jungle aviation

I remember reading about JAARS as an impressionable teenager and feeling inspired by the men who dedicated their lives to aviation and using it as a tool to take the Gospel to the most remote corners of the world.  Reading stories about harrowing flights, miraculous landings and even gut-wrenching accidents served to plant in me a fascination of aviation and how I might one day be a part of global missions - taking the Message of Hope to a hurting world.  I write this blog post from the JAARS Center, the headquarters of Wycliff Bible Translators' aviation organization (which stands for Jungle Aviation And Radio Service) in NC.  

I am about midway through a month long stay at JAARS, in which I am participating in a training on the Cessna 206 aircraft (which our mission operates in Brazil), as well as helping prepare our new airplane to be flown to Brazil.  JAARS is a partner organization in Brazil and they have allowed us to use their hangar to make some modifications to a recently purchased airplane before importing it for mission service in Brazil.

Most of the JAARS guys I have been working alongside in the hangar have spent several years overseas serving in places like Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Cameroon, and the Philippines.  Their shared knowledge of bush flying would be difficult to match anywhere in the world.  And yet the kindness and humility I've seen is what impresses me the most. 

The training class I am participating in includes students who will be serving in Peru, Togo, Papua New Guinea and Africa.

Importing an airplane generates a ridiculous amount of paperwork so I have been working on getting all of the airplane's documentation in order to help with the process.

As well as training and maintenance, JAARS also does Research and Development which has lead to a number of modifications on their airplanes that improves safety and the usefulness of airplanes in mission work.  In this photo, the R and D team is loading lead weights (seen on the pallet) into a litter mounted in a helicopter fuselage (the coffin-looking box).  They are testing this modification that will allow a helicopter operating in Africa to use a stretcher when transporting sick and injured people.  

Using the FAA's rigorous standards they test the modification to see if it withstands several times the weight of a person (up to 3500 lbs.).  

I go to the "Brazil Prayer Meeting" made up of several former missionaries to Brazil meeting for lunch to pray about mission work in Brazil and friends they have left behind. 

Our mission's new airplane is in very good shape, but we are doing a thorough inspection and taking care of any issues before it begins serving in Brazil. 

Being away from my family has not been easy, but it has been so good to get a broader view of missions and in particular how God is using aviation to reach people around the world.  I've also found myself reflecting on how good God has been to me, allowing me to participate in the work that so captured me as a young man.

Sunny skies and deeper waters

post by Brin

Such a sunny day it is, meteorologically and emotionally speaking!

Today Gabriella is now minus 4 wisdom teeth and, kid-you-not, it took us 9min 50sec to drive to the oral surgeon this morning. By the time she left our front door and then later arrived in her bed only 1 hour and 45 min had passed.  To have done that in the Amazon would have (for us) required a boat, a car, an overnight in the city and a lot of patience in the waiting room.  I am thankful for this moment and this place.

And know where else timing has evidenced it's sunny disposition? Josh has been on his lonesome at a Wycliff training center in NC for 5 of the 37 days that he will spend under an airplane. I think he loves it. And I am not at all jealous that my husband's new bff is a Cessna 206. Because, as God mercifully gifts, Josh gets his training and also works on a future Asas plane, destined for Brazil, while I get to stay in Tremont.  I miss Josh, but if he were to leave while I stayed in Brazil (which was a possibility last March) I would miss his snake-slaying skills and his biceps for carrying my gas tanks.  He needs to write his own update so everyone tell him so.

And the girls...

