Karen's Side Street Salsa Kitchen Opens!

We weren't sure we'd even have a salsa season this year...it has taking FOREVER for our tomatoes to ripen, our garden suffered all summer from the heat, and by this time last year we'd already had 52 quarts put up!

Green tomatoes everywhere as we head into September.

But there ARE some red ones.

Karen harvesting this morning.

The peppers really LOVED the hot summer.

The heart of the salsa...

Rapid Response to Gabon, Africa

Dale, Paul J., and Andy are off to Gabon, Africa to disassemble and crate a Cessna 207 for shipment to MMS. Clipping a taxi cab and a light pole during an emergency landing on a dirt road, the airplane was damaged beyond Air Calvary's ability to repair. Air Calvary contacted us to see if we could help them and we are blessed to send this Rapid Response Team over to start the process of returning this airplane to mission service.

Dale, Andy, and Paul J.

The airplane, the taxi, and the light pole.

Damage to wing strut, leading edge of the wing, and the landing gear.

Damage to flaps and control surfaces

Damaged tail section

You can see the airplane is in need of substantial repair. Dale, Andy, and Paul J. should have the airplane disassembled and crated over the next two weeks. We expect the guys back in Coshocton the first week of September. It will take the airplane a bit longer to arrive as it will travel by boat and then truck before arriving at our hangar facility sometime in October.

We appreciate your prayers for Dale, Andy and Paul (and their families here) as they're away in Gabon, Africa.

Thanks, Special Thanks, Washer and Praise Update

Thank you to Terry, Tim and Andy (MMSer's one and all) for helping remove our old bed, pick-up and deliver a donated less-used bed, and then wrestle it upstairs and around the corner into our bedroom. The seventeen year-old bed had been a good bed but our middle-aged backs and bodies were beginning to demand something with a bit more life left in it. Special thanks to Dale & Deborah for securing the donated bed on our behalf!

Continuing in the "home front" category, Steve, the local appliance repairman, came to check-out our washer yesterday (a 1993 Hotpoint), fixed it for the price of a service call, and said "they don't make them like that anymore...hang on to this thing until you absolutely have to replace it" giving it a prognosis of up to another five years of faithful service. I like that...a washer that could last over twenty years with only one minor repair over the past eight years. They really DON'T make them like that anymore. But then if God could keep the sandals of the Israelis from wearing out over 40 years of wandering in the desert...He just might be blessing us with a washer that won't wear out for 20+ years! Now THAT'S a missionary washer!

And there's even another praise! We're having our socks rocked by blessing after blessing right now. This one is in the transportation department. More on that later...

Weather-wise, we're back into the heart of the Midwestern summer. Dale, one of our MMS staff; and Andy and Paul, MMS apprentice mechanics; are half joking that they need to go to Africa to cool off! Actually, if the weather patterns stay the same for the next two weeks, that will be true. Those three are scheduled to leave for Gabon, Africa on Sunday to disassemble and pack a damaged airplane in a container for shipment back to MMS so it can be repaired. Right now it's forecast to be in the mid-90's here and it's only in the mid-70's in Gabon. How many of you ever imagined it's hotter in Ohio than it is in Africa? I'll have more of that trip in a future blog, too.

Thank you for your prayers and gifts and donations and love and care and friendship and interest and involvement with us as we serve!

Tuesday Back In The Hangar

Hey, we made it home safe and sound yesterday evening and are now getting back into the swing of things. Karen started the day facing a mountain of laundry and then had the washing machine decide to turn into a waterfall filling, and filling until "the cup runneth over" so to speak. She has a call in to our local appliance repair shop and is finishing the laundry in our neighbor's washing machine.

I'm back at my desk trying to close-out the trip and re-integrate into the reality of MMS. While we were only gone for a week, it seems like we'd been away from home and from the mission for so much longer. It was/and is an odd feeling.

Speaking of the trip, our Sunday morning presentation at Ephrata Grace Brethren Church went well even though there was a hiccup with the embedded video in our PowerPoint presentation necessitating my acting out the video to include making airplane noises and "flying" around the sanctuary. Sorry you missed it! Or if you were there to see it, I hope you enjoyed it.

It was a blessing to meet the folks at Ephrata GBC and reconnect with Pastor Kim and his wife, Susan. They'd just returned from 3 weeks in Cambodia visiting their missionary son and daughter-in-law. Thanks for making us feel so welcome Ephrata!

Locally, our salsa garden is behind schedule with very few red tomatoes. It's kind of odd in that everything's coming in so much later after such a hot summer and last year, in the coolest summer in recent history, we already had two salsa canning sessions completed by this time.

Tucker and Tanner were glad to have us home. I need to get on them to write their article for the August issue of our Coshocton Flyer as August is almost OVER!

