My own “Dak Flyer” :-)
(This is taken in the belly of the DC3, when Rod was in Chad helping out with the refugee situation in Darfur, Sudan. August 2004)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
what does “dak” mean, anyway?
“Dak” is the South African slang for the Douglas Dakota DC3.
My own “Dak Flyer” :-)
(This is taken in the belly of the DC3, when Rod was in Chad helping out with the refugee situation in Darfur, Sudan. August 2004)
My own “Dak Flyer” :-)
(This is taken in the belly of the DC3, when Rod was in Chad helping out with the refugee situation in Darfur, Sudan. August 2004)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
the road from juba to yei
Juba is a city about 100 miles north of the boarder with Uganda, on the banks of the Nile River. It is the largest city in the South with a population of 165,000 people (2005). With the current time of peace, it is the seat of the government of South Sudan. It is the only city in the South with paved streets and occasional electricity and running water.
Yei is a city with a population of about 40,000 people (2005) about 70 miles southwest (as the crew flies), only about 30 miles north of the Uganda border.
The main access to Juba is by road. There are two roads that come in -- one from Yei and the other from Lokichoggio in northern Kenya.
These pictures are of the main road between Yei and Juba. This is the main access for road traffic into the Capital. The only other access is by air or the occasional barge coming down from Khartoum in the North.
Sudan gets one rainy season each year. It lasts from about June through September. This year it has been extra hard and long as some claim it is an El Niño year (which happens every five years and we are due one this year). Even here in Nairobi the rains have not really stopped. Here we experience two rainy seasons each year -- the first from March through May and the second from November through December. Well, it hasn’t really stopped raining since May, in fact we had a real “frog strangler” the other day with torrential rains, hail, thunder -- the works.
So, in a country like South Sudan, which has no paved roads outside its Capital, when you have torrential rains for four months straight, these pictures are what you get.
It is rumored that there are about 500 trucks stuck on that road trying to get through either direction.
Just when you begin to wonder why we do what we do, the Lord provides experiences to remind us. Usually it is in the form of an evacuation of missionaries or Christian workers from a battle zone, or it is the transport of medical patients, or it is the joy on the faces of members of a work team from a church in the US after they have spent ten days ministering to a small village in the middle of the vastness of Sudan. This time it was three simple pictures taken from a sister mission aviation organization . . . of a road.
Yei is a city with a population of about 40,000 people (2005) about 70 miles southwest (as the crew flies), only about 30 miles north of the Uganda border.
The main access to Juba is by road. There are two roads that come in -- one from Yei and the other from Lokichoggio in northern Kenya.
These pictures are of the main road between Yei and Juba. This is the main access for road traffic into the Capital. The only other access is by air or the occasional barge coming down from Khartoum in the North.
Sudan gets one rainy season each year. It lasts from about June through September. This year it has been extra hard and long as some claim it is an El Niño year (which happens every five years and we are due one this year). Even here in Nairobi the rains have not really stopped. Here we experience two rainy seasons each year -- the first from March through May and the second from November through December. Well, it hasn’t really stopped raining since May, in fact we had a real “frog strangler” the other day with torrential rains, hail, thunder -- the works.
So, in a country like South Sudan, which has no paved roads outside its Capital, when you have torrential rains for four months straight, these pictures are what you get.
It is rumored that there are about 500 trucks stuck on that road trying to get through either direction.
Just when you begin to wonder why we do what we do, the Lord provides experiences to remind us. Usually it is in the form of an evacuation of missionaries or Christian workers from a battle zone, or it is the transport of medical patients, or it is the joy on the faces of members of a work team from a church in the US after they have spent ten days ministering to a small village in the middle of the vastness of Sudan. This time it was three simple pictures taken from a sister mission aviation organization . . . of a road.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
my “hope” day (from michelle)
22 March 2007 -- that is the day I call my “hope” day. I finally had some sort of answer that we would be pursuing SOMETHING in order for us to have more children. I had struggled with depression that sent me into whirlwinds of exaggerated fear of living in this city (the crime here is very high), depression that affected everything that I did with my family, depression that affected friendships, and was living a month-to-month hell that continued every time I started my menstrual cycle. The times that I “knew” I was pregnant and got all excited, just to start a few days later. The time that we had a positive pregnancy test, and then a miscarriage. All of it put me into a downward spiral.
