the schedule, as i see it

Thank you for your prayers for us lately. Please don’t stop. Rod’s schedule is still very crazy and he will be gone for many days over the next weeks, and many weekends.

Right now, with people on home assignment, Rod and Jim Streit are the only two DC3 pilots, and it is a two-crew airplane. Therefore, every time that it is scheduled to fly, Rod and Jim are out flying. We are very grateful that Brian and Sandi (Stoltzfus, my cousins) are coming back out at the end of June. And, another pilot returns sometime in late June as well. That will ease up Rod’s schedule some.

• Please continue to pray for stamina and safety for him, for alertness and awareness as he flies, and for clear vision about what we are doing.

• Pray for Cristiana, Katie, and I as we are home without him. It has been hard that even when he is in the city, he is unable to get home for dinner with us. Thankfully, most nights when he is here, he does get home before Cristiana goes to bed. She exhibits some very interesting behavior when he is gone so much like this.

• Please pray for me, as I single parent, now with two; and, as Katie is still waking up at least once, and sometimes twice in the night. By nine weeks, Cristiana was sleeping completely through the night, not waking up once at all. Katie is now four months old and still waking up. I know that they are very different and individual people, and Katie is growing so much faster than Cristiana did, and that has a lot to do with it. As I write this, it is 3.00am, I was unable to go back to sleep after feeding Katie.

• Please pray for peace for our home also as I single parent; and, for patience for me. Like I said, Cristiana exhibits some interesting behavior when Rod is gone, and sometimes it is “over-the-top” for me. I so dearly love my girls, but Cristiana can be a challenge when she is feeling a bit insecure — as we all do, so I cannot blame her.

• Please pray for compounded sleep for both Rod and I as we are both running on less amounts of it these days.

• Pray for Rod’s office duties, that they get done, and not pile up. Thankfully, he does totally enjoying flying and getting out to see places around East Africa is a blessing for him. But then piles in the office get taller and taller, and he gets further and further behind.

• Please pray for AIM Air as everyone seems to be overloaded and overworked — from the pilots to the mechanics to the administration. Pray for wisdom in how many flights to accept and how many hours for the guys to be gone and away overnight and over weekends. I wonder if Rod will make a record this month and next.

• Pray for clear vision and direction for the leadership as AA is continuing through some interesting times. All over the world we see “interesting” things happen, and wonder what the Lord is doing. It is no different here.

Know that I am not seeking sympathy in all of this, just prayer to get us through it. We have done this before, just have never been very vocal about it. But, now that I have this kind of avenue (the blog), I find that I like to write and tell you all out there in cyberspace all about it. We hope for a decent respite later in the year when we can go away — far away — for a bit of a family vacation. Pray for those details to fall into place as well.

And, a HUGE thank you to those of you who has been writing and telling me that you are praying. It truly helps to actually know, as opposed to only assuming that you all are. Keep it comin’!

So, thank you for praying us through this time . . . from all four of us.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the future, as i pray for it

What does the future hold for us? Well, in the end of June Brian and Sandi arrive. Brian, who is a Captain, will be ready to fly within days. At the end of June or beginning of July another family comes back and he is a First Officer in the DC3 so that will give some relief as well since we will then have two full crews. Then, sometime this fall, the DC3 is scheduled to be down for heavy maintenance. It could be a month and a half or longer, it all depends. That means that the airplane will not fly for that period of time.

You say to yourself, “But I thought that Rod likes to fly.” And, yes he does. However, with a bit of a break in his flight schedule he will have time to get through things in the office, and be home a bit more. We hope to take some sort of vacation, as I mentioned before, during that time. And, to get far away, far enough that no one can ask him to come back early. Far enough away that someone else needs to deal with any issues that arise. Far enough away that he feels comfortable turning the cell phone off. Far enough away that he actually gets a break.

the day of battle

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but victory rests with the Lord.”
-- Proverbs 21:31

A note from my Bible: This proverb refers to preparing for battle. All of our preparations for any task is useless without God. But, even with God’s help, we still must do our part and prepare. His control of the outcome does not negate our responsibilities. God may want you to produce a great book, but you must learn how to write. God may want to use you in forgeign missions, but you must learn the language [or in our case, the skill]. God will accomplish His purposes, and He will be able to use you if you have done your part by being well prepared.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Please pray for us as we are in a battle, and one that right now is a little harder than some other times. AIM Air is very “thin” personnel wise and the guys are all overloaded and overworked.

• Please pray the Rod not get burnt out with it all, and that the girls and I can handle home without him here as much right now. The next month and a half look very busy for him, with many overnights (at least 12 in a 28 day period).

