above: Elon Musk and his son X Æ A-12

X Æ A-12

If you are like me and are mildly obsessed with the future president of our solar system, Elon Musk, then you know that his son has a very odd name. X Æ A-12 or Ash for short, is not yet soaring to the top of any list of popular baby names. But it might after supreme leader Elon (from his office aboard an electric spaceship) decrees that “all baby names henceforth must contain at least one number”.

Names can be weird, people with weird names can be normal, and people with normal names can be weird. Take Wade. Wade is a completely normal name. A man named Wade played professional baseball. Baseball can be weird, and Wade was weird. Wade would only eat chicken before each game because chicken gave Wade good luck… Weird.

So, what’s in a name? Before I was called Flyin’ Bryan, I was called Hat Bryan, Crazy Bryan, Baby Bryan, and Cryin’ Bryan (thanks Adventures in Odyssey for ruining my childhood!!!). Names are impactful, and people grow into their name. Let’s look more closely at one of my former nicknames. Back in the day of voice change and pimple clusters, I was known by the name “Hat Bryan”. The reason I received this moniker was due to my large, diverse, and somewhat moldy collection of hats. At one point I had over 100 hats, which admittedly were mostly cheap trucker hats, labeled with some diesel product or trucking company’s name. I would almost never leave the confines of my house without first donning my noggin with one hat from the plethora of choices. I did this for three main reasons; 1. Because I did have some cool hats, and I thought I looked cool in them, 2. Because combing my hair took too much effort, and hats solved that problem nicely. 3. Because my head is oddly shaped, and covering more of it improved my self-esteem. During this time, I leaned into the title “Hat Bryan” and acquired more hats, always trying to live up to the name. Much to my wife’s chagrin, a large portion of these hats still live with us, slowly returning to dust from whence they came.

There is one name that is above all others. At the name of Jesus all will bow, including X Æ A-12, Elon Musk, and yourself. We that have the hope, we that have the promise, we that have the forgiveness, are selfish if we remain silent. There is a big world filled with billions of unbelievers, and there are houses that are next to us filled with the same. Here is another name, Roger. He is my 86-year-old unbelieving neighbor. It took me nearly two years to build a relationship with him, mostly because I am so busy. But looking into Roger’s sweet eyes, and knowing he is at the edge of eternity makes me shiver. So pray for Roger, and pray that the church will complete our God-given assignment. Because shiny electric rockets ain’t gonna save us.

Currently at MMS

MMS is celebrating with UIM Aviation as they return to service a previously badly damaged airplane. UIM Aviation operates a small fleet of Cessna 206’s that they use to fly doctors, Bible translators, local pastors and perform med evacs into some of the hardest to reach areas of northern and central Mexico. There is a chance that I will get to spend time with UIM as I sharpen my mountain-flying skills in the near-ish future. UIM had an unfortunate accident at one of these bush mountain airstrips. After much creative packing, grunting, and praying, UIM was able to load up the plane and send it to MMS. MMS did a great deal of the sheet metal repairs needed even harvesting needed parts from two other donor planes, and shipped the mended bird to UIM’s USA base for completion. After much more grunting and praying, UIM was able to return N8352Q back to service just this year. So far 52Q has been used for a medical evac and for flying doctors into the bush for a few medical clinics.

The annual I was performing on “Flights for Christ” Maule M5 is finally finished, now all that is left is the fun part… PAPERWORK!!!!

We have been waiting on some parts to complete the Maule airplane, and in the meantime, I have been reassigned to repair the fiberglass cargo pod bolted to the bottom of the “Flights for Christ” other airplane called an Airvan. Fiberglass repair is fun, and feeling itchy again feels good, but feeling not itchy feels goodest.

Here is a quick update about the end of Mar, Apr, and the beginning of May.

We went mini-golfing at Coshocton’s finest indoor mini-golf course. We had Maria’s brother Joseph and his wife Wendy drive out here from PA to visit us for a weekend, and since it was cold outside we looked for fun indoor activities. We discovered that Coshocton has an indoor mini-golf course! We walked through the door expecting lasers, blacklight and extreme courses! What we got was 8 “holes” built out of various 2x4s painted yellow, fake turf, with different childhood toys as obstacles. All hope was lost. But after a few holes, and desperation for indoor activities, we discovered it was actually a great little hang-out spot. We had a blast, and I even won a free game with my pro golfing skills

Evelyn’s surgery is coming up on June the 16th. She is doing well, and the doctors are happy with her development. We will not have to drive up to Akron until the preop so praise the Lord for that🤲. The constant 3 hour trip to and from Akron was wearing down just about everything! I can’t wait to see the changes in her after this surgery. Many people say that after clef surgery, their previously suction-less children, will start sucking on everything, including walls, windows and floors 😂. If she is anything like her sister Aria, she will be eating shingles in no time.

Freddie’s homeschool co-op had their spring concert. It was fun watching Freddie sing in between picking his nose, talking to his peers, waving at us, and staring into oblivion. All the children did a great job, and Freddie will miss his friends from co-op greatly when we move later this year.  

Here is a timeline of our next few months,

Pray for Evelyn’s surgery on June 16th. I know it’s a small surgery and a common one at that, but it’s different to know something, and actually handing your baby off to a surgeon.

