Happy Birthday, Elias!

This is Elias this morning in his new, his first, and his only suit!  Thanks to whoever got it for him for his birthday last week...you can comment to remind me! 

Sorry, I am a week late in getting these next two pictures up.  Elias had an awesome cake complete with a hangar, airplane, and windsock on top!  Abby did a great job, and Elias couldn't believe it!  He got lots of presents too, so thanks to some of you for sending them a while ago with the visitors who came. 

Busy...

We were on a getaway family trip for a few days  this last week and have been super busy since we've been back.  Also, we are going through a very serious ministry trial/testing at the moment, so please pray for us and our church. 

I hope to take some time to post tomorrow night since it will be Elias' birthday. 

Far North trip

I had an awesome flight to the region of Cameroon called the Extreme North.  The journey to where we went is a physically taxing 2 to 3 day drive.  Bro. Tom and I were able to transport one missionary and his cargo up to Maroua, and then bring back a missionary family of five, their cargo, and their dog.  Their dog, Ebony, is actually the brother of our dog chocolate.  Anyway, we praise the Lord for safety and a great round trip. 

The hotel room where Tom and stayed.  Each room was its own separate little bungalow. 

The awesome restaurant at the hotel! 

I called and told Abby that I saw some donkeys, and Elena couldn't believe it...so I got a picture for her! 

Getting ready to leave the airport in Maroua. 

Randy Studdard and I...his daughter Grace is in the back.

A dry river bed...

The last 20 minutes of the 4 hour flight were a bit exciting today, as I climbed to 9,500 feet to get over a huge cumulus build-up only to have to dive back down through a hole before it all closed me in on top.  I was racing for Sabga for the last ten minutes as weather was a bit iffy at the airfield.  I really enjoyed flying behind bro. Tom, thought he beat me to Sabga by 20 minutes.

I ordered a starter for the Glastar, but haven't had time to put it on.  After the plane almost didn't start today in Maroua, I decided to change it out as soon as I got back. 

 While Abby and I were relating the events of the last day, Chloe decided to go ahead and feed herself.

Happy Birthday, Elena!

Elena turned 5 years old today...wow, where has the time gone!  She is growing up to be a fun sweet little girl.  She has been counting the days to her birthday and really had a good day.  Rosemary came from Sabga along with Abby and Rebekah for church, Bible Study, and birthday fun today. 

Our sweet little grown-up five year old! 

We all loved the cards that the Needhams sent for Elena.  They were homemade cards with old pictures of Elena on them!  She loved it!! 

The jello-cake was awesome! 

Abby, Chloe, Rosemary, Elena, Theresa, Rebekah, and Abby

I wanted to post these tonight, since I'll be away tomorrow.  Pray for a long flight to the Far North region of Cameroon tomorrow and then the return trip on Tuesday.  Tom and I are flying the two planes to transport missionary cargo up and bring a missionary family back down.

July planes and birthdays...

We have had a sort of fun-crazy-busy time for the last few weeks.  Soulwinning training and outreach was a huge highlight as we took our church to Bamenda to learn under Pastor Gillmore a few weeks ago.  Several of our church members grew tremendously that week and have been witnessing more effectively since then. 

On a previous post I mentioned Tom Needham and I flying the Necasters soulwinning team out to Akwaya.  Their time soulwinning in Akwaya was greatly blessed of the Lord and some great things happened that were obviously of the Lord.  Hundreds of people from countless Akwaya villages were in the area getting government ID cards, and so many of them heard and believed the gospel. 

Then on Friday, the 1st of July, Tom and I began flying our planes early in the morning to try to get around 20 people out of Akwaya.  The weather was absolutely lousy for flying.  I was praying a bit and thanking the Lord for my new EFIS instrument and my faithful GPS that enabled me to safely navigate.  After safely landing in Meyerim, Akwaya after a flight that I could have lived without, I waited out ground fog and then a thunderstorm before being able to fly out my first group about mid-morning.  So much for waking up before dawn to get an early start!  After getting rained on in and out of the plane (a little bit leaky) I enjoyed some fellowship with an Akwaya family that has a house by the airfield.  They served me fresh hot boiled peanuts while I waited for the weather to clear up...awesome!! 

(This was the only picture that I got due to a faulty camera.  It keeps dying on me even after a charge.  I am not having a lot of success with these point and shoot pocket cameras.  Anyone have any good recommendations for a good camera?)

I was able to make two flights out of Akwaya before having to quit due to inclement weather.  The sky was so bad today.  I tried flying high at 9,000 feet and still was picking my way through towering cumulus clouds.  I tried flying low and had to navigate through valleys with low mountain clouds around.  To add to that, it was very hazy which reduced the visibility alot compared to normal.  I felt like I had flown all day already due to the hard flying.  Praise the Lord for great airplanes and instrumentation.  I'll have to post a picture of my new EFIS attitude indicator.  It looks like a little computer screen and has about 5 or 6 instruments in one little screen. 

Then after the flying, I headed home for my beloved's birthday.  We celebrated Abby's birthday and had another home-made ice cream fest (in fact, she is dishing me up some left over ice cream now as I type this).  Thanks for sending her the gifts, cards, and emails!  We really love our birthday month from June 23rd to July 24th! 

Happy July 4th to all of you in the USA!!!