Geyman Steps

Welcome to the world Esther Tianna Joy and Tivoli Moriah Rain! May God give us the strength and wisdom to raise you to love the Creator, God, who has brought you into this world.  Yes! I got my two little princesses! I am so proud of her. Five hours of incredible pain and eight months of carrying the girls through a move across the States and two weeks in Tanzania. I am so blessed by her. Right now I am so grateful for two healthy daughters and wife. God is so good! Born at 36 weeks Esther: Wt - 5 lbs 2 oz, born 8:02am Tivoli: Wt - 5 lbs 6 oz, born 8:20am  We were so grateful that my mom could be there to help out.  The boys were super excited to meet their new sisters...though before long they were more interested in the grapes brought to Carmen for lunch and all the light switches. Going through the pictures, Carmen and I are having lengthy debates as to who is who. I am convinced that Esther is on the left an...

I have been asked what Tanzania was like by many individuals. To explain all the sights, smells, and environements would seem near impossible sometimes. I think though that pictures may come as close as possible. While in Tanzania I was able to catch a few of those experiences which seem to come and go so quickly. There were many times, such as when a driver intentially turned around in a busy one way to go back to his exit or when on the same street a traditionally garbed Masai, red gaurment and rod, crossed the street in the middle of a modern city. If only I had my camera out and ready.   Something about being in another country is simply figuring out how to do simple tasks. Things such as transportation, communication, eating and letting what has been eaten out becomes a little less than simple. Where is the toilet paper? Shoot... Oh, this looks more familiar, but again same issue as before. And who in the world decided the toilet needed a ...

Our Newsletter in a video format: Baby Gender Announcement!  You will probably already have guessed the gender of the twins from the picture. Jacob believes that the addition of two girls to the family will help calm and civilize our boys, but Carmen remains skeptical. If they are anything like Carmen was growing up, she will be right.   Four Under Four Survival Plan Due to our current plan of leaving Idaho for a visit to Pennsylvania and traveling on to Tanzania within a month after the twins due date, we asked a friend of ours to accompany us to Tanzania. She agreed to come and be a full-time live-in nanny. Having someone familiar to the boys to tra h vel with and then spend the first few months with us will help ease the major transitions for the boys. It gives us much peace of mind knowing the children will be well cared for while we go through initial culture and language learning.  Meet the New Member of our Team Dinah sacrificed her p...

Earlier this week an old friend, Scott Nelsen, and myself hiked Parker Ridge trail up to Parker peak. At 7,670 feet, Parker is the highest peak in North Idaho. As evidenced by the beams, there used to be an old forest service watch tower which was utilized to spot wildfires.  One of my favorite parts of the hike was visiting this cliff to get a picture on this ledge. The picture does not even get close to representing how high up you actually are. It is a truly terrifying but incredible experience. Five years ago, Carmen and I were at the same cliff on the same hike. I just remember telling her, "Scooch out further to the edge. It will look better in the picture." After doing it myself this time around I think I would have worded things differently.

This past week we stayed at Thetis Island off the coast of Vancouver Island. We were surprised by the amount of blackberries that grew in the wild. In fact, there were so many that they were sometimes considered a weed.  And that blackberry is actually that size. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it! And finally, a little video we put together.

Exhausted but Encouraged  So much has happened over the past month. A little over a week ago we landed in Chicago after a two-week visit to Tanzania. Though we found the trip to be incredibly encouraging and productive, we also found ourselves very tired. Out of curiosity, I added up the total hours we spent in transit via aircraft, train, bus, car, taxi, etc. I came up with about 195 hours from this past month alone. Add to that all the meetings, discussions, introductions, moving, culture, language, etc. No wonder we felt so exhausted! Ironically, discovering first hand how exhausting travel can be, showed us how crucial it is for us to be in Tanzania supporting Bible translators through aviation.                                                                                 ...

Training  Jacob has been working through flight and maintenance standardization with JAARS. They have covered runway surveying, turbine engine maintenance, and much more. He has finished his initial flying in the Helio Courier and has started his training in the Cessna 206 which is the aircraft type he will fly in Tanzania.  Clinic Carmen has been enjoying the weekly mornings with the other wives as they spend time talking, praying, and listening to other veteran mission wives share their story. They have shared on valuable topics related to managing a family on the mission field. She is also enjoying one morning a week at the JAARS health clinic doing charts and other odds and ends to ease the load of the other health care workers. Pray for Steve… Amidst all the beauty of spring, we have run into some unexpected bumps. The couple we will be replacing in Tanzania was back in the States for a short furlough. However, instead of returning to Tanzania as scheduled,...

This past week was spent learning about turbine engines. In the past, the majority of mission aviation aircraft had piston engines. However, this has changed over the years as avgas, which fuels these engines, has become uncommon and expensive.  The reduction gear from the power turbine to the propeller Dan is conducting a borescope inspection of the Power Turbine blades. A borescope is essentially what the CIA uses for spy operations which means we are pretty cool! Well not exactly, but it is cool to take a camera on a long wire to inspect the guts of an engine. I love this picture. It is a wordless expression of the eagerness to work together in fulfilling God's calling. Ahn, is a Korean who is currently working in Indonesia with Yajasi, a partner organization of JAARS. One of the incredible blessings of working in missions is to see how God brings together the nations to do His work.  Parting the case to perform an in...