Pray for Maria as she will be very busy after the surgery ensuring Evelyn doesn’t shove the nearest fork into her mouth.

Pray that the other children will be long-suffering during the time right before and after the surgery.

Pray that Evelyn will not experience a lot of pain.

Pray for our neighbor Roger. Pray that God would move his heart.

Praise that Evelyn is doing so going so well!

Praise that my inspection went so well and that the Maule can return to kingdom service.

Till next time,

Above: Cozy even on a cold day at the zoo.

Hurry up and wait

I am a patient man… HA! If you know me at all, you know how ridiculous that statement is! I am about as patient as a Spanish bull when a bright crimson cloak is waved in front of him by a half-crazed bullfighter. I am on what can best be described as an uphill battle to daily attempt to remove some of the “bull” part of my character and replace it with more of the “sit in front of cracker barrel and play checkers” character. Currently, I am more bovine than geriatric.
Recently on a beautiful and warm winter day, the Martin family made a pilgrimage to the local-ish zoo. Our desire to visit the zoo was elevated because this was probably going to be the last time we got to use our fancy-schmancy zoo membership. In the year 2021, we bought an annual pass to the Columbus Zoo as a fun activity for us to do with visiting guests. Being a frugal cheapskate by nature, I wanted to get every dollar worth we could out of the membership, even if it meant dragging our uninterested children past the same banana-munching, poo-flinging monkeys for the 100th time.

8:30 am. The day started slowly. First was breakfast, which is always a big production. I fried the eggs and made the pancakes, and Maria helped the children stay on task of shoveling food into their often-talking mouths. After the feeding process was complete, next came the packing up and leaving process. Maria is talented in knowing just the right amount of stuff to take to entertain, nourish, hydrate, and clothe our growing family. But packing takes time..
10:30 am. Finally on the road!!
10:32 am. Had to go home and get a forgotten thingy.
10:36 am. Finally on the road!!
12:45 pm. After stopping at a local Subway, we finally arrive at the desire destination. We remove the children from the car, and hustle into the zoo at a fast-walking pace, until…. We had to stop and feed the baby.
1:10 pm After feeding the baby, and again feeding child 1 and child 2, we finally made our way to the tree-swinging, banana munchers.

The whole day was slow, and it took us till 8:30 pm to get home again. Did I have fun? Of course, I did! Spending time as a family is always a win, but I am not gonna lie, my patience was getting strengthened that day. I sometimes get so narrowly focused on the destination, that I forget to enjoy the journey. Sometimes we think that life is like flying on a budget airline; cramped, stinky, you got some guy sleeping and drooling on your shoulder, and all you want to do is arrive somewhere/anywhere else. But life is like flying first class, where the journey itself is to be enjoyed and cherished, and not just the destination.
So here we are cherishing the journey God is taking us on. We know what we think the destination is in the next several years, and the years after that, but we do not know for certain. It seems that at times God shows only one step at a time. Which is hard, even for a patient man like me.

Currently at MMS

Currently, I am working on a blue and white Maule M5 owned and operated by “Flights for Christ”. Flights for Christ serves as a lifeline for missionaries deep in the bush of Haiti. Now more than ever aviation is needed in Haiti, as it allows for easier travel, even during unrest. Flights for Christ operates two different aircraft, one is the Maule I am working on, and the other is an aircraft named “Airvan”. Honestly, the Airvan is the closest thing there is to a minivan with wings, a sliding door, and all. Flights for Christ operates this “minivan of the sky” to transport supplies to Haiti, and then they will fly deeper into the bush with the Maule.

The Maule is in for an annual inspection, and I am getting the opportunity to pretend to lead this project. I say pretend to lead, because legally I can not yet inspect an aircraft and deem it airworthy. So, I have been assigned a “helper” who is actually a fully licensed, 20+ years experience mechanic named Chris Jutte. He is the one who is actually inspecting the aircraft, but for the sake of learning, he is allowing me to act like I am. I feel a little like a two-year-old carrying a bag of foam cups, and everyone is telling me how strong I am. But Chris is kind and patient and is helping me feel comfortable in the role of leading. The project is going well, but we found quite a bit of work, so you might see this in the next newsletter too!

Here is a quick update about the end of Jan, Feb, and the beginning of Mar.

We have had the winter-est winter in many moons. We have enjoyed many lovely snowstorms of 8 plus inches out here in Ohio. I was happy to spend a lot of time in the snow with the children this year as this may be the last real winter the children will have for a while.

My long-suffering wife expressed her intense displeasure in our kitchen floor through much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Our old floor was falling apart and was mostly held together with prayer and duct tape. I being a sensitive and caring husband only waited a year till I heroically approached our landlord, much in the same spirit as queen Esther, and asked if they would buy us new floor. They obliged, and I wasn’t put to death. So, Maria has a new and well-deserved floor. She puts up with a lot, and this token of comfort makes her heart and our feet happy.

