Me, Myself, and Mission Aviation

Ever since I was young I wanted to fly.  One of my favorite childhood movies was Hook with Robin Williams.  Peter Pan captured my imagination by always leading me to ask the question what if I could fly?

I remember even in elementary school jumping off a swing yelling "Bangarang!!" and wishing that I would just continue upwards into the sky. As I grew up into middle school I planned on becoming a bush pilot flying in the Alaskan wilderness.
I loved fly fishing and my dream job was to be a fishing guide while flying in and out of remote lakes. Then in my sophomore year of high school something life changing happened.

I surrendered all of my life and my will to Jesus Christ. See I've been a Christian ever since I could remember yet I had never fully committed my life to Jesus.  I always had my plans and had held on to a part of me that I never gave to God.  I recommitted myself at a summer camp when I was 15 years old and soon started regularly going to my local church and youth group.

In those quick few years of high school I went to the Philippines and Panama on missions trips and I myself felt personally led to serve God in the mission field.  My plans of flying quickly went out the window as I was preparing myself to be a missionary overseas. But in my senior year as I was at a local missions conference I noticed a booth with a video of airplanes flying in the bush.

Upon closer inspection it was a booth showing off Mission Aviation Fellowship www.maf.org and how they use airplanes to advance the gospel and support in humanitarian aid.  I was convinced.  God gave me a passion to fly and a call to serve in the mission field, it was a perfect fit.

So fast forward ten years and here I am in Wenatchee working on copiers for a living and no where near my goal. What happened? Where did I go wrong? Where do I go from here?

 The best way I could put it is "life happened". I fell in love with a beautiful woman, had two amazing  kids, settled back in my hometown, built airplanes for 4 years, was a pastoral intern for 3 years and the list keeps growing. One thing my wife and I quickly learned early in our marriage is that you can make plans for your life but ultimately God is in control and His plan not always line up with your own. And that's a good thing.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

So now at 27 years old I wanna get back to flying and once again I'm serious about mission aviation. I do have a private pilots license and some aviation maintenance experience and yet I have a long ways to go to be ready and available to serve in mission aviation. A school that has helped me in the early parts of my flight training is MATA (Mission Aviation Training Academy) www.mata-usa.org and I plan on flying with them to receive the rest of my training. So as I progress through my training I'm going to post blogs with updates, things I've learned, and stories I'd like to share. Keep me and my family in your prayers as we start continue on in this adventure and thanks for reading.

P.S.
Is there a dream of yours that has been delayed, crushed, or even forgotten?  Remember it's never too late to follow your dreams and for God to use you to do great things.  My next post will be about a orphanage my wife and I helped in the Philippines which was started by a 87 year old American great grandmother so look forward to that soon.