Well, today Micah played his first round of miniature golf here in Palestine!  OK, to be truthful he actually caddied for his big brother, Josiah, but he gained valuable experience!    Here are some pictures:

Yesterday we also took some pictures of the boys with some beautiful Texas wildflowers along the road:

Thank you for your prayers for our family during our home assignment!  We have had a wonderful time with our families and you, our prayer partners.  We are anxious to return to our ministry in Kenya and to continue to carry Christ’s love to the unreached of Sudan!

Wow!  The response to our desire to obtain solar powered video projection equipment for showing the Jesus Film around East Africa has been amazing!  We received donations over the need we had shared, which allowed us to buy some additional accessories that will increase the effectiveness of this ministry.  The basic system included a DVD player, audio amplifier, two speakers, microphone, LED projector, solar panel, battery and projection screen.  In addition we were able to purchase a waterproof and dustproof hard case to protect the equipment on the road.  We also got a lightweight double tripod system to support the screen.  This will allow us to project the movie from one side, but be viewed by audiences from both sides.  We also were able to purchase the Jesus Film in 10 additional tribal languages, and when we get to Kenya we will look to purchase a back up generator.  Thank you so much for your prayers and generous contributions to this project!  We can’t wait to get back and put this system to use, reaching the remote  peoples of Kenya and Sudan with the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Hello all.  Several of you have asked us about our financial needs as we prepare to return to Kenya in the Spring.  We are very blessed with an incredibly faithful and connected team of prayer and financial supporters.  In God’s provision, despite the tough economic times, our financial gifts have been exactly what was needed up to now.  However, in the new year AIM usually makes a small cost of living adjustment to our support rates, to account for inflation.  (Inflation in Kenya in 2008 was 28%!)  Additionally, with the birth of Micah our support target has been increased accordingly.  Therefore, at this time we need about $300 a month in additional monthly pledges in order to meet our support target.  We know that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and he has blessed and called those who he wants to be a part of our ministry team.  If you feel led to be a part of our monthly support team, or to make a onetime gift towards our ministry in Kenya, please follow the link to right marked “Financial Support.”  Thank you for your interest in us and partnership for the Kingdom of God!

We also want to share a special project we are raising funds for.  During our time in Kenya we have been excited to see the impact that different ministries have had around Africa using the Jesus Film.  As most of you know, this is a two hour movie of the life of Christ, using the gospel story directly from the Bible, which has been dubbed into over 1,000 different languages.  Millions of people have accepted Christ as Savior after viewing this film!  It is especially effective in remote areas where most of the people are illiterate, and therefore cannot read the Bible for themselves.  It is always moving for people to see Jesus as a real man, and hear him speaking their own language! 

Last year Jon had the chance to fly a team from Voice of the Martyrs into Sudan, where they showed the Jesus Film in partnership with SIM missionaries in the village of Atar.  A screen was set up on the airstrip and hundreds of people gathered around to hear the words of Jesus.

While we were visiting Jon’s parents in Florida, we went to Campus Crusade’s headquarters, and the home of the Jesus Film.  This experience reinspired us with the tremendous impact we could have for the Kingdom with this tool.  We particularly want to reach out to the Turkana villages in northern Kenya.  While there are churches and Turkana believers in Lokichoggio and other towns, the majority of the Turkana people are illiterate nomads who live in small villages, far from the nearest church.  Our vision is to travel out to these villages by road, together with local Turkana pastors, and be able to show the Jesus film to these people who may have never before heard the name of Christ.  In addition we will be looking for opportunities to travel into Sudan to show the film in Arabic and other tribal languages.

The film can be purchased in each language it has been recorded in for $16 each.  But the big need is for the projection and sound equipment.  When I flew in the Voice of the Martyrs team, they carried a large screen, a projector, an amplifier, big speakers, a generator, and a jerry can of  gasoline to run it.  All of this equipment weighed about 200 pounds and required 4 people to carry it.  This weight can be a problem when trying to add the equipment to a flight that is full, or if the projection site is far from the airplane or car.