Freddie turned 6! We had a big old party for him including a homemade, and may I add super durable, piñata. Freddie is all into science, and so we tried to do a simultaneous 6 two-liter coke bottle / mento experiment. It was an epic failure, but Freddie had fun, so I guess that’s a win. Freddie is a good little dude, but he is struggling with making friends. We are always with a new group or in a different state, and I am starting to see how much this affects Freddie. So please pray for him as we will have several moves here in the next few years.

Evelyn is growing like a weed! She is healthy and strong, and she is on track to have her cleft palate surgery in June. The doctors are happy with her development, and we will not need to go for another doctor visit till April, praise the Lord 🤲! She has a lot of fluid in her ears, so the doctors are planning to install ear tubes at the same time as the rest of the surgery. Ear tubes are just small tubes installed in the eardrum and is the second most common surgery in children. She is a cute and happy baby despite all this, with a quick smile and happy demeanor. Honestly, if all babies were this easy, maybe a dozen wouldn’t be so bad….

Pray for our little ones. We travel often and often have busy weekends, like everyone does. But I am starting to see more and more that traveling often tends to wear them down.

Pray that God will give them grace with each other and an ability to quickly connect with others.

Pray for me as I continue leading this inspection. It’s a big project, and I am enjoying the challenge, and hopefully we will get it back to serving the people of Haiti sooner rather than later!

Praise that Evelyn is doing so well, and that she will not need to go to the doctor nearly as often. Frequent, distant, doctor visits can be a big burden, and less of them the better!

Till next time,

above: Aria “helping” daddy rake leaves

The decade after the end of the world

With the dawning of the year 2022, it has now been ten successful, not world-ending years after those ancient Mayan calendar makers wrongly thought the world would end (losers). With any new year, there will be vows made that will most likely be broken. For example, gym memberships tend to spike in January as people seek a healthier lifestyle. Many of my New Year’s vows for a healthier lifestyle are normally broken by the end of the New Year’s party with my third slice of cake.

A new year is also a great time to reflect on the previous year and on how God led. 2021 was an exciting year filled with many opportunities here at MMS Aviation. In February, I finished my required weekly knowledge testing, which freed up time at home. In April, I was able to join a team of professionals from MMS and travel to “Flying Mission Zambia” in Lusaka, Zambia. While there, we aided in the installation of navigation and autopilot equipment in two of the mission’s aircraft. The equipment we installed will streamline both the flight and maintenance sides of aircraft use, and most importantly, it will make the mechanics and pilots less grumpy, and flights safer.

2021 was also the year I got to overhaul my first aircraft engine from beginning to end. This was a large project and was considerably harder than it first appeared. My previous experience of overhauling was on lawnmowers where a few extra bolts at the end of the project really didn’t matter, but MMS claims that airplane engines “need all their bolts” so my attention to detail was forcibly higher. The memory of firing up that engine for the first time still brings a smile to my face. Knowing that the engine I overhauled is now used on an airplane that is providing transportation to and from specialized hospitals for sick children and adults, brings an even bigger smile to my face. Because in the end, airplanes are just shiny, and sometimes stinky tools that we use to provide Christ’s love to the world.

2021 was also the first time I was pilot in command of one of these flying lawnmowers. In June we drove down to Missionary Air Group (MAG) in North Carolina for a short visit. We will be moving to North Carolina later this year to begin flight training there. Our trip in June was a chance for MAG to see who we are, and just how much more insurance they will need to get for their aircraft before we arrive. While there, I flew three different times, white-knuckle piloting one of the slowest and easiest-to-fly aircraft in the world.
So, what does 2022 look like for the Martin family? Studying, testing, moving, and goodbyeing. 2022 is going to be our hardest year yet. I have six large tests later this year, intermixed in that will be Evelyn’s cleft palate surgery, and packing up and moving. We will be moving to a new town, and new job and will have to find a new church family, as I start training to “drive” something that is alien to everything else I have ever “driven”. So yeah, I am a little nervous… But I am surrounded by my amazing wife, and three great children, and I am confident in God our rock. So, bring it on 2022, I am excited to see how God leads, because He doesn’t break any New Year’s vows. Now, where did I put that cake…

Here is a quick update about the end of Nov, Dec, and the beginning of Jan.

Fall has come and gone and with it the last chance to enjoy outside activities without frostbite. We were able to go and use our zoo membership probably for the
final time in late October. Though we discovered the zoo is less fun when the polar bears are shivering.

Freddie is part of a homeschool co-op here in Ohio. We are really excited to hear about what he is learning, and the interaction with other children is also a big bonus (don’t wanna make him into a homeschool weirdo! [sorry homeschool weirdos])! He did a great job at his Fall program, but whenever we made eye contact, he waved fervently, so most of the program I did not look at my child.

I passed my EMT class! I am now a fully registered Ohio EMT! Thanks for all the prayers, because this class was way harder than I thought it would be! I am looking forward volunteering and using this training in our local area, and eventually overseas.

Below is a timeline of the next 12 months. A lot of people have been wondering how things are going, and what our next year looks like, so here are the highlights.

Pray that we can connect here in our community of Coshocton. There is a lot of broken relationships and broken homes. Pray that Evelyn doesn’t have any setbacks before surgery. Her cleft palate surgery is a minor one, but still scary knowing things can go sideways. Pray for me as I begin studying again. The big mechanic tests are still ahead of me, and I will be studying hard again starting in the next few months.