Gabriella is navigating what are, for her, the unchartered waters of an American public high school. As a teacher at PQQ (our international school in Brazil) I enjoyed front-row seating at my girls' education - now trusting them to unknown teachers but ultimately God.  Gabriella wades in by joining the speech team; which ironically coincides with the exit of her wisdom teeth and aggressive orthodontic banding to make up for the lack of it in Brazil. She eats mounds of ice cream daily and with the price half of what it is in Manaus, my thriftiness compels me to do the same.  Also on her list is marching band, under the direction of Mr. Hillrich who is also Uncle Dave.  Seriously? How can a high school sophomore just up and join band? Mr. Hillrich points out that marching band is both auditory AND visual. Meaning to say she is decently coordinated and will hold a helpful place on the football field.  Also, she is a beauty so obviously he was referring to that as well.  I taught her to put her reed on her mouthpiece after she had stubbornly lodged it inside the mouthpiece. My history in woodwinds payed out since now my daughter advises me on books, clothes, technology and even cooking and I needed that boost. Gabriella's favorite class is Current Global Issues but also is learning a lot in Honors English. With comparatively trivial amount of homework she now has lots of time for hanging out with friends, games, youth group, and dabbling in various hobbies.

See Gabriella? She is the short one playing a saxophone.  

Congratulations to Gabriella who passed her written test for her driver's permit.

Did I park that? Yeah, in front of the DMV actually.  I am going to make an awesome driving instructor. Actually, it just makes me miss Josh.

Immersed in the swift currents of junior high (read: raging rivers of emotions) enters Ava. In the junior high school students can bring their personal devices (and all the potential poisonous horrors) for use throughout the day.  I pine for months ago when Ava could be found coloring and listening to audiobooks or conversing with friends in the hidden branches of a mango tree. Of course that tree could be concealing any sort of venomous creatures. To a momma's pondering heart the antidote is the same. God holds Ava in His hand.  Ava loves school. Let me clarify; Ava loves the people at school.  Learning? Eh.  

Ava has joined the Cross Country team. She will run, she supposes, if she can flit about with her friends as well.

After leaving the rigorous standards for academics and attire at PQQ, we apparently let our guard down and sent Mia to school with contraband clothing. The straps on her shirt were *barely* short of the two finger rule. And she was devastated. And then a few days later, scarcely acquainted with frank rejection, she cried for an hour after witnessing a typical 5th grade cafeteria tragedy where another student pitifully pursued a place to sit and no one seemed to care to offer one.  I told her she had "fresh eyes to see" and encouraged her to not just observe but influence and use that moment to be a disciple of Christ and do what she has been taught. It reminded me of the Seniors that Josh and I cared for last year and their class verse.... 

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.           Colossians 2:6-7  MSG

settling in

Today I unpacked my suitcase, 33 days after leaving Brazil, we're moving into our home for the next 5 months.

Funny thing... life is drastically different and oddly familiar at the same time.  As the girls and I organize the kitchen, Mia pipes up offering to "cook the salt" which is the superior technique for managing our jungle humidity and Mia's established role back in the Amazon.  I laugh and instead hand her the pre-cut, pre-washed mixed greens to put in our fridge. A fridge that runs for 24 hours a day. And last night, as we went to bed for the first time in our own bed, a lightning bug danced around the room and I couldn't help but think he was there to transition us from our other off-the-grid life. 

So what are we up to? Gabriella and I are training for a 300 mile bike trip to Michigan happening in 11 days. I have known so many people who have done this ahead of me and I realize I did not admire them as I should have. Also, my tush is sore. But I have already met some stellar people and the workouts will take a bit out of the "furlough fifteen" that is expected of all foreign missionaries. Twenty for us since we will be here over Christmas.  

Pflederer family week which included a teenage-girl shopping spree, City Museum (above), a jazz picnic at the botanical gardens, a bike ride through Forest Park (which I found more dangerous than 2 years of jungle living), and waterskiing at Lake of the Ozarks.

The Pflederer family all together after biking minus Joe and Camila.

I went on my first true Walmart outing and ran into my friend Jen who gives me her grocery ads so I can price match.  As if Walmart is not cheap enough. Good grief I wish I could send cartfulls down to friends in Brazil. Three hours later I arrive home.

Today Josh has spent the day fixing the broken attic fan in our rental house. When he finishes that he will fix the shower.  So, like I said, oddly familiar is this new life.

Mia and Ava stay busy with birthday parties, swim meets and once again fighting over space in the room they share.

Join us in thanking our Father!  For His compilation of provision and grace evidenced in the various roofs over our heads (Tom & Connie, Porritts, Bakers and Manninghams) and their loving hospitality. For friends that God prompts to be soul-deep encouragers (at a pool party I get asked "What did God teach you these last years?") meeting our practical needs for our new home as well as laughter, food and fun. 

