Keith & Karen's Missionaries, Mutts and Stuff

Latest MMS Video and a Weather Report

2012-02-01T17:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest MMS video I've put together:

How'd you like the accordian music as the sound track? It had kinda of a Cajun Polka feel to it, didn't it?

WEATHER

Can you say wonderful? Can you say 56 degrees with sun and blue sky? Can you say walking around without a jacket, gloves, hat, and boots? THIS is winter...for a California boy...but it's not WINTER for Ohio.

Amazing. This weather is just amazing. February is traditionally our coldest month of the year, and typically the snowiest...but I haven't had to use my snow shovel since winter started.

It's wonderful, but it's a little weird. I guess it's balancing out the 'winter-without-end' that we experienced last year...

Tucker and Tanner are doing fine. Karen and I are hanging in there and starting to think about heading out to California for a couple visits. It looks like we'll be in Southern California the first week of April and will return to Grass Valley, in Northern California, for six weeks over July/August. Details to follow as the details are determined.

And on another MMS note...it looks like the Cessna 402 could fly in the next day or two! Be watching for another video...

Checking in From Church

2012-01-30T13:08:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update on our ongoing involvement at Fresno Bible Church where Karen and I continue serve as part of the worship team. I play the drums and Karen brings her vocal skills into the mix. She's also part of the ladies' trio performing special music.

Karen

Keith

I'm also back co-leading men's Sunday School with Chuck Ellis. We're about two months into a six month study of Christ's command to "abide" using Andrew Murray's devotional "Abiding in Christ" as the basis for our discussion.

MMS & MAG

2012-01-20T20:44:00.009-05:00

It was a privilege to spend part of yesterday and today meeting with Sean Donnelly, President of Missionary Air Group (MAG). MAG is one of the many ministries we support through our maintenance services but more than that, Paul Jones, one of our recent graduates now serves as part of MAG, and even more that that...it was great to spend time with Sean because a very close relationship is developing between our two organizations.

Over the past year Sean and I have worked to brainstorm a partnership between MMS and MAG that addresses an unmet training need in mission aviation: how to take a pilot/mechanic candidate from zero flight time and no aviation maintenance experience to a confident and competent aviation professional qualified as both a pilot and a mechanic in five years without the candidate incurring any personal debt.

We believe we've come up with a workable model and it appears we may soon have our first candidate with whom to prove the concept. It's an exciting model which addresses several drawbacks in the traditional academic training package that has challenged mission aviation for many years. Both our organizations look forward to getting this unique program up and running and, once proven, to help others duplicate and multiply the method in other locations.

Me and Sean in Hangar C before he departed with the MAG Cessna 206 behind us. I'm the one on the left with all the hair on top.

Sean was in the hangar to pick up the Cessna 206 that Paul had prepared for him, to renew our discussion of the MMS/MAG training partnership, to work out some of the details of Dwight's upcoming trip to Honduras to inspect MAG's Cessna down in Rus Rus, and to meet with the apprentices in our hangar to discuss service opportunities with MAG.

It was good to see Sean, to laugh together and encourage each other, and to talk serious stuff. Once the serious stuff was concluded, Sean needed to get airborne and back to Burlington ahead of the incoming winter storm.

Sean begins his taxi from outside Hangar C,

past Hangar B and Hangar A,

and from our ramp to the taxiway.

Here I am waiting for Sean to take-off so I can capture a photo of his departure. It was 16 degrees and sunny at the time--which was quite a heatwave compared to the 1 degree it was when I arrived at the shop this morning. Nice hat, eh?

Sean departs Coshocton heading for Burlington, NC which serves as MAG's Stateside headquarters. It was a beautiful day for flying.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers that help make days like today possible.

Evening Snow Fall, Immigration Situation

2012-01-19T19:39:00.011-05:00

Hey, we're finally getting some real snow. Maybe even two inches of the stuff. I had to go find and use my "ice melt" for the first time this season on the front walk. It's not necessary on the back deck as Tucker and Tanner prefer their snow unsalted.

It's heading toward 8 in the evening and Karen's at her computer taking a Continuing Education test to maintain her nurses license.

I just signed the Form I-20 for Andy (our apprentice from Scotland) providing him with the privilege of six more months of repeated entry into the United States--which is a good thing as Andy leaves for Papua New Guinea tomorrow as part of a three man, MMS Aviation Rapid Response Team. It'd be a real drag if, after helping repair a broken airplane over in PNG, he wouldn't be allowed back in the US.

Andy, Mark (from England...my signature on his Form I-20 is still good), and Jim (US citizen on our staff--doesn't need my signature to get back into the country) leave for Port Columbus International Airport at Zero Dark Thirty tomorrow morning. They'll spend the next 3 weeks helping one of our graduates repair a damaged King Air.

Andy

Mark

Jim

The Form I-20 is used by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) to establish legal, non-resident "student" entry into the US. One of my roles at MMS is that of Primary Designated School Official (PDSO) which means I've been cleared/authorized/trained in immigration rules and regulations and have been given the authority to initiate documentation, verify compliance, and administrate electronic files and records related to international students attending MMS under U.S. Immigration and Custums Enforcement (ICE) via the Student Exchange and Visitors Information Service (SEVIS) within the Student Exchange and Visitor's Progam (SEVP).

DHS, CIS, PDSO, ICE, SEVIS and SEVP. Got it?

Please pray for Andy, Mark, and Jim as they make the long trip to Papua New Guinea leaving wives and children behind for the next three weeks. Some guys will do anything to get out of the Midwest winter.

And on another Rapid Response trip...Scott leaves Saturday for a three week trip to Florida to assist Agape Flights with aircraft repairs following on Terry's trail as Terry returns Saturday from spending the past three weeks helping Agape. Scott and Terry will probably pass each other on the road. Scott and Terry would appreciate your prayers as well.

Scott

Terry

Not Much Snow, But Tanner Likes It

2012-01-14T12:01:00.005-05:00

For all the snowing and blowing over the previous 24 hours and all the hyperventilation on The Weather Channel about this most recent weather-threat to civilization...we ended up with less than an inch of snow. There's still a few flakes floating around but no reason to get any snow shovels out yet. A light broom works just fine on this, thank you very much. It certainly was a bit WINTERY for a few hours but now it's just overcast and cold.

After spending a good portion of her morning creating greeting cards on her computer, Karen's working on a sewing project in the basement.

