2010 Archives


Monday, October 18, 2010
We passed Technical Evaluation
webassets/MAFsign.jpgThank you all so much for your prayers.  Our two weeks in Idaho were stressful, but with the Lord's grace and mercy we passed the Technical Evaluation.  Following our meeting with the interview committee and both written and oral test on flight, I was up in the Cessna 206.  The first day of flight was getting used to the plane and performing some of the standard flight checkout manuvers.  On the second day, to evaluate my teachability, several MAF flight techniques were taught to me and practiced in the plane.  I also had to demonstrate my ability to fly by instruments on a certified flight simulator. The culmination of the flight evaluation was a cross country flight in the Idaho mountains, where I was to incorporate the things I had learned as well as manage various aspects of cross country flying.
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The cross country was delayed by weather the first week, so I flew it on the second Tuesday while we were there.  The Lord blessed me with beautiful weather for my first mountain flying experience, and the cross country went very well.

With the weather delays, I started my maintenance evaluation the first Friday.  I took several written test and felt fairly good about them.  After the written test, I started some technical projects and was orally quizzed the entire time while working on the projects.  My inexperience as a mechanic made me feel very inadequate to the maintenance evaluation, but the examiner saw qualities in me that he felt could be an asset to MAF with the proper mentoring and guidance.

webassets/C206_TE.jpgWhile I was working in the hangar and flying, Jill worked on various volunteer projects in the headquarters building.   This gave her an opportunity to see more of the inner workings of MAF and to meet more people.

To take our minds off of things for a while, Jill and I went hiking in the foothills just outside of Boise for a little while on Saturday with some of our new friends.  It was very beautiful and peaceful.webassets/C206_Dave.jpg

Since we passed the TE, we have been invited to candidacy school, which will be held in January.  After the two week school, we will become official MAF missionaries.  Our next step will be to raise our support.  We are told that on average this takes about one year.  As we approach our full support level we will go back to Idaho for additional cross cultural, flight, and maintenance training, before heading overseas.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Time for Technical Evalutation
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The last couple of months have been some exciting times.  Our mission trip to Colorado Springs was very successful. Although it rained every afternoon, we were able to

complete a great deal of painting and repairs to the church building.  In the evenings we helped the church members conduct a Vacation Bible School at a nearby apartment complex.  This was a great outreach opportunity to minister to children and families.  The sports camp was only rained out one night.  We had a good number of teenagers participate in Taekwondo, Basketball, and Football.  They were also very attentive during the devotionals, allowing seeds to be planted about eternal spiritual issues. webassets/VBS.jpg
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We didn't spend a lot of time sight seeing, but we did take a quick tour of the U.S.A. Olympic Training Facility.  Thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures.  It was an impressive facility and amazing to learn more about the dedication of the athletes.
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Throughout August, I continued to fly the rental plane here in Wichita Falls to accumulate hours.  Needing only a few more hours in a high performance plane, God provided the opportunity for me to fly a Beech Bonanza in Lubbock.  With that complete, I was able to meet the webassets/Bonanza.jpgminimum qualifications for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and we received a formal invitation to Technical Evaluation in Nampa, Idaho.
Technical Evaluation (TE) is the term used in mission aviation for the interview.  It isn't quite like your normal job interview, since this one will last two weeks.  The evaluation will consist of aviation related written and oral tests as well as flight and mechanic practical tests.  The evaluation is divided into one week of mechanics and one week of flight.  While I am in the hangar, Jill will be working with the staff in the headquarters building.  She will be learning more about the nuts and bolts of how MAF operates.  We leave Oct. 2, and return Oct. 16.


Prayer Requests:
-       Pray that I focus my energies on studying the right material leading up to TE
-       Pray that with this vast amount of information stuffed in my head, the Lord would enable me to recall it when the time comes
-       Pray for safe travel and good health for us both in the time leading up to and during the TE
-       Pray that we would allow God to use us however He sees fit.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement!
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Making Progress To The Mission Field
Been a long time since we sent out an update, and we have been very busy.  Upon our return from webassets/WichitaMtnsCave.jpgMichigan, our biggest prayer request was to have direction toward a specific mission agency.  In January, we both began to feel led to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).  This was a huge blessing because it provided us with clear objectives.  Each agency has specific requirements and we were reaching a point where we needed to start working toward specific requirements.