I have always wanted to shoot a gun. I did not feel as villainous as I thought I would.

And for those of you who payed attention to the World Cup, we hold no hard feelings. We prove it by sharing our first meal in our new home with Caro, who is from Germany.

Goodbye. Hello.

Only 2 weeks ago we were lugging moldy suitcases down from our attic.  Of the six or so we owned we discovered only 3 were usable and that includes the one Josh hastily repaired with fishing line.

A bonus discovery was a gecko hatchery in one of the suitcases that Ava would like you all to see.

And speaking of Ava she got baptised right in the Amazon river, as seen in the picture it was immersion even though the scattering of clouds sprinkled the onlookers.  She is still our spitfire child and we were so joyed when she asked to be baptised.

A goodbye breakfast at the hangar just a few days before we left verified that indeed we were on the cusp of goodbye.  Some of those goodbyes are temporary, some are forever or unknown. 

Gabriella had already been in the States ten days before the rest of us arrived, enticing us to join her by eating rhubarb custard pie at the Hillrich house.  She didn't just go early for pie. She went early to join a swim team and also attend a youth camp in St. Louis which turned out to be a great decision.  The painful blow came when Gabriella found out you have to have your permit for 9 months before you can get your driving license.  Our furlough is only 6 months.

We've been here about two weeks and we are amazed at how much we can get accomplished in the US.  So far 3 dentist appointments, two sports physicals, one Open House, two welcome back parties, Gabriella took the ACT, Ava went to a 4 day volleyball camp, afternoons poolside with friends, strawberry picking, thrift-store shopping, swim practice each morning including one swim meet, one training bike ride, a Father's Day once again lacking either of our fathers, cell phones set up and a lot of ice cream eating and catching up with family. Also a really fun evening around a hibachi grill with dear friends, that ended with free go-cart rides and Sweet CeCe's. 

This is our fourth furlough and not much rattles me like it once did.  The transition between countries and cultures is so much smoother than it was 8 years ago.  Ava and Mia however still note the differences.  In the backyard of Tom & Connie's yard, both the girls become obsessed with squirrels and chipmunks.  They say the same things visitors to my home say about monkeys in my backyard, "Look, it's a real squirrel!", "Grandma, can we catch him and make him a pet?", and when Grandma told them to be still so they could watch the hummingbirds they shrugged, communicating  "Big whoop, I want to see something exotic like a chipmunk."

Mia is helping in the kitchen and is shocked that Grandma just cracks the eggs directly into the bowl, rather than doing each egg separately in a small cup.  "What if there is a bad one, Grandma?"

And the mailbox has caused some contention as the girls are obsessed with the idea of it and love to admire all the different styles.  And once a day they argue over who gets to retrieve the mail.

It has been fantastic to be back. At the moment we are in St. Louis spending a solid week of activities with Josh's family.  The family weekend was launched with skiing at the Lake of the Ozarks. It was weird to play in a body of water that has no current.  Other weird things occurred but some things just stay in the family.

"Sneaking" with the Seniors, what a fantastic PQQ tradition!  Adding the element of surprise to a senior trip seems to make it that much more anticipated, both by the seniors themselves and the other students who keep trying to guess when the seniors will sneak and where they will go.  One of my favorite stories was of a recent class that planned a skit night and when everyone was in the chapel read for the skit to start, the seniors silently snuck into the night.  

The 2014 seniors class wasn't quite so audacious, we did successfully get off campus without being caught.  Brin and I enjoyed the 5 days away, as we visited a Brazilian border town with days trips to a Venezuelan waterfall and shopping in a town across the border in British Guyana.  I suppose in the end it didn't really matter what we did, as long as the class was together they found enjoyment in about anything.  We will certainly be sad to see this group leave after graduation, but we are excited to see what God has in store for them in the future.

iron(y) sharpening

 post by~  Brin

In my 5/6th grade science class I taught them that the expression "set in stone" is rather ironic. Because, as they were about to learn, rocks go through cycles and can change from one type to another.  The irony was lost on them as they didn't understand irony nor had many of the ESL students ever heard the expression. But I love it. Like when a spider crawled across my window...while I was prepping a biology lesson on arachnids.  