We are very excited to have discovered a system which was built especially to overcome these challenges.  Renew World Outreach is a Christian organization, whose engineers have designed a light-weight, compact, mobile projection system specifically for showing the Jesus film and other Christian multi-media.  The most incredible thing about it is that it is solar powered!  New, low power projection technology allows the projector and amplifier to run on a small battery pack, which can be charged in one day of sunlight by the included, foldable solar panel!  This eliminates the need for a generator and gasoline, and means that it can be used indefinitely out in the bush.  One charge of the battery is enough to show the two hour Jesus film, and have another two hours of preaching and teaching ministry over the PA system!

All told this system including DVD player, amplifier, speaker, microphone, solar panel and battery weigh just 22 pounds!  This means it will be easy to take into Sudan on the plane, and easy to carry once in the village.

We are praying that God will provide the money for us to be able to purchase this system and take it back to Kenya with us.  The total cost for this system with a portable screen and carrying case, is $3,325.  Please pray with us, that if it is God’s will for us to have this tool to reach the unreached around us, that he will provide the funds that are needed.  If you would like to make a donation toward this new ministry, click on the “Financial Support” link to the right, and select the “Hildebrandt, J P & V – Jesus Film Project” to direct your gift.

Thank you so much for being a part of this exciting new outreach opportunity.  We look forward to sharing how God will use this tool, and His Words as spoken in the film, to lead many to saving faith in Christ!

We hope that all of you have had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend it with family and friends.  We enjoyed being with Ginny’s family during this time, and Josiah announced this was the best Christmas ever!  Jon’s brother, Paul, and his wife, Sib, and kids Samuel and Matayo visited on the 26th.  Samuel is a little younger than Josiah and the two of them had a great time playing together.  Here is a photo of the Hildebrandt brothers and families:

Micah has had a cold and been quite congested for the last few days, so we would appreciate your continued prayers for him. 

We are wishing each of you a Happy New Year committed to the Lord, and may you know His bountiful blessings as you walk close to him this year!

We are happy and blessed to introduce to you the newest member of our family: Micah.  He arrived on December 8th, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces.  Both he and Ginny are doing great and we are looking forward to the exciting changes and dynamics he will bring to our family unit.  Thank you for all of your prayers for us at this exciting time!  Please pray that Micah will be healthy, and that everything will go smoothly in obtaining his passport and other documents.  Lord willing, we plan to return to Kenya the first week of March.  Here are some pictures of our adorable Micah:

Josiah has been loving his time here in America, especially this Fall.  Last Tuesday we went to his school for their Thanksgiving program.  Check out Josiah’s passionate singing and percussion playing in this photo: 

(Josiah is in the center row (Indians) just above the left-most pilgrim hat)

After getting home from school Josiah enjoys playing outside in beautiful country setting where we are staying with Ginny’s mom.  This weekend we raked up a big pile of leaves and let Josiah go crazy.  Here are the promised “Web Exclusive” pictures as promised:

Josiah begins his assault on the leaf pile.

Ginny’s brother, Michael, cleans up after the attack.

Josiah at rest. (Very briefly)

Josiah is also excited because we are expecting the arrival of his baby brother within the next week or so!  Please pray for Ginny and the baby that there will be a safe delivery and a healthy, new, little Hildebrandt!

After 5 weeks on the road, we are thankful to be back in Texas with Ginny’s mom.  We had a fantastic trip, visiting Jon’s brother in Virginia and Jon’s parents in Florida, as well as many other friends along the way. We are also thankful for all of your prayers and encouragement after the AIM AIR accident this summer. We are happy to hear that the two families are doing well. In fact, both widows and all their kids will be returning to Kenya later this month to finish out their current terms of service and see if God is leading them to continue serving in Africa long-term! I think that is an incredible testimony to God’s healing and strengthening of these two women, in answer to the prayers of so many of you. Thank you for standing by them, and us, through this ordeal. AIM AIR has resumed its critical mission of carrying God’s word and his servants throughout East Africa, and we are looking forward to rejoining the team there in March!

Our recent road trip was a great time of visiting with family and friends in the southeastern U.S. We also got to visit some fun places along the way, like the outer banks of North Carolina, and the Wright Brother’s National Monument!

