Crate Packing 101

Home school curriculum, meds, toiletries, clothing, linens, books, pots, pans, and dishes all made it into our crates last night!  Here's what packing a shipment looks like:

1. Truck brings your crates.

2.  Truck-man and Dad unload the crates (yet to be assembled).

3.  Load your pre-packed trunks inside.  Nifty, eh?

4.  Figure out where to stick weird little things that don't have a trunk.

5.  Get creative with space.

6.  Snap on the clamps and make sure the walls are flush.

7.  Finish the first container and gear up for the second one!

Thank you to each of you who have donated $$ and other things to help make this shipment possible!

Sam on the Back Country!

Sam is done with his maintenance training at MAF and passed with flying colors!  Praise God for this amazing time of preparation!  We were supposed to head back to Iowa tomorrow morning BUT one thing you learn in this life is that God sometimes plans amazing opportunities that pop up and you want to leave wiggle room to take Him up on them!  Sam has been in training with 3 pilots who are also heading to the field.  Their climax of Standardization is the Back Country trip where they spend 3 days in the mountains putting their skills to the test with some crazy airstrips and illusions.  This morning, Sam was invited to go along!  We are so thankful for the opportunity for Sam to get out and connect with his brothers in Christ as well as share in their flying learning experiences!  One of the pilots is future Lesotho team-mate, Matthew Monson, so it is exciting for Sam to be able to see him in action before we hit the field together!  Added bonus: the pilots have a maintenance specialist on board for the next 3 days...that can only be a good thing :)

The Standardization Guys!  Aaron (pilot), Matthew (pilot), Sam (mechanic), and John (pilot)

Pre-flight by MAF pilots John Boogaard and Matthew Monson

Pre-flight by MAF pilot Aaron Kramer

The Standardization guys and their instructors

Their pre-flight is very routine and thorough (and fun evidently!).

Pre-flight with Matthew

The kids all get ready to wave goodbye to their daddies!

Sam flew in Aaron's plane for the Back Country.

Future Lesotho team-mates, Matthew, Carolyn, Caleb and Baby!

One happy boy!

Heading out!

One last goodbye.  See you in 3 days, Daddy!

The Kids These Days...

I mean literally, here's what the kids have been up to this week :)

Ballroom Dance lesson on Monday with another MAF family!

Mucking out stalls and riding at a local youth ranch on Tuesday.

Sharing a coconut milk experience with other MAF friendlies at headquarters on Wednesday.

This little friendly will be joining our Lesotho team later this year!

Getting a fun package in the mail from Gramdee and Gramptree in the Central Africa Republic!

Update...

Sam is finishing up his last 2 weeks of aviation standardization here at MAF.  Thank you for praying for us during this time!  Sam is quickly catching on to MAF's standards of operation and he is thrilled to get his hands back on some planes :)  God has been SO faithful in providing for 100% of our monthly funds and one-time outgoing funds, so THANK YOU to those of you who are a part of sending us to Lesotho! This week we will submit our official request to our travel department to depart the first week of August.  Anna has been researching and ordering home school curriculum for next year as well as finishing up paperwork before our departure.  We are continuing to work on our vehicle fund as requested by our Program Manager and are thrilled to have over 1/3 of that raised!  Praise God and please continue to pray for one time donors for that!  If you want to know how to donate to that, let us know!

Cleaning parts

Sam and buddy John Boogaard created a secure mount for a GoPro (video camera) to fasten to planes.  It was passed by our Safety Department so hopefully when we get to the field we'll be able to share some sweet vids!

Parts room

Training for the wives: Cooking From Scratch class  :)

Sam At Work...

Sam is halfway through his 8 weeks of Standardization.  All new MAF pilots and mechanics go through Standardization at headquarters to learn MAF's standards for work across the globe.  Sam has been studying under the maintenance training department both in classroom settings and on the shop floor.

Sam taught me about "blind torquing" here :)

Sam's view every day