And this scene..  

 Gabriella's first home was situated just across from the elementary school, so during lunch Ellabug and I would peek out the windows and try to spot my nephew Stephen on the playground.  I looked forward to peeking in on Gabriella when she would some day go to school. Then we moved before kindergarten. But here I am again, peaking in on her gym class taking place right in front of my house. Exactly how it was supposed to happen.

With a race to the finish with school, leaks in the airplane floats, and a countdown to furlough the pace can leave little space for anyone else but me. Let me tell you about this one.... I got a wisp of an image some days ago of a lesson Gabriella had done with the Aleixo (slum area) kids. I saw a man in the day of Jesus' earthly days with worries; his daughter had a festering infection, his wife is losing her eyesight and let's say he just heard that his brother is on trial for a crime he didn't commit.  He is neck-deep in fallen Eden.  He had a need list to show Jesus and as it turn out Jesus was in town that day. He should definately go. And unload his list on Jesus.  He goes, but instead he brings his paralytic friend and 3 other guys to help and that is what he unloads.  This week I was inspired by teammates, who in the midst of busy (we all say we are busy...they were especially) they dashed their own dreams, gave up what was rightfully theirs and took a need off someone else's list even when their own was plenty long. I was so struck by it because I am in the same position and I didn't do anything of the sort. Convicting. God is always teaching, inviting us to see the sacred in the mundane and the silent profound in the roaring rush. And another teammate who literally had reason to "kick back and put her feet up" because of an ugly infection, but she wouldn't. Because a little pain, a little delayed healing, well, that is sacrifice and that is why she is working in the Amazon. Trusting God to take care of us while we take care of His other children. Those are just daily occurrences that spoke to me, sharpened me.

And now a yearly occurrence... Ava gains another year of life!  12! She celebrated with the entire 5th and 6th grades at PQQ.  Which is 12 students.  They went night-swimming with glowsticks and ate their cake and ice cream shivering at the waters edge.

Countdown to furlough for Gabriella:  9 days
Countdown for the rest of us: 18 days

a schedule peppered with anticipation

Apparently our "canary in a coal mine" is indicating that it is time for us to go on furlough.  Our highend pepper grinder, purchased on our last furlough, is nearly out of pepper.  While we normally don't plan our life around condiments, sometimes you just can't ignore the handwriting on the wall.  

So with the last remnants of ground pepper stuck in the deep recesses of our teeth, we are beginning to plan our time back in the States.  We are arriving June 11th and stay through the end of December.  This will allow for our girls to be enrolled in school for an entire semester, and will give me (Josh) a chance to get some advanced training on the Cessna 206, which our mission operates.  Brin is getting  some medical training as well, but mostly is trying to figure out how she is going to make it through an IL winter. 

So far, here is our itinerary (with plenty of holes to be filled by you all!):

June

11th - 13th - St. Louis

14th - 20th - Tremont, IL

*Monday, 16th - Open House at The Cabin in Tremont

21st - 29th - With Josh's family in St. Louis

July 

1st - 24th - Tremont, IL

25th - 8/3 - Midwest Camp and Bike Trip with NCF Youth Group

August

5th - 15th - San Antonio, TX

18th - School starts for the girls 

Sep/Oct

9/1 - 10/5 - Josh training at JAARS (aviation) in NC

Nov

6th - 8th - Brin Global Med. Missions Conference in Louisville, KY

23rd - 29th - NC with Brin's family 

Dec

30th - Return to Brazil

We would love the opportunity to get together with as many of you as possible to share about what God is doing in Brazil and learn about your ministries and lives as well.  We are open to share at small groups, Sunday School classes, or pretty much anywhere where people sit in a circle.  Please contact us if you want to plan an event, a meal, or even just a trip to a coffee house.  We really look forward to reconnecting!

