3 Thoughts Friday

1. The newest plane in Asas's fleet is ready to make its way from the US to Brazil, so  2 of our pilots flew to the US to pick it up and fly back.  They are going to make a few stops along the way to the headquarters where the plane will be based.  One of the stops is even here in Boa Vista, since we're the  city farthest north in Brazil.  But alas, there has been a hold up waiting for permission to be granted that would allow the plane to leave the US and enter Brazil.  So, our two pilots are waiting in Florida, where they have been for about a week now.  Please pray that this clears up so our missionaries can return to the field with this new tool for ministry!

2. We're so appreciative of friends and supporters back home who have helped us in unique ways, especially those who have used their fields of expertise to help us in some way.  For example, there's a family friend who is a tax attorney who has done our taxes for free for the past 7 years!  What a blessing to know that everything is done correctly in our complicated tax situation and to not even have to worry about it!  Then, there's the doctor who recently contacted me and offered for me to email or skype if we ever have any questions we could bounce off of him.  And an organization I just heard about that has built up a collection of books (about 5,000!) and allows missionaries to choose as many as they need and sends the books to the missionaries in the field for just half of the shipping costs (which comes out great the way they send them).  The main target is kids books, since so many families (including us!) don't have access to a library for kids books.  It's so amazing and humbling to be blessed in so many and such creative ways!

3. Lately I've been thinking about family a lot, and how blessed we are to have 2 awesome families!!  Of course we know we are exactly where God wants us, but we miss them a ton and I wish Elijah could grow up around his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents on both sides.  I'm so glad to live in a time when internet access makes us so much more connected.  We skype with Jeyson's family and stay connected with facebook, etc.  On my side, us sisters get a little carried away.  We have a lot of long distance fun together by sending video clips, group texting, facetime-ing, following the same news stories/shows, and even playing games in the evenings...all for free!  Awesome!!  Since you family members are probably more than half of the people who read this blog :), here's a big "We love you!"  

What to do next?

My certificate arrived in the mail, and it's totally official now. I'm a certified childbirth educator.  I actually finished up the written course load about 6 months ago, but then I had to teach the course twice and record myself teaching some classes.  Everything was processed and approved!  It's definitely a sense of accomplishment, and really I'd say a step of faith.  God clearly pointed me in this direction, even coinciding the one training per year in exactly the city I was going to be passing through on exactly the dates I was there.  Really cool!

The three couples that I officially taught as a childbirth educator all wound up having great births.  Of course, something unexpected always comes up, but they were very happy with the outcomes.  Another few women that I helped by either being present at their birth or providing education or doula assistance in a more informal way also all were very content with their outcomes too.  Several of the women I was able to serve came back to me and told me what am impact I made in their lives...not only helping educate them, but supporting and encouraging them in a way that no one else was at the time.  A few mentioned what an impact the concentrated time as a couple in the birth classes meant for them in their marriage, and my relationships with all of the women continue on.  It's really been a neat and unique way to minister to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  And an awesome way to build relationships.

Anyway, so now that I have my certificate, I've been trying to figure out what to do next.  So far, I've been only helping people through word of mouth.  But news spreads slowly, especially because it's such a unique area.  I'm currently assisting a few people informally via word of mouth, but I'd like to get something more formal going.  So, I've just been praying for God's direction.  I'm fine with slow and steady word of mouth if that's what God has for me in this, but I'm just seeing if there isn't something more.

A while back I stopped by the local hospital with one the pregnant women I was assisting.  The hospital director asked me if I was interested in volunteering at the hospital by just going around and assisting women in labor.  The role sounded interesting to me as I could gain experience as a doula and also maybe build relationships with women that I could follow up with later on.  I prayed that if God wanted me to do this, that He would open up the doors.

Do you ever pray a prayer that you're sure God will answer yes?  I figured this would be a no brainer, after all it was the hospital director who had suggested the idea!  But this week when I went to the hospital to fill out paperwork as a volunteer, they said it wouldn't be possible because all volunteers need someone to supervise them that has the same job as the volunteer.  I other words, I'd have to be supervised by a childbirth educator or a doula.  And since there aren't any in the hospital (and probably the woman supervising the volunteers didn't even know what one was :) the plan wouldn't work.  I even asked if a nurse or something could supervise me, but they won't allow it.  The hospital director wasn't interested in overturning the policy for me.

I was so surprised, after all I thought this was a no brainer prayer that God would answer yes...ha!  But I'm glad I prayed about it because I know He did answer, even if the answer is no.  I know He was guiding that decision and that isn't the way He wants me to use this certificate.