Karen sewing a baby blanket for a friend who's expecting.

Me? I've been writing notes and emails, paying quarterly estimated taxes (less government = less taxes, less government intrusion = more personal liberty), and updating info on the computer. Today seems to be a day for household and missionary logistics. We do need to run to Ace Hardware for a couple small things, I have some workbench projects I'd like to get to later, and of course there's Tebow vs. Brady at 8:00 this evening. That should be worth the time to watch (though out here in the East it means a very late night and we need to be at worship team practice tomorrow morning by 7:45).

Tucker's down in the basement with Karen hoping that Karen will give her one of the LARGE bones from the dog biscuit box stored down there. Tanner's up here hanging out with me. If I go outside, he goes outside. If I'm on the couch, he's on the couch. If I'm on the chair, he's lays very close by. Tanner follows me around. Tucker follows Karen around.

Speaking of Tanner, Tanner likes snow. He likes to eat it. He likes to root around in it. Of course, when there's so little snow, he just licks it up. He'll be at the back door wanting to go out on the deck just so he can go lick up some snow and run right back in. He is one funny dog.

Tanner on the back deck.

Tanner with a bit of snow on his nose.

TANNER

From 43 To Zero In A Matter Of Hours

2012-01-13T11:20:00.005-05:00

Weather Change
When we went to bed last night around 10 PM, it was 43 degrees and rainy. By midnight the wind was howling and the snow was blowing. There was a "0" degree windchill factor when I walked out of the house to head to the mission this morning. Not much snow, but a lot of blow. Looks like we're going to have light flurries for most of the day. There's about a half inch of snow on the ground. Coshocton County is officially in a "Level One" snow emergency status...which means there may be snow on the ground and the road may be slippery in spots. "Level Two" is a bit more serious with driving allowed only as absolutely necessary. "Level Three" shuts the county down for all traffic but emergency vehicles. We very seldom have "Level Three" situations declared.

No great snow shots to share as we still don't have any real snow so we'll toss in a couple more snaps of me and Karen in the MMS office today.

Karen opens and sorts the mission's mail.

Karen's busy opening mail, receiving donations for the mission, and entering them in the receipting program. Soon she'll organize the mailing of each receipt to the respective donor.

Me? I'm focused on candidate development again today.

Sorting through candidate files.

Sounds, Not Sights
The phone just rang with a call from a missionary asking about the instrument panel our guys are building for his airplane. The sounds from the hangar floor drift up through the back wall of my office: voices in conversation, rivet guns chatter, the hum of an engine under going its break-in run on the stand in the test cell across Hangar A. An air drill whines. There is some laughter. I can tell the difference between the door closing on the Parts Room beneath me as compared to the door closing on the Supervisor's Office. I've been here long enough to recognize intricate sounds and get a feel for the pulse of the hangar without seeing what's going on in the hangar.

Continuing with sounds, it's windy, so the ceiling structure above my office stretches, sways, and pops. It reminds my of being on a sailboat at the dock. Do you know the sound the lines make on the moorings as the boat shifts and pulls against the lines, stretching them? It's kind of like a rapid fire popping. At other times it sounds like a creaky door slowly opening. The ocean, a harbor. Seagulls always wailing about something.

As I sit here in east central Ohio, the icy wind bashing against our hangar, with 17 degrees indicated on my computer's "weather bug," my thoughts drift back to that sail boat, the sun, salt air, a cold drink, and a hot summer day. I can't help it, the sounds in my office ceiling automatically transport me there.

Tuesday At The Shop, New Year Thoughts

2012-01-10T10:47:00.004-05:00

Now that the year end/New Year crush of craziness is over...things are settling back into more of an administrative routine in the MMS Aviation Mobilization Office (as if there's EVER an administrative routine in this office!).

Speaking of mobilization, I'm currently the resource person for three families raising the support necessary to begin apprenticeship, am cultivating relationships with six families as part of our long-term candidacy development program, and am maintaining regular communication with eighteen families and individuals in various stages of determining whether or not MMS is part of the Lord's will for their lives.

Today I'm focused on candidate development, answering emails, arranging a hangar visit for a couple interested in learning more about our ministry, and hope to distribute the reference forms for a young couple from PA in application for the apprenticeship program.

In my "Media Supervisor" hat, I look forward to shooting/editing/producing/posting video of the 402's return to service flight, Lord willing, later this week. The guys are waxing the airplane right now in anticipation of the pilot's arrival.

In fact, I was just down in the hangar shooting stills of the guys working on the Cessna 310, the 402, hanging an engine in the test cell, and of one of our staff leading our newest apprentice though our "Basic Training" process. They were talking about aircraft hardware...otherwise known to us non-mechanics as "nuts and bolts." I'll use those photos later on the MMS blog or as part of some other communication project.

As a guy who grew up developing his own film and printing his own photos the old fashioned way...I must admit the digital dark room is much easier to work with, takes up a whole lot less space, and eliminates all the noxious fumes and chemicals. Though I do miss the art aspect of controlling all the variables of time, temperature, solution dilution, exposure, paper texture and speed, and the step-by-step deliberateness of the process as contrasted with the simple click of a mouse today. Thoughts of Kodachrome and Tri-X bring back pleasant memories.

Thanks for following our ministry. We couldn't be here without you there. Yes, we're graced to serve, but YOUR gifts and prayers make it possible. Have a great day.

From the Mobilization Office

First Mission Flight Report on the Asas 206 in Brazil

2012-01-07T09:31:00.003-05:00

Here's the "first mission flight" report with photos from Ryan Joy, MMS Aviation graduate and Chief Engineer, with Asas De Socorro in Brazil. From Ryan Joy:

Good morning,

Last week I was invited to accompany one of our pilots Tim Ault in picking up a missionary from the interior of the Amazon. I don’t get many opportunities to go along and so I accepted the invitation. Our destination was an hour and a half flight Northeast of Manaus to a small village called Kassawa’. The people in the village have had the New Testament translated in there language Hixkariana but it is out of date and needs to be revised. There is a New Tribes Mission family and a single woman Maria that have been working on the revision for the last 10 years. During conversations to plan the trip we decided to use our newest Cessna 206 N5209X that had just arrived two weeks earlier to make the flight. With a better instrument panel, more comfortable seats that are safer in the event of an accident, a more powerful motor, and amphibious floats that allow the plane to land on water or land. The plane was an easy choice.

