The Kodiak Visits MMS Aviation

While Karen and I were in England, the Kodiak flew into Coshocton as MMS Aviation was a scheduled display stop along its national promotional tour for the Spokane Turbine Center. The Kodiak is a brand new airplane and the first airplane designed specifically for mission aviation. Ten years in development, it's being built by a completely new aircraft company created to produce the Kodiak, Quest Aircraft Company, in Sandpoint, Idaho. The Kodiak that flew in was Serial Number 0001.

Mission aviation is very excited about the Kodiak because it blends the best aspects of two mission-critical aircraft: the Cessna 206 and the Cessna 208 Caravan. While the Kodiak is built around an extremely rugged airframe consistent with both the 206 and the 208, the Kodiak then blends the short take-off and land characteristics of the 206 (so critical in many remote locations) with the high-performance turbine powerplant, higher speed, and greater load capability of the Caravan. With the current costs and scarcity of aviation gasoline around the world, having a turbine engine is a distinct advantage costwise as well as in raw horsepower available to lift cargo, personnel, and supplies.

Coshocton was pretty excited about the Kodiak too, as the local cable station, newspaper, and radio station showed up to record and report on the event. Rides were given, interviews provided, photos were taken, people flew in, drove in, and walked over just to get a peek.

You'll be seeing and hearing more about the Kodiak as they become available on the commercial market as well. This airplane has the capacity to carry mission aviation into the next generation and beyond and MMS is dedicated to keeping up with the power curve. It appears that the Kodiak may return to MMS next month for a scheduled inspection to be performed. Stay tuned.

Special thanks to Josh Adelsberger, who took these photos of the Kodiak. Josh and his family have been with MMS gaining additional experience prior to serving as a maintenance specialist with a ministry down in Brazil. Please pray that their visa application will finally go through with this last request for additional paperwork. They've been working through the visa process for nearly a year.

Here's the Kodiak:

The Kodiak approaches the ramp at MMS, July 24.

The business end of the Kodiak.

Taxiing out for a flight.

To see Josh's full photo album on the Kodiak, click here.

Back In The Saddle At MMS

Well, it's like I was never away from the office though our new batch of MMS baseball caps did arrive while we were in England. Our hangars are still full of airplanes needing to be repaired, there are mechanics down there being prepared for mission service, and the hill leading up to the hangar is just as tall as it was before we left.

I was huffing and puffing by the time I pedaled my way to the top of the hill this morning and very thankful that David M. had opened the security gate so I wouldn't have to stop until I reached the main entrance to the hangar. The past three weeks of eating three healthy meals a day (with tea and biscuits for morning break and tea and cakes for afternoon break) made the ride up the hill a bit more of an exertion than I thought it would be. As I was peddling up the hill I kept checking to see if my rear tire was going flat. The real problem wasn't the rear tire, it was the "spare" tire I've taken to hauling around my middle. Ha. Thank you England. As Dwight says, "It helps to wear a loose shirt." Indeed.

Here's a picture of David M. working on the 206 for MAF Chad. He's installing a portion of the lower cowl after inspecting the nose gear assembly.

One exciting thing that we did miss by being in England was the Kodiak's visit to our facility. I'll blog more about the Kodiak tomorrow. Right now, I'm about to get ready for the pedal home. A major advantage of the ride home is that instead of taking me fifteen minutes to climb the hill, it only takes one minute for me to get to the bottom. Wahoo! Yes, I wear a helmet!

Unpacking, Organizing, Adjusting, and Pictures

It's been quite a couple days trying to get back into the swing of things here in Coshocton. The readjustment has been more difficult than Karen and I anticipated though we do feel we're relatively close to being back on an Ohio schedule instead of an English one. Karen has done a magnificent job of pulling our lives and household back together on this side of the ocean, the dogs continue to be very happy to see us, and I'm close to having most of the logistical things taken care of as far as closing out the trip is concerned. I'll head back to the shop tomorrow. You can bet, weather permitting, I'll be on my bicycle.

