After missing several deadlines due to unforeseen circumstances and our membership date being pushed out further than we anticipated, we are so happy to say that as of April 1st, we are members of Wycliffe Bible Translators! (woohoo!)  We are really excited to have the step of membership completed and to be able to begin working on the next phase. We are delighted to have officially been assigned to Papua New Guinea with a potential departure the summer of 2022.

We’re currently working with our PD (partnership development) coach to begin building our Wycliffe ministry prayer and financial team. We will also be working on Wycliffe assignments from now through our Equip training dates. Lord willing, our Equip dates will be scheduled for the next available dates, June 12th – 25th 2021, but we’re currently waiting for those dates to be finalized. As of now, we will be doing the Equip training at Wycliffe headquarters, located in Orlando, Fl, with a possibility of doing the training virtually due to covid limitations.

From June 28th – August 11th we are once again planning to be in Illinois crop dusting for this year’s corn run as Kenneth’s last big job before we start full time with preparing and training for the mission field. We are planning to be in Springfield, (southern) Illinois. We are looking forward to hopefully seeing and getting to spend some time with our friends from IL, even more so with this most likely being our last summer there before we move overseas. We’ll also be having weekly virtual meetings working on our Partnership Development over that time, so we’re expecting our summer to have a very full, but long anticipated schedule.

Our son Benjamin is a healthy and happy four month old bundle of 15lbs. As a friend put it “babies don’t keep” and so we are trying our best to enjoy all of the sweet baby snuggles as much as we can before he gets too big and doesn’t quite enjoy them as much as we do.

As best as we can see our timeline in the future, this is what we expect.

• Equip training: June 12th-25th, 2021
• Partnership Development: April 2021 – Dec 2021
• Intercultural Communications Course in Waxhaw, N.C.: January / February 2022.  (This will help develop our skills and attitudes for living and working effectively in multicultural teams in our Papua New Guinea home-country assignment.)
• Pre-field Aviation Orientation: Beginning of March 2022 – end of June 2022 (A program in Waxhaw, N.C., designed to equip new maintenance specialists and pilots to function safely and professionally in the field operation to which we are assigned. We will learn to model a corporate operational philosophy, both in maintenance and flight, which can be applied to any aircraft in any operation)

Prayer requests

• Equip dates would be approved for June 2021.
• Partnership development would progress smoothly and on schedule.
• Grace in learning new things.
• Wisdom for upcoming decisions.

July 10th through August 8th we were based in Sterling, Illinois area for Kenneth’s work. He was spraying corn and soy beans for the business he works for in Florida. Most of the aerial application was in northern Illinois and around Arthur, Illinois area and southern Wisconsin. It was a busy and exhausting time. The days were long, typically 5:30am to 11:30pm. Meghan helped us out with the meals, laundry and odd and ends that needed to be done. We are very thankful to the Heavenly Father for the safety he granted us during the long fatiguing days of the “corn run season”.

This last week we spent time off from work recuperating and relaxing. We spent most of the week with the Gingerich family RV glamping on a lake in Seneca, South Carolina.

This next month, September 14th thorough 26th, Meghan and I are planning to be in Waxhaw, NC to do our technical evaluation with JAARS. The evaluation is a two week process where my aircraft mechanic and pilot skills will be evaluated and where it will be determined on whether or not we will be a good fit for the mission organization. Several months ago we completed the application and got our response from the organization that we were “a fit on paper”.

With Covid-19 schedules and uncertainties that have come with it, we are not sure how the JAARS field training and preparations will progress. We are praying that the JAARS and Wycliffe training schedules, that we need to accomplish from September though end of June 2021, will progress as usual and not be cancelled or postponed. If all this would go “according to our desires, we would be ready to go overseas summer of 2021. If all this, and the prayer and financial support raising we need to raise by beginning of January does not happen, we will not be able to complete an “only once a year pre-field orientation” that happens beginning of March through end of June. Which would then push us back to the following year, summer of 2022 to be ready to go overseas. Please pray with us that God would allow us to be ready to go overseas by summer of 2021. Although this is our desire, we want to be in the Lord’s will and continually commit our lives to the Lord and His timing.

We have some really exciting news! Lord willing, mid December we will have our first child to nourish and care for!

As I reflect over the past several months, I see the powerful hand of God at work that made many details fall into place that has been allowing this transition in Illinois go exceptionally well.

One of those details being, I have been super blessed to be able to do crop dusting the past several weeks for Norman Headings, it gave me the opportunity to build valuable helicopter flight time. As of today, I have 250 hours of helicopter flight time! Praise the Lord!

Landed on trailer where the helicopter gets refilled.

Before I can move back to Florida and get a job teaching in helicopters, I need to have a minimum of 280 hours. So as of now, I plan to remain in Illinois until the end of August to be able to acquire the remaining 30 hours. I am actively in contact with a flight school in Clearwater FL about getting a job there to teach, and continue to build my helicopter flight time to meet JAARS requirements. However, this flight school does not have a helicopter job position currently available. But, this Clearwater flight school is offering I can teach in airplanes until a helicopter position opens up allowing me that position. I am also attempting to make contact with another flight school at the Sarasota airport to see if there is an available helicopter job opportunity there.

