On to the next adventure!

My flight instructor, Gene Arnold, and myself posing with N756MN

As of the first of this month I finally finished my checkride with the FAA and completed flight instructor certification. Praise God! I am in awe at how He gave me the funding to pursue this venture in the first place and then the strength to complete it. It excites me greatly to think of the ways in which I may now use this new certificate in the furtherance of missionary aviation and thus the furtherance of Christ's Kingdom! I can now train other aspiring missionary aviators as well as pursue training current missionary aviators in some of the advanced features of the cutting-edge new aircraft out there used in missionary aviation.

The day after I passed my checkride, I showed up to work on my first official day as instructor intern at Spokane Turbine Center (STC). I've been working on setting up my office, knocking out a bunch of "busy work" that's inherent in keeping a short-staffed organization like this operating, fixing the motion simulator, and boning up on an enormous amount of technical data I will very soon be responsible to teach. Praise God, He's faithfully brought me through the last challenge and on to the next great adventure! Who knows what may lie around the corner...

Almost there...

I've been busily finishing the final stages of obtaining flight instructor certification. If there's anyone out there who thought this was easy, I would be more than open to suggestions. It's been a difficult time for several reasons, largely just the huge transition I've been in the 'middle' of between school and the 'real' world for the last three months. It seems like I've experienced one delay after another, drawing this process out from what was supposed to be a month and a half, to what has now been over three months. It's not been easy, but whoever said life was supposed to be easy. It's also been said that if it's easy, it's not worth doing :) . Not sure if I totally endorse that statement, but I suppose there's some truth there. Ultimately what it all boils down to is that God is sovereign and we are to follow the direction He leads and trust Him for the strength for each day. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10) By God's faithfulness, I am nearly finished with this certification process. All I have left is to pass the actual checkride with an FAA examiner. Then it will be on to STC as a full-time instructor intern. In the meantime, I've had the privilege of helping out at STC here and there, as my own training schedule allows. Times of transition, in my experience, are exciting but generally of a more challenging excitement than fun excitement and this has been no exception. In any time of difficulty, no matter what form or to what extent, we have but to follow the Apostle Paul's example, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:14)

The Big Transition...

Hey All,

This being the first post, I'll bring you up to speed. I graduated from the Missionary Aviation program at Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, WA this Spring. Since then I've been working to build the additional flight experience necessary to go overseas and serve with a mission organization in the capacity of pilot/mechanic. God has been so faithful in continuing to lead me as I seek to follow His guidance in this process of transition from full-time student to missionary pilot. He has provided the means necessary to take some post-graduate training at Moody Aviation to get my CFII (Certified Flight Instructor Instrument) rating. This will enable to me to fly and build that needed experience without having to pay for it. I should be taking my checkride with the FAA to gain instructor certification within the next couple of weeks. After I receive instructor certification, I will be a full-time intern with an organization called Spokane Turbine Center (STC). STC trains missionary pilots to fly and maintain turboprop-powered aircraft, as well as aircraft equipped with advanced avionics such as the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. At STC we use the Quest Kodiak, a 10-passenger turboprop aircraft designed specifically for the missionary/humanitarian market. We have been blessed with a mostly-renovated (work still in progress) facility on Felts Field in Spokane, WA. In flight training we use Serial # 1 Kodiak and the only full-motion, full-cockpit Advanced Aircraft Training Device (flight simulator) for a Kodiak. It's exciting to see how all this will be used to advance the training of people advancing the spread of the Gospel through aviation. As STC is a non-profit organization, I will not be employed by them, but rather through Proclaim Aviation, on loan to STC. Proclaim Aviation is a ministry set up to help aviation graduates like myself bridge the gap between graduation and service overseas. If you are interested in supporting me in the ministry God has called me to, support may be sent through Proclaim. See the links below for more information on Spokane Turbine Center, Proclaim Aviation, Moody Aviation, Quest Aircraft Company (makers of the Kodiak), and other related missionary aviation links, including the link to the blog I kept on my internship with MAF in Ecuador this spring.