I do miss the big breakfasts in England. Eggs, toast, beans, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes all on one plate with coffee, tea, sugar and heavy cream. Oh my. I climbed on the bathroom scale yesterday and was shocked by the lies it was telling. But while a scale may lie, the waistband of my pants do not. However, the purpose of this blog isn't to focus on my weight gain over the past three weeks (I'm also going through withdrawal from having heavy cream in and on everything). No, I just wanted to post a few photos from our trip to London and get everyone set for our return to regular duties at MMS and life and service in Coshocton.

London Trip
The day before we returned home we were able to spend several hours in London. London is like a real city. Lots of people everywhere, lots of traffic, lots of tourists, every nationality represented, trains, subways, police, fire engines, rescue squads all going about their business at the same time. It was a bit overwhelming to us, but we were able to walk around and see the "big" things from the outside: Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Cathedral, Parliament, Big Ben, red double-decker buses, Millennial Park with the huge ferris wheel, Tower Bridge, and the HMS Belfast.

We discovered the train stations in London are a bit more complex and stressful that what we'd gotten used to in the outlying areas. At least in the rural stations there were always helpful staff to ask questions of...but in the Big City, you better know where you're going before you get there! And with eighteen platforms instead of two to chose from, chances of missing the train you want (or getting on the train you don't want) increase dramatically. It's all part of the London package. Karen and I are both thankful the Lord has called us to ministry in a rural setting.

Here are some pictures from our visit to London:

Buckingham Palace

Palace Guard

Westminster Cathedral

Big Ben

Karen on Westminster Bridge over the River Thames with the Parliament building
in the background.

The Tower Bridge

Thanks for going on our trip with us! It's back to MMS Aviation tomorrow and back to preparing people and planes for worldwide mission service right here in Coshocton, Ohio.

We love you and are so thankful for you. May God richly bless you as we serve Him together!

Home Safely In Coshocton

Thanks for all your prayers. We arrived at Cleveland Airport on time and passed through security, immigration, and the customs check points without any problems. Josh was at the baggage claim to meet us. THANK YOU, JOSH for making the 4 hour round trip to pick us up and thank you Julia and Ethan for letting him do so. Lord willing, I'll be back on the drums for Josh as part of the worship team tomorrow morning.

It's now almost 7 PM (midnight in our England body-time), the dogs have calmed down after our grand entrance, the mail's been sorted, we're about to decide what we're doing for dinner, and it's Midwest humid-hot with rain showers.

All things are as they should be.

I'll be off from MMS on Monday and Tuesday but plan to be back at my HR duties as of Wednesday.

Thanks for loving us! It's great to be home.

Thursday, Friday, and Other Ramblings

Ashford to Gatwick
Whew, I'm just about caught up! Now that it's Friday, we'll get you caught up on Thursday...

Thursday, yesterday, we decided to relocate to the London area near Gatwick Airport from which we'll depart for home tomorrow morning. The thought of my having to lead us on a ninety minute, mission critical train ride way early Saturday morning with bags and baggage from Ashford to Gatwick with one to two train changes (and no room for missed trains or else there's a missed plane) was more than I could handle. Instead, we checked out of our B&B two days early and made a leisurely day of our travel enjoying the continued process of learning how to get around in another country inside another culture. Thank you MAF, Facts N' Friction, and Pre-Field Orientation!

Cultural Considerations & Appreciation
Karen and I are constantly amazed at how different the British and American culture and languages are. It seems, at times, that everything is different to what we're accustomed: driving and walking on the left side, exit doors opening inward instead of out, traffic lights going from red to yellow to green instead of green to yellow to red, eating left handed with an inverted fork using the knife in our right hand to direct food under/on the fork, often finding the hot water handle on the right instead of the left, having to learn to turn each wall socket on for individual use, needing transformers/converters for some electrical things but not others, all leading to increased tension and stress. And coming from Coshocton, Ohio...England is such an internationally integrated country. It seems like we are surrounded by nearly every language on the planet. Sometimes it's hard to remember we're in England.