Current Needs

• We are looking for a furnished house or apartment in Tremont to use starting in August through our departure in December.
• We love staying with people in their homes and are still looking for a few willing hosts in July.

do you want to build a tractor... it doesn't have to be a tractor

We live stuck between two worlds.  Sometimes the contrast can be surreal.  I caught this scene the other day: a decadent cruise ship steaming down the Amazon with it's wealthy passengers "experiencing" the rain forest and in the foreground a family slowly putting by in a wooden, hand-crafted canoe.  And all the while a group of our students frolicking in the water unaware.

The reality of our situation sometimes calls for us to get creative in solving our problems.  When something breaks we often have to fix it rather than buy new.  And sometimes, like in the case of our aging tractor, we just decide to build a new one.  

The school's current tractor made from jeep parts and a 16 hp Briggs and Stratton will be missed by no one.

Our current tractor, built by some long retired missionaries, is used primarily to haul our trash to the dump twice a week, pull aluminum boats out of the water (which I do every day I go to the hangar to work), and is the go-to mode of transportation when moving something heavy.  As can be expected from a decades old piece of machinery that sees daily use, it requires non-stop maintenance, made worse by the fact that most of the parts must be fabricated.  

My friend Kevin, an engineer for a company that manufactures (you guessed it) tractors, agreed to come down for a week and help "cobble" together (his words, not mine) a tractor.  Who knew cobbling could be so fun?  Jeremy (the school's maintenance guy) and I spent a couple months collecting parts from area junkyards.  Between the parts we had found and a scrap metal pile collecting rust in the jungle, we began our cobbling...

The drivetrain consists of a differential out of a Chevy Impala used as a reduction gearbox and a transaxle out of a VW Beetle.  Our design objective was mainly to make something durable and simple, we don't plan on winning any awards for aesthetics.

The motor brings a Brazilian flare.  Although a Chinese knockoff of a Japanese Yanmar, it's Brazilian connection is that this type of one cylinder diesel is found up and down the Amazon River in boats that provide the main source of transportation.  As an aviation mechanic I was perplexed by how something that only produces 24 hp could weigh so much (440 lbs.)

By far the highlight of the week was working alongside Kevin, he's part mad scientist, part genius and part hillbilly (by far the most fun part).  

By the end of the week the project was far from over, despite lacking frivolous details like a clutch, brakes, and seat, we were able to take it out for a test run.

For some reason Kevin got a big kick out of my "visioneering" sessions when I was able to calculate the ergonomically pleasing location of the steering wheel and shifter (which oddly enough we ended up moving several times).  

Kevin's personal pet project was the mower deck, built around the 100+ lbs of parts he brought from an old deck he had laying around.  He actually dug it out of snowdrift and torched all the parts off the night before coming to Brazil.

So after a week of cobbling, we have our tractor, or at least a bare bones version of it.  We still have to make lots of adjustments and finish a lot of the details, but it's good to see the dream starting to take shape.

I suppose the tractor is a good example of how it takes a lot of people working together to make our ministry possible.  Beyond just Kevin and his family who spent a week with us, many people gave financially to see this tractor come to life.  The cynic might say that is a lot of effort to go through just to get a tractor.  But I suppose God's economy works a bit different.  Suppose that tractor makes our work here at the school just a little bit more doable, and living here allows me to participate in aviation ministry, which in turn allows a tribal missionary to work at translating and communicating the gospel to people who have never heard the message of Hope.  Maybe that would make it worth it all.

Kristy, Kevin's wife, was also very helpful during the week while Kevin and I buried ourselves in grinding dust and welding slag.  She stayed busy helping Brin around the house, made sure her boys didn't get lost in the jungle and, as shown in the picture, even helped out in some of the classes.   

Apparently it is already February. Embarrasing that a student pointed out to me that it is no longer January. I use a clock each day, but that calendar is getting dusty. Actually we use one on the computer that frusterates me, ahhhh, now I know why I don't know the date.
I particpated in a portion of a health conference among volunteers, aid workers, and missionaries working in the Amazon. Exchanging stories about the realities of villagers living on the banks of the Amazon is sobering... one organization works with child abuse prevention

the bounty of 2013

post by ~ Brin

I am not one for resolutions but today I do feel motivated to catch you all up on our year.  A  2013 Year in Review blog to make up for all the unwritten blogs this past year.

