A Child's Last Day on Earth

I know this page is supposed to be about missions but i couldn't pass this post up. I just have one phrase about the photo "effective birth control!!" I'll let everyone else make comments.

Operation ACCESS

For the past three days I've been trying to come up with some good blogging material. My wife and I have been in Worthington for about three weeks now reconnecting with friends in this area and sharing our MAF ministry. We have also been working hard at figuring our next move as far as people and churches we need to contact. I'll post about that when we know more.
I found something interesting just now. It has been under my nose for a few weeks and I haven't even seen it until today. Most folks know that aviation is expensive, just look at the cost of airline tickets today. Due to this concern and some others people always have the question whether or not mission aviation is still a cost effective way of spreading the gospel. My answer to this question is a strong "YES"!!!! MAF just released it's Operation ACCESS study. This study has been going on since 2000 in some of the most remote areas of the world. What it has shown is that there are still huge barriers that need to be overcome to reach the world with the gospel. These barriers are not just geographical, but also language, political, and education. I'd encourage you to take some time to check out some of the results of the study. I know time is not something that a lot of people have these days so I'll link you to the "Fast Facts" sheet and then you can get a little more of a feel for what the study is about. The Operation ACCESS website also has some good info. I hope with this information we cannot only sense the need that is our there, but the urgency to reach the unreached for the Kingdom of God.

What is your Quest?

Some of you may have to forgive me on this post. My wife sometimes thinks I am too much into airplanes and she doesn't like it when I get together with my buddies and "talk shop". I admit, I do sometimes get a little carried away when it comes to sharing about my job and what is going on in the mission aviation community. However, today I was thinking about what to post and I thought, maybe I should share a little bit about the future of mission aviation. The biggest thing that MAF and other mission aviation organizations are looking forward to is an upgrade in aircraft. The current fleet of aircraft are mainly Cessna 206s. These planes are very good for short rough strips as well as have good payload. They are also aging and the fuel they run on is becoming more scarce in developing countries where most missions operate. A new aircraft is needed to fill the void. Many agencies are using the Cessna Caravan, which is a huge monster of a plane, but is not as capable as the 206 on the short stuff. This is where Quest aircraft comes in. They have developed an airplane called the Kodiak which is nicely suited for bush type flying. It can handle the short, rough runways, and it operates on common jet fuel. Right now this plane is going through it's FAA certification flights. As of this post they are working on spin tests. Check out their website for a little more info and lots of cool pictures of the future mission aircraft.

Land Ho!!!!

Since this is a blog about missions I think I should get back to some of that stuff. Today I just wanted to post a link to a website about a boat named the Stap Isi. The couple that owns this boat are missionaries with Pioneer Bible Translators and they work in Papua New Guinea translating the Bible into a national language. What does the sail boat have to do with anything you may ask? Well, where these folks do their translation there are many rivers and they have found that living on the rivers helps them do their work more effectively. So they decided to buy a sail boat in the US and sail it basically around the world to use it in PNG. This page tells their story. I'd encourage you to take a little time to read the log book (which they update when they can). They have a very humorous way of writing and someday it'll make a good book in the 'travel essays' section of your nearest bookstore.

Jack-a-What????

Yes, that is a picture of me riding a giant Jackalope. I guess by doing some three second research it is one of the rarest animals on the planet. I also read that it can mimick the human voice, so much that cowboys used to hear them mimick their campfire songs. But really folks.... I think it might be some sort of conspiracy. Maybe it is a close kin to the mighty bigfoot. Well let me guide you to some very factual research sites that the good ol' www has brought us.
The first one has some good photos. The second one comes from the Wikipedia encyclopedia. If you would like more info on this famed creature do a google search and you'll get more than enough info.

Home Sweet Home

Well, today I am writing from my home office...no not the the MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho but at our home in Worthington, MN. We had a great trip back across the states camping, seeing some family and friends, and dodging motorcycles on their way to the Sturgis rally in South Dakota. We both had a great time in California and were sad that we had to leave a place where we met so many new friends. On our trip across we continually thought about things that had happened and people we had met. It is great that the Lord brings his people together.
We do praise the Lord that we are now at 11% of our monthly ministry support and 5% of our one time outgoing. It has been awesome to see the Lord put together our ministry partners who pray for us and give financially.

Some of you may be interested in the election news from DRC. Well, I'm not as informed as I should be but BBC news has some articals that might be of interest. I visit this site on a regualar basis just to see what is happening over there.

Well I need to move on to some other things. More stuff to come later...

KOA Camping?

Some of you may know that I am a outdoorise type of guy. I enjoy mountain biking as well as backpacking and camping. I'm also blessed to have a wife that enjoyes camping. becuase we enjoy this type of activity we decided to camp on our trip out to California as well as camp on the way back. We have been staying in some national parks and things like that so they are kind of primitive. Well the past couple of nights we have stayed in a KOA campsite. which by now you may have picked up that they have not just internet connection, but wireless. So i'm writing this while sitting in our tent waiting for a rain storm to blow through. This experience has taken camping for me to an all new level...now i just need to get one of those huge bus type rigs.