Praise that I passed my EMT tests! This course was way harder than I thought it would be! Praise for safe travels over Christmas. Praise for the opportunity to be here. I think often of the sacrifices people are making to allow us to be here repairing Christ’s flying tools.

 Till next time,

above: something beautiful

Something Beautiful

Removing bandages from hairy arms is considered a war crime in most countries. To all my unhairy readers that have never experienced this, go and stick some duct tape to your head immediately. My tolerance for pain is comparable to a balloon’s tolerance to needles. I neither enjoy pain, nor do I actively pursue activities that can cause pain/injury/impalement. This was not always the case. When I was younger I enjoyed highspeed, bone-crushing, spine-compressing, downhill mountain biking.
One time while mountain biking, I suffered a high speed crash. During this accident as my body hurled through the air, my brain in an effort to protect my delicate and attractive hands, pulled them back and allowed my face to dissipate most of the crash energy. This action caused my face to be dirty, cut, and bleeding. My friends in effort to prevent infection, supplied me with the only thing they had available, alcohol swabs. Imagine wiping juicy alcohol swabs into gaping facial wounds. I cried like a cowboy who had lost his favorite belt buckle.

I stopped crying. In fact, there were several years where I did not cry at all. I remember the day I stopped crying like it was yesterday. Maria felt something was wrong, so concerned, we made an unexpected prenatal appointment. I was nervous but also excited, because this was going to be the day I heard the heartbeat of our first child. After the doctor had difficulty finding the heartbeat on his wimpy doppler machine, he sent us over to the hospital next door. The hospital ultrasound machine allowed us to glimpse our little bundle, and the joy of ignorance was restored. The ultrasound tech was friendly but elusive, and she reported her findings to our family doctor. We were to wait to hear back from him within the hour. The phone call came, and as the words transmitted via the speaker, a thousand little swords pierced our hearts. Maria’s eyes watered, as mine turned dry, and anger entered in the place of grief. I stood there holding what was left of my wife, as I hardened my heart to this pain.
Soon, the hope was restored in our little family. The announcements were again sent out. The joy unfortunately mingled with the hardness gained several months earlier. On a business trip with Maria, away from family, home, and comfort, it happened again. Again no tears.
Almost a year after that, in the nice office of our midwife, I cried. We had just heard the heartbeat of our future little boy. This did not open the tear ducts completely, but this was the beginning of the thawing of the hardness. Then several months later, Frederick was born, and looking down at the face of my little son, the flood gates opened. I have cried at the birth of everyone of our children. I cry at weddings when the dad gives away the daughter. Sometimes I even cry if I see a sad looking stone. I know many of you have personally experienced the pain of miscarriage, so I write this to you. Don’t become hardened, lean into the pain, and remember to cry over something beautiful.

Here is a quick update about the end of Aug, Sept, and the beginning of Oct.

We squeezed one more camping trip in before the baby. Maria bravely planned a camping trip with her family when she was 8 months pregnant. She claims this camping trip was uncomfortable, but I didn’t experience any discomfort…

My current project at MMS is an air ambulance headed for Honduras. I am aiding Jim Newman in an avionics installation (“avionics” is a fancy way to say “pilot gauges” and makes me sound smarter). MMS performed major upgrades to the mission’s other plane, and just recently it landed in Honduras, and is serving the remote field hospital there.

We are excited to welcome baby Evelyn to the Martin clan. Maria woke me up at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September the 14th telling me she thought maybe we should head to the hospital. I calmly micro-panicked and called the babysitter. We soon drove the 45 mins to the local-ish hospital in Millersburg (Coshocton Hospital is only 5 mins away but doesn’t have a maternity ward anymore). Maria comes from a large family, and childbirth for her is as routine as flossing, so she was prepared and calm as we walked into the hospital. Once there, Maria rapidly paced the hallways, doing lunges in order to meet Evelyn sooner. I got tired walking the hallways and complained, but the firebolts from Maria’s eyes gave me a second wind. About 4 hours later, we got to meet our new, very hairy daughter, crying that beautiful newborn cry.

Evelyn was born with a soft tissue cleft palate. The doctor said it is a pretty severe case of soft palate cleft, but is confident that surgery will be successful. The first meeting with the doc was stressful, as he told us about all the complications that could possibly happen. But after talking to several other families that have walked this road, the stress levels reduced. One big stressor is that every other week, Maria has to drive an hour and a half to Akron, Ohio for Evelyn’s checkups. Children when woken, and rushed, are known for their obedience, so please pray for Maria as she gets them fed, dressed, and out the door for Evelyn’s appointments.

Pray:

Pray for Maria as she travels with Evelyn to all these appointments.

Pray for Evelyn that she can continue to fatten up and be healthy enough for surgery in about nine months.

Pray for wisdom about a future Zambia trip. I may again be traveling to Zambia next year, and please pray for wisdom if we should bring the whole family, because it would be roughly a month before Evelyn’s surgery.

Pray for me as I complete my EMT course, especially because It is way harder than I thought it would be!

Praise:

Praise for a healthy and safe delivery of Evelyn!

