April 09

In the Hangar:
I am excited to announce that we have accepted a permanent position with MMS! After our visas to Brazil were denied, we started praying about what the Lord had in store for us. Around mid-December, MMS asked us if we would like to stay and continue serving here. After much prayer and counsel we accepted. 
In my old position I was a “Trainee,” now I am a “Production Mechanic.”  Other than the title, there will be very little change in my responsibilities. I will still maintain, repair and alter mission aircraft.  The primary change will be additional responsibility of helping train apprentices.
As a production mechanic, I will have more independence in my daily work.  I was recently assigned the overhaul of a Continental engine for CMML, a mission that operates out of Zambia, Africa.  The engine is a turbocharged, fuel injected, 520 cubic inch powerhouse!  Over the next week I will send out different parts of the engine for nondestructive testing.  The parts will be inspected for cracks and weaknesses that are not visible with the naked eye.  When the parts come back with an o.k., I'll reassemble the engine and thoroughly test it before it's crated and sent back to Zambia.  You’ll be able to follow the process on a more regular basis on our blog, the address is below.
I recently had the opportunity to do some major engine work on a twin engine Piper called an Aztec.  It belongs to a Christian music group called "The Pfeifers." The Pfeifers depend on the airplane as their main transportation to performances across the United States.  The engines had to be opened and new oil pump gears installed.  After completing the engine repairs we had to trouble-shoot defective de-ice "boots," on the propeller.  The boots needed replacement and it was a several day project getting the old ones off and the new ones on.  The de-ice boots warm up the propeller blades so ice cannot build up on them during flight.

At home:





We have had lots of new experiences so far this year!  In the beginning of February we got a family dog.  Her name is “Bree” and she has added much excitement to the life of our cat.  We will be expanding our “homesteading” projects this year.  In addition to chickens, we
will be getting bees for honey, planting a big garden and making maple
syrup.
Many experts recommended the beginner “sugarer” (that is what people who make maple syrup are called) start with six taps.  And many people would rightly listen to the experts, but not me.  We put in thirty four taps, figuring that we would be able to make enough syrup for
ourselves and some to share.  On our first gathering we picked up about 18 gallons of sap.  We spent the day boiling down the sap and by lunch the next day we had a half gallon of syrup.  Not bad we thought, this shouldn't be too much trouble, until we went to the fields that
day and picked up around 45 gallons of sap.  We were overwhelmed.  It would take days to boil it all down.  So we built an additional fire outside and started two pots boiling.  Thankfully the weather changed and cooled off and the sap stopped flowing till we could get all we
had processed.  It has been very rewarding and fun to eat our own syrup!
Kristi has wanted to start bee keeping for a while now and for her
birthday I was able to get her some used bee equipment.  She will be
getting some “bee”ginner help this month from another MMSer and will
pick up her bees at the end of April.  She will start with two hives
of Russian bees and could in the future expand up to five hives.
We also have our first batch of chicks, 78 in all. Hopefully around
30 will be laying hens and the rest will be for eating!

Come and visit us on Adelsberger’s Acres.  We would love a visit!
Josh & Kristi