22 March 2007 -- that is the day that Rod and I decided that Cristiana and I would go back early to the States for me to get an operation to open my fallopian tube (the reason, we thought, for the 3.5 years of secondary infertility). It is also the day that we decided that the operation would be the last procedure that we would physically do to my body to have more children. (I had been on some meds that made me turn into a completely different person -- not good for our marriage, to say the least.) It is also the day that we decided, that if the operation was not successful, we would pursue adopting a little one from Colombia South America, where Rod was born and grew up.
22 March 2007 -- that is the day that turned my mourning into dancing, the day that my soul lifted. The day that I felt the Lord had heard my cry. The day that I thought the desires of my heart were actually going to come to fruition. The day that the Lord used to bring me back into actively being a part of our family and our community. Somehow, our family was going to grow. And, knowing the hard roads we were going to have to take (surgery and recovery, and if that did not work, then going the hard road of international adoption from one country far away from another country), it was all worth it to know that God was going to grow our family.
I know that all of that sounds very dramatic -- well, it is (and I have been accused of being a drama queen sometimes, but what is life without drama?!). Even a friend of mine said that it was the first time in years (!!) that she had heard “hope in my voice” in emails. (Thanks Menda for that encouragement, it was huge for me!)
That is why I call it my “hope” day.
We are so excited about this new little one that is growing in my belly. But, we are even more excited about the HOPE that the Lord gives us . . . in so many ways. Even when we do not know it, and can not see it through our tears -- we can trust that He is there. Even when we are at our lowest (Sandi, you saw me there!) -- we can know that He is there. Even when we do not know it in our hearts -- we can still believe it in our heads, which can be very hard. Even when it does not make sense, and we watch so many people around us get the desires of their hearts -- we can know that He is there. Even when it is the HARDEST to understand what in the world the Lord is doing -- we can know and trust that He is working. Somehow.
I promised the Lord that I would glorify Him in our story of secondary infertility, regardless of how it turned out. I can only imagine that this is a mere speck in the particles of our world, but my prayer is that He is glorified . . . over and over and over and over again! PRAISE HIS NAME!!!
22 March 2007 -- that is the day that Rod and I decided that Cristiana and I would go back early to the States for me to get an operation to open my fallopian tube (the reason, we thought, for the 3.5 years of secondary infertility). It is also the day that we decided that the operation would be the last procedure that we would physically do to my body to have more children. (I had been on some meds that made me turn into a completely different person -- not good for our marriage, to say the least.) It is also the day that we decided, that if the operation was not successful, we would pursue adopting a little one from Colombia South America, where Rod was born and grew up.
22 March 2007 -- that is the day that turned my mourning into dancing, the day that my soul lifted. The day that I felt the Lord had heard my cry. The day that I thought the desires of my heart were actually going to come to fruition. The day that the Lord used to bring me back into actively being a part of our family and our community. Somehow, our family was going to grow. And, knowing the hard roads we were going to have to take (surgery and recovery, and if that did not work, then going the hard road of international adoption from one country far away from another country), it was all worth it to know that God was going to grow our family.
I know that all of that sounds very dramatic -- well, it is (and I have been accused of being a drama queen sometimes, but what is life without drama?!). Even a friend of mine said that it was the first time in years (!!) that she had heard “hope in my voice” in emails. (Thanks Menda for that encouragement, it was huge for me!)
That is why I call it my “hope” day.
We are so excited about this new little one that is growing in my belly. But, we are even more excited about the HOPE that the Lord gives us . . . in so many ways. Even when we do not know it, and can not see it through our tears -- we can trust that He is there. Even when we are at our lowest (Sandi, you saw me there!) -- we can know that He is there. Even when we do not know it in our hearts -- we can still believe it in our heads, which can be very hard. Even when it does not make sense, and we watch so many people around us get the desires of their hearts -- we can know that He is there. Even when it is the HARDEST to understand what in the world the Lord is doing -- we can know and trust that He is working. Somehow.
I promised the Lord that I would glorify Him in our story of secondary infertility, regardless of how it turned out. I can only imagine that this is a mere speck in the particles of our world, but my prayer is that He is glorified . . . over and over and over and over again! PRAISE HIS NAME!!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
where we’ve been the last year and a half!
Well, we know that it has been a very long time since many of you have heard from us. Please forgive us for the lack of communication! So, here is a look at our last year and a half. (This will be a long one as we try to get you all up to date!)
