Missions or Bust!

Greetings from Spokane, Washington. Time continues to fly by; it’s hard to believe we are already in July. We celebrated our anniversary recently and found ourselves looking back at the many things God has brought us through the last year. We want to thank you all for your faithful prayers as we transitioned from Botswana back to the US and began to look at the best way to move towards long term missions involvement overseas. Several opportunities have come that will allow David to continue to gain valuable flight experience, but that present challenges as well. We value your partnership on our journey to spread the gospel and want to briefly share how God is leading in our lives.

 Even as God led us from Botswana he kept the desire to work in long term ministry on our hearts.  In many ways this was our reason for returning to Spokane. Christ the Redeemer Church’s strong missions focus and encouragement from fellow attendees continues to bless us. Moody Aviation provided exceptional  training before our years in Botswana and they are once again doing all they can to help us continue in missions.

We still feel strongly God’s leading toward life long service with Wycliffe Bible Translators and are seeking the most expeditious manner in which to become Wycliffe members. From an aviation standpoint this requires that David gain more flight experience.  We’re happy to say that God has already provided  some much needed flight time and that another opportunity looms on the horizon. 

Through Moody, David was connected with Brigade Air ministries. Brigade Air runs week long summer camps introducing aviation as a means for ministry to high school youth. David spent the third week in June helping run one of these camps in Columbia, CA, introducing campers to flying, sharing the news of Jesus and logging 25.5 flight hours!

 He has also been working in Moody’s maintenance hangar assisting staff in working on aircraft since February.  As for the looming opportunity; each fall Moody senior flight students take a 10 day trip through mountains along the west coast. Due to a small senior class, and because of his maintenance work, there is room for David to join the trip at a reduced cost. This 1 time chance would be a fantastic way to earn most of the remaining flight experience he needs in realistic mountain conditions under the tutelage of veteran mission pilots. It would also provide great preparation for Wycliffe’s flight evaluation test we hope to take next summer. The challenge is our inability to afford this trip even at a reduced rate. We currently need 3,000 dollars and we need the full amount by August 31.

While we are tempted to be discouraged, we know we serve a big God who provides more than all we ask or need.  Please pray with us that God will provide the money we need for this trip. Also will you consider giving toward the financial cost of the trip? Your prayers and giving would greatly aid us in completing the flight hours needed to qualify for Wycliffe’s flight evaluation test. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.  Thank you for taking the time to be a part of our lives.

David and Stephanie Boogaard

moved in and settling

there's something to be said for having your own place and unpacking your bags.
something to be said for a great smelling meal cooking in the slow cooker, sitting at a table in the comfort of your own home, afterwards listening to pleasant music whilst sitting on a comfortable chair or love seat with lamp illuminating the page of a good read.
we are in! after two months of living with great friends!!! we have finally moved into a place we'll call home for a while.
thanks for your continued prayers.

now the settling begins. David's at Moody Aviation each day volunteering in the shop. in the evenings he's begun studying for his Certified Flight Instructor's rating. I am looking for part time employment. But am enjoying being at home, unpacking and making our apartment home.

thanks be to God for a time of rest

we're on our way

After months of moving around Gaborone Botswana we have returned to America.  We arrived 7 Dec in Chicago and have been visiting family and friends ever since.  Its been so good to be back.  We have been able to visit most family on both sides and a good number of friends.

David and I are really looking forward to unpacking and settling into our new apartment in Spokane Washington.  That will happen in February.  Until then David is in Alaska helping our friend Paul Hadfield, of Arctic Barnabas, fix an airplane.  Meanwhile I, Stephanie, will continue my visit in Chicago until after my sister Tina's golden birthday.  David and I will then meet up in LA to visit his brother and fam. Finally to end up in Spokane Washington where we'll get to settle into our new apartment.  

Why Spokane?  Before leaving Botswana we'd been really seeking out what God wanted us to do. We had three options, Chicago: near my family; LA: for a possible job opportunity for David; or Spokane WA: to earn a flight instructor rating through Moody Bible Institute.   Our goal and prayers is to return overseas to do missions through aviation and to keep David flying.  In answer to our prayers God shut the doors on both Chicago and LA but had them wide open for Spokane. So there we will go.  David will attend Moody and earn his flight instructor rating - this will give him the missing flight hours he needs until he'll have enough to apply for a Technical Evaluation with a mission.  Also through some folks at our church in Spokane we'll have an apartment for free. And God's given us a car that's also waiting for us there.    

So we're looking forward to what God has in store for us on this next chapter in our lives.  We pray he'll continue to prepare us for the future and continue to bind us together.  

be our guest, be our guest

Be our guest, be our guest put our service to the test! :)

We have been enjoying so many evenings of fun around the table in our dining room. After about 12 stores of searching and pricing we found a 7 piece, metal framed table with solid wood table top and seats. A quality table for a very good price! The evening of the day we bought it we hosted three of our friends.

Since then we have been able to have a few friends over. A long awaited desire for both of us. There are not enough nights in our schedule to have everyone over as soon as we'd like. But we've really been enjoying the conversations, games and food around the table.

