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Football with Dad

The first section of this post is written in British for a British audience! This Saturday I did something I don’t normally do, I watched football! Ok not so surprising. But I watched football with my Dad, not so surprising! On TV, big deal! But all of this took place in the US and it… Continue reading »

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Football!

In Ohio they take their sport seriously and football is no exception (that’s American Football, NFL & gridiron and the like!) Today saw the big game of the season, the Ohio State University Buckeyes vs. the University of Michigan Wolverines. For those of you reading back in Lancashire, think Blackpool vs. PNE or Blackburn vs.… Continue reading »

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Fixing other things apart from planes!

Last week I arrived at church to find a frenzy of activity around the sound desk: “It’s blown a fuse”, was the shout. Hmm sounds like something I could help with. We had 2 spare fuses and it blow one of those when we tried it again! There was something really wrong inside the desk,… Continue reading »

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After repairs . . .

After repairing aircraft you have to put everything back together! Including the parts that are hard to reach. This is the inside of the wing baggage locker on the 402. The brand new firewall is the shiny stainless steel sheet right at the front of the locker, we replaced this as part of our work.… Continue reading »

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New Boots!

Over the past week we’ve been installing new boots on the 402. “Boots?” I hear you say! Yes boots, de-ice boots. Ice build up on a plane wing can cause problems and so we install rubber boots over the leading edge. They look like this: If the plane is flying in weather that may cause… Continue reading »

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Football with Dad Football! Fixing other things apart from planes! After repairs . . . New Boots!

Jan
09

Football with Dad

News,
Stories

by Andy

The first section of this post is written in British for a British audience!

This Saturday I did something I don’t normally do, I watched football! Ok not so surprising. But I watched football with my Dad, not so surprising! On TV, big deal!
But all of this took place in the US and it was no ordinary match.

In order to watch football in the States you have to find it on a website. So I subscribed to Fox Soccer. Dad and I got to watch the FA Cup 3rd round match between Fleetwood and Blackpool.

Now you may see the significance of this. Being from Fleetwood means that’s our home team but my family has been long term Blackpool fans! Oh the dilemma! We wanted both teams to win.

It was good to be able to see the match from Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood, Lancashire, England; while Dad and I sat on the sofa in Coshocton, Ohio, USA! We had to watch the crowd closely to see if we knew anyone!

It was a good match and the final score didn’t really reflect the match. Fleetwood fought a good 1st half and lost out in the second half.

. . . . We interrupt this broadcast for an American explanation!

Football is Soccer. Saturday is the day for football in the UK, not Sunday. The home team is the name that is displayed first on the scores.

The FA Cup is the Football Association Cup a knock out competition for any soccer team in the UK. In this competition you can get a small town team playing the big league team, and sometimes winning.

Fleetwood is our home town. Blackpool is the other big town on the Fylde coast of Lancashire. They basically form one large conurbation along the coast. So you get people living on one town and working in the other. So who are people to support?

The fans of Fleetwood Town FC are known as the Cod Army due to the towns fishing heritage.

. . . . We interrupt this interruption:

For those who know me know I don’t really like football, but for such a big occasion I made an exception. I don’t think we’ll ever get to repeat it. Thanks Dad for being here.

Tags: football, soccer

Nov
26

Football!

News,
Stories

by Andy

In Ohio they take their sport seriously and football is no exception (that’s American Football, NFL & gridiron and the like!)

Today saw the big game of the season, the Ohio State University Buckeyes vs. the University of Michigan Wolverines. For those of you reading back in Lancashire, think Blackpool vs. PNE or Blackburn vs. Burnley!

This means that the whole state turns scarlet and grey (OSU’s colours)

My OSU t-shirt.

All this means a problem if you aren’t from the state, or you’ve married an Ohioan, hence this maybe seen outside some houses:

The game was end to end and both teams played hard till the end but after a 7 year OSU wining streak Michigan won this year.

As an Englishman I find it hard to believe all this excitement is because of a university sport, just another example of the cross cultural experience that is living in Coshocton.

Tags: football, OSU

Nov
22

Fixing other things apart from planes!

News,
Stories

by Andy

Last week I arrived at church to find a frenzy of activity around the sound desk:

“It’s blown a fuse”, was the shout. Hmm sounds like something I could help with.

We had 2 spare fuses and it blow one of those when we tried it again! There was something really wrong inside the desk, so we set up a few guitars amps for the service and I took the desk away.

Upon opening the desk up I found a nice power supply:

Using my previous occupation skills in electronics I check the transformer (the block on the right of the photo) and that tested ok. So I checked the circuit board to find a short circuit on a diode (the black cylinders in the middle of this photo):

A quick check online and I found a new one for the huge cost of 20cents or 13pence! I ordered a new one and had the desk fixed by Friday. Was back and running the next Sunday!

All because of this:

Just shows that the smallest things can have a big impact.

Praying for missionaries daily seems so small and insignificant;
giving a small amount to support a missionary doesn’t seem enough;

but they are all part of keeping missionaries on the field spreading the amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for playing your small part in our ministry.

God bless, Andy P

Tags: PA, Repairs, sound desk

Nov
01

After repairs . . .

News,
Stories

by Andy

After repairing aircraft you have to put everything back together! Including the parts that are hard to reach.

This is the inside of the wing baggage locker on the 402. The brand new firewall is the shiny stainless steel sheet right at the front of the locker, we replaced this as part of our work.

Unfortunately it needs to be covered. This is the cover once it was installed by a brave mechanic!

Why a brave mechanic?
Because it’s just big enough to fit inside and long enough to lay in!

I was the brave mechanic!

Which gave me a great photo!!!!!