AIM AIR has had some very busy schedules in the past year and a half, and many changes in personnel, too. February 2006 Rod was assigned the DC3 Training Captain position. In May of 2006 he was given the AIM AIR Chief Pilot position. In November 2006 he got his Caravan check out and is a Captain on that aircraft. So, with all that he does, those three plus the DC3 Program Supervisor and DC3 Captain (which he has always done), he has been very busy.
So, that was 2006, here is more about 2007 . . .
In March of this year, we started down a three week road of the uncertainty of our future here in Kenya. Rod suffered a blood clot in his eye that resulted in him losing part of his right eye vision. He grounded himself from flying for obvious safety reasons. After many tests with the doctors, and consultation with Dr Paul Yoder in Virginia (THANKS Dr Yoder!!!), we were confident that Rod’s care here was as good as it could get in the States. At the beginning, he was put in the hospital for a five-day steroid drip to reduce the swelling in his eye. The doctors initially thought that he might have the beginning stages of Multiple Sclerosis, but a CT scan proved that, thankfully, wrong. That was a difficult 36 hours.
Then, he went to see a cardiologist to get a full physical. He had a stress test, a monitor on his heart for 24 hours, and all sorts of blood work done. He has very thick blood, and an “anti-coagulable” state. After many tests, and then again repeated in the States over our home leave, Rod still has a very small dot in his right eye vision. The doctors say that it may go away some day, and that it may just be there forever. We are simply thankful that his eyes are working well, and compensating properly for the dot. He does not even notice it that much anymore.
In April, Cristiana and I travelled to Virginia three and a half weeks earlier than Rod for our scheduled home leave, and he joined us in the middle of May. Rod made it in time for the whole family to celebrate Gabriel’s first birthday! The day of Gabriel’s party (12 May) was also our sixth wedding anniversary. We spent the next two weeks in Virginia with my family.
Michael (Michelle’s younger brother), Melissa, and Gabriel Stoltzfus . . .
Grandma Katie S Beiler (Michelle’s Mom’s Mom) . . .
Dad and Mom (Karl and Barbara Stoltzfus) with their youngest grandchild Gabriel . . .
Karl (Michelle’s older brother), Laura, Logan, Dalton, and Karly . . .
Us with the celebrating family . . .
Then we spent two weeks in Fort Mill SC with Rod’s family. Where we had a Moyer family reunion over Memorial Day weekend. Rod's parents and the whole South America Mission team moved to the Fort Mill area less than a year ago when it became evident that the mission needed to move from Florida for tax purposes. We got to celebrate the oldest grandchild’s high school graduation, with a cake and ice cream -- it was a BIG surprise to Rachel. Congrats!
The graduate (the oldest grandchild, along with the youngest grandchild Anna) . . .
The whole Moyer clan . . . what a gang! [The Walkers on the left, Poppa and Gram in the middle on the bench, the Kings in the back middle with their the kids on the bench, and us on the right.]
The ones who started it all . . . Harry Robert Moyer III and Ruth Ann Rush Moyer, otherwise known as Poppa and Gram!
The Walker Family . . . [Rhonda (first born to Poppa and Gram) and John seated, with Rachel, Johnny, and Justin behind the bench.]
The King Family . . . [Keith, holding Anna, and Jen (second born to Poppa and Gram) seated, with Clay and Sierra behind the bench]
In June, then, with Rod’s parents, we took a trip to Port Alsworth, Alaska to visit our good friends, Leo and Menda Fowler and family. Rod went hunting overnight twice where he shot a black bear (see photos next post); he went fishing many times, once with Cristiana and I; we took the four-wheeler all around the area and into the woods; and we just simply had a good time with our friends. We stayed in a small two-room cabin with an outhouse. It did have running water so we had hot showers, just no toilet. It was a nice and cozy home away from home for three weeks. Leo says it is a $50 cabin with a $1 million view. We agree on the view at least! (And, the cabin is definitely worth more than $50!) We spent a few days driving around from Anchorage to Soldatna, where SP has a project, and Kenai and Homer, just doing the tourist things. That was fun to see more of Alaska. We had been to Alaska on our honeymoon, so some of it was not new.
The $50 cabin . . .
. . . with the $1 million dollar view! (taken by Leo just this week, because there was NO sunset when we were there, just dusk!)
Part of the reason why Cristiana and I went back to the States early was for me to have surgery to open a blocked fallopian tube. The tube is so badly damaged that the doc could not fix it or remove it (I think it is from a motorcycle accident that I had ten years ago). The doc did find a growth on my other ovary, he removed it, got a benign biopsy of it (PTL for no cancer!), and one month later I was pregnant!
