Getting Closer...

We are now just about at 70% of our support goal which has been encouraging especially as we get closer to being parents.  I have said it before, but we truly have had such a great time in this season with all kinds of people.  For instance last weekend we had the opportunity to go up to Enumclaw, WA to share about the ministry of MAF.  One of the first people we met at dinner, before we headed to the Saturday night service, was a guy by the name of Rob.  I love Rob.  He flew C-82s back in the day, which is the plane that was in the original Flight of the Phoenix movie.  It did not take much talking with Rob before I found out that about twenty years ago he walked around the perimeter of the United States to raise awareness and funds for MAF.  But it gets better.  He went on to tell me that during the time he was walking around the U.S. he got a new knee and heart valve.  Wow!  I couldn't believe it.
The more we hung out the more I realized what a heart Rob has for the Lord as well as MAF.  It was such a treat to have met Rob and have him introduce us as we shared our hearts before the congregation there in Enumclaw.  We left on Sunday encouraged and with several more life long friends to share this journey with.

With Rob

So what are we doing now?  Well, we are a little ahead of the game, but we are preparing to pack our crates which will be kept in storage for about a year and then shipped to Papua via sea freight after we complete language school in Java.  It is so much fun putting our lives into 270 cubic feet.  It's a big puzzle using all of our worldly possessions.  We technically don't have to be packing yet, but because Gracie is due in four weeks, and we will start training at MAF the first week of October and then I (Will) will get more technical training on the planes I will be working on in Indonesia through the middle of January.   If we don't do it now it might be a little more difficult with a newborn...or so I've been told.
So what kind of picture could we give you to look at without actually having our crates yet?  The plan of how we will cram our stuff into four wood boxes.  The fourth crate is the only important one, but to give you an idea of what the first three look like I have included the schematic of crate #1.  Oh, I will include crate #3 as well because it has our oven, which will produce some awesome eats.

Crate #1

Crate #3

Crate #4

Last week we took a break from packing and visited the Nike Hangar "Nike Air" thanks to a good buddy of mine who provides superb maintenance support for the Nike fleet.  Our tour included the hangar bathrooms, the machine shops, and two G5s all of which were cleaner than an operating room.  This picture is going to double as a belly update pic.

Phil's G5