Missionary Maria

Tim and I departed from the hanger at 9:00 am and Tim wanting to practice landings in a short area (Kassawa’ has a river that has two bends one on each side of the village with rocks in the water making the landing area small.) we made 4 take-offs and landings in front of the Hanger. We then proceeded to the air club airport that is close to our house and again since the landing strip is very short Tim wanted to simulate short landings to see how the wheels that are deployed from floats would handle the strip in Kassawa’.(Rachel and the kids were able to watch us take off several times as we flew over the house) On the first landing the plane stopped in an adequate distance for Kassawa’ but what really caught my eye was the number of people that stopped what they were doing to admire the plane. In my experience any one that works in aviation usually will stop what they are doing to look anytime a plane is flying over and at an airport a new airplane will draw that much more attention. After making 4 take offs and landings with a crosswind no less we stopped to look at the weather and lots of people came around to admire the new plane. One of the guys asked if the plane was an H model ( The H model is the newest 206 model that is still in production) and other people asked other questions about the airplane. On a funny note when Tim and Marcio were bringing the plane down from the States they had bought some chocks with the manufacturers name on them. The name of the manufacturer is ASA and being that our mission name is ASAS someone thought we had personalized chocks made. He said “Where did you get those chocks they cost an arm and a leg here in Brazil to have made.”

The river approach at Kasawa. The village is in the center right section of the photo.

After making a cursory look at the weather and filing a flight plan Tim said we were ready for departure. N5209X lifted off at about 11:30 am with two aboard heading Northwest at 90 knots. We were bucking a 15 knot head wind but the ride was smooth. The airplane is a pleasure to fly, many times Tim would take his hands off the control yoke and the plane would fly straight and level with no tendencies to one side or the other. The instrumentation is some of the best in terms of functioning that Tim has ever flown with. Normally here in Manaus we put up with instruments that have some bearing noise but none of that is evident in N5209X’s instruments. The engine monitor (MVP-50) is easy to read and once the pilot get used to it, it becomes very helpful during the flight as it gives a lot of information about how the engine is running. The engine runs as smoothly as a turbine with no vibration felt in the cabin and burns less fuel. Using the engine monitor we were able to make adjustments so that 12.5 gallons an hour were consumed at 75% Which is about a half to a gallon an hour less than the older original engine and we gain 10 horse power to boot. We finally arrived at Kassawa’ about ten minutes later than planed because of the head wind. It was my first time to visit the village but as with other villages the people were all out on the bank waiting for us. As we pulled up to the dock I was surprised at amount of cell phones that were filming our entrance. There were about 20 children and teens on the dock and several phones all taking pictures. (there is one phone in the village it is a payphone that sends its signal via satellite I don’t think there was cell phone coverage there. ) For the most part the villagers just watched us as we met Maria and loaded her bags. Some of them spoke Portuguese but for the most part they only speak their own language.

The Kassawa reception committee.

When it was time to go we climbed into the plane and I noticed that as with most runways we had obstacles that needed to be cleared. There are two bends in the river that limit the take of run but it is the rocks at the one end that really are the incentive to get off in a certain distance. there are are of coarse trees all around as well so Tim had to think out how we would take off. He spoke aloud “ok I want to be up on the step here. This will be our abort point. We will start our run around the bend and be off before the abort point.” I was thinking the whole time boy this looks like a short runway and those are tall trees. Maria the single missionary was very calm and so I chatted with her a little about how long she was there in the village to which she replied 10 years and that she was working on the revision of the New Testament. She said the people are very receptive to the gospel and that they also intermarry with the Wai-Wais a group of Indians that received the Bible in its entirety.

Ryan, Maria, and Tim

The Floats are incredible as they get up on the step almost immediately and with the more powerful engine the plane was off the water and into the air long before the abort point. On the way home Tim explained that he wanted to test the airplane and run one tank dry before switching to the other that way all the fuel would stay concentrated and it would actually be safer later on. I must admit I don’t like running the tank dry in my car let alone the airplane but curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see what would happen. (My life insurance in Christ is paid in full) The engine monitor shows when you get low on fuel by the number turning red on the screen and the numbers of gallons finally went to 0.0 and stayed there. We flew almost all the way home on that tank until we were on final and Tim said he needed to switch tanks for safety sake. We never did run the tank dry. We finally made it back to Manaus and instead of lowering a cart down the ramp to pull the plane up we motored up the ramp using the engine. It was a good trip, the plane proved that it will be a huge blessing in terms of comfort and safety and the smile on Maria's face as she stepped out on to solid ground was worth the trip in its self. I want to thank everyone that had a hand in putting this plane together. The pilots Tim and Marcio have already grown to appreciate the planes capabilities. The Lord has blessed Asas with this piece of equipment and me as well to be able to accompany the plane on it’s first mission flight.

Lord Bless you all and a Happy new year!

Ryan

First Snow of Winter 2011-2012

2012-01-02T22:04:00.002-05:00

Well, it wasn't much, just a dusting, but we did have our first series of snow showers today!

Karen was really excited...

Exciting News! The Asas 206 Makes Its First Mission Flight Today!

2011-12-29T12:12:00.001-05:00

I'm passing along a message from Rachel Joy, wife of Asas de Socorro Chief Engineer (and MMS grad) Ryan Joy, about the Cessna 206 we restored for them and which recently arrived at their base in Brazil.

Rachel has some exciting news to share--The 206 is to take off on its first mission flight today! From Rachel:

Hello All:

Ryan called home at 9am and all is set -- the new plane, soon to be PT-MMS, is in the water, fueled up and ready to take off for its first mission flight today from our base on the outskirts of Manaus. Tim is piloting the plane, this time headed over the Amazon, not the Caribbean! And Ryan is accompanying him!

Tim will do some training at the local airclub then they'll head to the Nhamundá River, where they'll pick up some missionaries in Kassawá, bringing them back to the city. If you want you can follow them on the SPOT at www.adsfrota.blogspot.com clicking where it says PT-MMS (novo avião). This is where I'll track them today! Lord willing, by 4pm, they will land back out at our hangar.

Hope to send you fotos from this first mission soon-told Ryan not to fall off the floats into the river with the camera!(He did that once a long time ago!) Ryan is excited to be able to participate in this first official mission flight for the new plane. Thank you all for the part you had in it!

