All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, it seems that we have come to the end of our time at The Knoll. It has been encouraging, refreshing, challenging, FUN, and full of beautiful weather and a gorgeous backdrop to live life against for a couple of weeks. God is so good!

We are headed back to the mainland of Canada for a couple of days. We're going to hit the highlights of Vancouver that we missed on the journey out! We fly out on the red eye Sunday evening and will be back in Charlotte before lunch.

Gotta run for now-the shed must sparkle before we leave!

Wordless Wednesday

Welcome to the shed! A little known secret about us is that on many occasions we have driven through the parking lots of Lowes and Home Depot scoping out the utility sheds. No, not for extra storage...for a home. So when we were asked to stay in a shed at The Knoll we thought that it might be our chance. Here is the proof! We only hope that our accommodations in Liberia are this nice!

(inside)


(outside)
What you don't see is the beautiful river that serenades us every night!

Look what we have been "DOing"

Delicious fish and chips from Red Fish, Blue Fish...oh, delish! Even Kyle, who is not a fish fan, said it was delicious!

Reflection in the scooter helmet


Entrance to Victoria's China Town as seen from our scooter


Creepy wax dwarf...


Gorgeous wildflowers along the road!


Me with the Anne girl (or at least the wax version)


All helmeted up for the scootering


Overlook on the way back from Victoria to Lake Shonigan


One of the many beautiful pictures of roses that we snapped

Monday Update

Sorry for the update being a little late this morning. We got back to The Knoll yesterday afternoon and jumped right in with getting to know the new crew for our Community Health Evangelism (CHE, pronounced ~chay) class. During our MMI we stayed in the "chalet" section of the house. This class is considerably bigger and there are 5 couples in the whole crew. In order to arrange for all the couples to stay together someone had to stay in the shed. Guess who is staying in the shed?

Yep...we are...Isn't it sweet how Equip treats their missionaries?

Don't feel too sorry for us. The shed has two beds, "carpet" and electricity. Bonus: you can listen to the river as you drift off to sleep!

We will post more pics from our weekend Victoria adventure and our newest humble abode

Pictures from the North

Enjoying some gelato in Victoria


Kyle didn't get to eat both cones...but he tried!


The famous Fairmont Empress hotel on the Inner Harbor in Victoria



Take a look at this pictures...notice the dog drinking from the water fountain?



Finally we were able to meet Dave and Audrey Waines! (Could we have met them in a more beautiful spot?)


The front of the Empress Hotel (no, we did not stay here)


The flowers in Victoria are a tourist attraction in and of themselves!


Colorful hanging baskets line the streets


There is a person inside of this...an old person...

Update

We're taking a break from class in beautiful Victoria, B.C.!
We will post a few pictures over the weekend so you can see for yourself! We will be heading back to The Knoll on Sunday but until then we will be soaking up everything that makes Victoria one of the best and most beautiful cities to visit in the world!

Wordless Wednesday

Meet Dead Ernest (Ernie for short) Ernie gets a lot of abuse around here...We have put NG tubes down his throat and would have done much more if it hadn't have been for actual human dummies...Ahhhhhh, MMI...

"TO DO" Tuesday!

Not much to say on this "TO DO" Tuesday! I think our biggest question at this point is what are we going "TO DO" with all this information floating in our overloaded brains? Yesterday we learned catheterization and today we will learn about suturing! I will try to take some pictures to prove that I am not making this up!

We hope to find out a lot more this weekend about the in's and out's of life in Liberia when we finally meet the Waines family! Otherwise we are just hanging on for the last few days of the MMI course! Anyone suspect that you have an issue of malnutrition or a crazy infectious, tropical disease? Well, after Thursday just ask us and we might have an answer-of course always consult with your physician- unless you are in Liberia!

We are off to Victoria, B.C. to enjoy the city life for a few days over the weekend! We are around our half way point in our stay! Wow! More pictures to come!

Monday Update from the Great White North

We are now entering into our 2nd full week in Canada. The Knoll is treating us well and we are feeling relaxed and refreshed in the midst of our training class. We had the weekend off from case studies and inserting feeding tubes to enjoy the area and some peace and quiet! So far we've seen ducks, a beaver, small cat tracks, and a muskrat. Ahhhhh, nature at our back door! We're hoping to see a family of otters! Keep your fingers crossed!

What did we learn last week? Well, we learned about a number of diseases from malaria and tuberculosis to leprosy and tetanus. We also learned how to insert feeding tubes and give each other shots. Friday was all about childbirth...Kyle held it together...I on the other hand was drinking it all in and loving it! This coming week we will learn all about infectious, flesh eating diseases from a microbiologist! Thursday is our wrap up for our MMI class and then we will be headed to Victoria for the weekend before beginning our CHE class.

