Here comes the sun!

May has been a month of many blessings. It has been a somewhat restful month since we haven't had as many presentations. It was a well needed rest as we prepare for a crazy June and July and we recovered from an insane April. That being said, presentations, dessert nights, airshows, and meeting up with friends as we discuss support raising has become the new normal.

As we head in to June, we look forward to all that God has prepared for us and look back on what He has done for us. Some of the highlights of the past few weeks include:

• Two young girls from Sunday school set up a "lemonade" stand in their front yard to raise money for our mission work. They sold cranberry juice and made a whole $3.75 to contribute towards our mission efforts! These two girls are an incredible witness to us and to the faith that can move mountains! We were humbled by their heart for building God's kingdom.
• Several kids took part in our MAF May Challenge and we are still waiting to see the full results of how much money they raised! Their enthusiasm was contagious and we were excited to partner with our Sunday school in this effort.
• On May 31st, we had the opportunity to set up a booth at the Waterloo Aviation Fun Day. This was a long but fun day exploring different aspects of aviation and sharing with a different crowd than we usually do about our future work with MAF. We even got to take a ride in a helicopter!
• About a week ago, we hit the 100% goal in our one-time, outgoing funds! That means in only six months we raised $35,000 thanks to people like you! We feel incredibly blessed and just give God all the glory for making this happen!
• We ended the month of May off with a bang as we hosted our biggest and most successful dessert night at our home church of West London Alliance. We were praying for 60 to 80 people to come and we had over 60 people show up to listen, learn and enjoy some delicious desserts with us! That same morning we had the opportunity to present during the morning service at our church, and between the services and the dessert night we raised almost 10% of our monthly support (in one day!) with more anticipated to come in over the coming weeks! That brings us extremely close to 50% of our monthly support raised ... Definitely a glass half-full! Thank you to the many people who came out, gave, prayed, or help prepare food for the night!

Now as we head in to the summer, we are excited by all the activities that are planned or yet to be planned. We have church presentations and weddings, camping and road trips, air shows and soccer games, retreats and charity golf tournaments. If you don't see us for several weeks at a time you know why... we're gearing up for a busy, busy summer! That being said, we would love to meet up and share conversation, encouragement and fellowship over frozen yogurt, an iced coffee, or a good old-fashioned backyard barbecue! 

Here's to a fabulous May and the start of an amazing summer! We thank God for each and everyone of you and pray His blessings on your summer!

Tasty Tidbits of Life on the Field

Every once in a while, I stumble upon some interesting blogs from the field that I think just exemplify the good work MAF is doing around the world. Here are some tasty tidbits of life as an MAF missionary ...

From Lesotho:

In Lesotho, MAF staff had the opportunity to participate in a "Letsema"--a partnership to complete a project for the good of the community. In a very remote village called Lebakeng, the airstrip had become unsafe due to deep ruts. This airstrip is an important lifeline to the people in the village to receive medical care. At best, without MAF and the use of an airstrip for quick medical evacuation, it takes a minimum of 16 HOURS to get to a hospital--lots of walking and if you're lucky, you'll catch the once-a-day taxi/bus, followed by at least 10 hours of public transportation to Maseru, the capital city! But with MAF, it's just a short 40 minute flight! WOW!

In April, the community invited MAF to come help them fix the airstrip, recognizing the vital importance it had in the community. 80 people gathered together to fix the airstrip and work shoulder to shoulder. The cost? Two flights and enough food to feed everyone. And the other cool part ... after everyone was fed, the Gospel was shared and Sesotho bibles handed out--one for each village represented! Some people even heard the good news of the Gospel for the first time. Now that ... that is good news! See full story here: http://www.mafblog.com/stories/it-takes-a-village-part-1

Working shoulder to shoulder to fix the airstrip ... looks nothing like a Canadian airstrip though, eh?
Photo by Kimberly Baker

From Mozambique:

I recently read the blog of MAF'er Jill Holmes. She recounted some of the work MAF flights had made possible over the past year or so. Take a look at some of God work that is going on:

• MAF flies a missionary along with some much needed supplies to a village, where two missionary families are teaching the Bible chronologically. 
• MAF flies doctors and workers to a titanium mine. When one worker got a serious head injury, MAF flew the man to a hospital--a journey that would normally take hours on very bumpy roads (not exactly preferable travel for someone with a head injury!).
• MAF staff, along with Mozambique pastors/evangelists often get the chance to show the JESUS film in different villages. This is an important ministry in sharing the gospel.
• See Jill's blog here: http://holmeslogbook.blogspot.ca

Delivering an injured mine worker to safety ... Photo by Jill Holmes.

Cool Donor Stories (Part 1)!

Hi there!
Just want to share two totally cool donor stories. Why? Because it shows just how cool, fun, and FAITHFUL our God can be in providing for His kids!!!

Story #1: The Great Commission

At our dessert night in Blenheim, we had the chance to meet a couple who knew my grandparents well after many years of euchre games. He was an insurance salesman, and around Christmas, had sold one of the biggest policies of his life. The commission he made from it was large, and he was excited for the extra income because they needed it! But, time after time, obstacles kept the cheque from landing in his account for weeks on end. However, God was faithful; he provided for the couple during this time ... even without the big bonus cheque. Finally, the cheque arrived--on the day of our dessert night! They heard our presentation, and came up to us after. They shared their story, excited by the way God had orchestrated everything together so that they could give us a cheque for $1000. Wow! 
"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." --Proverbs 16:9

Story #2: "I never win anything ..."

This story follows a common theme: financial institutions! Our dear friends and life group leaders from West London Alliance, Matt & Kate, were at a work appreciation dinner. At the dinner, there were various items up for prizes, and employees could enter tickets into the draws of their choice. Kate sat through prize after prize being given away to fellow employees, all the while thinking, "I never win anything at these sort of things ..." There were prizes for vacations, sports tickets, etc. etc. Finally, they got to the last draw of the night. And the winner was ... Kate! What was the prize? $1000 to the charity of her choice! Matt and Kate couldn't wait to share the good news with us! Over dinner, they told the story, then presented us with a cheque for MAF Canada from the account of Kate's employer--a large financial institution. What a blessing! 
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." --Romans 8:28