And just when we start to get the hang of hearing and understanding the "English" being spoken around us, we come across someone with a new accent, or we go to a different town, city, restaurant, shop, or store and instantly we're back at square zero feeling lost and confused and unable to communicate effectively. It's so challenging to speak the "same" language and yet have no idea what either of you is saying.

To all of our missionary friends out there in cross-cultural ministry...we now have a much better understanding (even if in such a small way) of what it's like to hear every language but your own and to be "hungry" to hear someone say anything in your heart language.

All in all, yesterday's trip from Ashford to Gatwick was uneventful, though we did get on the "wrong" right train at Tonbridge Station and had to rapidly disembark with all our gear even faster than we'd just gotten on, and we became totally disoriented inside the South Terminal of the airport trying to find our way out to the coaches...no worries.

In Summary
To sum it all up we've had a restful night and think we might head into central London in a little while to see what we can see before heading home in the morning. We've had a great trip, Karen's over her migraine (which hit on Wednesday) and the Lord has kept me vertigo free.

I can guarantee I'll be out of connectivity as of 5 PM this evening (that's when my purchased 24 hour on-line time "voucher" runs out) so this may be our last post before we (Lord willing) arrive back in Coshocton sometime tomorrow evening.

Thanks for all your prayers, thanks for going on this little trip with us, and again thanks to all the MAF personnel who have left such an impression on our lives and our ministry!

Tally-Ho! and Ta-Ta!

Canterbury and Trains

Riding the Trains
On Wednesday we took the train and spent the day in Canterbury. It's been something of an experience, but we've learned how to read the train schedules and, for the most part, get on the right trains.

Things can become a bit exciting for me (pray for Karen!) when the electronic marquis provides incorrect arrival/departure updates, when the automated information system inside the trains announces the wrong stops, and/or there are two trains to the same destination leaving within minutes of each other waiting on opposite sides of the same platform--one being the fast train, one being the slow train. If you get on the slow train, you'll miss the connection you would otherwise make by riding the fast train. And when you ride a "two part" train, it's important to be in the appropriate part or else you might find yourself going in the wrong direction where the two parts disconnect.

No complaints, trust me. The train system here is wonderful, the coaches are clean and comfortable, and the staff at the stations are absolutely saint-like in helping lost and confused travelers like ourselves. It just takes some time to learn the nuances needed in navigating the system. Another nice thing is that if you do miss your train, they usually send another one to pick you up within thirty minutes to sixty minutes.

Our Day in Canterbury
So, there we were off to Canterbury which is a short train ride up the tracks from Ashford. Canterbury is an absolutely amazing place. We arrived just as the stores and streets were coming to life and found our way to the Cathedral first off.

It'd been thirty years since I'd toured a cathedral of this magnitude (Notre Dame in Paris being one and the cathedral in Cologne, Germany being the other) and it was breathtaking. It's beyond pictures and consequently we didn't take any inside. We were too awestruck. And then when you're that close, the whole outside of the structure is too large to fit in one photo...so ask to see the slide show when we get home.

The town itself is totally historic going back to the days of Rome with the construction of the cathedral beginning in AD 597. City walls, protected gates, a moat, brick streets, side streets, through ways, stores, specialty shops, restaurants, pubs, food stands, vendors, street musicians, and history, history, history. We even spent time in the West Gate Gaol ("jail" to us modern Americans) as tourists of course, not as guests of the sheriff.

When we went into the cathedral it was cloudy and the town was rather deserted. By the time we came out...it was sunny and there were people everywhere.

Here are some pictures from our day:

This is the West Gate into Canterbury.

The gaol is inside the gate up another stone and extremely spiral staircase.


Here's Karen inside the gaol making a brass rubbing as a souvenir. It cost 10p to make a rubbing (10p = 20 US cents). Karen and I made two each: the first as practice and the second as "keepers." One day you just may see the final products on display inside 368 McClain.

The main entrance to the cathedral.