It's good to be home yet sometimes overwhelming at the same time. Thanks for your gifts and prayers!

Saturday Deputation Update

Still in Millersville, PA.

Our lunch with supporters yesterday went very well. We had a great time, enjoyed a wonderful lunch of barbecued steak, fresh corn on the cob, Parmesan potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and green salad followed by fresh peaches for dessert. We updated on MMS, showed some of the video clips I've put together this year, and enjoyed our host's photo album of his years as an aircraft mechanic during the Korean War. Karen and his wife had conversations about girl stuff while we talked airplanes. It was fun hanging out with them even if I did bang my head twice on the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling in the living room. Their farm house was built in the 1870's.

We started today (Saturday) being blessed by breakfast with our small group from Grace Church at Willow Valley. We met them at the Apple Tree Family Restaurant in Lancaster, PA and hooted and hollered and laughed and teased each other for an hour and a half or so over baked oatmeal (most of the group) and eggs, hash browns, and sausage (a few of us) and Karen had a blueberry pancake that must have had a quart of blueberries in it...good home cooking with friendly service and very reasonable prices.

Then we had the afternoon off to go do some errands we only get to do while we're in Lancaster. We also explored a portion of Millersville we hadn't been to before. It was a nice break, we found some bargains at a local bargain spot, and now we're back at Steve & Cindy's sitting in their covered patio, relaxing with a cold beverage, and snacking on salted nuts while we wait for Cindy Shrom's Family-Famous lasagna to cook.

The rumor is we're off to The Strasberg Creamery this evening for dessert. Some days it's easier to be a missionary than others. And some days...work means consuming mass quantities of calories in between giving ministry reports.

Speaking of ministry reports, we're all ready for our presentation tomorrow morning at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church and look forward to enjoying lunch with Pastor Kim and Sue Robertson afterward. Yep, more food!

Karen continues to feel good and while warming the weather's nothing like back in Coshocton where they're enduring 89 degree (98 with humidity figured in) temps with severe thunderstorm warnings. Tucker and Tanner are probably looking out their little doggy door and rejoicing over air-conditioning while they wait for our return.

Thanks for your prayers.

Friday Deputation Update

Okay, we're back on-line and it's Friday morning in Millersville, PA. Overcast, cool, a bit of rain this morning. No rain right now. Had some steady rain yesterday morning then some scattered thundershowers yesterday afternoon which has cooled the temperatures and provided some much needed water to the Lancaster County region.

We're over at Karen's brother's house and will base out of here through our return to Coshocton on Monday. Karen's out on a walk with Cindy (sister-in-law) and Ace (faithful Beagle). Steve (Karen's brother) and I have eaten some "sticky-buns" from Mr. Sticky's (you have to eat them to believe them) had a few cups off coffee, discussed MMS, and national politics so it's been quite a morning already.

We're to meet with some supporters for lunch today and then see what the Lord has planned for the evening.

On Wednesday we were blessed to be taken to Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA by ministry partners to see "Joseph", a theatrical production of the Old Testament, Biblical account of how God sovereignly worked in Joseph's life taking him from favored son/despised brother to second in command over all of Egypt and ultimate redeemer of a nation and his family. It was VERY GOOD.

Thursday morning we met with Joy O'Byrne the Director of Spiritual Formation at our PA sending church, Grace Church at Willow Valley. It's always a great encouragement to meet with Joy as she helps us better understand the different ways God is working to grow us in our faith, how we really can know Him more intimately than we've ever imagined, that there's more to faith than we may have previously understood, and that we're not going crazy as it sometimes may seem.

Thursday evening we enjoyed a chili and corn muffin dinner with supporters down in Conestoga.

Sunday morning we speak at Ephrata Area Grace Brethren Church. This will be the first time we've visited there. We look forward to reconnecting with Pastor Kim Robertson and his wife, Sue, whom we've met previously.

Karen's had two good days without headaches!

Thanks for your prayers!

Tuesday in Lancaster, PA

We're in Lancaster, PA, are getting ready to have breakfast, and are organizing for today's appointments with several members of our ministry team. It's just as hot and humid here as it is back in Coshocton, Ohio.

Yesterday we had "omelets in a bag" for breakfast. That was a first for us...where you put 2 or 3 eggs in a sandwhich bag (without the shells), mush them up, throw all the additional items you like in your omelets in the bag, squeeze out the air, and then place the bag in boiling water for 16 minutes. It's wild. And you end up with this tasty omelet all cooked and ready to eat though it does look something like a burrito. I topped mine off with ketchup and Hot Buffalo Wings Sauce. Not bad. Not bad at all. Sorry we didn't think of taking any pictures. We were too fascinated with the process. Oh yes, and Bonnie had also made "Blueberry Buckle" which is a rectangular pan load (9x13) of a giant blueberry muffin you carve up like a coffee cake.