Update to come. Working Together Till Jesus comes, Rachel

Lord willing, we'll have some of those photos to post soon!

38 Degrees and Rain: Post-Christmas Thoughts and Snapshots

2011-12-27T11:31:00.004-05:00

Welcome to "Winter" in 2011...warm and wet. This is the warmest winter I can remember in the 15 winters I've experienced out here. I may even have to mow the lawn again...Of course, last winter was the coldest winter I remember (and one of the longest) so it seems it all evens out in the end.

Somehow another Christmas has come and gone...the speed at which life is passing is breathtaking, surprising, and at times...frightening. The less we have of time the more precious it becomes...but then in the context of eternity--what is time, really?

Time is one of God's graces in this fallen world as time has an end. One way or another this life WILL end. We will all run out of time on the face of this planet, time inside these bodies, and then real life begins free of time and free of disease, decay, and destruction (for some). Real life (for others) will be a shock instead of a reward. Either way, the new creation, the restoration process initiated by Christ's coming to Earth 2,000 years ago will be revealed to all, for all, and, after one final battle, will come into its perfect fullness.

And in the meantime we have symbols and shadows and glimpses...

Christmas is one such symbol, a shadow, a glimpse backward mixed with the promise of eternity future as our gift giving reflects the one True Gift...HOPE in the God-become-man, the promise of resurrection to a new life in Christ, reconciliation with God, and reward and release for those surrendered to Him.

Here are a couple snapshots of our own celebration this year.

Our $20 Christmas Tree bargain!

Tucker and Tanner receive their pre-Christmas-morning briefing: "No opening presents without permission!" "No growling or snarling at each other's presents!" "Remember, we kept your crates, so no ripping, tearing, shredding anyone else's gifts but your own or you'll find yourselves back in your cage"

Tanner likes to help by protecting EVERYONE'S gifts...

Tanner inspects the packages as part of his in-house security service.

Before any presents are opened, we always read the Christmas Story!

Tanner enjoys an edible canine Christmas Card.

Sometimes things get rather frenzied!

Tucker unwraps presents very carefully...

Christmas family portrait.

Thanks for your love, friendship, gifts, and prayers that enable us to celebrate Christ every day here in Coshocton County! May this New Year be one of Glad Tidings, indeed.

A Merry Christmas Celebration

2011-12-24T11:17:00.002-05:00

The week before Christmas we were able to travel to Pennsylvania and enjoy celebrating Christmas with Karen's family. Four of the nieces and nephews weren't able to make it but we had a good crowd and a fun time. Here are some pictures of the evening. Merry Christmas!

Make your own free picture slideshow

Coshocton Flyer: November 2011

2011-12-21T18:40:00.004-05:00

We're posting it a bit late...but here is our November 2011 Coshocton Flyer!

Depending on your computer, you may need to click on the image to open it and then right click to "view image" in order to enable the zoom feature...

Andy Swanson: MMS Apprentice Mechanic

2011-11-21T10:16:00.003-05:00

Here's a video feature on one of our apprentice mechanics, Andy Swanson. Andy and his family are from Scotland and are missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship United Kingdom. We have the privilege of preparing each MAF UK's "engineers" for service on the mission field. I hope you enjoy Andy's perspective of apprenticeship.

Video: Mike & Isobel Dunkley

2011-11-15T10:41:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe but the whole video production side of my job has grown from ZERO in 2008 to nearly 50% of my time in 2011. And my knowledge of digital video shooting/editing/producing has grown from zero in 2008 to whatever minimal level of funcionality that currently exists which allows me to glue some pixels together and post them online with a bit of music and/or narration included. I NEVER would have thought I'd be doing what I'm doing. But isn't that how it is when we surrender our souls to Christ?

It's so interesting to see how my role at MMS has changed since my arrival in Coshocton back in February of 1997. There'll be more on my changing role in our upcoming newsletter.

But the video adventure continues with the audio side attracting a bit more of my interest...

Audio challenges aside, here's a short video feature I put together for Mike & Isobel Dunkley. Mike and Isobel have served as staff with MMS since 2005.I hope you enjoy your introduction to the Dunkleys!

Video: The RTS Flight of the Gabon 207

2011-11-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

Here's the video of the Gabon 207's Return To Service (RTS) flight:

The Gabon 207 Returns to Service!

2011-11-04T15:56:00.000-04:00

After seven months of restoration and repair, Steve Straw, Air Calvary's pilot, lifted the 207 into the perfectly blue sky over Coshocton this afternoon for the aircraft's initial flight. After testing every aspect of the aircraft's performance, Steve brought the 207 back to our hangar, loaded the last of his gear, and flew the airplane to Pennsylvania to share it with several church congregations.

Prepared for departure

Fueling up

Off to Pennsylvania

Next week, Steve will bring the airplane back to MMS and drop it off as he returns to Gabon ahead of the 207. Another pilot will fly the 207 to Kansas to be fitted with long-range fuel tanks for its own flight back to Gabon, Africa in the near future.

Lord willing, I'll be able to put some video of the flight together late next week.

Thanks for all your prayers, gifts, emails, and encouragements over this project. It's always a joy to see a badly damaged aircraft return to service in an "as new" condition.

A Saturday Report In Late October

2011-10-22T12:07:00.015-04:00

The month of October is nearly over. Oh my. That's a bit hard to wrap my head around. The World Series is underway (or so I'm told). I realize the NFL has started playing games again but when your state is home to the Bengals and Browns...does the NFL really matter? And I've noticed the weather is getting colder, darker, and damper which means it won't be long before it's COLDER, DARKER, AND FREEZING.

So as the leaves fall from the trees, as the clouds come in to roost for the next six months, and we put a new filter in the furnace...we appreciate the few warm, sunny days left in 2011 by spending time on our back deck, which gets the full sun, and getting ready to augment the heat of our heater with a bit of real wood for the fireplace.

Karen and Tanner enjoy some fall sun.

I enjoy my one-day-a-year use of a man-tool.

Thanks for letting me borrow the saw, Tim!

The fall is a great time for reflection and I was blessed to get away on a personal retreat earlier this month to enjoy a long weekend of silence and solitude. Here are a couple snapshots of the scenery from one of the hikes I took as part of my retreat. If you haven't broken out of your routine for a while...I can't encourage you enough to get away, catch your breath, and to simply sit at God's feet. You'll be amazed at what He says...if you get quiet enough, long enough, to listen for His still, small voice.