Praise that Maria feels good!

Praise that we live in a place and time where surgeries (including minor ones) can be safely performed.

Praise for all the support and love we have felt since Evelyn was born. We have felt the love of Christ, throughout the last month, and are so grateful for the gifts and meals sent our way.

With love and gratitude,

Above: Chuck Egbert looking pained at my attempts at riveting.

Things I am bad at.

After much consideration, I could not think of a single thing that I am bad at. But in an effort to make a longer article, I asked my lovely wife, and she gleefully started writing on a notepad with such velocity, the paper smoked slightly. The list expanded until I was concerned that we would have a John 21:25b incident. So let me give the grim highlights; Me is bad at grammar, lion taming, fishing, buying fish at the store, standing up, marathon running, parking at a marathon gas station, and snowboarding.

It appears I forgot how bad I was at snowboarding due to all the repeated high speed head trauma of said sport. When I was a younger and more gullible man, my friends convinced me that snowboarding was the bee’s knees of winter outdoor activities. Before that, the only outdoor winter activity that I did was licking metal poles with my tongue, and I figured snowboarding had to be better than that. After paying most of my meager paycheck to a fellow pimply teenager, I was escorted by my eager friends to the main event, a small hill with snow/ice on it. I thought, “How hard could this be really, it’s just standing while sliding down a hill, big deal.”
I resisted the overwhelming urge to lick the shiny metal of the ancient ski lift, mostly because I was scared spitless sitting on a swinging, creaky metal chair that was slowing leaving the breathable atmosphere. Soon we arrived at the tippy top of what now appeared to be the majestic Mt. Everest. My concerned friends saw how bad I was at standing up, decided quickly to abandoned me, and alone I struggled like a flipped turtle. Stubbornly I willed myself to stand upright long enough to get to the first trail I could find. I found myself on a green dot/double black diamond trail named something like “Gentle bone crusher”. Before leaving me, my kindhearted friends warned me not to “catch the edge” of the snowboard. Catching your edge while snowboarding leads to either a high-speed nose altering faceplant, or a high-speed reshaping of the back of your noggin. After a day of head reshaping, I returned to the winter activity I was good at, and licked the chair lift, in an act of surrender to the fact that I was no natural snowboarder.

One of the things I love most about being part of the talented team here at MMS, is the fact that we all have different and complementing strengths. Some are really talented at sheet metal, and others are talented at aircraft wiring. In fact, MMS recently rewarded me with the prestigious “most talented floor sweeper” award. After being here over a year, I realize more than ever that I have a lot to learn, but being constantly surrounded by caring, passionate, and seasoned professionals is the most productive form of education. If MMS taught snowboarding, I would be in the Olympics next year. Though it would be embarrassing to have my tongue stuck to the ski lift while televised.

Here is a quick update about the end of June, July, and the beginning of Aug.

Freddie said, “my tooth is loose”, and pop it came right out! Since then, he has lost a total of 3! How am I old enough to have children that are losing their baby teeth?

My current project in the hangar is the “Pilot’s for Christ” Piper Aztec. I overhauled an engine for this same organization a little while back for their other airplane. So far that engine hasn’t fallen off, so I consider that a success. This Piper Aztec is here for an annual inspection, and some wing repairs. I find myself doing a lot of fiberglass repairs on this bird, which is fun, but also extremely itchy. Soon it will be back up in the sky serving sick and handicap people throughout the USA.

Freddie and I went canoeing with a bunch of buddies overnight. I love these male bonding times but sharing a hammock with Freddie proved too bonding. Have any of you shared a hammock with a 5-year-old? It’s like trying to fall asleep in an out-of-control massage chair suspended in the air by two sketchy looking ropes. Fun was had by all!

Baby Watch: Maria is 35 weeks along and looking great, as always. She is feeling good, and keeps suggesting we exercise, which is a desire I was hoping would die as she expanded. The next newsletter will be unashamedly full of baby photos just FYI.

I was part of our church’s VBS drama team. I played a French detective called, “Detective No Clue”. Playing a confused and bumbling detective came surprisingly easy.

We are going to homeschool Freddie this year, so we decided to go to the “Great Homeschool Convention” in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have never seen that many full-sized vans converge on one location before. After finding parking amidst the migration of Econolines, we marched in with only two children, well below the average of nine. I was not expecting to enjoy the convention as much as I did. The workshops were fantastic, and we feel like we now have a slight grasp on what homeschooling will look like.

We have wild blackberries here, and Maria was determined to pick several gallons of them. After many tick encounters, and high consumption from the offspring, the harvest was meager, but still delicious.

Prayer request

Pray for Maria’s thyroid levels. They are low, so please pray for healing, and guidance. Pray for a smooth delivery. Maria makes childbirth look easy, but I trust it is still difficult. Pray for our baby’s safety as it enters the world. Pray for me as I start EMT classes Aug 25th. Pray also for Maria as she starts homeschooling Freddie.

Praise

Praise for how smoothly this pregnancy is going. Maria is always a baby growing champ, and so far, so good. Praise for the church family we have here in Ohio; we miss everyone at home, but connections here help to make Ohio feel like home.