Occurrences and accomplishment of the past year:

• Opened a B&B
• Dropped a lot of jelly
• Added 2 new words to our vernacular 
• Gabriella experienced her 15 minutes of celestial fame
• Had a run-in with a pirate

Josh and I woke up this morning after dropping my mom and dad off at the airport and remarked that today is the first day since June that we do not have a guest in our home. So, ok, we do not have a B&B, mostly because many of our visitors were given a hammock to sleep in and some cases, like Josh's dad, actually prepared the breakfast. It started in March with Josie (a "blind date" who made such a lovely guest that it makes couch surfing seem like a charming idea) who came for a week to help with a VBS at the school, Andrés for an overnight when he had a flight check, Allison (from Altamira) was in and out twice for a total of 5 weeks. A team of 13 people from our home church in Tremont, with Hillary, my brother-in-law Dave Hillrich and his son Caleb staying for some extra time. Josh's parent came and brought with them Abi (niece) and Sarah, a short-termer from St. Louis who, while she had her own little home, gracefully breezed through our house throughout the day as if she were family. Sonya came in October to hug her daughter, and Connie who won't be left out (she traveled internationally 3 times in one year, that I know of) made a second trip.  And we were so thankful to have Christmas with my mom and dad. That is a lot of visitors and I am not even mentioning the snakes, scorpions and spiders.  It suits us well, because as it turns out Josh and I both love to disciple/ be discipled in one-on-one relationships- just living life next to others and deepening our walk with our Savior at the same time encouraging those around us to do the same. And while our "missionary job titles" may say we are in aviation/health/teaching ministry, we sense God working through and in us encouragingly in our B&B guests.

That team from Tremont gave us new eyes to see what God has called us to, since after 8 years what really is extraordinary through the years have blurred to the norm. Amazon mud under their nails (as Hillary put it) bonds each of those participants to us in a profound way and also gently reminds us that, as our sending church, God has us in this together.  Also, they brought a whopping dose of fun and some new words that have stuck. They named the one air conditioned room in our community the "situation room", a vague if not prestigious term that allows innumerable excuses for one to visit that place.  And a Portuguese word was added too. This morning over the breakfast table we got a lesson from friends Márcio and Keila on the many ways we can use the Portuguese word "curtir,"which we noted after spending 3 days with them they use profusely. It could mean "enjoy" or "take advantage of (in a positive sense)" and it is also used on Facebook Brasil as their LIKE button. We are blessed to have a home church that continues to encourage God's work in the Amazon and a few brave ones to see it first hand. And I profoundly recognize it is God's provision to have many friends with such open, gracious hearts and simply are the type of people to use positive words. Curtir!

The guys just before running off to the Situation Room.

The month of May was notable for Gabriella where she became the shinning star of the family and therefore forgiven that she let the jungle take over her bedroom. She gave a co-salutatorian speech for her 8th grade graduation, and then days later was baptized by Josh in the Amazon River right in front of the school. Within days she and I boarded the Asas boat for a week of health ministry in a village upriver where we worked together in a makeshift pharmacy (see blog post here). 

And about that jelly. Maybe I have been prideful about my good health in the past. I have often remarked that my strong back, fear of precious little and quest for adventure makes me the ideal jungle missionary. I had to reflect on that when the first week of June I was befuddled with pain and swelling in my fingers. Besides the pain, I also had weakness that strangely seemed to evidence itself when I was taking jam out of the refrigerator. At least 3 jars were casualties of what I now believe is osteoarthritis, and unlike other things I rinsed after a fall, you can't risk spreading tiny shards of glass on your toast so it just gets pitched.  I have a very hard time doing tasks that require use of my fingers. Which is a lot, obviously. At the height of my pain and frustration who shows up but Jesus in the form of Hillary. I did not ask for her to come. I want to shout this; God alone knew my need! She was my hands at the sink and laundry line and a huge boost to my faith that God sees me. And He graciously maneuvers His children to meet whatever their need. 

