One down, one to go!

Yesterday, after several months of preparation, I passed the first of two tests required for my private pilot certificate! Now that I've passed the knowledge test, I can focus on preparing for my practical test. I've completed all of my prerequisites for the practical test, so at this point I just need to brush up on the skills I will need to demonstrate. I should be able to take this test within the next few weeks. After a successful practical test I will be a certificated private pilot!

Even though it's not necessary for me to be a pilot before beginning my apprenticeship with MMS, I wanted to ensure that I enjoyed flying and had some aptitude for it before pursuing this new path. My goal was to earn my private pilot certificate by the end of the summer so I could begin focusing more of my attention on gathering our team of ministry partners. It looks like that just may happen!

We'd appreciate your prayers as we start to shift more attention to building our ministry support team. I am still working full-time and have plenty of other responsibilities, including those of a father and husband. If we are going to see our financial support raised in a timely manner, it will only happen through God's grace.

We have seen God's hand at work in so many ways over the past several months that we are confident He will continue to provide for our every need. But we have also experienced opposition on this new journey. Please pray that God will give us wisdom and strength as we continue to pursue this calling, in spite of the challenges that we are sure to face. Thanks, and we look forward to sharing how God honors your prayers!

Remembering God's Faithfulness (Part 2)

Isaiah 45:2-3

I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

As I read this Scripture one morning last November, God used it to reassure me that nothing can stand in the way of His plans. Even when the path ahead seems impossible, He is able to demolish any obstacle, no matter how great.

In the last post I mentioned a few obstacles we have faced over the last several months, and some of the ways that God made a way to overcome them. In this post I'll briefly touch on a few more ways that God has made provision for us.

Remembering God's Faithfulness (Part 1)

I recently had a conversation that got me thinking about the last several months, and the ways that Tara and I have seen God's hand at work. I wanted to recount some of those here—both for my benefit and yours. It would take too long to give the details of each story, so I'll just touch briefly on a few of them.

When I started seriously considering missionary aviation in 2011, many issues weighed heavily on me. I was burdened by questions like "How will I ever pay for this?", "How will I support my family?", "Can someone with a color vision deficiency become a missionary pilot?", and "Is there a mission aviation organization that will accept me for service if I am over 40?" (believe it or not, that is "old" for a new pilot, by many organizations' standards!). But one-by-one God brought the right people into my life, at just the right times, to chip away at these concerns and increase my trust in Him.