With Gratitude,

Above: One of the many creepy crawlers in Zambia. These spiders were called flatties and they lived in every nook and cranny of your room.

Flying Bryan Went Flying

Time flies when you are having fun, and it is hard to believe that we are already approaching July! The past two months have felt like a blur. In the end of April and beginning of May, I was part of a team from MMS that traveled 30+ hours down to Zambia to complete a large project for Flying Mission Zambia (FMZ). FMZ serves as a vital missionary air link for many different ministries in Zambia, including many hospitals. The team at FMZ needed to install new gauges and autopilots on two of their airplanes to continue operating a dependable and safe transport option.

Late into the trip we had the opportunity to travel to one of the hospitals that FMZ serves in northwestern Zambia. The journey there by 4×4 is a dangerous 12+ hour trek, part of which is driven on what is best described as “pavement”: the locals say that they can tell when someone is drunk because they do not swerve to miss the car-destroying potholes, and instead drive straight ahead. After driving for hours on the “pavement”, you start driving on dirt “roads”. The dirt roads are rough, and travel can sometimes be impossible in the rainy season. When you are finally getting near the end of your journey you are forced to cross a crocodile infested river on what is described as a “ferry”. OR you take a 1.5-hour flight, in a comfy and safe Cessna.

While we were at the hospital, we met Dr.Sawyer, a missionary doctor with Samaritan’s Purse, that uses FMZ often when he travels in Zambia. For him FMZ is necessary, and as he puts it, road travel is the most dangerous form of travel in Sub-Sahran Africa.

The word abstract came to mind a lot over the last two months. Seeing the hospital in Zambia really made me realize just how nice western hospitals are. Most of the buildings at the hospital were open, and almost shed like. Equipment was run down, and much needed supplies were incredibly limited. But God has blessed this hospital with godly staff both foreign, and Zambian, and it was a privilege to work on the planes that support this ministry.

Then mid-way through June, the fam bam and I, headed to North Carolina to MAG. We are currently over half-way through the MMS airplane mechanic apprenticeship. MAG (Missionary Air Group) is where I will receive my pilots license after we complete our time at MMS in a little over a year.

The purpose of this trip was to meet the team at MAG, see the hangar, fly their plane (more about that later), visit churches, and see where we will be living. We actually already have our housing needs met with a ministry called Siloam Missionary Homes (SMH). SMH is beautiful and super family friendly, and the property includes a small hobby farm, playground, library, and food bank.

Flying MAG’s airplane was again a good reminder that I am merely mortal. From time to time, you may experience pride in your life, thinking that you are good at everything. If you suffer from the awful disease called pride, the cure is learning how to fly an airplane: I had blast, but I was terrible! The amount of information coming at me, versus my feeble attempts at understanding it, was like to trying to drain the oceans with a sieve. Fortunately, I remember this exact feeling before; just over a year ago when I started MMS. Now my brain at MMS is more like a bucket slowly draining the ocean of knowledge from the MMS staff. So, I know that I will get better at flight, and I know that it will eventually feel like second nature, but right now that thought feels abstract.

Here is a quick update about the end of Apr, May, and the beginning of June..

When I first arrived home jetlagged from Zambia the thought of traveling anywhere sounded like misery. But after a good night’s sleep in my own bed, we decided to go camping and see the ark. It was impressive to see just how massive that thing was! It’s a good thing the flood happen a long time ago, because with today’s lumber prices, Noah would have been broke.

We also got a quick tour of JAARS when we were in North Carolina. Our tour guide is the chief pilot of one of the ministries that Maria and I are looking into. It was great to meet with her, and see the all the incredible bible-carrying, missionary-supporting, kingdom-building airplanes there.
Aria had quite the 2nd birthday party. It is hard to believe that she is already two!

From time to time, I am in awe of all the blessing God has provided for us. My beautiful wife, two healthy children, and one on the way. Which leads us to…
Baby watch: Maria is feeling good, but also feeling really pregnant. This is the first time we were expecting over the summer, and hot days are apparently less fun at 27 weeks along. We don’t know the gender, but we have a name picked out. Inspired by Elon Musk we will name the baby “X Æ A-12”, the same name as his youngest child.
Praise: that I arrived home safely, and we got the work done in Zambia
With love and gratitude,

Above: a truck like the one I rode in.  

Weird things happen constantly on the planet earth. This makes sense in that there is after all 7 billion of us humans, and every human I know is weird in their own unique way. This is a short story of a weird event that happened while I was in Zambia. 

  The night was cool and perfect, as were all the other nights spent here at the mission compound in Zambia. It was Friday night and we just finished work for the day. We were installing new GPS units, new autopilots, and gauges into two of the mission’s three aircraft. The week was going well, and we were making great headway. The mission fed us so well, and my lack of control was starting to test the tensile strength of the elastic in my waistband. There we sat in the hangar, this night was shaping up to be just another evening of relaxing after a long day of work. 

  Then things changed a bit. A man from the local village hopped the fence and entered the compound. This was no big deal, the villagers living beside the compound could access the compound reality freely, in fact there was a football (soccer for you unsophisticated Americans) field located on the compound’s grounds just for the village. 