Karen in a Cathedral Garden on a Cathedral Bench with the Cathedral Cat
who very much liked Americans.

The streets of Canterbury.

A view of the cathedral from the top of the West Gate Gaol.

Tuesday's Follow-up On Thursday

From Folkestone on Monday with MAF-UK to Ashford on Tuesday with MAF-International, our second full day of meetings was as beneficial as the first. Karen and I are really excited about the discussions and ideas that were shared. Between the crew at Folkestone and the team at Ashford, I'm not sure how any other mission organizations could possibly have better leadership and management teams.

Again, Karen and I were treated as royalty (no intended slight to The Queen, I'm sure) and enjoyed interacting with the various departments and managers within the MAF International Operations Centre. Special focus was placed on time with the HR department (Mark, you're a brave man...), Keith their Maintenance Manager, and with Mike learning about WASP. It was good to see everyone there from the PFO course and those who had tutored sessions at Facts 'N Friction.

The HR department (with assist from Amanda and Kathryn) treated us to a wonderful British picnic featuring several traditional food stuffs: Savory Eggs (unique little balls of seasoned dough with egg bits inside) and some mini pork-pies (I've forgotten their official nomenclature) which were tasty bite-sized pork bits (porky-pies?) covered in a pastry dough. Of course there was "cloudy" lemonade, scones with double cream and jam, cold cuts, baguettes, tomatoes, cheese, and "crisps" (potato chips--to all us Americans). We were so busy eating we forgot to take pictures of the food flying.

Thanks again to Chris, Annie, Gillian, Keith, Geoff, Mike, and everyone else who worked so hard to make our time at their headquarters so enjoyable. And special thanks to Bruce, my Eskimo brother from "the village." Don't wear your tie too tight...

Here are some photos:

The HR Department: Gillian, Annie, and Mark.


Karen pulled away from the discussion long enough to take this snapshot of Keith
meeting with Keith.


This is Bruce my "Eskimo" brother.

And here's a shot of the bell tower of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (in the heart of Ashford) inside of which Karen and I were blessed to sit Tuesday evening to witness the bell ringers practice ringing the bells. You wouldn't believe how many stone, tightly spiraled, stair cases we've climbed these past three weeks. And I never would have guessed how much a stone tower could move once you get several tons of bells flying around overhead...

Stay tuned...

Monday's Follow-up on Thursday

Greetings Everyone,

We've really missed posting new info these past couple days and believe me, there's plenty of information and photos to post what with picking up the loose ends from Monday/Tuesday, our trip to Canterbury, and today's move.

Internet connectivity and time have been somewhat difficult to locate lately but it appears we've found a solution to both challenges by moving to the Gatwick Airport area two days early. Not only that, but we just finished having "Full Afternoon Tea" (sandwiches, salad, cakes, scones with "clotted cream" and jam, and of course hot tea with cream and multiple lumps of sugar). The hotel room windows are open, there's a wonderful breeze blowing, the temperature is a perfect 76, and the sky is cloudless blue. Karen's reading a book, we're both catching our breath, and I'm relaxing on the keyboard.

We continue to rely on the lessons learned during the Facts 'N Friction course and PFO as we near our return to Ohio. But, before we go on with current news, let's get caught up with past posts by additional info and photographs.

Mission Aviation Fellowship-United Kingdom
Karen and I again want to express our thanks to MAF-United Kingdom's staff for such wonderful hospitality and fellowship during Monday's visit to their headquarters. We were treated like VIP's, given the highest attention, and guided through the facility in fine style by Heather.

Before we go any further, I need to feature Emma, one of our PFO compatriots whom I unintentionally offended in grievous fashion in an earlier post. Emma, I hope this makes things right. Now, get back to your desk and get some work done. Less talk, more PR work. Remember "IT" is watching (right, Mark?). And the "pastoral care" line can only be carried so far when there's so much laughter. However, we are glad that ministry can be so much fun--thanks for helping keep it that way.

Anyway, a "jolly well-done" to Ruth, Hillary, Rachel, Kevin, (Marion--a brilliant lunch!) and the entire MAF team at Folkestone!

