February 2020

Things That are Important

My name is Bryan. Not Brian, Bryon, Bryen, Byron, Brain, or Bry3n. It warms my self-conceited little heart when I see my name spelled right on some invite, email, or official US document. Look, I don’t blame you for spelling my name Brian, there are almost a million more people named “Brian” than there are “Bryan”. I think my folks chose the “Y” becaused the elegant, and classy way it looks. 🙂
Besides my name spelled wrong another thing that bothers me is when the front door is left open in the dead of winter! Ask my wife, If I am painting and can barely breathe because of the fumes, I will still keep the door shut to save on heating. Heating doesn’t grow on trees! Well, it does if you heat with wood….
None of this matters really. We have been created for one thing; to worship God. We think that a million other things are important, or that they will bring us joy, but no, they are empty. If the Eagles won every Superbowl, if every deer in the woods was a jumbo buck waiting for me to miss it, if every tool was free and already nicely laid out in my toolbox, and if I was already the best A&P mechanic in the world and I would never have to study again, none of that would matter.
Ultimately planes are not important. Planes are like shiny lawnmowers; they are air-cooled, loud, carbureted, and spin metal blades really fast. Cessnas, like John Deeres, are amazing tools that can accomplish much. Cessnas, unlike John Deeres, can fly over jungles and aid missionaries to bring God’s word to the hard-to-reach, to those that have never heard.
That is important.

Mission Spotlight

JAARS works with the Mato speaking people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. They have been working to translate the Bible into their language for 24 years and finally in September of 2019 they received the Bible in their heart language. Pray for the Mato people as they read the Bible, and that through reading their faith may be strengthened!

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Bryan’s corner:
I am an MMS apprentice! My first day was January 2nd, which was inventory day! Every year on the first business day of the year MMS counts almost everything to update our inventory. After that, I began my basic training. In basic training, I cut aluminum sheets to measurements within 1/64 of an inch, rivet solid rivets in weird and unusual fashions, and had my first of many battles with safety wire. I am studying like crazy right now and my brain hurts almost constantly. I am excited and grateful to be here! Please pray for my brain to hold some of the knowledge that is getting thrown at it.

Maria’s corner:
Life hasn’t changed very much for Frederick, Aria, and I! My days are spent doing household chores and keeping the children alive. The MMS ladies get together every-other Monday evening for prayer and sharing time, and really I love having the chance to get to know them! (I also love that Bryan stays home with the children so I can have a relaxing evening.) Bryan usually has a test every Friday, so in the evenings after supper, I do my best to keep everyone quiet while Bryan studies a little. We don’t always succeed. But he did get 100% on the last two tests, so maybe a little noise is fine… or maybe it’s the fact that he gets up at 5:30 am to study as well!
We had our first out-of-state visitors in Jan! My Uncle and Aunt Steve & Rhonda Hurst and their children spent a few hours with us. Bryan got to give them a tour of the hangar, and we ate food and talked about all things aviation.
Freddie turned 4 in January, and was beyond delighted to go to a restaurant called “Freddy’s” where he even got to drink soda!! I think that was the highlight of his year so far. We are doing a little “school” here and there. It mostly consists of art, watering plants, helping me bake, and going over numbers and letters. Our current plan is to homeschool him, at least until Bryan is finished with training and we settle on the mission field. That is still about 4 &½ years and multiple moves away, so a consistent teacher in his life will offer some stability.
Aria is 9 months old and getting into EVERYTHING! She crawls, walks along with furniture, and rarely laughs at anyone but Freddie, whom she adores.

Prayer

Pray: For my(Bryan) poor over-taxed brain! Right now I feel like my brain is a strainer trying to
absorb knowledge in an
ocean of facts.

Pray: That God will give us discernment in finding a church to attend while we are here. We went to Crosspointe Mennonite church two times now, and really appreciate it. It is only a 30-minute drive, which is a plus, considering the fact that the others we looked into were an hour away.

Praise

Praise: We had a great trip into PA for Christmas! It was wonderful to be with loved ones to celebrate Christ’s birth.

Praise: We are adjusting well to our new home. The children have been mostly healthy, and have been taking well to the adjustment. One benefit of Ohio not having an auto inspection, is that my rusted out Mazda finally fits in!