Team Zebra Update- busy busy busy!

For those who want to know what our family has been up too... heres a whack of pics from the last few months. From a lovely boat ride on the zambezi to splashing in rainy season puddles, homeschooling science activities and swimming fun the kids have been going full out! Ryan has grown by at least 5 cm in the last little while im sure, and Tendai is getting taller too...  nearly all their winter pants are too short ! Tendai can write her name, Ryan is learning to count, and both of them are getting fairly decent at swimming! Some of these pics are weekend pics, others are homeschooling adventures, some are from ministry opportunities... its been a very busy few months!
Heres some pics!

Team Zebra is so very thankful for the prayers and support of our friends, family, prayer warriors, supporters, and everyone else! We have had a very interesting year, lots of growth and changes, joy and heartbreak, laughter and tears- we cant wait to see how the next few months will be! Everyone is looking forward to going to Canada for furlough soon- even Ryan who is convinced that Canada is a place of magical white fluffy stuff and endless fun (based on his sister's recollections) and that planes equal unlimited TV time (ill admit, we do let them watch as much kiddy tv on the plane as they like)
We appreciate your continued prayers and support for our ministry here, and for our health and travel safety over the next few months- they are very busy ones, hosting several different teams and getting our house ready for our absence!
God Bless,
Rick, Heather, Tendai and Ryan

Aerodromo Mucombeze

Pretty much since we moved here in 2008 the mission has been in some stage of preparing our airstrip... from surveying, to clearing, reclearing, building a bridge, bringing in massive machinery over said bridge, levelling, reclearing again, levelling some more, putting in concrete markers, importing the plane officially, having our pilots get Moz licenses, paperwork. assessments, more paperwork, redoing assessments, and yes, even more paperwork... and finally our airstrip is open.  Here are a few photos from the first landing of our little Cessna at the "aerodromo mucombeze"

 Shortly after the first landing, Uncle Dwight took Ryan and Tendai (and mommy and daddy) up for a quick flight. Both kids were THRILLED!!

 IN the photo below you can see our house roof.. the larger green roof just up and to the left of the centre of the pic. The river was a bit flooded from rainy season at this point, but nowhere near its highest point.

Over the years one of the goals was to help our partner ministry, Mercy Air, be able to bring their donated Kodiak airplane over from North America. though it is based in South Africa, seeing it land FINALLY, after years of preparation here at our Mucombeze Airport was a very very exciting moment.  Here are a few pics from that day...

 Tendai happy to be with her Opa again!

 Ryan not so sure who this Oma and Opa were but Tendai seemed ok with them so I guess he figured they were safe!

 Lord willing we will be flying the first leg of our furlough journey in this plane... Tendai and Ryan are very excited to be flying in the "big" plane... apparently Tendai has forgotten the BIG planes she has been in before.. and Ryan is going to be shocked when he sees the one we get in in Joburg!

Please continue to pray for this new area of ministry, aviation allows us to reach many more remote areas, offering assistance and greater ability to conduct more seminars in less time. Our Cessna has already been put to good use, and the Kodiak will be making many more trips up here in the future, we are so grateful for the provision God has made for this ministry, and look forward to even more!

Rick, Heather, Tendai & Ryan