Here we are inside MAF's office.

Here I am meeting with Kevin, MAF UK's financial expert.

Here's the view along the coast of Folkestone, a three and a half minute walk from MAF UK's offices. This shot is looking up the coast toward Dover.

Harriet, thanks again for such a wonderful meal of fish & chips in such a special setting to wrap-up our day.

Monday and Tuesday

Karen and I spent Monday meeting and interacting with the staff at the MAF United Kingdom headquarters office in Folkestone. We had a wonderful time presenting the ministry of MMS and then meeting with different departments to discuss how to better partner with them in preparing their engineers for overseas service. The weather was perfect and we even had a few minutes before finishing up to walk the short distance to the shore and enjoy the salt air and warm sun. We were able to see France from the viewpoint! (And yes, EMMA, you will be featured soon.)

Monday evening Harriet, one of the MAF staff, took us out for "proper" fish and chips which was absolutely fantastic. The sun was setting, we were by the ocean, eating outside, and the air was warm (until the sun set). It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Tuesday
This morning we walked to MAF International headquarters and shared MMS' ministry with their assembled staff. We spent the rest of the day discussing ways to enhance our partnership with them in preparing MAF United Kingdom's engineers for service under MAF-I's operational control.

It's a three way partnership as MAF-UK sends engineer candidates to MMS so we can prepare them for field service with MAF International. It's complex, hence the ongoing meetings and communication between our three organizations.

It was a most profitable two days on the tail end of an amazing two weeks.

After a wonderful dinner in Ashford, we closed out this evening in the belfry of St. Mary the Virgin's church, in town center, witnessing the eight bell ringers practicing ringing the church bells. No pictures of that...as we hadn't brought the camera into town, but what a memory!

There's far too much to post, too many pictures to share, and we plan to head in to Canterbury tomorrow to visit the cathedral and do a bit of exploring. We'll post more when we can, get photos up as able, but right now we're kind of whipped and need to call it a night.

Chocks Away! Jolly Hocky-sticks! Tally Ho. Steady On. Dashing Good Show, Old Boy...

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Well, it seems we still have access to the internet at our B&B...tonight anyway. We'll take it one day at a time and see what happens. Let me bring you up to speed.

FRIDAY
After packing up all the orientation gear, Annie and Gillian were kind enough to drive each of us to Ashford to stay with Rachel and Jamie. It took two cars to get us there: 1) because the cars over here are rather small with "petrol" going for nearly $10 per gallon, and 2) because we did have a few bags with us. I rode with Annie and talked HR for the hour drive. Karen rode with Gillian and talked about the scenery.

We had a wonderful Friday evening with Jamie & Rachel. Rachel cooked up delicious lasagna dinner and Jamie and I stayed up late discussing the various merits and demerits between the US and British political systems.

SATURDAY
Saturday morning Jamie & Rachel took us up to Dover on the coast (the place with the white cliffs) to visit the Dover Castle, tour the "secret" tunnels beneath it, and to see if we could see France from the cliffs. It was quite a day.

We didn't see France as it was too hazy over the channel but the castle and tunnels (used for WW II operations) were totally worth the trip. Rachel packed a picnic lunch which we ate on the grass beneath the castle walls. We walked all over the grounds and through the castle, which King Henry the VIII used to stay in, and spent an hour underground being led through and taught about the tunnels and their importance as a British military headquarters in WW II. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the tunnels but here are a couple photos of the castle and one of Jamie & Rachel:

This shot is taken while we were walking the battlement walls looking back at the castle.

Here we are with the castle in the background. It was EXTREMELY windy there on the cliffs overlooking the English Channel, hence Karen's special hair-do.

Jamie & Rachel with the English Channel in the background.

Once home we had another fantastic meal, this time in Jamie and Rachel's "garden" or back yard for all you Americans out there. Then some of their friends came over--one of whom was a young lady from Pennsylvania with family in a small town where Karen has family! Is this a small world or what? We had a fun evening roasting marsh mellows and making fun of each other's language and customs: UK vs. US.