We found out that I was pregnant while in Alaska, that was special. Our little one is a wiggler, have had a few ultrasounds so far, and all is well. “He” does not sit still for the ultrasound doc, and is already doing jumping jacks -- it is hilarious to watch! We do not know the sex of this one, and are contemplating the decision to find out. With Cristiana it was a VERY clear “no” to me. I never wanted to know. But, this one just seems like it would be more practical if we knew. So, we may find out in a few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us for another child over these last three and a half years. And, for those of you who did not know our struggle, it has been a VERY hard one, especially for me (Michelle). We praise God, though, for His timing in it all. Cristiana and the baby will be five years apart -- within one week. Since I will be having a scheduled c-section, the baby will mostly likely be born on the 31st of January or the 1st of February. Cristiana was born on the 6th of February. She is very excited about having a little brother or sister.
We have started pre-school for Cristiana, here at home. She and I do “school” for about two hours every morning through the week. She has so much enjoyed it. We read for at least an hour (which goes by very quickly), do fun projects, color, do puzzles, games, etc. Most mornings she can not wait, and is already in one of her pre-school workbooks figuring things out before I am even ready to start. She loves to color and draw, and loves to learn. It is really neat to see her remember concepts throughout the day and week of things that we have learned. And, to take a thought from a book and go in a completely different avenue than I had planned, is fun too. The other day we were reading about the Tower of Babel, and we talked about how God made all of the different languages. She asked me “how do you say store?” (Which, whenever she says “how do you say ___?”, it always means how do you say it in Spanish, as we have been learning that language.) So, we got out the Spanish picture book and read the whole thing.
Since I have been pregnant I have not gotten involved in much outside the home. I have been exhausted most of the time, needing a nap in the afternoon in order to be civil with my family by the evening time! It has been nice to have some extra time to spend with Cristiana and be ready for Rod to come home in the evenings.
Next time, Rod will share some stories from work . . . see you then!
Check out our family site more often for things that we are doing daily . . . http://moyeradventure.blogspot.com/
AIM AIR has had some very busy schedules in the past year and a half, and many changes in personnel, too. February 2006 Rod was assigned the DC3 Training Captain position. In May of 2006 he was given the AIM AIR Chief Pilot position. In November 2006 he got his Caravan check out and is a Captain on that aircraft. So, with all that he does, those three plus the DC3 Program Supervisor and DC3 Captain (which he has always done), he has been very busy.
So, that was 2006, here is more about 2007 . . .
In March of this year, we started down a three week road of the uncertainty of our future here in Kenya. Rod suffered a blood clot in his eye that resulted in him losing part of his right eye vision. He grounded himself from flying for obvious safety reasons. After many tests with the doctors, and consultation with Dr Paul Yoder in Virginia (THANKS Dr Yoder!!!), we were confident that Rod’s care here was as good as it could get in the States. At the beginning, he was put in the hospital for a five-day steroid drip to reduce the swelling in his eye. The doctors initially thought that he might have the beginning stages of Multiple Sclerosis, but a CT scan proved that, thankfully, wrong. That was a difficult 36 hours.
Then, he went to see a cardiologist to get a full physical. He had a stress test, a monitor on his heart for 24 hours, and all sorts of blood work done. He has very thick blood, and an “anti-coagulable” state. After many tests, and then again repeated in the States over our home leave, Rod still has a very small dot in his right eye vision. The doctors say that it may go away some day, and that it may just be there forever. We are simply thankful that his eyes are working well, and compensating properly for the dot. He does not even notice it that much anymore.
In April, Cristiana and I travelled to Virginia three and a half weeks earlier than Rod for our scheduled home leave, and he joined us in the middle of May. Rod made it in time for the whole family to celebrate Gabriel’s first birthday! The day of Gabriel’s party (12 May) was also our sixth wedding anniversary. We spent the next two weeks in Virginia with my family.
Michael (Michelle’s younger brother), Melissa, and Gabriel Stoltzfus . . .
Grandma Katie S Beiler (Michelle’s Mom’s Mom) . . .
Dad and Mom (Karl and Barbara Stoltzfus) with their youngest grandchild Gabriel . . .
Karl (Michelle’s older brother), Laura, Logan, Dalton, and Karly . . .
Us with the celebrating family . . .