The key to this whole adventure was our new mode of transportation. In September we bought a “classic” 1986 motorhome, for the princely sum of $2,500! After a couple weeks of loving care, she was ready for the road:

This beauty started out with 78,000 miles, and we added another 4,000 trouble free miles during this trip.  The motorhome allowed us to enjoy the beauty of this country as we camped out in the mountains of Virginia, the beaches of North Carolina, and near the bayou in Louisiana.  It also gave us plenty of room to spread out as we traveled, and was a big blessing!  We hope to make it available to other missionaries to use when they come back on home assignment as well, so hopefully it will be well used and well loved in the future!

As we drove down the outer banks of North Carolina Josiah announced that he wanted to go fishing!  So we stopped at a pier sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean and got him set up with a fishing rod and shrimp bait.  We cast out into the surf, and I began explaining to him how fishing is more about the quiet and time together and not so much about catching anything, when he caught something!  He ended up catching three nice fish that day and we all had a great time!

Down in Florida we visited with my parents at AIM’s retirement center, nicknamed “Media.”  They are enjoying their retirement and being with so many other missionaries they served with over the years!  We went out with them one day to “Downtown Disney” and watched Josiah be engulfed by all the Disney glitter. 

Thank you for your prayers during our trip!  This month we are visiting with supporting churches here in Texas, and getting ready for the baby to arrive!  Ginny is officially due December 16th, but she will have no objections if he arrives a little early.   Please pray for her during these last few weeks, and for a safe delivery!

May each of you have a wonderful time of Thanksgiving, as you spend time with family and friends, and remember the One to whom we all owe our thanks, allegiance and worship: Jesus Christ, our hope of glory!

As many of you know, in July we returned to the United States for our scheduled “Home Assignment.”  This is an important time for visiting friends and family, and updating churches and supporters about our ministry in East Africa. 

Three days after arriving in Texas, we loaded up the car which Ginny’s mom made available to us, and drove directly to Wisconsin.  Yes, it was a long drive, but the ability to get out on the interstate, set the cruise control on 70, and not have to worry about potholes, zebra, bandits, or river crossings, makes even a long trip quite enjoyable!  Here’s what one of our recent trips in Africa looked like:

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So a two day trip on the interstate to Wisconsin really didn’t seem that bad.  Especially with Arbys, McDonalds, Dairy Queen, etc to be found at every fuel stop!

In Wisconsin we attended the EAA Airventure Oshkosh airshow to represent AIM AIR.  Oshkosh is the largest airshow in the world!  It runs for one week, and I heard that this year 20% of all privately owned light aircraft in the United States flew in for the show!!  About 350,000 people attended.  This year there was a special emphasis on missionary and humanitarian aviation. It was great to be able to share with fellow aviators the passion we have for using our airplanes to take not only medicine and education, but also the Words of Life to the farthest corners of East Africa!  Click on the photo to see other pictures of our time at Oshkosh.

 After the show ended on August 2nd, we spent 3 weeks visiting friends and our two supporting churches in the Chicago area.  It was so good to catch up with all of you there who pray so faithfully for us!  We also enjoyed showing Josiah around the big city.  He was so excited to ride on the subway and see the polar bears at the zoo.  Click the photo to check out our Chicago pictures.

After leaving Chicago we visited friends in Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma before arriving back at Ginny’s home in East Texas. It is nice to be settled here for a little while and to plug back into Ginny’s home church. Josiah started kindergarten on Monday, and we will do a post on that soon!

Please pray for us during these coming weeks and months. Pray for a good time of refreshment and encouragement, as well as for the right words and heart to challenge and encourage the churches we visit with the awesome things God is doing in Africa!

Well, here we are.  After years of knowing about blogs and websites we are finally getting around to doing it!  A huge thanks to the AIM On Field Media team for getting the aimsites system up and running and providing support for us to get started.  We truly hope that this site proves to be a valuable tool in helping you, our friends, supporters and prayer partners, to keep up to date with our lives and ministry.  Please let us know how this site has helped you, questions you have, or other things you would like to see on the site. 

What a privilege to be proclaiming God’s glory to the peoples of Africa with you!