“Next week” finally arrived the night before we left to celebrate Christmas at Sunrise Acres (a group of AIM-owned cabins on a small farm in rural Kenya). 201 boxes, trunks and other items made their way into our home in the hands of many helpers in just over an hour. Many, many thanks for interceding on our behalf!

Now about 8 weeks into the 12 of maintenance orientation, we slid out to Entebbe, Uganda for a few days after Christmas to scout out where we may live next year. Much more peaceful and beautiful than Nairobi, we eagerly look forward to the chance to serve there.

However, we continue to search out where God would lead us and we would greatly appreciate your prayers to that end: that God would clearly direct us and we would accurately discern what He desires. As everyone knows, there is much work to be done, here in Africa…like elseshere… We just desire to be where He wants us and do the good works He’s prepared in advance for us (1).

(1) Ephesians 2:10

Enjoy pictures from Christmas…and from our trip to Entebbe.

Some of you have asked for pictures of things with wings and props… Here is Slick on the ground after his first flight in Africa: a medical evacuation of a gal from Kasese, a town outside of Entebbe, Uganda. As of now, we’re planning to move to Entebbe later this year (2012), after Slick is done with training. Entebbe hosts the airport that serves Uganda’s capital, Kampala. The airport sits on a peninsula in Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa.

Rather than drop leaves, this tree dropped purple blossoms that carpeted the ground below Zoe's favorite swing

See more picures from around our home and from Rift Valley Academy on our Flickr site.

“Next week,” they say, regarding the arrival date of our shipment. Each week the answer remains the same . While we appreciate the predictability, we wouldn’t mind that answer changing someday…

In stark contrast and in response to your prayers, God has provided us not only with a great car, but licenses and the registration documentation as well…and even more than that, with the use of a “piki” (Swahili for motorcycle). Much quicker trips to and from work for Slick, down from 45-90 min by car to just 20-30 – for the 5 mile trek in traffic and very minimal rules of the road.

Speaking of work, we can testify to the statement we heard years ago, that people are the greatest part, and the greatest challenge, of ministry – lol! :) Nevertheless, Slick’s been thoroughly enjoying digging into the guts of various light planes and learning to safety wire like a pro. He’s about 4 weeks into his 12 weeks of maintenance orientation, while Donna’s been orienting Zoe to the discipline of the potty. Peanut is doing well…moving around a bit and pushing Mommy’s belly out just a wee bit! As we move into the season of short rains and holidays, we continue to covet your prayers for endurance, grace and wisdom as we continue to transition into the Kenyan and missionary cultures.

Our fearless guard dog in action. It’s good to be a whole family again, though Chili often hides under the table or behind Mommy’s legs to escape the enthusiastic affection of her 2-year-old sister.

There’s nothing like sleeping in our own home, even if it’s one we’re just moving in to. God generously provided us with a house we could move into right away and with generous friends Mike and Renee (fellow AIMers), who have been absolutely amazing with helping us get settled.

We thank you for praying for the grace that God so generously provided along the road to this point. Our last month at ABO has definitely been a “learning experience” and thanks to your prayers we made it through. (There were definitely some challenges that needed teamwork!)

As we press forward through a week of language instruction (Swahili) then into the beginnings of Slick’s training in the hangar, we greatly appreciate your prayers for logistics again – for our shipment to arrive quickly and intact, and for the myriad of details to fall into place, things like getting cars, household goods and Kenyan drivers’ licenses. We also ask Jesus daily for patience and grace as we continue to transition cultures. It’s been a great ride…if you like 4 wheeling!

A visit to a home near Machakos, a hour outside of Nairobi. Zoe was most interested in the chickens. We enjoyed the tea and buttered bread, though the language barrier was significant.

See more of our pictures here.

I am glad that we took a brief hiatus from sending regular email while we were at Scott Theological College last month going through AIM’s Africa-Based Orientation. It alleviated much stress, since the power frequently went off and was often off for a whole day at a time. Of course, without power, there is no internet (unless you hook up through the cell lines, which we weren’t doing yet). When the power was on, the only time for internet was at meals, and when one is also trying to entertain and feed a two-year old, multi-tasking did not work well!

In those brief moments when power was on and Zoe was sufficiently under control, usually the wireless was on. But even then, it wasn’t always hooked up to the internet… So, along with what was on the menu, we always approached the intener with the attitude, “well, let’s see what it will be today…” and kept the expectations in check.

Such little things really do help in several ways: by severing our connection to the “outside” world, we were able to visit more with the folks right around us, and we learned just a little more of thinking in terms of days or even weeks, rather than minutes and hours…and being okay with that. “It’s not wrong…it’s just different.”

Zoe loved feeding the local goats. The female, the white goat, gave birth while we were there to a cute little clone of its brown daddy.