ALTECO 2007 Update

Steve was asked to assist and participate with the ALTECO consortium held in Florida. So at the end of March we packed up the boys and flew down to Orlando.

Steve served where needed for the duration of the conference, while enjoying the opportunities to network and fellowship with delegates from various backgrounds & ministries. Everyone attending had one primary focus--empowering the Amazonian tribes. We wish that we could find a way to convey the sense of unity we witnessed at this conference or how exciting it was for us to be involved in it.

Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint and founder of I-TEC, the Indigenous People’s Technology and Education Center) joined us at ALTECO again this year. (He recently joined the board of ALTECO, which we are really excited about.) This year, he brought his new dental/birthing chair (which is an interesting combo, if you really think about it!) The chair was developed by I-TEC to equip our indigenous brother and sisters to minister in tangible and practical ways to their people and neighboring tribes. (They are also trained to do the dental work.)

Steve Saint also demonstrated another project aimed at indigenous independence: his "grasshopper", which is sort of a combination go-cart/paraglider. This two man flight vehicle is being developed for use in the Amazon as an alternative to planes. The "grasshopper" could be seen several times during the conference week, taking off, soaring, circling and touching down. It was awesome, in the truest sense of the word! (We have uploaded a few of the photos to our photo album, if you want to see for yourself!)

The April 2007 newsletter from I-TEC briefly mentions a little bit about the conference and their take on it. I’d like to encourage you to visit the I-TEC site if you have an interest in the dental/birthing chair or the grasshopper. They have some neat photos and you can even read their April newsletter (look for the Archives link on the Breaking News page).

This year has seen many changes for us as well as Amazon Focus. Although our status with Amazon Focus has changed to “Associates” we have found that there are still plenty of opportunities for us to remain involved with AF.

Steve has been hard at work, organizing a 10-day trip for five of our church’s key leaders. Along with Steve, they will travel to Peru in the beginning of December (Nov. 29- Dec. 9) for a time of exposure to the people and ministry of the Amazon. We are praying that the effects of this trip will spread throughout the congregation, as these key men share all that God is doing in the Amazon.

Family Update

Just realized that I really haven't been keeping up much on this site.... Must've been all the emails we got asking what was going on! Heh! :) Well, if you MUST know, we HAVE had a lot going on in our personal lives, and here's the rundown...

At the end of November Heather delivered a beautiful baby boy into the world... We named him Shane, after much deliberation. He was a bit late. For some reason, none of our kids want to come into the world on their own. Must be very comfy in there. Being winter babies, maybe they both "knew" that it was going to be pretty cold outside. Anyway, Mother and son are both doing fine, and Big Brother is as proud as can be! Shane is exactly what we prayed for and more... a very contented baby and an excellent sleeper! God gets all the glory!!

Just as we were coming out of the post-baby stupor and getting our feet under us, we had relatives visiting from Scotland. So with a 2 year old and a two week old, we made a three hour trip to have a family reunion. An excellent time was had by all, but we had late nights and no naps, so when we got back home we just wanted to sleep for a week! LOL!!

Had one of the best holiday seasons ever with our families too. Sure was a blessing to have an exuberant toddler running around, decorating (and UNdecorating) the tree, and opening presents. We started putting presents under the tree days before Christmas and were impressed to find that they remained untouched till the fullness of time!! You can call me crazy at this point, but I wanted to see if it could be done. I had friends when I was a teen that did that, and I always thought it was neat, besides it teaches delayed gratification. :)