So, what to do next?  I've been brainstorming the idea of setting up a facebook page just with the basic information of how I can help women.  See, when I google "birth education in Boa Vista" or "doula in Boa Vista" or "natural birth Boa Vista" or anything of the sort (in Portuguese of course) I come up completely empty handed.  Nothing to go on!  Not a contact, not a doctor, not a blog, not a webpage, nothing.  So, even a simple facebook page (one I don't even update but just use as a contact page of sorts) might allow someone who is searching for someone like me to find me and they could send me a message right through the page.

So, that's the next plan.  I'm praying about that too.  Not a no brainer type prayer this time. One really looking for direction to see if that's how He wants to bring people my way.  

So, we'll see what He wants to do with this certificate of mine!

Lately...

In no particular order, here are a few things going on lately with us.

With one of our base's couples on furlough, I've taken over a few administrative jobs.  They deal with accounting, an area I have really come to enjoy over the years.  So, sometimes the whole family is in the hangar office....

...some being more productive than others.  Thank you Curious George for keeping E entertained!

The big SIDs project is underway in the hanger and today Jeyson banged up both hands pretty good in maintenance.  I'll spare you a pic :) Nothing too serious,  but it's good thing it's the weekend and he has time to heal.

I've been getting more and more involved getting to know women in the community.  Here is a mom that I reached out to helping her prepare for her birth.  Her daughter is getting big now (and has amazing hair for a 5 month old, as a side note hahaha!)  It's great to continue the relationship with the couple.  I also have been getting to know another sweet lady who recently became a Christian and moved here.  She is engaged and her and her fiance asked us to be their witnesses in their court wedding (a semi big deal here) since they don't know many other Christian couples here.  What a privilege!

We have also been enjoying to get to know a lot of the young couples who live in villages.  They are only flown out every 4-5 months for a few weeks and we've been slowly inviting them over for dinner when they're in the city.  It really puts a face on the people that we're serving behind the scenes. 

Elijah started 2 mornings a week in preschool again this week after a several week break.  I'm so excited about what that will mean for him Portuguese-wise this year.  I see him really opening up and wanting to repeat things in Portuguese for the first time.  I'm hoping he'll be at least partway speaking in Portuguese a year from now.  We'll see!  We're still working on English too, but Portuguese is pretty far behind and we want him to feel at home here.  I think preschool will be a big help.  

We had a great but intense hike to a waterfall a few weeks ago.  We went with several friends who lived in the village for years and they thought it was no big deal, even when one of the guys lost his flip flop in the waterfall (yes he intentionally hiked the hour long hike in flip flops!) and so he hiked the whole way back barefoot...fire ants on the trail and all. And he said it wasn't a big deal.  WOW I am a WIMP! I guess I need to get more in touch with my jungle side!

A while back a missionary wanted to start outreach to an unreached village.  He opened up a very preliminary airstrip himself by hand....which took a long time.  Then a few months ago our Asas plane flew in with a team of guys and they spent the week removing 30 TONS of dirt in order to flatten out the airstrip so it would be safe to land on long term.  This was also done by hand, but with a bigger team and the help of some native people as well.  The missionary who originally opened the strip, Kirt, is not able to live in the village full time for various reasons so his ministry is come and go and therefore somewhat limited.  Great news!  Now, there is a lot of talk about missionaries preparing to move there to live and serve there full time.  Awesome to see how God is working.

This weekend we're planning to do some resting.  A missionary couple who lives in a village is coming over for dinner tonight.  But other than that, we'll be relaxing and getting ready for another week!

All Done!

It occurred to me that I never did post on here that the big SID inspection was completed on time.  Wrapped up Dec 31st to be exact!  The project, which was estimated to take only a few weeks, wound up taking a few months as the inspection turned up several large maintenance issues which needed to be solved.  

Before and After

 But now our plane is back in the air, taking missionaries into a village today, in fact!

 Jeyson put in tons of extra hours and led the team through the project, since he is now the head mechanic in Boa Vista.  He is very dedicated to doing each detail with excellence and spent a lot of time researching each issue so the flights will be safe.  Everything started up and is running great.  I'm really proud of him!  

The whole team of pilots/mechanics (minus one who was on furlough during this project).  It's great to be part of this team.  Now that the plane is up and flying again, the other plane was grounded to go through the same inspection process.  So, after a moment of rejoicing, it's back to the grindstone!

Goodbye 2013

2013 is over, and I can't say I'm entirely sad to see it go.  It was an intense year, a SUPER intense year, for us.  I look back on some of my blog posts and think..."Phew!!!  That was A LOT!  If I could have told myself a year ago all that we'd go through logistically, emotionally, and health-wise, I would have been very nervous!"  

There were a lot of challenges, a lot of uphill climbing, a lot of questioning and flat out hard moments.  

But God faithfully lead us and cared for each detail along the way.  And He did it in a way that really made us rely on Him.  He gave us just enough strength and direction for each day.  Through the many challenges we can see His good hand.  