Then we spent two weeks in Fort Mill SC with Rod’s family. Where we had a Moyer family reunion over Memorial Day weekend. Rod's parents and the whole South America Mission team moved to the Fort Mill area less than a year ago when it became evident that the mission needed to move from Florida for tax purposes. We got to celebrate the oldest grandchild’s high school graduation, with a cake and ice cream -- it was a BIG surprise to Rachel. Congrats!
The graduate (the oldest grandchild, along with the youngest grandchild Anna) . . .
The whole Moyer clan . . . what a gang! [The Walkers on the left, Poppa and Gram in the middle on the bench, the Kings in the back middle with their the kids on the bench, and us on the right.]
The ones who started it all . . . Harry Robert Moyer III and Ruth Ann Rush Moyer, otherwise known as Poppa and Gram!
The Walker Family . . . [Rhonda (first born to Poppa and Gram) and John seated, with Rachel, Johnny, and Justin behind the bench.]
The King Family . . . [Keith, holding Anna, and Jen (second born to Poppa and Gram) seated, with Clay and Sierra behind the bench]
In June, then, with Rod’s parents, we took a trip to Port Alsworth, Alaska to visit our good friends, Leo and Menda Fowler and family. Rod went hunting overnight twice where he shot a black bear (see photos next post); he went fishing many times, once with Cristiana and I; we took the four-wheeler all around the area and into the woods; and we just simply had a good time with our friends. We stayed in a small two-room cabin with an outhouse. It did have running water so we had hot showers, just no toilet. It was a nice and cozy home away from home for three weeks. Leo says it is a $50 cabin with a $1 million view. We agree on the view at least! (And, the cabin is definitely worth more than $50!) We spent a few days driving around from Anchorage to Soldatna, where SP has a project, and Kenai and Homer, just doing the tourist things. That was fun to see more of Alaska. We had been to Alaska on our honeymoon, so some of it was not new.
The $50 cabin . . .
. . . with the $1 million dollar view! (taken by Leo just this week, because there was NO sunset when we were there, just dusk!)
Part of the reason why Cristiana and I went back to the States early was for me to have surgery to open a blocked fallopian tube. The tube is so badly damaged that the doc could not fix it or remove it (I think it is from a motorcycle accident that I had ten years ago). The doc did find a growth on my other ovary, he removed it, got a benign biopsy of it (PTL for no cancer!), and one month later I was pregnant!
We found out that I was pregnant while in Alaska, that was special. Our little one is a wiggler, have had a few ultrasounds so far, and all is well. “He” does not sit still for the ultrasound doc, and is already doing jumping jacks -- it is hilarious to watch! We do not know the sex of this one, and are contemplating the decision to find out. With Cristiana it was a VERY clear “no” to me. I never wanted to know. But, this one just seems like it would be more practical if we knew. So, we may find out in a few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us for another child over these last three and a half years. And, for those of you who did not know our struggle, it has been a VERY hard one, especially for me (Michelle). We praise God, though, for His timing in it all. Cristiana and the baby will be five years apart -- within one week. Since I will be having a scheduled c-section, the baby will mostly likely be born on the 31st of January or the 1st of February. Cristiana was born on the 6th of February. She is very excited about having a little brother or sister.
We have started pre-school for Cristiana, here at home. She and I do “school” for about two hours every morning through the week. She has so much enjoyed it. We read for at least an hour (which goes by very quickly), do fun projects, color, do puzzles, games, etc. Most mornings she can not wait, and is already in one of her pre-school workbooks figuring things out before I am even ready to start. She loves to color and draw, and loves to learn. It is really neat to see her remember concepts throughout the day and week of things that we have learned. And, to take a thought from a book and go in a completely different avenue than I had planned, is fun too. The other day we were reading about the Tower of Babel, and we talked about how God made all of the different languages. She asked me “how do you say store?” (Which, whenever she says “how do you say ___?”, it always means how do you say it in Spanish, as we have been learning that language.) So, we got out the Spanish picture book and read the whole thing.
Since I have been pregnant I have not gotten involved in much outside the home. I have been exhausted most of the time, needing a nap in the afternoon in order to be civil with my family by the evening time! It has been nice to have some extra time to spend with Cristiana and be ready for Rod to come home in the evenings.
Next time, Rod will share some stories from work . . . see you then!
Check out our family site more often for things that we are doing daily . . . http://moyeradventure.blogspot.com/
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