GRAND TOUR OF SCOTLAND!

I have started back at work and Andy meanwhile is heading up North this week to visit his relatives in Fraserburgh and the surrounding areas. Thankfully, the children are now settled in their nursery - big thanks to mum and dad for all their help taking them to and fro! I have been breaking the news to my pupils that I will stop teaching them at the end of October. I have really enjoyed teaching piano in Perth-shire and will miss it very much. After having sold my piano, given away my keyboard, I am for the first time in my life piano-less! It's a weird feeling. The plan is to use the money from the piano sale to purchase a digital piano that I can use in America and further afield without the worries of humidity, tuning, and waking sleeping children!

We are aware that however much we would like to, it is is not going to be possible to visit all our contacts personally in the time we have left. Instead we have decided to arrange several MAF presentations in a few areas around Scotland in the hope that people would manage to attend one of them. Apologies to our English and American supporters - perhaps we can visit your home via Skype! Here are the details of where we will be during August/September.

31st Aug. - The Coffee House, Moodiesburn 8pm.
4th Sept. - Tummel Bridge Village Hall 8pm, 12 miles from Pitlochry.
5th Sept. - Pitlochry Baptist Church 11am at the morning service.
23rd Sept. - The Chapter House, Wesley Owen, Bothwell St. Glasgow. 8pm.
25th Sept. - My Grandma's House, West Linton, Invite Only.
26th Sept. - Friends House in Peebles - Invite only.

We are sending out personal invites in the post to all our contacts but anyone is welcome to come to the first four events above and hear all about the work MAF do, How we became involved, and how you can join us in this venture.

As you may be aware we have only NINE weeks left to raise our salary but would like to report we are over the half-way mark! Thanks to EVERYONE who has joined our financial support team so far.

Getting ready...

One of the big things we knew we would have to cope with as a family when we decided to work with MAF was a bit of an unsettled up bringing for our kids. Our first 3 years or so with MAF will be over in Ohio at our partner organization http://www.mmsaviation.org/ where I will be training towards my aircraft mechanic’s licenses. After 3 years (by which time we should all be settled into life in Ohio!) we will be heading off again to a program somewhere in the world (could be anywhere from Papua New Guinea to Uganda) for the first of our 4 year spells overseas. We have committed to two 4 year terms, which could be on opposite sides of the planet!

We really feel that God has been preparing us in lots of ways over the last few years though, and now that the school term is back, that preparation is continuing. Heather is back to work as a music teacher, so she has travelled down to Glasgow for the next few days, where she will have easier access to her work, and where there are nursery places for Abi and Matthew; they will all travel home again on Thursday. Mean time, I am heading north to spend a bit of time catching up with some family before we head overseas.

This semi-nomadic lifestyle that we have had for the last year or so has been great preparation for us all in dealing with some of the unknown’s we will doubtless come up against in the future!

Well nearly 2 years ago we first started the process of applying to work with MAF, and after all that time, we are here!! We are now working through all the preparations for heading overseas - we have sold our house, and are getting everything packed up to either sell, store, ship or give away. We are busy building a team of supporters who will play a valuable role in everything we get up to overseas. It is definately a bit of a change for me - the last few weeks have seen me presenting to church groups, individuals and even having an interview for a local radio show!

We hope to use this blog as a way of keeping everyone up to date with what is going on with us - check back soon!!!