August 2024

above; The “father of the faith” and his wife catch a ride to Tepic

Airplanes, Babies, Etc.

The next newsletter will have a picture of a baby in it, I PROMISE! Okay now I cleared that up let me catch you up to where we are currently.

Over the last several months a few large things have been happening. It is important to interject that none of these events would have happened without the battle-hardened Maria holding down the fort.

Mexico
I went to Mexico for two weeks in May to eat tacos and serve at UIM Aviation. They have an internship program for mission aviators, in which they expose you to the daily inner workings of missionary aviation. On my internship flights, we flew pastors, doctors, and people in need of surgery.

One highlight was flying a pastor who used to walk from village to village and has been called the “father of the faith” of the Huichol people. As he has aged, his walking ability has naturally declined, and that is where Cessnas can help.

Besides the flying part, I got to spend time with the missionaries and see what it is like to serve as a family in that area of Mexico. I also ate really good tacos… did I mention that yet?

CFI
After getting sunburnt in Mexico, I came home to a busy June as I prepared for my Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) test. This test is no big deal… It’s just an all-day test where the examiner will ask you to teach him everything there is to know about flying small planes. For example, my test started at 8 am and lasted till 3:30 pm.

Right before the test, due to all the studying, my poor brain could not hold any new info. I have heard the brain described as an iceberg and all thoughts are penguins. The iceberg can only hold so many penguins until some of them must get booted!
But thanks to lots of prayers from y’all, I passed. Shortly after passing, I felt my body shutting down from stress overload!

TE Prep
Then the week after the CFI test, we headed out to Elizabethton, TN for Technical Evaluation Prep. I will be taking a JAARS Technical Evaluation (or TE) in September of this year as a required step for joining Africa Inland Mission. The JAARS TE is known for being demanding and the more practice I can get in advance, the better.

Steve Persenaire with M.A.F (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) was willing to stretch my flying abilities / beat me over the head. We performed all matter of different maneuvers at airspeeds that would make even Neil Armstrong uncomfortable.

The best part of the trip was that Maria and the family were able to come along. Lately, I have been gone a lot, and this TE prep would pose another week away from the family. Fortunately, through the power of the internet Al Gore created, we were able to find an Airbnb nearby.

Due to a schedule mismatch and Maria being the super momma she is, she ended up driving the 3 hours there with three children all by herself. Meanwhile, I flew by myself while listening to a podcast…

Graduation
The week after coming back from Tennessee, MAG had an official graduation ceremony for me! I have now officially graduated from the MMS/MAG program! After seeing how much effort went into my graduation shindig, I really felt honored and grateful to be a part of this group of believers.

CFII
At the end of July, I completed my Certified Flight Instructor Instruments (CFII). Originally, I wasn’t planning on getting this certificate but after talking to different missionaries it was recommended that I get it. So in the last weeks of July, we squeezed in some time to make this happen. I am so glad that I can finally take a break from any new FAA certificates for like a year until I start working on acquiring all my Kenyan ratings.

PRAYER

Pray for Baby Martin as she continues to grow. Maria is doing super well, but she is really, really, ready to meet our little girl 😊

Pray for me as I prepare for the JAARS TE in September. We will possibly be in Ohio for a week at MMS at the beginning of September to do some maintenance prep. Not gonna lie this TE low-key terrifies me, and I only think about it every 30 seconds or so.

Pray for all the upcoming changes. We are planning on moving to PA in October after TE, with a two-month-old, and feel a little stressed about it!

PRAISE

Praise that Maria is feeling so good. Living away from family, pregnant, and with three energetic little ones already lovingly destroying the house makes for busy days. Maria is handling it all with grace.

Praise for all the amazing opportunities God has given us. Mexico was an awesome opportunity to fly in a challenging setting, and to see the daily work of missionary aviation. To see the people firsthand, that were helped by these little Cessnas really motivated me to finish all this training strong.

Praise that Aria turned 5 in May. It’s been a joy to watch her grow into a beautiful, artistic, and talented girl who loves to learn and adds sparkle to everything she touches.

Love y’all,