Out of Africa, or rather into it, Part 1

Last summer we spent our days tending to our community garden, going for long walks, drinking homemade smoothies on our front porch and talking to our neighbors. John worked on his motorcycle, and Claire experimented with baking bread.

This summer will be different.

This summer we will be going to Kenya for two months. This summer we will be leading a small team of Aviation students on their internships. This summer will be spent practicing Swahili, eating fresh tropical fruits, praying that our matatus(15 passenger taxis) don't crash, working on airplanes with Kenyans, and visiting villages only accessibly by small aircraft.


We will be serving primarily through aviation with Africa Inland Mission. We are enthusiastic about joining in the ministry at the hanger knowing that we will be part of a vital cog in the machine that moves the gospel work to as yet unreached peoples. We will be working alongside Kenyans in the hangar, as well as living alongside them in the city. We are eager and humbled to see and participate in the work that God is doing in Nairobi and all over east Africa. In many ways this 8 week trip will be a preview trip for what our lives will look like when we move to Kenya long term.


There is a lot that has to happen with us leading this team and it can easily feel overwhelming when we consider the position of responsibility we are in.

It is by faith that we are taking this on. Faith because neither of us has ever lead a missions trip before (and Clarissa has not yet even been to Kenya). Faith because Nairobi is a crazy city often referred to as "Nairobbery". And faith because we have to raise around $7000 extra on top of the monthly support we are currently depending on for our work at Moody.

We need a lot of faith.

However, we are thankful and are often reminding ourselves that our faith is not just wishful thinking, but it is trust in a God who is faithful. And as we were recently reminded by our upstairs neighbor, if God isn't bigger than all these things, then we are in big trouble.

We need faith, and we have hope. Please pray for us:

• That God would give us deep trust in Him
• As we raise these additional funds.
• That we would be brought together as a team on this trip.
• That we would be useful and not burdensome to the long-term missionaries we partner with in Nairobi.

If you would like to partner with us for this trip you can send checks to

Proclaim Aviation Ministries
PO Box 356
Worthington, MN 56187

Or give through their website. www.proclaimaviation.org and click on the donate tab.

Please be sure to specify that your gift is for our Kenya trip this summer in the comments section at the bottom, as the money is handled differently than our monthly support.

Africa Inland Mission Video

This video provides a great introduction to Africa Inland Mission's heart for Africa.

From Candidates to Appointees

The snow was falling all day. A thick blanket of the stuff covered the ground outside the window and I couldn't help but smile at the irony of the situation. We talk of Africa, of getting (or not getting) malaria, of life in remote villages, of learning new languages, of how God is bringing redemption to peoples who live amongst the red dust and the heat. It is almost surreal to think that as we sit watching the icy crystals fall, on the other side of the planet people wipe the sweat off their brow as they walk under the indelible African sun. A delightful juxtaposition.

Our time at Africa Inland Mission's Candidate Week was amazing. Being surrounded by so many people who have a passion for Africa makes my heart smile and we find ourselves happy to think that many of the friends we made we will possibly see across the pond someday.

Here are a few things that made Candidate Week an enriching time for us:

• Seminars on interacting with and living in African culture
• Our 3 hour counseling session in which we learned a lot about ourselves
• learning about AIM's vision for ministry
• Learning how to live healthy lives in Africa
• Learning all the nitty gritty details of how AIM finances are structured, what our health care will look like, what education will look like for our kids someday, having a retirement account, taxes and the like
  
• How to have healthy relationships, conflict resolution and how to say goodbye in a healthy way and transition to life in Africa
• How to share with others what God is doing in Africa and how we are planning to be a part of it
  

We have now returned from Africa Inland Mission's US Headquarters in Pearl River, New York.

When we left, we were candidates and now, we return as appointees (being "appointed" is the official term to signify that we have been accepted with the organization)

Our tentative departure date for Nairobi, Kenya is January 2012.

In some ways that date seems very near. It seems near when we think that we are planning to move to Kenya indefinitely. It seems near when we think about the amount of financial support we have to raise. It seems very near when we think about saying goodbye to family and friends and places that we love.

In other ways that date seems very far. It seems far when we think about the people in Nairobi whom will be our neighbors. People whom we don't know yet, but already feel a deep desire to know. It seems far when we consider that we have been looking forward to this for years.

We want to say thank you to those of you who have been praying for us and specifically to those of you who prayed for us as we went to Candidate Week.

Because of the generous gifts that came in almost all of the cost of Candidate Week was covered! There is a remaining balance of only $500. Information about making financial contributions to Candidate week is here.