Jill jumped right back into her job at TxDOT and is enjoying being back.  She also tested for her 3rd Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo shortly after returning to Texas.  Her friends that she instructed with welcomed her back, so she is having fun teaching again.
In November and December, I started taking webassets/CFIIs.jpgonline Bible classes and MAF has confirmed that we have both met their Bible school requirements.  The remaining requirements were about 100 hours of flight time.  I felt like a good way to build flight time was to become a flight instructor, so I went to Dallas in January and February and went through an intense course to become a flight instructor for primary and instrument training.  The training provided great experience and fortunately I passed the checkride on my first try.

Originally I was planning to instruct for a year and began looking into purchasing a plane.  The logic was that we could even take a loss selling the plane in a year and would still be on the plus side as oppose to renting.  However, after visiting with MAF recruiters, we were advised not to buy given how close we were to meeting the minimum qualfications to apply.  There is only one small plane available to rent in Wichita Falls, and of the 100 hours of time I needed 50 hours had to be in high performance airplanes.  At first it looked like I would be able to get some of the necessary hours by attending a school in Big Spring, TX that provides multi-engine trinaing in a high performance plane, however, due to maintenance and scheduling conflicts, it never worked out.  But God provided an amazing opportunity for me to get some high performance time back in Michigan. 

webassets/MooneyRepairs.jpgThe MAF recruiter for the Midwest region was given access to a Mooney that was donated to MAF.  Although it wasn't technically high performance, which is an engine greater than 200 horsepower, MAF has decided they would allow 25 hours of time in it to count since it is such a fast airplane. In addition, a Maule, a high performance taildragger, was available to fly at SMAT, the school I attended in Ionia.  This made an extended trip to Michigan a great way to pick up the 50 hours.  Ispent most of the time in Michigan, with the MAF missionary family, who had spent about 20 years in Ecuador.  It gave me not only an opportunity to learn from an experienced missionary pilot, but also to gain insight on what missionary life might be like.  I also had the chance to reconnect with friends from SMAT and Temple Baptist Church.

The Mooney had not been flown much in the last several years, so as we flew it we got the webassets/MooneyRepair.JPGopportunity to deal with a few minor maintenance issues.  This gave me some good experience on that side of operations.  There were some problems with navigation equipment that would not allow us to fly IFR (instrument flight rules), so that kept us from making longer trips.

Flying the Maule at SMAT was not only educational, but it was fun as well.  It is designed to work inwebassets/MauleTO.jpg short airstrips and Michigan has short grass strips all over the state.  We flagged out a strip 40 ft wide and 1000 ft long to work on some precision.  We also flew cross countries to a whole bunch of grass strips across the state and practiced flying by dead reckoning (DR).  This means calculating a heading and time to your destination by factoring airplane performance and wind factors.  Then you fly the calculated heading and hope to be at your destination by the calculated time.  If the pilot skills maintain the heading and the wind was as expected then the DR works, but if not you drift off course and have to figure out where you are.  When we would arrive at the calculated time, it is amazing how well camouflaged those grass strips are among farm fields and woods!

At this point, Jill and I have completed and submitted our MAF application.  I still need about 30 more hours of flying, and hope to get most of that by continuing to rent the plane out of Wichita Falls.  I will probably fly to visit mom and dad and give Jill some basic lessons as well.  As long as I can get my flight time done over the next couple of months, we will be in technical evaluation (TE) the first two weeks of October. 

I have a great deal of studying to do in preparation, especially since I have not had many opportunities to perform maintenance tasks.  Some prayer request would be: 1. For Jill and I to stay focused and continue walking with the Lord. 2. Preparation for the TE, that it will go well or that God will show us His next step if He has other plans. 3. Flight and maintenance opportunities. 4. For me to continue to sharpen my skills.

 Also, in early August, we will be on a mission trip to Colorado Springs, CO.  We will be doing some church building repairs as well as helping with a Vacation Bible School at an apartment complex.  Jill is planning to do some Taekwondo lessons with devotionals for the kids too old to attend VBS.  This should be a great opportunity for outreach since many of the kids in the area do not attend church. Some prayer request: 1. Jill would have clear direction in preparation. 2. Some good weather since the activities are planned for outdoors and we have a lot of painting to do. 3. Safety as we travel up and back. 4. The gospel will be spread!
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