And now for something completely different...

Well not really, in fact probably not at all, I just seemed to have that phrase stuck in my head and thought it would be a good title for a post. Although now that I think of it most things here are completely different, but that still doesn't have anything to do at all with this particular post...I think I've somewhat digressed a tad...

A few weeks ago we received a container filled with all sorts of runway construction goodies. A D4 Caterpiller, a Bobcat (an actual Bobcat brand Bobcat) and all sorts of attachments. We excitedly opened the container once it was off the truck and eagerly looked things over, but alas we were missing one crucial element, someone that knew how to operate the equipment! Fortunately a fine chap and his family were on their way from the United States of 'Merica. Jason Helmholdt and his family are going to be out here moving dirt and levelling things off so that we can have some runways built to help some of our partners better serve their Angolan brothers and sisters.

Once Jason arrived he was just as eager as we were, I actually think more so, to see the equipment be rolled out of the container.

Jason expertly retrieving his equipment from the container.

We are looking forward to getting the equipment out on site at the beginning of the new year so that construction on the runways can start. It's going to be a challenge moving the equipment, as the last 175km or so of road to Cavango, where the first runway will be built, is along a dirt road that hasn't been maintained for almost 40yrs. The other challenge will be that rainy season will have started at that point, which can complicate things even more!

Rear Window- apologizes to Alfred Hitchcock

As we are want to do at times, we like to look out the windows of our apartment, which give us wonderful views of the bairro and city where we live. We enjoy seeing the changes in the city, watching the traffic, seeing the people go about their daily tasks and seeing the many lights at night. The other day Tammy was looking out one of our rear windows when she spied a young man on one of the roofs that we can see. It's not really that unusual to see people on the rooftops, but something caught Tammy's eye that just seemed a little unusual. "Normal" is seeing repairs being made, satellite dishes being set up, children chasing chickens or each other for that matter, but today something was different.

So what's that thar young feller up to?

What's he holding in his hands?

 But of course! How could I have not thought of this!? 

He's setting up his fish drying business!!

Testing...1,2,3... testing...

One of the things that we are extremely excited about is the Flying Doctor Project. Once a week every month we travel with a doctor to some of the remote areas that they want to reach. It has been exciting and frustrating all at the same time as we work to bring physical and spiritual healing to the neediest of the needy. One of the new aspects of the project is going to be a weekly Patient Transfer Flight. Each week we will coordinate with these rural clinics to bring those who are in need of more sophisticated care or surgery to one of the hospitals that we partner with. One thing that we needed to do before we started the flights was to test our abilities to get a stretcher into and tied down in our Cessna 182's. Some of you who are familiar with this type of aircraft are thinking that it's not possible, there isn't enough room. You would be right if you hadn't modified the aircraft. Instead of a bench seat in the back there are now two seats that fold away to the sides to give lots of space.

The door of the plane can be removed and the stretcher is ready for the test patient.

Marijn deciding how the stretcher will be tied down.

The test patient being loaded into the plane. They figured that if they could lift and put me in the plane and I fit, then they could lift and put anyone in the plane, thanks guys!!

"Is he going to fit!?"

Look at that, with room to spare!

The doctors that we work with say that the Patient Transfer Flights will literally be able to save months of treatment for some of their patients. The delay in receiving timely health care can result in lengthy recuperation times. We are thankful for your prayers and continued support with this project! 

The only difference...

There is a saying whose truth is somewhat debatable, that the only difference between men and boy is the price of the toys. Whilst valid points could be made for either side, we are thankful that the interests of young boys and girls turn into tools that God can use to build His kingdom. In the following case these interests include bringing Jason and Amanda Helmholdt, a couple from Michigan to Angola to construct runways. Just last week a container arrived here in Lubango that contained part of the equipment for that project. We are extremely excited about the possibilities that this equipment brings! As many of you know, health care is extremely lacking in many parts of Angola and this equipment will allow us to bring God's word and His healing to people that are in desperate need.

Who doesn't like to watch a crane unload a big container?

Prying open doors that are salted up from shipping. 

WOW! Look at all the cool stuff!

 Oh yes, men and boys and some of the toys!

You can help make a difference, why don't you consider joining our team and be a part of bringing "Wings of Hope" to the people of Angola. A huge "THANK YOU" to those of you who have already joined our team through prayer and financial support ~ We can't do this without you!! 

Going down the tubes...

To say that the plumbing system where we live is a little archaic doesn't really do justice to the system. It's not that it's really old, built in the 70's, or that it was built in Africa, it's just a different system that was built by the Portuguese using a different construction paradigm than what most of us are used to. The main sewer pipes for the kitchen and bathroom exit the building into little cement boxes just below ground level that run to other small boxes, where we would use an elbow, that then run to a big tank which was connected to the city system...which hasn't worked for decades. So the other day when yucky stuff started oozing out of one of these small boxes, we figured it was time to do some repairs. Most likely one of the tubes running between the small boxes was blocked and needed to be cleared. Fortunately we have a wonderful group of guards who help us with our maintenance, they opened up two of the little boxes and eventually figured out that we would have to open the main tank. No problem, its only under a five foot high cement block wall and buried a further two feet under that. Really!? Who designs this stuff? So down comes part of the wall and they dig out the tank and we have it pumped out...do I really need to describe what that was like? They found the offending pipe, cleared the pipe, which resulted in an unintended shower...ewww! The end result was that we made the main tank a little bigger and ran some new tubes from the boxes just to make things a little more accessible in the future if need be. 