Beginning of the trail

On the trail

Along the trail

Reflection

These are tiny, delicate flowers growing in the anarchy of a field of wild grass.

God's attention to detail is beyond our comprehension.

Hangar Snapshots And A Video!

2011-10-08T15:14:00.002-04:00

Summer has temporarily returned to the Midwest with clear sky and temps into the 80's. It's kind of nice as the past weekend was wet, cold, and rather dreary. Right now there's blue sky as far as the eye can see and sun so bright you have to squint when going outside.

The trees have started to turn color with some gold and red leaves mixed in with the green. It gets very pretty up here when the trees reach peak color. Yes, we're officially in fall and it's a great time to have all the hangar doors open. They'll be closed long enough soon enough, I'm afraid.

Here are a couple snapshots of progress on the Gabon 207 and the Wings With The Word 402. Also, we sent another mission airplane back into service today, the Brigade Air 172.

The Gabon 207

The 207 is very close to flight. The wings are on, the control surfaces are hung, and the interior is being installed. Lord willing, it'll be back in the air over the next couple weeks.

Hanging one of the propellers on the Cessna 402

The Cessna 402

The Cessna 402 is back on its wheels, its propellers are in place, and is only a few more structural repairs away from rolling out into the sunshine and leaping into the sky.

Speaking of leaping into the sky...

Brigade Air's Cessna 172

Brigade's 172 was back in our hangar for annual inspection these past couple weeks. With the inspection completed the 172 is once again enjoying some air time.

Video
Here's my latest video project:

Have a great weekend, and thanks for your interest and involvement with us as we prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Nine Years and So Happy (A Belated Posting!)

2011-10-04T08:36:00.001-04:00

This week (August 22-25) marks nine years of marriage for us. What a blessing! Keith made it a very special celebration this year. We went out for a nice dinner and there, already sitting on our table, was this lovely flower arrangement! He had already been there, chosen our table and "planted" beautiful flowers! I was totally surprised and we enjoyed a relaxing and delicious dinner at the local Thomas' Steak House. That's the place we like to go for something special.

I asked Keith a funny question. Since we have two wedding anniversaries each year, can we call this our 18th anniversary? That's right, we have two wedding anniversaries! As many of you already know, our Ohio pastor and his family traveled with us to have our wedding ceremony on the beach at Kitty Hawk, NC on August 25th. However, since Pastor Chris didn't have his license to marry us in NC, we had an informal wedding celebration in their living room on August 22nd before we left! So, our marriage certificate says we were married on August 22nd with a note at the bottom that says, "and on August 25, 2002 at Kitty Hawk, NC"! So, guess that means we can celebrate all week!

Thank you for the love and encouragement through our years of dating and marriage. We are so blessed by all God has given us...each other, friends, family, work to do and strength and health to do it.

The Asas 206 Takes Off!

2011-09-29T12:06:00.000-04:00

We're in an exciting time at MMS with three major projects all coming to completion within weeks of each other. The wings are going on the Gabon 207 so it can be ready to fly in October, the landing gear repairs are being completed on Wings With The Word's Cessna 402 so it can fly next month as well, and the amphibious Cessna 206 for use in Brazil by Asas de Socorro, is now flying!

It's fun to see the airplanes fly!

Heading Into Fall

2011-09-17T11:26:00.013-04:00

Karen's spent the week in VA visiting with her sister, Brenda. Today she's headed into PA to take part in a baby & baby shower for her niece-in-law(?) Lina, married to Matt, Brenda's son. Matt & Lina are having TWINS! Karen's already made their baby blankets and crocheted them little baby baseball caps.

So I'm at home, shopping, busy doing laundry, and baking cookies (break & bake CC). I discovered one of our favorite regional ice creams on sale for half price at Bakers IGA, our locally owned grocery store!

Tucker and Tanner are sleeping in their beds. Tucker REALLY misses Karen. With the two Alpha Males (one human, one canine) running the show, she appears to be a bit intimidated.

Tucker

Tanner

But we're not doing too bad. I followed the instructions on the cookie dough, "cook for 10-11 minutes OR until golden brown" and kept putting them back in the oven for two additional minutes at a time because, they weren't "golden brown" yet. Well, believe it or not, cooking chocolate chip cookies twice as long as it says on the package STILL doesn't turn them "golden brown". They just immediately turn BROWN, DARK BROWN when you finally take them out of the oven. The second batch I cooked for 11 minutes and didn't pay any attention to the color. You know, the second batch looks like chocolate chip cookies. The first batch just looks like chocolate cookies...

And the laundry? I know enough to put the whites in one batch, the dark colors in another. Warm on the whites, cool on the colors...but the batch of whites was really small so I put the water level on "low." Good idea. But then on the second load, which was a FULL load of my shirts, I loaded up the soap and the clothes and the load...still on the "low" water setting.

When I went to move them to the dryer...they still really smelled of soap and just didn't feel right to an experienced laundry monger like myself. I threw them in dryer anyway and set the temperature to TOAST. I like my dry laundry DRY.

It was when I started the next full load of clothes that I realized the low water level setting...moving it to HIGH for this load I pulled everything out of the dryer and set it aside for a re-wash. No harm, no foul, just a few more gallons of water into the rinse cycle of life.

Thanks for your prayers as we fend for ourselves...Lord willing, Karen will be home on Monday!

Saturday Update, MMS, and Video

2011-09-10T12:44:00.008-04:00

We were going to be visiting in VA this weekend but health issues with our host family and flood issues with other expected travelers from PA led to our staying in OH.

Karen's in the basement sewing. I'm upstairs in the "Cabana Room" typing. The Cabana Room is our little in home "hideaway" where we've created something of a soothing, tropical motif. It's kind of our own little indoor oasis where we can escape for some alone time...some clear head and heart time.

Geoff & Celia Linkleter
With our change in travel plans we were able to get up this morning and welcome Geoff, Celia, and Miriam Linkleter to the United States. The Linkleters are the latest family to come over from England for apprenticeship with MMS. They're staying a few doors down while they locate long-term housing.

We took them on short walking tour of the neighborhood to include: Collins Market (our local, old-style, still has a real butcher, family market), the Farmer's Market at the Coshocton County Fair Grounds, and the Cheese Cake and Old Fashioned Donut Shop just across from the fair grounds. Now there's the ticket...homemade cheesecakes AND some of the best donuts in Coshocton County all under one roof.

