FEBRUARY

I originally called our newsletter “Preparing for Impact”. I thought it was a stroke of pure genius, as we are preparing for Kingdom impact. But my dear helpmeet correctly foresaw that folks may be nervous to fly with a pilot with a dark sense of humor. Through the course of naming the newsletter, something I think we spent more time on than our children’s names, we settled on Flyin’ Bryan.
Some of my favorite flying that I have done so far, happened in the last few months. Below I’ll highlight some of my favorite trips.

Missionary Express.
I had the privilege to participate in the flights of three missionaries on their Stateside travels. My first flight was with a Nigerian couple named Timothy and Hannah. They were traveling in the States raising awareness for their pastoral ministry in Nigeria. They had exactly one night to visit a church in NC, and then needed transportation to South Carolina. Getting around outside of your home country, without your own vehicle, is quite daunting. Through a series of divine whispering down the lane, Missionary Air Group found out about the need, and we were able to meet it. Shortly before Tim and Hannah’s flight, I got my instrument rating (the fly-in-cloud license) and the Lord blessed me with low clouds on the day of their flight. Of course, and with abundant glee, I decided we would fly in the clouds. The takeoff and the climb through the clouds were mostly smooth, and then we were treated to PURE BEAUTY! We flew just above the clouds in what can best be described as an alluring cotton candy wonderland. I was on cloud nine, literally!! But unbeknownst to me this was a feeling only felt by me. This was only my passengers’ second time in a small airplane, and flying in the clouds can definitely feel intimidating. After a few dishearten requests to leave the clouds, the skies cleared and we flew clear of the puffy wonderland. The rest of the flight went well, just with a slight decrease in the beauty outside the windows in my opinion.

Then I got the chance to fly an Indian missionary named Chandan. He was stateside with a similar timeline and purpose as Timothy and Hannah. My redhead co-apprentice Steven Brumfield and I shared flying duties for Chandan’s trip. Steven’s hair is such a flaming red, and he blends in so well with Maria’s family, that I almost expect to see him at reunions. Chandan’s flight lacked the puffy wonderland, but the winds made his flight memorable. The poor guy was subjected to some violent head-hitting-ceiling downdrafts, but he was mostly a good sport about it. Besides, with the number of times his head hit the ceiling, he may not even remember the flight. We landed without incident at a gusty grass runway close to where he was staying the night.

Trial By Fire
Joel King from AIM Air agreed to conduct a consultation flight with me. I took this awesome opportunity to fly with a seasoned missionary aviator, and he took this opportunity to challenge my feeble skillset. We flew to several different airports, only a thousand feet above the ground, on a WINDY day, with only my map, a clock, and my ego. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! But also, super intimidating. Imagine mumbling your own poems to Shakespeare. After this trial by fire, he treated my poor, battered, and highly sweaty self to lunch as we debriefed. He was fair, and after the debrief, my skillset has de-feebled slightly.

Commercial Checkride.
I also took my “Commercial Checkride” in January. The “Commercial” pilot’s certificate was to me more of a legal requirement than anything else. Mission aviation organizations need their pilots commercially rated mostly to help with different aviation laws. This “checkride” (which is just a fancy name for a pilot’s driver’s test) was to a higher standard and tighter tolerance than my private license. It also involved a more thorough understanding of FAA rules. Joey Rodgers was my test giver, or “DPE” as they are called. He was awesome, and I had a great time with him, but still, the best part was his warm handshake at the end and his saying I passed!

JAARS 206 Training
JAARS, Wycliffe Bible Translators’ aviation branch, knows a thing or two about maintaining the most popular mission airplane, the Cessna 206. Because of this Steven and I spent two weeks in Waxhaw, NC, gleaning what we can from these Cessna practitioners from a short maintenance course they offer.

5 + 1 = 6
Time to come clean… we have been keeping a little, adorable secret… The 5 of us will soon be 6! Yes, there will be another Martin in the world, which if you ask me is a very good thing. Us Martin’s after all are an endangered species. Baby Martin, or “Tanker” as Freddie and Aria have been calling them, will be joining the family circus in August 2024! Please pray for Maria as she has been having all-day morning sickness. This has been unfortunate for me, as it prevents us from enjoying roller coasters as a family.

African Inland Mission
Currently, we are still in the application stage of membership with African Inland Mission. We apparently paid off / blackmailed our required “character references” well enough. Anyway, I will be including another separate paper called, “The Martin’s Going to Africa Update”. I figured this update may go out at independent times compared to the newsletter, so I uncoupled the two. Thanks to all who have been asking questions, and please continue asking! We are excited to see how God is leading and can’t wait to share more.

Prayer
Please pray for Maria and future baby Martin. She has not been feeling well all pregnancy and could definitely use your prayers.
Pray for us as we continue our application with AIM. The steps ahead look difficult so please pray for us during these next steps.
Pray for us, especially the children, throughout it all. There will be a lot of moving, stress, and changes. Please pray for their constantly changing friends, homes, and situations.

Praise
Praise for the very thing making Maria sick! A new baby Martin!!
Praise that I passed my Commercial checkride! This was a big one and I definitely felt all the prayers!
Praise that our applications are moving ahead, and it looks like we will possibly be AIM members soon.

Below is a video I made from a field report I received. I asked a missionary on the field how AIM Air has impacted his life and ministry and I thought I would share it.