The slew of despondency.

Some of the new plumbing.

 Tammy crossing the slew of despondency.

The guys closing up the slew.

Just another day living in paradise :-)

Does that only count as one?

Part of getting back into the swing of things is going flying again. After not having flown since February I needed to go up in the Caravan and get re acquainted with my trusty steed. Hmmm, I seem to have horses on the brain considering the title of the last post. Regardless of horses and blog titles it was time to shake out the cobwebs, knock off the rust and whatever other metaphor you can think of and go flying. It was a typically hazy day for August and the horizon was completely obscured. The pilots will already know what I am whining about because with no horizon it becomes a bit of a challenge to work through some of the manoeuvres that are much, much, much easier to do when you can see outside. After completing the various tasks such as steep turns, stalls and slow flight we returned to the airport to practice different types of landings, and I don't mean crash landings either! The first landing was spectacular, in fact it was so good I did it three times in a row. Sort of like when you skip a pebble across a pond, which takes a significant amount of skill to master, which made me feel better that I was able to bounce three times on my very first landing! After that I seemed to lose that hard earned skill and didn't manage to bounce again. I asked if I could count that first landing as three, but apparently that's not allowed for some technical reason that I am not yet fully willing to accept. So now I am again qualified to start flying around Angola on my own, once I have my Angolan licence that is, which is another story, which I believe is in the previous post. That was a shameless hint to get you to read said post.

Next post, "Things are going down the tubes!" ...more shamelessness...

Back in the saddle again

I was just reading about a friend who actually spent a day in the saddle, riding over 40 some odd kms. I am definitely not talking about being in that literal saddle, but the saddle of being back in Angola. We arrived back on the 27th of July and it has been a pleasure to see and get together with all our friends and colleagues. Some even took the time to clean out the layers of dust and grime that had accumulated in our apartment over almost six months before we got back, what a blessing to arrive to a clean house! We are working on settling in to some new rhythms and new responsibilities, besides flying more, which is never a bad thing, I will be focusing my time and energy more specifically on developing some runways, importing of materials and taking care of the different properties that MAF has here in Lubango.

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling up to Luanda with Marijn Goud, a new pilot on our team, to start the process of renewing our pilots licenses. It was a great adventure. Luanda is known for terrible traffic and the need to exercise patience  when trying to accomplish anything. We were actually able to get all the documents in and then enjoy some of the sights around the city.

A view from the Fortaleza de São Miguel overlooking the Marginal in Luanda

Some of the amazing Portuguese tile work from the 1700's inside the fort.

Some of the amazing Angolan tile work from today at the entry to the fort.

After visiting the fort we headed over to the airport to check in for our flight back to Lubango, only to discover the flight had been cancelled. The runway landing lights weren't working because there was no fuel for the generators, so we got to enjoy one more day in the capital and flew home the following morning.

Down to the wire.

Well as always it seems that everything is coming down to the last minute. Our tickets are booked back to Angola for the 21st of July and it seems like the list of things to get done before we go is getting longer and not shorter! At present I am working on a renewal for one of the ratings on my pilots license. The IFR rating allows me to fly without having to be able to see the ground. It's a lot of fun and the instructor that is shepherding me through the process at Prairie School of Mission Aviation is great. She knows her stuff inside and out which helps me immensely. 

While in Three Hills we decided that it would be good to buy and little house and of course that means there are a myriad of things that we would like to have taken care of before we leave. It is already setup so that with a few changes we can have a suite in the basement that we will be able to use when we are home on breaks and furlough in the future. The upstairs will be rented to Matt and Rachel, so we are looking forward to having them keep an eye on things when we are overseas.

As we head back, MAF is looking at some changes in responsibilities for those of us in the program. There are some exciting opportunities especially with getting some runways built that will better serve our partners. Pray for us as we all adapt to new roles and responsibilities and work towards glorifying God in all that we do.

As our time in Canada comes to an end it gets a little harder to leave family behind. It has been great to be with our kids and see them growing their own families and loving on each other. We are thankful for so many of you that have stepped in and loved and cared for them when we are so far away. God has blessed us beyond what we could have ever imagined.

Checking back in.

It has come to my own attention that I have been delinquent in keeping up with our web log. That's actually being somewhat gracious, to be honest I have just been lazy, as time has gone by I began to get the feeling that I had been just repeating myself. However, due to the wonderful encouragement of friends, family, associates and even some out and out strangers we are going to be diving back into the world of blogging! I am not sure what direction things will go, but I actually think that might actually be a good thing.

At present we are working our way back to Three Hills after visiting with family, friends, churches and supporters in Northern Alberta and through out BC. We have been humbled and overwhelmed by the amazing people we have in our lives who have encouraged and blessed us!  Unfortunately we are not going to be able to catch up with everyone and for this we apologize, but we will do our best to let you know what we are up to. As always we love to hear from you and what you are all up to.

Further updates to come!