Miriam, the Linkleter's 4 year old daughter enjoyed a popsicle from the market and an M&M cookie the size of a manhole cover from the cheesecake/donut shop. It was sunny then, but now it's clouded over cooling things down to the low 70's with a cool breeze.

Jake & Cayton Heath
At MMS, I was excited to call Jake & Cayton on Thursday to give them the go-ahead to make their move to Coshocton in December. Jake & Cayton have spent the past two years raising the financial support necessary to begin apprenticeship with MMS and are finally at the point where they can start packing their gear to make the move from Redding, CA to Coshocton, OH.

They'll arrive fresh from California just in time to experience their first Midwestern winter. Considering they intend to ultimately serve with a mission agency in Florida...they'll need to benefit from every REAL winter they have a chance to endure.

Candidate Evaluations
Last week I was also pleased to confirm two upcoming candidate evaluations. The Pottners (Wisconsin) will spend a week at MMS in October and the Everts (Ohio) will spend a week at MMS in November during which I'll oversee their evaluation as apprenticeship candidates.

Video Production
I'm still working video production into my MMS routine as able. It's amazing to me how long it takes to shoot, edit, sound track, title, narrate, and produce even a one minute clip. While video is a nice distraction from my otherwise steady diet of administrative duties, it does present its own challenges. The learning curve never stops, and I now have two computers in my office. One for my administrative responsibilities and the other for all the video work.

Speaking of video...here's the latest clip I put together. No narration in this one, just a sound track and titling. I hope you enjoy it.

Home-Front Update

2011-09-05T10:17:00.014-04:00

Labor Day Greetings from Coshocton, Ohio, where the weather is finally a bit cooler and the moisture from Irene floats overhead.

It's so hard to believe it's already September and that Fall 2011 is on our doorstep. We certainly won't mind the cooler weather after slogging and sweating our way through this past summer.

Pepper Relish & Salsa
Believe it or not, we actually were able to cobble together a few pints of salsa from our garden after all though we ended up focusing more on making relish by picking the green tomatoes that weren't going to make it to ripeness before rotting.

We were also blessed to have one of the MMS families donate two batches of tomatoes to us. So, thanks to Mike and Isobel, our salsa season wasn't a total bust. But because our peppers also failed so miserably we were blessed to support the local farmer's market to supply what we needed to go with the tomatoes.

Preparing to slice and dice green tomatoes, onions and Bell peppers for relish.

Karen loads up the relish jars.

Home Project: French Drain
To help pull water away from our house I recently installed a french drain. When heavy rains coupled with already saturated ground, sometimes we'd have some water weep into our basement. The drain eliminates the "ponding" that used to occur along the sidewalk beside our house and directs the runoff down over our berm and into the street. It's been tested several times since I dug it in and it's working great!

Cutting the sidewalk concrete.

Placing the pipe in position.

Local Flora & Fauna

A bumble bee enjoys one of our Purple Hyacinth Bean flowers.

Another bumble bee enjoys one of our Mexican Daisies.

While our veggies didn't do all that well, our flowers along the deck have thrived creating quite the gathering place for friendly honey bees, butterflies and bumble bees. With our little bird feeder nearby and a couple families of Cardinals nested across the street (and rabbits and squirrels and a neighborhood skunk) there's always some sort of suburban wild life activity going on around here.

In fact, Mr. Skunk and I had a close encounter early the other morning when I stepped off the front porch on my way to the mission as he came around the corner of our walkway from behind the bush and we both ended up trying to occupy the same piece of cement. There was all of 18 inches between his nose and my left ankle.

He was caught by surprise as much as I was and I graciously offered my verbal apology for disrupting his (her?) morning rounds, slowly stepped out of his path, and gave him the right of way. The skunk accepted my apology with great aplomb, gave me a nod, and continued on his pre-dawn journey across our front flower bed and beyond...

The STC Kodiak Visits MMS

2011-09-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

Spokane Turbine Center's Kodiak arrives at MMS.

Last week there was an air of excitement around the hangar as Spokane Turbine Center brought their Quest Kodiak in for a visit. After spending the weekend at Missions Fest, in Lancaster, PA, as part of a missions display, the STC crew stopped by our hangar facility to renew relationships, tour the facility, and provide flights for MMS personnel and family.

STC provides flight training for Kodiak operators and provides mission-specific training for mission aviation organizations around the world. We partner with STC through providing maintenance on their Kodiak when they're in the area.

The Kodiak is the first airplane designed by missionaries for mission aviation and is a unique blending of high technology and real-world utility. More and more mission agencies are purchasing Kodiaks in order to put them to Kingdom work in some of the most remote and challenging locations in the world.

Through STC's generosity, many of our families were able to enjoy their first flight in a Kodiak. Thanks, STC!

Some of our family members prepare for their flight.

The Kodiak exits our ramp for the active taxiway.

STC's Kodiak takes off.

The Kodiak, coming soon to a mission aviation program near you!

The 207's Airframe Repairs Are completed!

2011-08-29T18:49:00.002-04:00

It may look like there's a lot left to do on the airplane and, in a sense, there is but a major milestone was reached today with the Cessna 207 restoration project for Air Calvary.

We hope you enjoy this video clip celebrating the work accomplished over the past six months and setting the stage for what lies ahead.

Airplanes, MMS, and Music

2011-08-27T12:02:00.000-04:00

At MMS, we partner with many different ministries. In fact, over the past 36 years, we've partnered with 96 different ministries through providing critically needed maintenance services and support. Each ministry partnership is unique yet has the common tie of aviation.

One of the ministries with which we're in active partnership is the Pfeifer Evangelical Association. Here's a video clip featuring "The Pfeifers", the music they play, the airplane they fly, and some of the services we provide.

Landing Gear, Batteries, and Oil Changes, Oh My!

2011-08-22T18:17:00.000-04:00

Checking landing gear rigging is part of the annual inspection process for GCI's Cessna 310. Under Tim and Scott's supervision, apprentice mechanics Ben, Andy, and Paul G. gained some great maintenance experience checking tensions, pressures, limits of travel, and various linkages, and developed a high level of appreciation for how a tiny adjustment in one part of a complex system can have a major impact in another part of the system.

Andy measures the release tension on the right main gear "down-lock" to make sure it's within limits.

Finished with the landing gear, Ben moved on perform engine maintenance.