  What made this weird was how he barged right into the mission’s hangar, and when asked what he needed became unresponsive and stared a million mile stare. He appeared to be high and/or mentally ill, but he wasn’t expressly violent, so we acted slowly. The night guards tried communicating with him, but even in his mother tongue he was incredibly slow to respond. It was then that the night guards escorted him back to his family, and the night activities resumed. 

  Then 10 mins later he was back! He entered the hangar quietly and found his way into the office of the administrator. This was not great, and after removing him from there, we kept him outside until we could think of what to do. It was decided that we take him to his family once more. Then in less than five mins later he was back, but this time he started throwing stones at people. Getting a stone to the face makes even the happiest person cranky, and when he reached for bricks, action was needed. So we loaded him into the back of the truck, and headed for the police station. 

  I rode in the back of the truck with the other two night guards and this man to the police station. Our job was to make sure he doesn’t jump, stand up, or fall off. Sitting down on a truck bed as it traversed the “roads” was not the most comfortable thing that I ever experienced. The experience was less like driving a Cadillac on new roads, and more like getting a nasul Covid test while sitting on a jackhammer. The man stared at me the entire time, which definitely did not add to my comfort. He reached for my hand and we held hands for a while. Then about halfway to the police station, he started proclaiming loudly into the night, “I don’t like you, I don’t like you, I DON’T LIKE YOU”. I am not always the most likeable guy, and people do find me annoying from time to time, so this was not entirely a new thing for someone to say to me. The difference this time was he ended this declaration by spitting at me. To my great relief none of the projectiles landed in any open orifice, nor did they end up in my eyes. 

  The rest of the drive went well: him staring intensely into my skin, me admiring the stars and praying. When we arrived at the police station, he again was unresponsive and instead of even acknowledging the cop continued to stare a million miles away. The police decided to keep him for the night, and the following day they would take him to a mental hospital. This seemed like a good course of action so we left.

  The drive home was great! Standing on the bed of the truck was way more comfortable and getting to know the night guards while under the starry sky is a memory that will not be forgotten too quickly. 

  Unfortunately this story ends sadly. The man that we took to the police station died two days afterwards. We don’t know what caused his death, only that it was said that we became very ill at the mental hospital. My heart bleeds for his family. Sometimes we get cold when we hear of someone dying. Sometimes a death is just a statistic, just another human that we don’t know has passed. But after meeting this man, even just for the short time that I did, hearing of this death rocked me.

Meeting needs without SPAM

(above) day one of hiking, before our smell caused social distancing.

Hiking is overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy hiking, but I just find it overrated. Hiking is just walking on dirt for hours on end with little water, TP, and way too much SPAM. I know that there are beautiful overlooks and bonding times around the campfire, but all of these things can be recreated at a campground or a hotel with a space heater.
Last fall my friends and I partook in the age-old quest to venture into the woods for no reason and after three days of personal fermentation, we left dehydrated, dirty, and tired. We hiked on a trail named North Fork Mountian Trail, and admittedly, it was beautiful, and I truly did have a good time.

In March, a friend of mine asked me if I would like to fly in his small Cessna from Coshocton (where MMS is located) to pick up his wife in Virginia. The flight was smooth as silk, and about 45 minutes in, we flew over the same trail my friends and I hiked last fall. I looked down to see if I could spot any stinky, smelly, and thirsty human beings below, simply to wish them well as I drank from my ice-cold water, in my freshly cleaned shirt. Flying is simply better than stinking and eating SPAM.

At the end of April, I will be part of a team headed to Zambia to perform what MMS calls a “Rapid Response trip”. Flying Mission (yes that is their name, and I love it) is in need of some urgent avionics upgrades to their Cessna airplanes. This is no small task, and Flying Mission reached out to MMS for help. Our MMS team leader, Mike Dunkley, has years of avionics experience and was just this year voted the FAA mechanic of the year. HE IS THE BEST PLANE FIXER UPPER IN ‘MERICA!

I am really excited about this trip. Flying Mission’s focus is to aid in building the local church and supporting bush clinics in rural Zambia. To aid in the work of meeting people’s Spiritual and medical needs is one of my passions, and that is why it might appear as a recurring theme in my newsletters. The road conditions in rural Zambia are improving, but journeys that can take days by ground, can be done in only hours by air. Air travel makes it possible for teams of visiting medical specialists to maximize their time in Zambia. The roads also have a nasty habit of taking out suspension when you least expect it, which is a bummer. Flying is simply better than being broken down along the road, car parts exploded in every direction.

So please pray for us, and pray for Maria and the children as they stay in Coshocton. Drop her a text, or send her a cake, or whatever people normally do. Just please don’t send SPAM.

Quick update about the end of February, March, and the beginning of April

My current project at MMS is the overhauling of an engine for “Pilots for Christ” This engine is the one installed on an aircraft called a Bonanza, pictured above. Overhauling an engine is a long process, but when done correctly should allow the engine to fly safely for the next 264,000,000 engine revolutions. In addition to overhauling the engine, I had to make custom engine mounts for our test stand. It felt really good to do some steel fabrication again like I use to do at my old job.

Pilots for Christ flies sick patients around the USA free of charge, and it is an honor to be able to overhaul this engine for them.