This past weekend our guests were some Boogaard family friends from the days when they were missionaries in Columbia, South America (1980's and 90's). Nate Richmond and Dan and Rachel Gabler are in town working with Flying Mission in the maintenance shop for a week. It was a real treat to meet up with them in a very different part of the world.

This next week we look forward to a few meals with our friends Gilbert and Sara Collins with 2 yr old Timmy (big mo) and 4 month Nicholus (nicky tricky). The Collins work with the US Peace Corp, previously posted in Botswana, but have relocated to Namibia to direct the program there. They will be staying with us for several nights during their visit in Gaborone.

Please note: all guests must check their passes at the gate. Our security guard, Loula, requires approval of all visitors. :)

pictures of our new home

Greetings dear friends,
Here is a link to pictures of God's answer to all of our prayers for housing. The link is a photo album taken from Stephanie's Facebook account. Enjoy!

We'll post pictures as have set things up.

 Our New House Photo Album

love,
David and Stephanie

Tuesday's are for paying the deposit and first month's rent!!!

Dear Friends,

After months of many prayers, and a melt down the day of, we have found a house!!!!

As we reported before we were supposed to be able to find out about the Block 5 house once the landlord came back into town on the 2nd of Feb. On the 31st we drove past the house to see if there was any sign of moving. When we found no sign we decided to not wait any longer and pick up an Advertiser on Tuesday to search again.

Tuesday morning ended up being a difficult one for me (stephanie) because I had reached my point of emotional exhaustion of house hunting. Although we picked up an Advertiser at 9 am as we should we didn't start calling on ads until 10:30am. We found about 10 interesting ads. But when I called 5 of them were already taken and the other 5 weren't answering their phones. It was tremendously discouraging. But I decided and David encouraged me to go to the office instead of spending the day in bed. At the office my friend Sheila talked and prayed with me, which was very encouraging. After we prayed we took a walk to a nearby grocery store to pick up some lunch. On our way I received a phone call from a number I didn't recognized. The voice on the other end announced she'd missed a call from my number.

She was calling me back in response to my response to her ad!!!

I quickly recovered from the shock and made arrangements with her to see the house that day. David and I met up and together we were able to tour the house. (David was on-call that day, which means he needed to be available to go fly when an emergency arises, but otherwise hang out close enough to the airport to respond within 20 minutes tops.) To our delight the current tenants gave us a relaxed tour around their home. Giving us plenty of time to look in each room. Also to our delight the house was clean and roomy.

After the tour David got called to go on a flight. He dropped me at home and went to work. I also went to work and called the land lord back saying I'd like to meet with her to discuss the lease. Her husband met me within the hour and the next day dropped the lease off at the FM office for us to review.
On Sunday, 7 Feb, David and I met with the landlord to ask some questions about the lease agreement. And on Tuesday the 9th I gave the land lord the first month's rent and security deposit. FMS will be signing the lease to give us a tax break.

On March 1st, or there about, we'll be moving into a three bedroom ranch with kitchen, dining room, and living room. It includes a master en-suite, guest bathing room and toilet room, and fireplace. This house is located in Block 8 which is 100 times closer to the airport than the block 5 house. Not only is it closer but David will easily be able to get to the airport in 5-7 minutes. This block 8 house is also situated close the FM office for easy access for me. It's an incredible blessing! Since we have 3 bedrooms, we'll have plenty of room for visitors. If you plan to be in the neighborhood please give us a buzz. :)

Praise God for his good timing and good plan. May he continue to be patient with me especially as I continue to learn to trust him and not be anxious. Thank you for your continued prayers.

David and Stephanie

Tuesday's are for searching

Although it's Monday it will be nearing Tuesday by the time many of you read this entry.

Maybe it was a mistake, but since we were in the neighborhood I thought it was a good idea to sneak a peak at the progress of our moving into the house at Block 5. The current tenants in the house are supposed to be out 31 January.

On Sunday afternoon, 31 January David and I drove by to see if there was any moving progress. We found no sign of moving. My guess is they haven't found a place to stay yet.

The landlord returns tomorrow, Tuesday. I'm not sure what to expect with his return. I wish I could wait and just see, but alas I'll pick up an Advertiser for another Tuesday of searching.

My prayer, our prayer, is if this is the house for us then God will provide the current tenants with a place to stay, and noone will be homeless, or kicked out or any of that. Or that God would reveal his better plan for us.


Other news...
One of the cell phone companies have sponsored a new skate park in town. David has been skating (skateboarding) for 12 years. Over the past 4 years he's taken time away from the sport to concentrate on flying. However we heard about the start of a "skaters for Christ" outreach ministry in town. So we ordered a skateboard for him. It arrived two weeks ago. Saturday afternoon he and I went to the new park. He skated and I watched. We were able to meet a few of the kids...jr high/ high school age...they seemed really cool and all thought David was a good skater. :) We hope to make this a regular routine and hope to build relationships with the kids.