December 2020

What am I doing here?

Rain is terrible. Yeah, yeah, farmers may say it’s important, because without it food “doesn’t grow” blah, blah. To which I ask, “have you ever ridden a motorcycle in the rain?” It’s terrible, just terrible.
A long, long, time ago when I was a teenager, a friend and I rode our unreliable motorcycles to Harrisburg, Pa to see how our tax dollars were carefully and diligently spent. The day took a surprising turn when we walked out of the restaurant to discover that it was raining, raining hard! The trip home from Harrisburg was about 45 minutes, and after 20 minutes of hugging my tank in the cold rain at 70mph, my skin started turning various colors of the rainbow. To make my attitude worse, a large man on a large motorcycle with a large windshield and a large heater, passed us by carelessly smoking a cigar, making me ponder “what am I doing here?”
This January will mark one year since I started at MMS. Various times, especially during difficult times I have wondered “what I am doing here?” For example, most of my day is spent speaking a language that almost sounds like English, but it is not. We say things like “The FAA AD on the empennage DME STC makes that plane unairworthy.” What?
Then there is the story of Randy. Randy received a life flight from Flights For Christ, one of the many missions we serve. Randy was in need of a liver and kidney transplant, and fortunately the Cleveland Clinic had him on the transplant list. Unfortunately when the time came for him to receive his transplant surgery, he was in such a weakened state that he did not believe he would be able to endure the 8 hour drive. Bringing a very sick man to a large airport in the middle of the COVID pandemic also seemed like a bad idea. Flights for Christ was able to fly Randy from a small airport to Cleveland, bringing the 8 hours of travel down to two hours and fifteen minutes. Randy received his much needed transplants two days later.

MMS serviced the plane that flew Randy earlier this year at no labor cost to Flights for Christ. From time to time I wonder what really is the point of working on these shiny flying lawnmowers. I feel God has called us here, but why? Then I hear stories like Randy’s and I am reminded, that’s what I am doing here.

Quick update about the end of October, November, and the beginning of December

Currently, at MMS I am working on tearing down, cleaning, and reassembling an engine that will serve a mission named Missionary Aeroplanes. The mission will use this engine in the foothills of Mexico to serve the first nations people of Mexico. The engine I am working on was new during the Nixon presidency in 1974. It was run once and then stored for over 40 years in a storage unit and eventually donated to Missionary Aeroplanes. The engine has a protectant oil in it that turned to tar over the decades, requiring many hours of cleaning with harsh chemicals. Working with harsh chemicals is bad, but on the plus side, my hands glow in the dark now!

After backpacking with my friends Freddie said he wanted to go camping with daddy. So the next weekend he and I hopped in our van, headed to the nearest campground, and roasted way too many marshmallows. It was a blast!

For the last two weeks in November, we were in Pennsylvania, so I could help take care of my folks; my mom had a cast on her leg, and both of them having COVID. Maria stayed at her parent’s house so she didn’t have to miss her brother’s wedding on the 28th. There is nothing that makes you love your wife more, than to be away for two weeks! I tested positive a few days before the wedding, so I, unfortunately, missed it. So far I have had almost no symptoms which is such a blessing. Freddie was a cute little greeter and handed out candy to the guest. I believe this is the first time in his life that he has given away candy:) Congratulations to Nate & Emily!!

Prayer

Pray The health of the people working at MMS. Currently, COVID is racing through MMS and is affecting some worst than others.
Pray For safe travels during this holiday season. My van is starting to make some interesting metallic noises, and the highways are always super full during the holidays.

Praise

Praise January will be one whole year that we have been at MMS. This has been a trying year, and adjusting to a new way of living has been difficult at times, but God has been faithful and we are so grateful to be here.
Praise That COVID has no caused more serious symptoms for me or my family. My parents are fully recovered and I feel decent. This disease can be a bear or a lamb, and we praise God for the strain my family and I have received was a more mild one.

Till next time,