In between their other tasks, several apprentices are also learning proper methods of battery servicing and "rejuvenation". If you have the time (and it does take time), it is possible to rejuvenate a tired battery, bring it back to health over the course of several days, and save the resources that would otherwise go to purchasing a replacement battery.

Mark checks the fluid in a battery undergoing rejuvenation.

Bob Schwartz, MMS Training Director, has initiated a program where our apprentice mechanics gain several hours of ground school and flight orientation to better help them understand how their maintenance integrates with aircraft operation. Ben Fisher, one of our apprentice mechanics, is also a Certified Flight Instructor. He recently led a class on radio navigation to help the apprentices understand how pilots use VOR's to determine their location in flight.

Ben leads a class in the theory of radio navigation.

The Pfeifer Evangelical Association flew their Aztec in for an oil change and some troubleshooting. The oil change was routine but the troubleshooting indicated the alternator on the Aztec's left engine needed repair. After the repair was made, the airplane was returned to service.

The Pfeifer's Aztec returns to service.

The variety of maintenance tasks that happen in our hangar every day is wide and varied providing a unique environment in which our apprentices can grow into professional, competent and confident mechanics.Thanks for being part of this process through your ongoing gifts and your prayers.

Catching Up With The News

2011-08-22T18:14:00.001-04:00

Here's the latest video of the Cessna 207 we're restoring for Air Calvary's use in Gabon, Africa. Removing the damaged tail cone was the beginning of the final major structural task in the restoration. Yes, there's still a couple more months worth of work to complete, but once the new tail cone is in place the fuselage can be repainted and the wings and control surfaces and all the other major components can come together in the most literal fashion.

Thanks for your ongoing prayers for this project, our mechanics, and our ministry.

July 2011 Coshocton Flyer

2011-08-13T07:46:00.006-04:00

Here's our latest newsletter!

Just click on the image to make it larger.

Thank you for making our ministry possible, for partnering with us, and being such an encouragement to us as we serve.

Pushing Ahead With The 207 And 310

2011-08-10T15:19:00.000-04:00

Air Calvary Cessna 207
Dale and his maintenance crew crew continue to push Air Calvary's 207 restoration toward completion. Since our last blog post the damaged tail cone was removed from the fuselage and assembly of the new tail cone has begun. Also, with the new rear, wing-spar carry-through installed, the guys spent a good portion of today test fitting the wings.

Chuck, Josh, Dale, and Andy S. finish removing the 207's damaged tail cone.

Dale and Andy discuss the next step in assembling the new tail cone.

Jim, Josh, Phil, Andy, Dale, and Chuck install the 207's right wing.

Phil and Chuck secure the left wing strut in place.

After the test fit, the wings will come off again and be set aside until the final few weeks of the project. After the remaining structural repairs are completed and the fuselage has been re-painted, the wings will go back on and be rigged for its October return to service flights.

GCI Cessna 310
Gospel Carrier International's Cessna 310 is back in the hangar for its annual inspection. Scott is overseeing the crew and providing instruction on the inspection process.

Paul and Andy P. inspect and test the 310's landing gear retraction system.

Scott inspects the 310's nose gear assembly.

Thanks for your continued interest, gifts, and prayers that make it possible for each of us to use our God given gifts to prepare airplanes and our apprentice mechanics for service on the mission field.

2011 SALSA SEASON CANCELED!

2011-08-09T16:54:00.005-04:00

We're sad to announce that Karen's Side Street Salsa won't have a 2011 vintage.

Normally we'd be getting ready for our first tomato harvest and salsa session right about now. This year, however, we probably won't even have a harvest. What few tomatoes there are just turn orange and fall off the leafless vines...or rot in place. Not Good.

Here's our current crop.

This is quite a blow to our salsa stash. It's going to be a long wait until next summer to see how the 2012 crop comes in. We're already working up a strategy to make sure we're back in the salsa business next summer. Can I really survive football season without jar after jar of Karen's Side Street Salsa? This will be a true test of character and demands development of strict salsa management program encompassing the remaining jars of salsa from 2010.

Just as a contrast, here's what that section of our garden typically looks like:

Bummer, dude...

Home

2011-08-07T20:41:00.008-04:00

We made it home last night (driving home through some rather heavy rain) after spending Friday at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house in Virginia, and Saturday afternoon at a family reunion in PA.

We pretty much slept, rested, and read today away. I did get out to mow and trim the yard this evening. Thanks, Tim, for getting my weed whacker up and running during our week away!

If you haven't been to Monticello, and find yourself in Virginia, we highly recommend taking the tour. Plan to spend the day as there's lots to see and learn.

Here are some snapshots from Monticello:

Starting our tour.

Karen on the back steps of Monticello.

Jefferson was a trend-setting gardener.

An "artsy" detail shot from the garden.

Karen reads the plaques beside Thomas Jefferson's grave.

Hi-Ho Silver!

2011-08-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

While Karen and Renee aren't all that much into fishing, they did take a morning to go on a trail ride.

Renee and Karen wait for the Trail Boss.

Karen and her horse "Pepsi."

Karen, ready to ride.

Renee heads out on "Willow."

Pepsi follows Willow to the trail head.

Joelle Hauls In A Trio From Painter's Pond

2011-08-04T08:59:00.009-04:00

Well, my reputation as a wilderness fishing guide is growing in Cameron and Joelle's minds. Yesterday afternoon Joelle accompanied me to Painter's Pond for her turn at dangling worms.

Her first worm wasn't in the water more than thirty seconds when...

Here's Joelle with another of her three fish.

Joelle, beyond being quite talented with a fishing rod, is also quite the little photographer.

Here's a photo Joelle envisioned, directed, composed, and took of the Wilderness Guide baiting her hook.

Photo by Joelle

Here's a photo she insisted on taking of her Wilderness Guide after she grew tired of catching fish and insisted that her guide take a turn fishing.

Photo by Joelle

And no, her guide didn't catch anything during his turn.

A Quick Round of Golf

2011-08-03T15:07:00.003-04:00

Jay, Rene, Cameron, Joelle, and Karen and I squeezed a quick round of golf in between morning and afternoon rain showers today. The course was busy but we were only backed up for the first three holes. After that, the groups ahead of us stayed ahead of us. I had the only ace in our fivesome and it came on Hole #1.

On the links in Massanutten.