Thank you for your support which enables this brave mechanic to work on missionary planes that will wing the Gospel around the world.

Tags: brave, Repairs, steel

Oct
25

New Boots!

News,
Stories

by Andy

Over the past week we’ve been installing new boots on the 402.

“Boots?” I hear you say! Yes boots, de-ice boots. Ice build up on a plane wing can cause problems and so we install rubber boots over the leading edge. They look like this:

If the plane is flying in weather that may cause ice the boots are inflated momentarily, which cracks any ice that may have formed. Then the boots are flattened down again the the wing works the way it should.

Installing the boots involves a lot of glue!

We also install smaller boots on the tail:

I got to work with Ben on of the boots:

Once all the glue is dry we’ll seal the edges and check they operate correctly. Ensuring this plane can fly in North Eastern US and eastern Canada.

Thank you for you support that enables me to part of the unique ministry here at MMS.

Tags: de-ice boots 402

Sep
18

Birthday cake

News,
Stories

by Andy

How do you send birthday cake over the Atlantic?

In a box of course!

It was a build it yourself cake though!

And of course you have to blow the candles out!

The story is this: My mum always made me a birthday cake. Since I’ve been a little older she only made cakes for special birthdays. This year I turned 35 and she thought that was special enough to send me a cake! Thanks Mum.

This post has no tag

Sep
15

Still here, honest!

News

by Andy

Check check, one two. Is this still working?
Oh yeah I think it is. Can’t believe it was June when we last blogged!

Been a good few months; VBS, Dime a Dog night,

Ohio Wesleyan Family Gathering at Mount Vernon, got a Nephew, Kodiak flight,

Cedar Point, celebrated birthdays (one a special one!)

As well as working on some planes in the hangar!

I’ll fill some of the blanks in soon. So check back regularly!

This post has no tag

Jul
21

Chocolate Trifle

Uncategorized

by Esther

Hi guys! It’s been a while since we’ve posted. Life has been a little busy the past few weeks. Though, trying to remember all we’ve done, the only thing that comes to mind is VBS. Smile Trust me, there’s been much more…but I just am not sure what right now.

Anyway, I have found a great recipe that several people asked me to share. I wanted to post a picture with the recipe, but I forgot to get a picture of the finished product and now Andy has taken it to share at work! Ooops. I’ll try to remember the next time. Smile

So, Chocolate Trifle

*1 – 19.8 oz brownie mix

*1/2 cup water

*20 oz. whipped cream (cool whip)

*1 package instant chocolate pudding

*14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

*Chocolate bar or chocolate chips to garnish

Directions:

*Prepare brownie mix as directed and cool completely

*Cut brownies into 1” squares

*In a large bowl combine pudding mix, water and condensed milk. Mix until smooth. Fold in 8oz. of whipped cream until no streaks appear.

*In a trifle bowl or glass dish: layer 1/2 brownies, then 1/2 pudding mixture, then 6 oz. whipped cream. Repeat layers (I adjust amounts based on dish I am using – typically I do 3 layers)

*Garnish with chocolate bar shavings (or substitute chocolate chips)

*Chill 8 hours before serving

I’m not much of a chef (though I did play the part of “Chef Basil” who was the owner of Shake it Up Café at VBS – holiday club – last week)! So, if I can do it, you can too! Open-mouthed smile

Hope you all are staying cool and that things are going well. We’ll write a real update soon!

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May
30

Wedding Season

Uncategorized

by Esther

So, the month of May is coming to an end. It has been a busy busy month. We enjoyed having Andy’s parents here – as you’ve seen in a few of the previous blog posts. School comes to an end tomorrow, so a couple weeks ago I said goodbye to my friends at the school. Now to figure out what to do all summer!

As I write this post, I am smack dab in between two weddings that I am involved in. The first was Sunday, May 22 in downtown Columbus. It was one of my good friends that I have known the majority of her time here on Earth. Smile It was so good to get to be involved in the day. We had absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather, though some grey clouds did threaten the outdoor ceremony. The rain held off until almost everyone arrived at the reception venue and then it poured the rain. After the rain had slowed a bit, the sun came back out – causing an absolutely amazing double rainbow (check out some of the photos) over the city. Overall, a great day.

The bride and groom

The bride and I at the reception (loved that we got to wear Saris)

The rainbow over the city

If you want to see more photos from the day, check out our Facebook pages.

As I said, it’s wedding season. This week I am involved in my cousin’s wedding in Maryland. I will be there toward the end of the week and Andy will be coming in with my family for the weekend. Check back for photos from that day as well. I know I’m really looking forward to it.

Thank you for your continued encouragement, prayers, and support. Without your prayers and partnership, we would not be able to travel and be part of these very special occasions.

Blessings,

Esther

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May
14

Bike Pit Stop

News,
Stories

by Andy

The Men’s group at church this morning held a bike workshop.
The idea came from my time in the UK where kids would ride any bike, even if the brakes didn’t work or the chain was rusty. The kids in Coshocton aren’t any different. So the group decided to run a workshop to check brakes, handlebars, seat and oil the chain.

After yesterdays rain and the threat of thunder today made us wonder if we’d have any customers.

We did get 6 bikes through. One of which needed 2 new inner tubes, which we’d had donated by Auer Ace Hardware.

Mark cleans and lubes the chain

Stan and I check brakes and clean the frame.

Once we checked and cleaned each bike we had to get the “Test Pilot” to ride it!

Every bike got a test ride! Even though everyone though I couldn’t ride this one!

We all had fun and blessed 2 families with getting their bikes ready to ride again.

Thank you for all your support that allows me to be part of fun things like this.

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