It was a blessing to have Meghan visit me last week. On July 28th, Meghan and I flew a helicopter to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and was able to visit with JAARS and touch base with the recruiter that I have been in contact with over the past year. We were able to update him on the training progress and get more advice from them. It was a blessing and encouraging time to be able to spend a couple hours with them. The following morning, Sunday, we flew a helicopter to Arthur to be at the Pleasant View church service that Pablo Yoder was speaking at. It was great to see and spend our time with Matt and Julie while we were there! 

Prayer Praises

1. The crop dusting opportunity that allowed me to build helicopter flight time.
2. Safety while crop dusting.
3. The Lord’s clear leading hand.

Prayer Requests

1. The Lord would open and close doors of helicopter job opportunities and lead where He wants me.
2. Safety and alertness while crop dusting.

Mechanic work on Norman’s Helicopter

Today marks 3 short/long weeks since I’ve been in Tampico, Illinois training with Norman Headings (who owns a helicopter crop dusting business).

The normal day schedule is, we train in the helicopter flying 4 to 6 hours and breaking those hours up into several different flying sessions. Between flights, I normally study for the upcoming helicopter test and do maintenance and repairs on Norman’s helicopters. The days are long, but go by fast. We’ve been able to make great training progress and stay on a fast track schedule. We’ve only had 2 days that we were not able to train due to mechanical issues, and the weather has also been great allowing us to fly everyday, which is a huge blessing!

The morning of May 4th, 11 days after we started training, I did my first solo flight in a helicopter for the first time. Later that evening, I flew the helicopter solo from Tampico to Nappanee, Indiana and landed at my aunt’s house to meet up with Mom and Veronica for the weekend!

Solo Flight

We have just scheduled my helicopter commercial checkride (a flying and oral test to get the helicopter certificate) for Thursday the 17th in Bowling Green, Ohio. It’s going to be a very busy next several of days finishing up training and preparing for the checkride test.

Video of my first solo flight in a helicopter.

In August of 2015, I began the journey of becoming an aircraft mechanic at Harvest Aviation in Wauchula FL. In June of 2016, I moved training locations from Wauchula to Sebring, FL at Carter Aircraft.

Apprenticeship at Carter Aircraft

Studying for tests while flying

In February of 2018, I completed the required aircraft mechanic apprenticeship to be eligible to take the aircraft mechanic general, powerplant and airframe written, oral and practical tests. And as of 5 days ago, April 18 2018, by the grace of God, I hold the aircraft mechanic airframe and powerplant certificate!! I am super grateful and excited to have this completed! This is one big step closer to being able to serve as a missionary pilot-mechanic!

In the past several months I have been seeking out if God is leading me to complete helicopter training to be able to also serve in that capacity. I want to thank each one who has prayed about this! God has certainly answered your prayers and made His path clear! In the beginning, I did not know how it would even be possible to financially cover the cost of helicopter training, where to go for the training and many other variables. From not knowing if God’s will was for me to complete this training, I am confident that God is leading me in this! The story,  a gentleman (Norman Headings) messaged me on Facebook saying, “we have the same interests, we should talk”. So we talked that day and God started moving in ways I did not expect! That conversation has led to: as of yesterday, I moved to New Bedford, Illinois and will be here until the end of August of 2018 and will be staying with Norman in his house, I will be using his helicopter to complete the helicopter training and he will be teaching me! Praise God for His clear direction and opening amazing doors for helicopter training!

Helicopter Discovery Flight
With my faithful supporter Meghan

The Goal

I start helicopter commercial add-on training today in a Robinson-22 helicopter (identical to the helicopter pictured above). Lord willing, this commercial add-on training will be able to be accomplished by June. And right there after, begin the flight instructor helicopter add-on (to be used as a tool to build required helicopter flight hours), and should not take more than 2 weeks to be able to accomplish this.

I plan to stay in Illinois with Norman until end of August building helicopter flight hours, helping maintain Norman’s helicopters and help where I can during their helicopter agriculture spraying season.

This helicopter training will allow me to serve with Wycliffe/JAARS in their helicopters serving remote villages and missionaries in mountainous areas that are not accessible by an airplane.

JAARS Helicopter in
Papua New Guinea

Training Progress

• Aircraft Mechanic Certificates (August 03, 2015 – April 18, 2018)
  • Airframe (✔ Completed)
  • Powerplant (✔ Completed)
• Airplane Certificates (August 23, 2014 – August 23, 2017)
  • Private Pilot Certificate  (✔ Completed)
  • Instrument Rating (✔ Completed)
  • Commercial Pilot Certificate  (✔ Completed)
  • Certified Flight Instructor  (✔ Completed)
• Helicopter Certificates (April 23, 2018 – In Progress)
  • Commercial Pilot Certificate (In Progress)
  • Certified Flight Instructor
  • Instrument Rating

Praise God for

1. The completion of the Aircraft Mechanic Certificate!
2. God providing a clear path and direction for helicopter training!
3. God working through Norman to make helicopter training possible!

Prayer Requests

1. That God would bless Norman for his willingness to help and his giving heart!
2. That helicopter training would be able to move forward on schedule!
3. For safety during helicopter training!