We still live at a New Tribes school right on the banks of the Amazon river and each day Josh commutes by boat to the Asas de Socorro hangar. Our girls love their school to understate it and often their evening prayers reflect genuine gratitude that God brought us here. While Josh works under the float planes I work at the front of the classroom. I teach math and science to younger kids but what I have really gotten into is the 9/10 Biology; a fantastic topic paired with fantastic students. Gabriella being one of them. 

Ava, we notice, is growing up and thrives with all the social activities the school offers, including dressing up as a pirate for Class Unity Day. But wait up, there is a reason I mention pirates and the word risk comes to mind. A few days ago I was out in the jungle with mom (who matches my enthusiasm for jungle hikes!) when I stepped right on a snake. I would not have even known had my mom not started shrieking and I turned to see a snake chasing her! It slithered into the jungle and we commented that the beauty, tranquility and simplicity of my jungle life sometimes hides huge risks. As it turns out, the most dangerous animals are humans. Pirates wielding guns and hand grenades have recently begun (again) to terrorize our little segment of the river keeping villagers in the area rather wary of traveling after sundown. Amongst teammates Josh asked a silly question about a guy murdered and his boat heisted a few weeks ago; "Did the police do anything?" "Pffffft," Joel responded; meaning the river is too big, the police resources too weak and the pirates too desperate and violent.  This is notable for us because Josh has recently traveled at least 4 times after sundown, in fact just last night.  We know it is a risk and we give our concerns to God, and when we arrived back home this morning (a different) Joel says, "Welcome back, we prayed for you last night." Our hearts are at peace and we try to live our lives demonstrating trust in God.

Josh sealing the inside of the wing
fuel tank after a leak was found.

The hangar where Josh works was consumed with inspections and painting a Cessna 172.  The average age of our fleet of Cessna 206 aircraft is about 33 years old.  While this is not necessarily old for an airplane, they were not built to be flown this long and require continual upkeep.  The manufacturer is now requiring a more thorough inspection (requiring major disassembly) that must be done before the end of the year. This year the guys performed 3 of these inspections.  Planning at the beginning of last year revealed that they would just have enough time to complete all of these projects. Due to unforeseen repairs the year ended and a couple of the planes still need work.

So reflecting on these things, what should I leave you with? I encourage you to bring your needs/hopes/dreams to God first and let Him rock your world.  Ask God to maneuver you so you can experience being His hands. Live life alongside others such that discipleship occurs naturally, and take a risk that forces reliance on God. I seriously pray one of these things resonates with someone reading this today.

Plans for the year ahead..... We get to see precious faces soon. Next week Cleny, Allison and Cleide and Clyde and Kelsie are meeting us halfway in a little corner of the Amazon called Alter do Chão.   Oooooh my heart just leaps! And in July we furlough in the US and have our "longing killed", as they say in Brazil. But as I write that I admit, us humans make our plans, but it is God who has the last word. Amen to that. 

Prayers:

• We are Senior Class Sponsors this year. Responsible for encouraging them, helping them fundraise (among tight-budgeted missionaries...not easy) and chaperoning their Senior Sneak. Also, weekly I am responsible for a spike in their glucose levels during their weekly meeting in our home.
• We lead a group of high school students in a bi-monthly outreach to kids in a nearby community.  Please pray that we are able to communicate the love of our Father to the kids and that our students understand His love for the lost. 
• As was mentioned, January will be a busy month as Josh and his co-workers wrap up inspections and repairs on two planes.  Pray that the parts arrive and the repairs are able to be finished soon.

Seniors discussing class motto, tortilla making, school t-shirts and giving the one student who always talks about fishing a hard time.

That is Gabriella and Abi playing games and ministering to some kids in a community upriver.

And while I have you here, I want to express our family's gratitude for many of you who have come alongside us in ministry. Maybe you visited, maybe you sent peanut butter along with those that visited, or medical supplies or aviation tools or kind notes. And many of you pray diligently. We thank God for you.