We've packed so much knowledge into our heads that it would be easy to miss the voice of the Lord in the midst. God has been speaking powerfully through Barrie (Equip International's director) as he has shared with us each morning. Barrie and Tille Flitcroft were missionaries for many years on the fields of Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines. Through his stories and the evidence of God's provision and power in Barrie (and Tillie's) lives we have been encouraged that God is providing for each and every need of our hearts, both physically and spiritually. What an amazing thing to look to folks who have walked this path before and in whom we find such sweet wisdom and evidence of God's faithfulness!

We are drinking in the mild days and cool evenings in anticipation of very different weather in the coming months! Liberia is the total opposite climate...sigh...Pray for us as we attempt to meet up with the Waines family during the remainder of our time in Canada!

Visceral Leischmoniasis

Yeah, don't ask...it's a nasty disease...be thankful you live in United States (or Canada)! But now since I've got your attention I would love to share some photos with you of our grand Canadian adventure. The Canucks have welcomed us with open arms and we are loving our time here at the Knoll on Vancouver Island, B.C.


Lounging on Granville Island drinking lemonade in the sun on a beautiful afternoon in Vancouver!


Accordion guy in the Granville Island Public Market. Anyone know how to polka?


These blackberries were so gigantic and juicy! B.C. is known for berry production! My kind of place! All I needed were some ball jars, sugar and canning supplies!


Ferry ride over from Vancouver to Vancouver Island


Flowers, Queen Victoria and Parliament building


All our gear with Parliament building in the background. Victoria is a truly pristine city!


We couldn't leave you without a taste of the classroom. This is one of the Dr. Patricks (yes, there have been two) teaching us about some flesh eating tropical disease, I am sure!

More to come in the near future! Enjoy these few for now!

Wordless Wednesday

Now presenting! The Hoovers new prayer card! Coming to a mailbox near you during the month of August! Sure to spruce up your refrigerator or bathroom mirror!



Huge thanks to our SWO friends, Tanya McSween and her loyal assistant/husband Harry McSween for taking the photos and doing the design work! Check her out at McSween Photography!

Monday Update Part 2

Pictures from the Knoll!


Salmon Hole/Swimming Hole right outside the Knoll


Jessica and her stick digging up something - Weirdo


Casa De Knoll - from the River


View of the River from the Deck - doesn't quite do it justice

Monday Update

We're back in school! Medical school that is...sort of. We began our Medical Missionary Intensive (MMI) yesterday evening. The information is like drinking from a fire hydrant! However, before we started the course we had a couple of days to check out Vancouver and make our way over to Vancouver Island. The ferry trip over was gorgeous and Victoria is a jewel of a city. Let's just say that in such an international city we were able to witness some true World Cup celebration from authentic Spaniards! We promise pictures ASAP! We are finally on a more structured schedule and will have more time to post in the coming days (despite the massive amounts of class and homework!). Rest assured friends and family, we are doing just fine! That's for you, mom and grandmoms!

Keep praying that we will be able to retain the info. we are learning and continue to enjoy this time of semi-relaxation and enjoying each other! More details to come!

Mini-itinerary
July 11-22: MMI course
July 22-25: Hangin' in beautiful Victoria, B.C. and meeting the Waines' family
July 30: Head back to Vancouver, B.C.
August 1: Journey back down South (as they say here in Canada!)

Wordless Wednesday

Photo Courtesy of Leah Slack Gillen
Beautiful Liberian women! Can these women dress, or what?!
Check out Leah's journey to minister to these women on her blog @ PanthersandPetals4Him

"TO DO" Tuesday

This week the Hoovers go back to school for "TO DO" Tuesday! Our trip up to Canada isn't all vacation! Nope, it's mostly training classes. We will arrive in Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday and make our way over to Vancouver Island a couple of days later where we will spend the majority of the next 3 weeks in intensive training classes. We will be taking two classes the Missionary Medicine Intensive (MMI) and the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) course.

Here are the descriptions of the classes:

MMI (website description)
MMI is a two-week course designed to equip missionaries with diagnostic skills and appropriate treatments. MMI enables the missionary to do physical exams, and to process the information gathered to come up with an accurate diagnosis, and a recommended treatment.

Photos courtesy of Equip International

or in other words...
A village newborn is brought to you with an infected umbilical cord.
An old man shows up with a badly burnt hand.
Your three-year-old has a fever with a red rash.
And the nearest good doctor is three hours away over washed out roads.
What would you do?

(Hoover's description)
The MMI consists of everything from birthin' babies to sewing up wounds...woah, we're feelin' queasy...and a lot of homework. We'll spend our days learning all kinds of medical terminology and we will spend our nights doing case studies to hone our diagnostic skills. INTENSE!

CHE (website description)
CHE is a five-day course that teaches missionaries to link evangelism with social development. Using CHE concepts, communities in any cultural setting are encouraged to identify their own problems of health, education, agriculture, micro-enterprise, etc, and then create their own solutions for these problems.

Photos courtesy of Equip International

(Hoover's description)
The last week of our training will be the CHE class. This class is extremely applicable to the work in Liberia and we are excited to make the connection between mercy ministry, the Gospel and the culture.