SUNDAY
We worshipped with Jamie and Rachel this morning at Ashford Baptist Church where Jamie plays the drums for their worship team. While it was a blessing to worship with our British brothers and sisters, we were doubly blessed to enjoy a traditional English "roast" meal with Rachel's parents, brother, and family friend afterwards. If you ever come over to England, be ready to EAT. Thank you Brian and Vi!

We have a few last minute preparations to make tonight before we head to Folkestone tomorrow morning to meet and make presentations to the staff at MAF United Kingdom headquarters. Tomorrow evening we're to have the opportunity to enjoy a "real" fish and chips meal down on the coast with Harriet, another MAF friend and staff member.

The weather continues to be cooler than normal with lots of wind. It's warm and sunny in between the clouds. We hope you're having a great day and thanks again for keeping up with us through this blog. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to leave a comment! We'll be glad to answer them. Please pray for us as the Holy Spirit brings us to mind. THANKS!

Completion of MAF Orientation

What a fantastic two weeks of orientation! Praise the Lord for the opportunity to participate and His provision of good health for the duration of the program. No migraines, no vertigo, no illness of any kind.

Here's a picture of those of us who stayed on for the second week to include MAF staff (Gillian and Annie on the far right), the brave and valient grandparents who provided childcare (Brian & Carol, and Mars), and the kids of the missionary families involved.

Please pray for Adrian, Lindsay, Aaron, and Morgan as they prepare for service with MAF in Kenya.

Please pray for Luc, Malaina, Jalil, and Adele as they prepare for service with MAF in Uganda.

Please pray for Vicky as she prepares to marry John who is already in serving Uganda. (Vicky, I just realized I don't have an individual photo of you! 1000 apologies...Vickie is standing next to Karen in the group picture.)

We all became very well acquainted over the two week course and look forward to staying in touch with each other as God moves us to our respective areas of calling and specific fields of service. We gained loads of information about the realities and cross-cultural considerations of service in a foreign field, were challenged in ways we couldn't imagine, and we encouraged spiritually for the tasks ahead.

Please pray for us we prepare for meetings with MAF headquarters staffs in Folkestone on Monday and in Ashford on Tuesday. We'll soon be on our way to Ashford to spend the weekend with Rachel and her husband Jamie. Rachel is Personnel Manager with MAF United Kingdom. We were blessed to host Rachel in our home last summer when she came out for meetings at MMS. Our internet access may be somewhat limited over the course of the remainder of our visit. We'll post as we can and as we are able.

Thanks for checking in and staying in touch. We're blessed to have you as part of our ministry and are excited to have you visiting our blog. May God's richest blessings be upon you.

Personal Security, Packing, and Wrapping

Today was devoted to the discussion of personal security in foreign settings. We reviewed cross-cultural situations, discussed the "threat+vulnerability=risk" model, and used the "acceptance, prevention, and defense triangle" to develop personal approaches to security. We spent the afternoon watching videos of different security situations and dissected the situations to understand: how we could better approach a similar situation to avoid it and how we could better respond should we find ourselves in a similar security crisis.

It was tough to put ourselves in these difficult spots and to consider the realities of being unprepared and unaware of the risks inherent in any location Stateside or foreign. We're whipped. This has been an intense two weeks.

Packing
We'll be packing up our gear tonight as we need to be out of our rooms by breakfast time.

Wrapping
After morning sessions on communication, we'll wrap up the orientation with an evaluation session right before lunch. After lunch, we'll load our gear into Gillian's car (Lord willing, it will all fit!) and we'll be off to Ashford and onto the next stage of our trip.

We'll spend this weekend with Jamie and Rachel, move into a bed & breakfast for the week, be in meetings with MAF-UK on Monday, MAF-International on Tuesday, and then be on vacation until our return to Ohio next Saturday, July 26.

I'm unsure about internet access, so this may be the last post for a while. We'll see. Thanks for all your prayers!