We really do need to get our camera out of the bag instead of hauling it everywhere and not using it anywhere...

We'll be with Jay & Rene for the next few days. Internet access will be somewhat sketchy at best so it may be a day or two before we get back with another post.

Karen's continued to fight headaches though immediate rest, her pills, and some down time have helped keep them "under control."

Thanks for your prayers!

Sunday in Hollidaysburg

First of all, THANKS for praying for Karen's migraine. It was gone when she woke up this morning! That is such a blessing.

Our presentation at the Hollidaysburg Christian & Missionary Alliance Church this morning went very well. It was fun to share our ministry update, show some video of the hangar activity, and reconnect with our friends (and make new friends) there.

Loading my PowerPoint presentation before the service

Karen and I with Pastor Robson and his wife Darla by our display table

After the service Joe and Bonnie, our hosts, invited Karen's cousin Tammy (she's the graphic artist that designed our display and designs the MMS publications) and Aunt Phyllis over along with the Robsons for pork & sauerkraut, dumplings, and mashed potatoes...Joe makes his own sauerkraut...it was MIGHTY good. Of course there was the lemon cake, banana/peanut butter cookies, dessert breads, butter crunch crackers, and snicker-doodles for dessert...It was a fun time of fellowship and getting caught up with all the news from the church.

Then it was nap time for Joe, Bonnie and Karen as I went out to meet with some good friends of ours from the Holidaysburg church. I just got back and Karen left to meet with one of her childhood friends from Altoona.

It looks like we have a lunch appointment tomorrow and then may make our way over to Lancaster, PA.

Thanks for your prayers as we continue our deputation trip.

And a special thank you to Hollidaysburg CMA Church for making us feel so welcome and for your generous love gift!

In Hollidaysburg

We had a nice drive to the family reunion in Martinsburg; enjoyed six hours of fellowship, food, games, and conversation in perfect weather; and are now relaxing at Joe & Bonnie's. Actually, I'm relaxing and Karen's down with a migraine. She's really had a string of debilitating headaches lately. Lord willing her medicine will kick in and she'll feel better in the morning. If you could pray that way we'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

We're to leave for Hollidaysburg CMA Church at 9:00 tomorrow morning to set up our display and prepare to present our ministry with MMS as part of the worship service. It'll be fun to be back at Hollidaysburg CMA. It's been several years since our last visit but the folks at Hollidaysburg have always welcomed us warmly and been eager to hear how God is working through MMS. We're looking forward to our time together.

Deputation Trip!

Karen and I leave for PA in the next hour for a week of sharing with churches, visiting with supporters, building new relationships, and a family reunion. The car's nearly loaded and after a quick breakfast we'll be on the road to the Altoona area (4.5 hours). The family reunion is today and we're speaking at Hollidaysburg CMA church tomorrow morning. We'll head into Lancaster on Tuesday and have meetings and appointments lined up that take us to next Sunday when we'll be introduced to the congregation and Ephrata Grace Brethren Church.

We intend to post updates as we have internet access.

Tucker and Tanner are staying home. Aunt Chele and Uncle Tim will keep watch over them while we're away.

Please pray that we'll say what the Lord would have us say and minister as He would have us minister during this trip!

Thanks.

Tropical Training

This week is another week of "tropical training" at MMS. No, the guys aren't sitting around in lounge chairs, under palm trees, sipping iced drinks with umbrellas in them...it's just HOT (93 degrees) and HUMID (80%) with rather regular, intense thunderstorms rolling through every afternoon.

Once such storm just rolled through just a few minutes ago which did its best to blow, blast, and wash us off the top of the hill here at Richard Downing/Coshocton County Airport. Yee-haw. Of course in a few very short months we'll go into our "Arctic training" mode. When you prepare people to live and work in all parts of the globe it helps to have a weather range representative of the varied climates in which they'll serve. And here, in east central Ohio...we see it all...sometimes in a matter of hours.

Andy, Mike, and Mark make a plan for drilling the spar strap.

Terry begins work on the right main landing gear of the 210.

Paul works behind the instrument panel in preparation for installing instrumentation in the 337.

Pfeifer Aztec Returns to Service

The guys wrapped up work on the Pfeifer Evangelical Association's Piper Aztec this afternoon. With the left landing gear successfully repaired, they finished troubleshooting an electrical problem and fixed a leak in the left fuel bladder. The Aztec's now back in service!

Terry troubleshoots a problem with an electrical component.

Josh repairs the fuel bladder.

Mike and Josh cowl the right engine.

The Aztec leaves our ramp for the taxiway.