We are now more trusting of Him, and therefore stronger.  And we are SO glad to be in what seems like our long term location at last, which in and of itself is HUGELY exciting ministry-wise!  So in that sense, our challenging year ended on a high note, and for that we are thankful!   Thanks for walking this journey with us in 2013!

So here's to 2014! I sure do hope it is a calmer, more peaceful and restoring year than last, but He knows best!  

Christmas 2013

This was such a different Christmas for us, the first one away from both sides of our family.  When we were in Anapolis we were only an hour drive from Jeyson's family, and a few Christmases since getting married we have been near my family while in the US.  At first I was all concerned about how to make new traditions now that it will just be us most years, but then I realized all we had to do was make THIS year special.  And it was!  Lots of time together as the three of us remembering Christ's birth...that's what it's all about!

Holiday plans, like everything else in Brazil, happens last minute.  5 days before Christmas and we still had no plans.  So we decided to invite 2 families who are also new in the community over for a brunch Christmas morning.  Then, we got invited over for a Christmas Eve dinner at someone's house (Christmas eve dinner is the big, main celebration here), and then on Christmas eve we got invited over for a Christmas day lunch with some American families.  So, we went from NO Christmas plans, to a packed, delicious, and wonderful 2 days.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures at the Christmas eve dinner and Christmas day lunch, but here are a few pics I took at our house.

Opening presents together as a family before our brunch guests arrived Christmas morning:

It must be so weird to be 2 and have no clue what's going on.  Out of nowhere your parents put a tree in the house and then you wake up one morning and get a tractor and a play tent...what?  why?  Though confused, the joy in a two years old's face in incredible!

Here are our brunch guests.  One couple (left) moved here to serve in the tribal villages, and the other couple (right) was transferred to Boa Vista from Goiania as part of government work.   They have become good friends.  Brunch was cinnamon rolls, french toast, fruit, bacon, and eggs.  Despite explanations, Brazilians always come up with original ways to eat American food, such as french toast sandwiches using eggs and bacon.  I LOVE seeing the way people from different cultures approach the same things.

Elijah thought he was one of the big boys playing with our friends' kids

 Coming back home Christmas evening, Elijah crashed at 6pm and fell asleep on the couch for a good long time.  Too much fun, food, and friends I guess.

To wrap things up, I thought I'd share our Christmas ornaments.  I haven't posted in a few years about this, but the Ciotta tradition is to find an ornament each year that represents that year.  We have them since our wedding.  Here is this year's and last year's.  

2012: An Amish buggy remembering our time out in Coshocton, OH for training...was was serious Amish country up there!

2013: And this little canoe to represent moving to Boa Vista to serve the natives in the villages.  The boat is a seed and so are the little items in the canoe and the man is made out of rubber from the trees in the Amazon.  Very col!

Looking at these two ornaments, our two years could not be more diverse!!!  Makes you wonder what's coming next around the bend in life!?!?!

Ticking Clock

In past years, the holidays have meant life and work slowing down a bit for us.  But this year it's been the opposite.  

First of all, here in this base December is usually the busiest month of the year for flights.  Lots of the missionaries come out of the villages for Christmastime or get their flight of supplies taken to them.  So there are more flights, but also more flights mean more maintenance since each hour of flight brings the plane closer to mandatory inspections.  That, added to the SID inspection.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned the SID inspection here before.  It's a VERY detailed inspection that Cesssna has recently required all older planes to undergo.  Since the planes at this base are from the 1970's, they definitely qualify!  The SID inspection project requires that almost the entire plane be taken apart as a result of all of the work needed to be done...it's very in depth!  And the deadline for it to be done is approaching...Dec 31st!

Come Jan 1, 2014 any plane that requires this inspection can not fly until it is done.  So, Jeyson has been leading up this project which has been going on since Oct.  They are first doing the whole inspection on just one of the planes (the one on the left).  It has to be done by Dec 31st so it can take over all of the flying and the plane on the right can undergo the same inspection over the first part of 2014.  Meanwhile, as I mentioned, the plane on the right, which IS flying currently, has needed the on-going regular interval inspections.

As the advent calendar ticks away, so do the days left for the project to be completed.  Long hours in the hangar and the first time at this challenging maintenance project...this has been a quite stressful time at our base as a result.  We absolutely don't want to have to cancel flights come Jan1st, so the pressure is on to do it quickly and do it well.

But even with the stress, we are SO incredibly thankful.  Thankful for the great amount of flights and maintenance we have to do each month, because with each flight we know that the Good News of Jesus Christ is reaching the ends of the earth!  And THAT is what Christmas is all about!  So it's been our most unusual Christmas so far, but at the same time, our most true Christmas.