm she hoped, but everyone chose her head. It is all fun and games until someone throws-up. At her own party, surrounded by her guests.  But Ava isn't the sort to be shy or embarrassed, so she announced she was nauseous and everyone helped her clean up in our outdoor shower.

A Higher Standard

The Vin Fiz takes off from Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, New York on September 17, 1911.

In 1911 a man by the name of Cal Rodgers set out on the first transcontinental flight from NY to CA.  Aviation was a brand new technology and the potential for its use only beginning to be realized.  The journey lasted 49 days and required a support crew who followed by train with enough equipment to fill 3 train cars.  Along the way he made around 70 landings, many of them crash landings.  The only parts not replaced by the end of the trip were a rudder, a couple wing struts and the engine oil pan. 
 

Our aviation ministry, Asas de Socorro (Wings of Help), was born out of the dream of a few WWII pilots who during the war saw aviation's potential in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Missionary Aviation Fellowship was begun shortly after the war and Asas is the remnants of that organization here in Brazil.  A lot has changed in aviation since those early days.  Today air travel is incredibly safe and dependable.  To maintain that high level of safety, mechanics must be vigilant and pursue the highest level of professionalism.  Cutting corners can cost thousands of dollars of damage, or worse yet, a life.

Our Cessna Caravan visits a remote village in the Amazon.

Working on the wings of a Cessna 206 (seen in background).

As I work on airplanes, it’s easy to remember this “higher calling” of safety.  In life I seem to forget much easier the motivation for what I do.  I’m reminded of Paul’s encouragement of “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).  In the same way that safety is always on my mind as I go about my work as a mechanic, so should the name of Jesus be my motivation for every action or word that I utter.  

That’s a pretty high standard.  But one that I want to live up to as a mechanic, a husband and a father.