We got a zoo membership at the Columbus zoo. So now many a beautiful Saturday is spent walking among the fascinating critters there. Freddie saw that they had a train there, and from that moment on he was single-mindedly focused on getting a ride aboard. The 30 min wait was “worth” the 3 min ride 🙂 Aira loved the goats in the petting area. Maybe because she identities so much with them. They, like her, eat almost anything that can fit in their mouths, and they, like her, tend to smell a lot.

We got our first camping trip in for the year. We are a camping family. Campers are an interesting group. Some people have large 200 ft. RVs with seventeen slideouts and an inground pool. Meanwhile, others are of the hard-core crowd that only take a tarp and knife to the forest. We are somewhere in the middle, and no matter how you camp, burning marshmallows with your children is a great experience.

BABY WATCH:
Maria is doing well with this pregnancy, but she does feel slightly sicker. It is my hope that that sickness is a sign of twins. Maria does not have the same hope.

Prayer
Pray for the team of us headed to Zambia. We will need a clean Covid test three days before we leave, so please pray that they all come back negative. We are planning on leaving April 22nd
Pray for Maria and the children as I am gone for three weeks on this trip.
Pray that Maria and I will know how to reach out to our neighbors here in Coshocton. There is hopelessness in Coshocton, and pray for us as we share the hope of Christ with our neighbors.

Praise
Praise that Maria is feeling better. She is feeling way better now that she is past the first trimester.

Till next tme,

What do you do when your village is already flooded, and there is a cyclone headed your way? This picture (above) was taken in January, just two days before Cyclone Eloise dumped more water on Mozambique and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland).

No-one slept the night of Cyclone Eloise. Roofs blew off, and rain poured into the simple homes. Families quickly gathered their few belongings and sought shelter with neighbors who still had a roof on their hut. As morning light came, the destruction and flooding around the village became painfully clear. “We need help from outside,” the people said to each other. “But who knows about our dire state of need?”
Our Heavenly Father knew! And He had people in place, ready to meet the need. Medical missionary Dr. Costa has a long term relationship with these people, but trying to contact anyone from the community was of no avail. The quickly-organized, Mercy Air flight revealed multiple washed away bridges and flooded sections of the dirt road. The helicopter landed in a field near the village. Speaking with the population, it became quickly clear that the biggest imminent need was food, as most of the food stock got wet from the torrential rains. On the same day Mercy Air arranged for food with the help of Dr. Costa’s team, and a first load of fortified maize meal was delivered. The people were overjoyed!

Mae Doroteia was looking after 16 people in need. Now she has reason to smile, “We are not forgotten- thank you for coming so quickly to help us!” Her husband added, “Now that we have food in our stomachs again, we can start to repair our homes and continue with life.”
Delivering food supplies to one of the region’s five accommodation centers
CYCLONE!

Two of Mercy Air’s helicopters have been rebuilt/modified here at MMS Aviation, and the third helicopter is here now waiting on needed personnel to arrive from Switzerland so that it can also receive its upgrades and be ready for field service.

Mercy Air uses aircraft to deliver church teams, medical help, educational supplies, relief aid, and agricultural programs in southern Africa. THANK YOU for your prayers and gifts to MMS Aviation; the Lord has allowed us all to play a part in reaching these precious people in their time of need. Continue to pray for Dr. Costa and the many other missionaries in southern Africa as they reach out with the love of Jesus and build His kingdom in Africa.
To God be the glory

One of my first projects at MMS was an airplane called a Bearhawk. I do not know what a “Bearhawk” animal is and it is my belief that the inventor was stumped as to what to call his new aircraft, and after a trip to the local zoo came to the cages for the bears and hawks and had a lightbulb moment. This “Bearhawk” serves with a ministry in Haiti called “Loving Shepherd Ministry”. One of the ministry’s focuses is homes for children in the remote sections of Haiti. This plane served as a pickup truck of sorts to aid these homes. 

   When the Bearhawk came to MMS it was in need of some loving. After 17 hard summers in Haiti, the earth’s closest star had done its damage. This airplane is likely different from the planes you are familiar with. Unlike the all-metal 737’s you have flown on, this aircraft’s skin was made of fabric, with a steel tube skeleton. In other words, you are basically 10000 feet up in a fancy shiny tent. Don’t get me wrong, a fabric-covered aircraft is actually great. Fabric is really easy to fix and is super forgiving when landing on gnarly runways. Fabric’s downfall is that when exposed to direct sunlight long enough it breaks down. So we removed all the old and reassembled with new. I came late into this project after almost all the fabric work was already done. Nevertheless, there was plenty of work yet to do. Almost everything was repainted, new wires were run everywhere, and endless small improvements took time. 

  Finally, the day arrived for the owner to come and return the Bearhawk to service. We all watched with bated breath as it took to the sky, praying that the engine won’t sputter, or the wings fall off. We double and triple-checked EVERYTHING, but the fears are always there in the corners of your mind. When a plane takes to the sky a landing is always guaranteed, but not always in one piece. Fortunately for all involved, she flew perfectly! And after a few small tweaks, the Bearhawk left its MMS nest. Before she left, I convinced the pilot to give me a ride, see the video below.