Health, Safety, MELs and Ops-A's

Yeehaw. Today started with four hours of general health and safety discussions as a combined group led by Kathryn and Larry. This was followed by four hours with "just the guys" as Larry taught about MELs and Ops A's with a case study or two thrown in for good measure.

So what is an MEL? It's a Minimum Equipment List which is required for every aircraft in order to determine what "minimum equipment" needs to be functional for safe operations.

So what is an Ops-A? It's the primary organizational flight manual which covers aircraft operation within the respective MAF flight program. Luc (mechanic-Uganda), Adrian (pilot-Kenya), and I worked through several case studies to familiarize ourselves with the manuals and also to "conduct" an investigation into an an aircraft incident to better understand MAF's aircraft safety "model" and procedures.

As you've probably seen enough photos of people standing and talking or sitting and listening, here are a couple "English" scenery photos for your enjoyment.

Looking across the "lower" lake back towards the conference center.

A swan on the lower lake.

Tomorrow we focus on personal security concerns in overseas field settings.

Morning Devotion, Bugs, Bites, and Malaria

After breakfast it was Karen's and my day to lead devotions. We shared about the importance of balance in ministry, our own struggles with trying to find balance, and encouraged the group to consider silence and solitude as spiritual disciplines which might be helpful in maintaining balance as well as in pursuing a deeper relationship with God.

Bugs, Bites, And Malaria
No, we didn't get bit by bugs as part of our training, nor did we catch malaria, but we did spend a good portion of the day talking about health considerations in African field settings. Here's a snapshot of our tutor, Fiona (on the right), leading a discussion about health resources with Adrian, Lindsay, Malaina, Vicky, and Karen.

MAF Aviation Services Department
Our last sessions of the day were related to aircraft operations. Henk-Jan, Director of the Aviation Services Department gave a quick overview of the support provided by Aviation Services and introduced three of his managers: Larry, training; Geoff, quality; and Keith, maintenance. Larry and Geoff then made presentations about their respective departments.


Personal Report
Karen and I are doing fine. We're sleeping well and are still vertigo and migraine free. Today started under gray skies with the traditional British drizzle but finished well under warm sun and blue sky. We were able to get out for a short walk before dinner and captured a couple more scenery shots from the grounds. I'll try to work them in over the next couple days.

Thanks for your prayers! The connections we made today with Larry, Geoff, and Keith will serve MMS and MAF well in the future. We're so excited to see what God is going to do through this trip and the resultant relationships.

Back in Class

With the PFO over we're back in a regular cycle with tutors this week. Today, under Max's tutelage, we covered theology, eschatology, church history, missiology, and field reality in relation to MAF's flight selection policies. Max is Manager of Research and Development for MAF and jokingly refers to himself as an MAF "artifact." He was a missions pilot with MAF for twelve years and has served in various management positions since joining MAF in 1971.

Our last session of the day was hosted by Luke, who heads up MAF's Information Services division. Luke discussed MAF's intranet services and led a hands-on session related to setting up a web page on MAFspace. He maintains MAF's Op Center email and LAN. He builds hardware, writes software, designs systems, and otherwise holds everything together with his bare hands (and a hardworking staff).

We'd also like to introduce Mark & Jenny who are in the pipeline for service with us at MMS as part of the MAF engineer scholarship scheme. They'll soon have their first child. Lord willing, they'll be able to come to MMS for evaluation sometime next Spring. We enjoyed getting to know them over the first week of the orientation.

Trip to Rye

We had a good trip to Rye yesterday. You might not believe this, but just up the train tracks from Rye is a town called Ham. Go figure. Here are several snapshots from our visit to Rye:

We started our trip at Battle Train Station.

Two tourists.

On the train to Hastings to catch the train to Rye.

Outside Simon the Pieman's establishment in Rye.

Yes, we did go inside to sample a treat or two.

Cobblestone streets

Inside an English delicatessen.

Typical architecture

St. Mary's Church

Ypres Tower (built 1249)