So there it is! Pray that we would be diligent in these classes. That we would stay tuned into the material and would retain as much as possible! That's it for "TO DO" Tuesday! Check out Equip International to read more about the classes that are offered!

#8: Postponed, Eh?

Sorry to postpone #8 but we made it in to Vancouver, B.C. at about 1:00am West Coast time (4:00am EST) so we have been sleeping in a bit! It seems surreal to be in Canada and getting ready for 3 weeks of training! We will be sharing pictures and commentary in the coming days now that we are earthbound for 3 weeks. Also, Vancouver is having a heat wave...it's in the mid 80's with low humidity...say what?

Monday Update

This past week we...

Moved completely out of our apartment and into a beautiful house with dear friends. Began living out of a couple of plastic tubs and our car. Then on Friday we made the drive over to Andrews, NC for a weekend with our SWO family!

Our weekend at SWO (Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters for all you sayin' "huh?!" right now.) wrapped up today and we are back in AVL with full hearts and a lot of excitement about the days ahead. Well, at lest we will be really excited after we take a nap! SWO is where we met and our SWO framily will always be close to our hearts and minds. We were so blessed to see so many familiar faces and share our hearts with those closest to us. It's amazing how close the Body of Christ can become, truly spiritual ties are thicker than any others, Kyle and I have both experienced that in real and powerful ways. As we were leaving we were overwhelmed by the summer/full time staff's prayers. Summer staff that we didn't even know introduced themselves just to share that they had been praying for us! No wonder we have repeatedly felt like we are being buoyed along by the prayers of the saints! Because we really are! God is surrounding us at every turn with reassurance and blessings!

We also got to have a surprise visit with Kyle's cousins, and aunt and uncle. Kyle's cousin Paige has worked a couple of summers at SWO and is there for SWOX (SWO 2010!) so her mom (Aunt Gigi), dad (Uncle Paul) and (Jordan) made the trip up for the 4th! It was an unexpected and welcomed surprise!

Also, more exciting news! Our friends Harry and Tanya McSween took some photos (ok, Tanya took the photos and Harry ran interference with the elderly lady that owned the property we were taking the pictures on) of us for our prayer card! Tanya is doing the design work too and they should be in your mail box when we get back from Canada! They are going to be amazing and we are so thrilled that Tanya was willing to help out! Thanks McSweens! Check out Tanya's work at McSween Photography.

There are so many more details that we would love to share. Everything from seeing our friends Spencer and Amy's little girls, to sharing in worship time with the SWO staff, to hangin' around a campfire with the Holloways, to watchin' UFC fights at Kahunas with the boys, to enjoying some amazing hometown, Andrews, NC fireworks. Not to mention Mexican food and driving through the river gorge with the windows down. All of those things were gems in a full weekend, but more than anything else that we enjoyed this weekend is the like-mindedness that we share with our framily in Andrews that gives us confidence, and a sense of connectedness to go boldly in the direction that God has called us! We are blessed to look back at God's weaving of our relationships at SWO and to see the tight way that His Spirit interweaves those within His family. We believe and we are blessed.

Enough rattling on about the weekend. If you didn't notice I could have gone on for days, but Thursday is quick approaching! We will hop a plane on Thursday evening for Vancouver, B.C.! So if you need us we will be in Canada until August 1st when we head back to N.C.! Not to worry the blog will be updated regularly! Pray that we will have safe travels and that our brains don't explode from all the information that we will be putting inside of them. "TO DO" Tuesday is going to focus on the classes that we are taking so check back tomorrow for more on the "Why's" of our trip to Canada.



July 8th and beyond!
July 8th-Leave for Equip Canada Training
July 31st-Return from Canada to NC
August-Hoover Beach Trip, hanging with family! COMPLETE SUPPORT RAISING!
September- Leave for Liberia!

#9: The Grove Park Inn

#9: The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

So this week we are gettin' a little pretentious around here. Yep our #9 is the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa. We can't vouch for the Inn, but we certainly can vouch for the Spa. It is fabulous! FUHABYOULESS!



I'm short on time this week. Imagine that? I mean what else do I have to do? Hmmmmmm, something about going to Canada for a month and moving to Liberia after that...minor stuff you know! All that to say #9 is gonna be short, sweet and to the point...kinda like me...

A portion of the Spa where we were blessed to spend some time the other day all thanks to a dear friend!)

In case you haven't caught enough episodes of North Carolina Weekend on PBS I will offer a short Grove Park description: Gigantic, fancy schmancy old inn that overlooks Asheville and the surrounding mountains complete with the #13 Spa in the world, golf course, fine dining, etc. Locals can go up and tour for free and every year the Grove Park plays host to the National Gingerbread house competition during the holiday season!

The house is chocked full of history including extended stays by the rich and famous and many of our presidents. That includes Barack and Michelle's recent stay! Fancy that! It makes for a good evening to just go up to the Inn and wander around. You can pretend that you are rich. Pretend being the key word!