MAY 2023

above: God’s blessings are anew every morning.

My mama always told me not to look down on other people, no matter how much nose hair, and bad breath they have. But over the last several months I find myself looking down on most of the central North Carolina citizens. And no, it’s not because of numerous nasal follicles, or the fact they call me a Yankee, it’s just a byproduct of flight training.

Flight training has been going well. Learning flight maneuvers is both difficult and intimating, but to my disappointment, my instructors have yet to let me do a barrel roll, loop, or anything fun. One of the maneuvers I am perfecting is called a “turns around a point”. In this maneuver, you fly 1000 feet above the ground and try to maintain the same distance from one point on the ground as you do a 360-degree turn around it. With winds blowing hard or thermal activity, this seemingly simple maneuver can make even Sully Sullenberger struggle. Because of these variables I have practiced “turns around a point” often recently, many times finding myself over the same house. If you look up and see a small airplane circling your house, don’t be concerned, it’s not the police circling after you ran that last “yellowish” light, it’s just some poor flight student.

This might be a two-part newsletter. As I write this, I have not yet taken my flight test, so there may be an update on the back side of this newsletter once I do.

Currently, our fall plans have a trip scheduled-ish in September to Nairobi, Kenya; Arua, Uganda; and Lusaka, Zambia. On this trip, Maria and I will be visiting AIM Air’s base in Nairobi and Arua, and we will also be visiting Flying Mission Zambia’s base in Lusaka. I don’t know where God has planned for us to serve, but He has put AIM Air at the forefront of my mind over the last several years. I don’t know why, but I do remember having this same feeling, this same “forefront of mind” about us serving at MMS. Going to MMS seemed impossible for me to even envision, and going to AIM would have its fair share of impossibility to get past, but God has proven time and time again that He is a much better pilot for our lives than we could ever hope to be. So please pray that during this trip God will make it clear and that we will be willing to take this next step regardless of the stacks of impossibilities.
Let me give y’all* a 30,000-foot view of the work AIM Air and Flying Mission Zambia do and why we are interested in visiting them.
*and yes I say “y’all” at a daily increasing rate since moving from the Yankee latitudes.

AIM AIR
African Inland Mission’s (AIM) aviation branch is called “AIM Air”, which is a name I can respect as it is short and gets to the point. AIM Air operates from two bases in east central Africa. Their main base is in Nairobi, Kenya where they fly missionaries to northern Kenya and surrounding countries. Their other base is in Arua, Uganda where they fly to additional surrounding countries to the north, west, and south. You may be wondering why I’m not listing all the countries they fly into, and the reason is, I’m not sure how far and wide they would like that information broadcast. Maybe I’m being too cautious, but my big mouth has gotten me in trouble before😊. I will say this, look at the news, look at some of the saddest humanitarian crises that are happening in East Africa, and there you will more than likely find an AIM Air airplane.
AIM Air operates two types of aircraft, currently, they have 3 Cessna 206 (small, 6 seat, gasoline-powered engine similar to your car’s) and 3 Cessna 208 (larger, 8-13 seat, jet fuel-powered engine).
Flying Mission Zambia

.Flying Mission Zambia
Flying Mission Zambia or FMZ is based in Lusaka, Africa, and you may recognize the name as I have been there before. I was there in the spring of 2021 with a rapid response team from MMS to do some much-needed repairs/upgrades to two of their airplanes. The reason we are visiting FMZ on this trip is because 1. I really enjoyed my time at FMZ and I could really sense the Spirit was at work there. 2. We will already be on the African continent and so we will be “local” (only 1200 miles away😊).
FMZ operates their fleet of 3 Cessna 206 (^same model airplane as AIM’s^) almost exclusively in Zambia. There are numerous hospitals, clinics, and distance mission posts that make the airplane a very useful tool. When able, ground transport to field hospitals can be days, and if flooding during the rainy season, maybe not possible at all. Transporting people is one thing, but what if you can’t get medicine? What if surgeries need to be canceled because the generator needs a part or is simply out of gas? We live in a world where two-day shipping is now slow, but most of the world lives where 40-day shipping is lightning fast! But now imagine needing surgery for a broken leg…. 40 days would kinda be a bummer. Planes exist to expedite the process as much as possible so that maybe that surgery can happen sooner, maybe that leg can be spared, maybe a husband can get back to work, and maybe a family will not be devastated, and maybe they will want to know more about this God the people (surgeons, nurses, pilots) that made the surgery possible keep talking about.

We made a flash trip up to the Buckeye state on March 23rd. A few weeks before the 23rd I flew up with MAG so they could do an apprentice pilot review and let me tell y’all I felt like I was a tribesman looking down on his village for the first time. I MISS COSHOCTON!

Then on the 23rd, I aided my friend Josh in the final stages of packing Samaritan’s float plane headed to PNG. This plane will now make a months-long journey over land and sea until it reaches its destination in Wewak, PNG. Please remember to pray for Josh and his family as they start serving in PNG with Samaritan Aviation.

Maria puts up with me for a decade! It’s hard to believe that this April we have been married for a decade! I remember when my sister celebrated her 10th anniversary, and she WAS OLD!!

We celebrated in the most logical way, we went to McDonald’s and got hot fudge sundaes just like on our first date. What can I say, I’m a hopelessly romantic kinda fella. Thank you, Maria, for walking beside me on the smooth paths, in the rough patches, and through the fires, you are truly my better half.

Aria turns 4! This little girl of ours is so sweet…. and sometimes very dramatic, but we love her and can’t imagine life without her. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she says “a princess with a unicorn.” If we serve in Africa, she might meet that nice Nigerian prince that emails me all the time, and who knows maybe one of her dreams can come true.

I passed my pilot’s test! I am now a “private pilot”, but I have several more ratings to train for. Next is my “Instrument rating” (so I can fly into clouds), then “Commercial” (so I can carry passengers without legal headaches), and then hopefully “Flight Instructor” (so I can teach the next generation of mission pilots)

Love y’all,