Tonight in Zambia, two little girls will not be put to sleep by their parents. They will never again see them in this life. Cameron “Jay” Erickson and his wife Katrina have passed through death and have entered into the presence of Jesus. Honestly, I hate this about my profession. I hate hearing news that someone… [Read more…]
May 23, 2012
We recently had a “virtual baby shower” to offer people the opportunity to help us out with getting some baby things for Baby Girl who will be born in Nairobi in September. We feel so blessed by the response! The generous outpouring of gifts, both in the form of actual items and financial contributions, resulted… [Read more…]
April 27, 2012
Upstairs in the JAARS hangar in a dimly lit room our guest instructor unfolds the mysteries of the turbo prop engine. He passes around weighty parts that feel expensive before he drops the $80,000 price tag. He points at multicolored diagrams explaining how the fuel is controlled with precision without a single computer chip. Honestly,… [Read more…]
April 26, 2012
By Clarissa We recently flew back to Seattle for a week to participate in my sister’s wedding. This wedding was a first for us in more than one way: It was the first time that I took photographs for a wedding as the primary photographer AND it was the first time that John and I… [Read more…]
April 5, 2012
FAMINE IN WEST AFRICA Ironic how familiar such a headline feels…and the sad thing is that the famines that jeopardize hundreds of thousands isn’t merely the result of drought, but even more so of corruption in governments and geo-political issues that prevent aid from reaching the people who are desperate for it. Props to BBC… [Read more…]
April 1, 2012
I have irrevocably crossed a line in American society. I am no longer one of the worshiped young ones. I am now offically what my friends have been calling me for years: OLD. The problem being I just arrived at the headquarters of JAARS, the aviation branch of Wycliff. And this place is full of truly… [Read more…]
March 30, 2012
Last Sunday John turned 30. So we did what any normal couple would do. Ate Ethiopian food for lunch, went to see a movie and came home to make a late dinner of omelets with mushrooms and grape tomatoes sauteed in white wine with a roasted red pepper and tomato cashew creme sauce and then… [Read more…]
March 14, 2012
By Clarissa Hopes Every day John leaves and spends eight hours at the hanger doing airplane stuff. And I, well, I am figuring out what to write upon my own blank slate of hours. My primary hope for this short season is that I would learn to be still. Not so much in the physical… [Read more…]
March 9, 2012
Thirty four days of watching pavement stream by and reconnecting with friends and family scattered across the country has led us to our final destination: Waxhaw, North Carolina. Population 3,800. No movie theater, no Starbucks, and probably 30 baptist churches (evidence we are not in the NW anymore!). Actually we are about 15 minutes from… [Read more…]
February 14, 2012
By John Red asphalt is devoured Streaming past in a blur. Sparkling snow drifts obscuring the hard edges, Dragging at our tires. Miles slide past barely noticed. Red dirt under sandaled feet, Makes its way over us, baptizing us in dust. The road fades into the underbrush to either side. The miles bleed our life through our soles. And… [Read more…]
February 6, 2012
By John “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart…” Ecclesiastes 3:11 The last month was full of hugs and lasts. We sold all of our stuff, tried to have dinner or coffee, or just a few minuets with as many people as we could. It went… [Read more…]
January 20, 2012
By John As we have been getting ready to leave, there are all sorts of situations in which our move to Africa comes up. Closing a utility account, selling our stuff off Craigslist to people who are surprised by our empty house. Mostly people say things like, “Well at least it is warm there.” We all… [Read more…]
January 19, 2012
So, we realize that many of you have seen this video, but I am sure there are still some people who have not, so here it is. (Note: you will hear at the end of the video that we have a timeline of roughly a year before departing, and as we made this video a… [Read more…]
January 18, 2012
By Clarissa I’m sitting here looking over piles of books to be sold on Amazon and bags of clothes for the local thrift store. In the next room are eight industrial strength plastic bins. A few days ago some strangers walked out of our living room with my favorite recliner leaving me standing there with… [Read more…]
January 6, 2012
By John 2011 Has come to a close, and it has been an eventful one. See our previous posts for a run down. Those of you who know us, know that we are book people. We love to read. Given the opportunity we might just read all the time. In preparing to leave we have… [Read more…]
January 6, 2012
The holidays are the true test of whether or not my low-fat nearly vegan diet is delectable or mere drudgery. Test results: delectable! Ok, enough alliteration. For all of you skeptics out there, let me just share with you some of the tasty concoctions that I was able to partake of over the past few… [Read more…]
December 15, 2011
This video, at first, feels wrong. Upbeat joyful music, set against images of pain, hunger, child soldiers and war. Yet the song is declaring the Good News, that Jesus has come to live amongst us. He is the good news to places ravaged by bad news. Places like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The… [Read more…]
December 11, 2011
BY JOHN This Thanksgiving holiday we spent 12 days driving around the Midwest. Akron, OH for Thanksgiving #1; Springfield, OH for Thanksgiving #2; Appleton, WI for 5 days; then down to Gurnee, IL (just outside Chicago) for 3 days; then back to Appleton, WI to get on a the first of a string of flights, in which,… [Read more…]
June 3, 2012
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