Woo! 

Well, we have officially arrived at our last stop here again in Ontario. The last 7 months have been crazy! We have gone from leaving Congo at the end of October 2013 to Hawaii to Idaho to Ontario to Alberta then Nick solo'ed to Kansas, Idaho, Alberta, Congo, Turkey, Congo then back to Alberta while Ruth and I stayed with my parents and then my sister. We then had a baby who was a week overdue and have been working on getting all of his paper work (and our own paper work renewed). We then traveled to Ontario as an official family of 4 and now are finishing everything up to be able to travel back to Kinshasa on the 10th of June.

Photo cred : Cody Pope

When back in Congo Nick will be taking on the position of Accountable Manager. This has been in the works for a while, originally this was just the position of Program Manager; however there has been lots of changes going on in Congo. The international community has been putting pressure on Congo to have better aviation safety and so adhere to ICAO standards. (The US uses FAA standards and Canada and most European countries follow ICAO). Because of this, MAF is having to make some changes including needing an 'Accountable Manager'. The Accountable Manager is the person that is responsible for all air operations in Congo, this is the position that Nick will fill. He feels like his job will require being very relational. Making and maintaining strong relationships and witness, with the many Congolese officials and clients that we are in contact with on a regular basis.

Exciting Things Ahead!

Nick will officially take this position as of July 1st. We are so excited to be stepping into this role and Nick has been very busy preparing for this, even while we have been here in Canada. Before accepting this new role, Nick and I talked for a long time about what our commitment would be. We decided that leadership is an important role and one we should take seriously and be committed to. So we decided that we for sure will be in Congo for the rest of this term (about 2 years) then another term after that (4 years). We will then revaluate and decide what we want to do from there. 6 years is a long time so we will just stick with that plan for now. 

Our last couple years with MAF have been full of change (well really since the day we met) and that is no different now. We feel like even though things look a little different then we originally thought, that we are still fulfilling the mission God set us on when we joined MAF. That mission is by his grace, mercy and power to help see people physically and spiritually transformed. We are so thankful for those who have supported our ministry with MAF with love, prayers and with financial support. We understand that 6 years is a long time but believe that consistent leadership is so important for both our Congolese friends and our MAF co-workers and we would love to continue to receive your prayers and support during this next part of our ministry with MAF.

So we will be arriving back in Congo soon and will be settling back into our life we made there and also into a new life as a family of 4 and a new job focus with MAF. We would love your prayers and encouragement during this time and remember our door is always open for anyone wanting to visit!