March 17the Update: Due to some more donations for Candidate Week, we now have a balance of only $300 remaining.

A Posse ad Esse

A posse ad esse
- From possibility to actuality

This Latin phrase seems fitting in light of the fact that Africa Inland Mission Candidate Week is nearly upon us. It begins on Monday, February 15th. At the end of Candidate Week we will know whether or not we are accepted to be long term missionaries in Africa with the organization. Something that has for so long been a possibility (our dream of living and serving in Africa) may perhaps be on the cusp of become a reality. Considering this though, we don't want to be presumptuous about our acceptance, nor do we want to make conjectures about our future, knowing that it is God who turns the pages and writes the narrative of our story.

With all that said we want to ask you to pray with us and for us as we fly to Pearl River, New York in the next few days. Pray we have hearts that would be humble to learn from those at AIM. Pray that AIM has discernment and wisdom about whether or not we would be a good fit for them and them for us...And in light of recent weather conditions on the East Coast, please pray that we have patience during potential delays and that we would not find ourselves stuck in Chicago (our layover) for days on end.

Regarding Financial Contributions to Candidate Week

In response to our previous blog, Candidating, a few people have asked how they might go about giving financial gifts to help make this trip possible. Just like any other contribution, financial support can be given through Proclaim Aviation Ministries by clicking on their "donate" page, or mailed via snail mail to:

Proclaim Aviation Ministries

PO Box 356

Worthington, MN 56187

***Also, please make sure to designate that the gift is for "Holtz AIM Candidate Week"

Christmas in Pictures

We had too many Thanksgiving pictures to post here, but you can check out our Thanksgiving pics here and here. The rest of the pictures posted here are from our trip to the Seattle area to spend Christmas with Clarissa's family.

Ice Skating!

With Clarissa's Sister

Clarissa's niece Josie, learning to skate with help of John and Dad

Clarissa and Josie making Julia Childs' sticky buns for Christmas morning

Christmas would not be complete without a gingerbread Americano at Starbucks

For our 17 month lunaversary we went out on the town in Seattle which included swing dancing and yummy late night Korean food in the University district

Neices: Bailey and Josie

John experienced Dim Sum for the first time, ah Chinese food at its best!

Hiking in the cascades with Starbucks; it would feel wrong if it didn't feel so right.

Clarissa and Mom

Mom's Christmas Village... a long standing tradition


Buddy (mom's dog)

Christmas Eve= Homemade Pasta = Yum

Singing Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve

My favorite Christmas morning pic :-)

Candidating!

The light of the sun is deceptively warm looking on the city of Spokane. Unlike last year we are not buried under four feet of snow, but our apartment is still quite chilly even when the golden sun rays are streaming in the windows. The dawn of a new year gives us the opportunity to re-calibrate our hearts onto God's purposes. We remember that we have been saved out of the mire of our own sin and selfishness. We are no longer enslaved to the things that we thought would bring significance or success. We are no longer under condemnation of trying to live a good enough life and continually failing. We live in the freedom to do good out of joy rather than obligation. That is such an amazing promise that we are often too busy to remember and reflect on how incredible it really is.

Our next year is already filling up rapidly. We have plans to attend Africa Inland Mission's candidate week in mid February. All prospective long term missionaries are required to attend as part of their application to work with the organization. This means we will spend a week at AIM's headquarters in Pearl River, NY for what might be described as a week long interview, company orientation, and counseling retreat all rolled into one. At the end of the week we will find out if we have been accepted with the mission, so it is a rather intense point in the process.

If we are accepted my(John's) technical evaluation will be scheduled, and if I pass that then we will be accepted into the aviation arm of the mission. And after that (yes, there is more) will be my technical orientation. I know you don't know what those are either but I did not want to overwhelm you in one blog post. We are really excited about this next step, it brings our dream of working and serving in Africa into a more real and possible light. Every one keeps asking how long it will be before we are actually overseas long term, and we are still measuring that distance in years. Candidate week will move us more strategically forward and give us more complete answers on what is required next.

Whew, it is a long process and an expensive one, candidate week alone will cost $750 a person plus air fare. Please continue to pray for us as we raise funds for our current work at Moody and the candidating process with AIM. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thanks for praying.

A quick preview of what is on the horizon for us: We are planning a short (2 month) trip to Kenya this summer that has a two fold purpose. The first is to lead a small team of aviation students from Moody on their internship, which furthers their ability to complete the program. Second, it will be a vision trip for us. We will be looking into housing options, and getting a feeling for how we as a couple (and eventually family) will be able to fit into the work there. More on all this later. Thanks for letting us share with you as we go though this process.