"Go West Young Man..."

It is quite hard to believe that this is the first week of fall.  Of course the cooler temperatures and the leaves beginning to put on their annual color show remind us that autumn is upon us.  It just seems like we packed up the U-haul in Lynchburg to take our belongings to a storage unit in Roanoke.  A lot has transpired since June 30th.  We have criss-crossed North Carolina and Virginia speaking in churches and even spoke at a church in Oshkosh, Wisconsin while we were representing MMS Aviation EAA's AirVenture, the largest celebration of aviation in the world.

MMS Aviation group at EAA's AirVenture, Oshkosh, WI

God, and you, have helped us in raising our support.  We are now well over half-way to our monthly budget.  We now need to raise just under $1,500 more per month to be able to begin our work at MMS Aviation in Coshocton, OH.  We are trusting that God will provide, so we are taking another leap of faith and will make our move to Coshocton by Thanksgiving.

My flight training here in Winston-Salem is going well and my checkride with an FAA examiner for my Commercial Pilot's License is scheduled for October 9th.  The only other endorsement that I will need is a tailwheel endorsement which will allow me to fly conventional gear aircraft, affectionately known as "taildraggers".  During a God-appointed conversation in Oshkosh with Paul Dye, a legendary missionary pilot with New Tribes Mission, he asked me of my plans and how my training was going.  Long story short, he offered to train me in his Cessna 185 in Arizona so I can get the needed endorsement!  The same man and the same plane that were the subjects of the movie, When Things Seem Impossible, the story of God's grace where Paul escaped after four days in captivity by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC Guerrillas.) We are planning to begin this training on October 27th.  Weather permitting, this training should only take a few days.

Paul Dye and the C185 in the background

After my tailwheel training, we will travel down to Tucson to join up with Kevin Dunn of UIM Aviation for me to do some mountain/canyon flying in Mexico with him.  Elizabeth, Ethan, and Anna will be with me and we plan to spend a few days ministering to the tribal people near Chihuahua, Mexico.  Being able to fly on one of UIM Aviaiton's Cessna T206 planes into the actual strips that serve the tribal people will really help prepare me for my future foreign field assignment, wherever the Lord leads.

One of UIM's Cessna 206 on a high desert strip in Mexico

Thank you for your support and your prayers!  God is building a great team around us!