Thank you for your prayers!

aircraft accident

AIM Air had an airplane go down on Saturday the 26th of April, involving one of our pilots and four SIM (serving in Mission) missionary nurses. Here are two links, one to the AIM Air site, and one to the SIM site.

http://www.aimair.org/files/fdc6c6125bcda18ac8b6bf4edf4e4e7f-12.html

http://www.sim.org/index.php/content/four-sim-missionaries-and-pilot-ok-after-their-plane-went-off-the-runway-in-southern-sudan

We thank the Lord for His protection and Hand on the events that happened. We continue to know that He is in complete control, and are thankful that Andy and the nurses are all alive and getting better. Please pray for their continued physical and emotional recovery.

a letter from AIM Air General Manager

Saturday, April 26th, one of our [AIM Air] planes was involved in an accident during takeoff. While the aircraft was significantly damaged, the pilot and the four passengers came through the accident with what has turned out so far to be minor, physical injuries.

Andy Keller, a long time AIM AIR pilot with two SIM nurses on board, landed at a SIM medical mission station in Sudan to drop off some cargo and pick up two more SIM nurses. He was flying a Cessna Caravan. On takeoff around 12.40 pm, the aircraft lifted off from a wet and somewhat muddy airstrip, but was not able to safely clear the obstacles at the end of the runway. The left wing of the plane struck the trunk of a tree and the plane went into a ditch and flipped onto its back.

Andy and the four nurses, after being stabilized, were airlifted by a UN helicopter to a nearby medical facility for tests and observations. The next day, they were moved to Nairobi on the AIM AIR DC3 under the care of a SIM doctor. We praise God that all occupants of the aircraft seem to be stable and recovering. All have been released from the hospital.

The cause of the accident is being investigated by AIM AIR, along with a mission safety organization which AIM AIR is a member of. The results and conclusions of such will be used as part of a continuing effort to improve the safety of both AIM AIR and mission aviation world-wide.

There is a deeper reality that surrounds the events described above. We minister in Africa in the context of a spiritual war. As partners in ministry, SIM and AIM missionaries share in the risk of ministry. This event is one of many that remind us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of this world. The opposition that we face, which is evident in many ways, is a testimony that God is accomplishing His purposes through His servants. We should not be dismayed that we suffer, knowing that He has already defeated the enemy.

So we praise God! We praise Him no matter what is happening around us. We worship Him because of who He is. The true foundation of praise is GOD, not our circumstances. Praise God that in His mercy he spared the lives of His servants.

Please continue to hold the four SIM nurses up in prayer as they recover from both the emotional and physical trauma of the accident. Please pray the same for Andy. Pilots bear a heavy burden in these situations. Pray also for the ministry of SIM, particularly in the region where this took place in Sudan. SIM has been encountering tremendous, overt, spiritual opposition to their work at this location. Please pray that God would continue to work miraculously to demonstrate His attributes and His Power in and through SIM’s work and personnel in the community surrounding their work in South Sudan. Finally, please pray for AIM AIR, as the organization will be stretched during the time of recovery following this significant event.

In Christ,
Jim Streit
AIM AIR General Manager

introducing katie joy moyer

Wow, what a ride we have taken! After a month here in Doha, seven of us under one (relatively large) roof, then a move to an apartment, Grandma's arrival, then Daddy's arrival, THEN finally baby's arrival . . .

we proudly introduce to you . . .

Katie Joy Moyer, at less than 24 hours old



• she was born on Sunday 3 February 2008, by scheduled c-section, by Dr Samira at the Al Ahli Hospital, Doha, Qatar

• she weighed in at 3.1 kgs (6 pounds, 13 ounces)

• and was 50 cms (19.5 inches) long

• she had a perfect 10/10 Apgar score, and is perfectly healthy

• she has dark brown hair with dark blue eyes . . . the question is, will they change to dark brown like her mama's?

• Cristiana is rather excited and proud to be a big sister!


------------------------------------------------

Her name . . .

• KATIE: she is named after her maternal Great Grandma “Katie B”, a very strong woman with a heart for Jesus

• JOY: her song and verse is “The JOY of the Lord is my strength”. When we were still in Nairobi, one night I was talking to her and asked her about two different middle names that we were considering, when I said the one name, she did not move, when I said, “Joy” she jumped. Well, you can say whatever you want to, but I think she choose the name for herself!

• Her Kenyan name is “Busolo”, which comes from the root word “Busolani”. The name means “born during a time of crisis”. I think that is very approriate. (She is named after our good friend Patrick Shioso’s mother. This is not a legal name, just something that we gave her. Cristiana’s Kenyan name is “Nyaboke”, which means honey; and she is quite the honey.)


------------------------------------------------

Her looks . . .

Katie looks like her mama and Granddad Stoltzfus, has her Uncle Karl’s hair line, and is ticklish like her Uncle Mike! She has her mama’s long toes, and her Granddad’s long torso. Cristiana is all Moyer, Katie is all Stoltzfus.

It is so neat to watch her grow already. The other day Cristiana said, “Mama, she’s not little itty bitty anymore, she’s just itty bitty.” Even her big sister can tell that she is growing.


------------------------------------------------

Here we all are within the first 24 hours . . .




Cristiana adoring her little sister . . .




Mama, Cristiana, and Katie, as we are leaving the hospital. The white crocheted blanket was made by Grandma Katie B, even before she knew that our second child would be named after her. That was super special!

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)

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.

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!!!

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/