With the showers and clouds it was very pleasant to be outside. Much more pleasant than the past four days when it was too hot and humid to be outside from about 11 in the morning to 6 or 7 in the evening.

We played the 18 holes at a brisk pace to stay ahead of the threatening weather. The showers returned and settled into a gentle rain as we walked off the 18th green. Jay did lose his ball in the rushing river at #8 but was able to retrieve it once it rolled/floated down into the lake. Joelle finished with an 81, Cameron with 61, Jay 54, Rene 53, and Karen and I tied at 50.

Cameron Lands The Big One

2011-08-02T17:02:00.004-04:00

Well, Cameron succeeded where I had failed. Here's a clip of Cameron landing "The Big One" at Painter's Pond. Cameron's the son of our friends Jay & Rene. I hope to take Joelle, his younger sister, fishing later this week.

Fishing and More In Massanutten

2011-08-01T16:36:00.010-04:00

Well, I'm still fishing. I'm not catching, but I am still fishing. Traded fishing from a long boat on a small lake for shore fishing in a small pond in a different part of Virginia. There were bass in the lake...there are just worm thieves in the pond. Tiny little worm thieves.

The Head Fish Feeder

While I was feeding fish, Karen rode the ski lift to the top of Massanutten Peak (elevation 2920 feet).

Heading up the hill (down here they call this a mountain).

Looking down the hill.

Flora and fauna on top of the peak.

Karen with Cameron and Joelle, two of our vacation hosts.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Gone Fishing

2011-07-31T07:17:00.005-04:00

Here I am re-rigging my Berkley ultra-light pole on a lake somewhere in Virgina...I caught one tree and two bass. Ralph, my brother-in-law, caught three nice bass and had a tree get away...

Karen was having a manicure party with her sister and niece.

Gabon 207 Video Update

2011-07-29T07:14:00.000-04:00

Here's the latest video on the Gabon 207 restoration project. Dale's crew has really hit their stride and are on track to have this project wrapped up early this fall. I was down in the hangar yesterday shooting fresh footage of the guys removing the tail cone.

It's Time For A Hangar Update!

2011-07-27T14:51:00.001-04:00

Gospel Carrier International's Cessna 310 Arrives.
With the arrival of GCI's Cessna 310 for annual inspection, GCI's 172 Cessna departed, but yes, the hangar is still filled with Cessnas.

GCI's Cessna 31o is the twin-engine airplane on the left.

Work On The 182 Continues
Mike, Jim, Andy P., Mark, Paul, and Ben continue to push the Cessna 182's annual inspection toward completion. Some corroded components needed to be replaced, work on the nose gear was completed, some discrepancies were found in the exhaust system, and some structural repairs are being taken care of inside the cabin. The project is providing good operational maintenance experience for our apprentices.

Mark works with the 182's exhaust system.

Paul performs maintenance on the 182's nose gear.

Continued Progress On The Gabon 207
Another major step was initiated today on the Gabon 207 as the tail cone was removed from the cabin portion of the fuselage. The tail cone was substantially damaged in the airplane's forced landing and with its removal, the way is cleared for this last major component repair.

Chuck, Josh, and Dale begin removing the tail cone of the 207.

Chuck and Josh remove skin panels as Dale drills-out additional rivets.

Dave & & Guido
Part of the recent "Raise The Roof" fundraising effort was to purchase a newer piece of equipment for mowing and snow removal. After extensive research, a barely-used Kubota F3060 was purchased. The F3060 has since been affectionately named "Guido" after a similar looking character in the original "Cars" animated movie. Dave is greatly enjoying the power and torque generated by its 30 horsepower diesel engine.

Dave puts Guido through its paces.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers which make our ministry possible. We couldn't be here doing what we're doing without you back there doing what you're doing!

Heat Index and House Guest

2011-07-23T10:57:00.006-04:00

Heat Index
Oh my, it's been warm lately. Ohio was part of the recent heatwave and Coshocton (while not being Dallas, Texas, with 3 weeks of triple digit temps) has had its share of triple digit heat indexes this past week. Take 98 degree temps and add 75 % humidity and zowie...the air feels like it's 114 degrees.

The guys in the hangar have really been sweating it out in the most literal sense. But within that, they're also thankful that they were able to work inside the shade of the open hangars though 114 degree air is still 114 degree air...while all the guys down there are affected by such extremes, our apprentices from England and Scotland are especially sensitive as they've never experienced such temperatures at home. For amusement, the guys were shooting their digital temp gauges at various items and found that the concrete ramps around and between the hangars stayed at 120 degrees. It's been an interesting week. It appears the worst has either headed further east or returned to the Texas/Oklahoma region.

Karen and I've been blessed to work upstairs in the air-conditioned administrative area where the central AC units were able to cool the air down to 80 degrees.

Karen and I are thankful for our little window mounted air conditioners at home (and our local coal-fired power plant) that allowed us to cool the main floor and bedrooms as necessary. Upstairs temps in our bathroom stayed at 90 degrees overnight. But that's not news to anyone west of the Rockies...The shock of walking from a cooled bedroom into the upstairs hallway or just climbing from the first floor to the second seemed rather severe to us.

House Guest
We were blessed to have Keith Kettenring stop in for an overnight visit on his way from Lancaster, PA to Dayton, OH. Keith is involved with a ministry that focuses on leadership development within the church and missions. He was one of the co-leaders at a seminar Karen and I attended two weeks ago. It was privilege to host him in our home and to renew relationship with our new friend and dear brother in Christ.

There are several similarities between us. My name is Keith Allen, his name is Keith Alan. I grew up in Southern California, he pastored in Southern California for 22 years. We share a deep passion for leadership development, are similar in age, have strong love of reading, and share similar desires in pursuit of deeper relationship with God. He also has a long-time connection to North Carolina's Outer Banks region and Karen and I were married there nearly nine years ago (our anniversary is next month).

It was a treat to enjoy his fellowship and to have the continued opportunity to draw on his spiritual insight and wisdom. It's exciting to see God weave Keith into the tapestry of our lives. It was fun (and a bit sweaty) to lead Keith on a tour of the MMS facility yesterday afternoon.

Keith Allen Dodson and Keith Alan Kettenring

Thanks
Thanks for your prayers and gifts and love and friendship all of which encourage us and enable us to serve. We're thrilled to have you standing with us and are privileged to represent each of you in our daily ministry.

A Hot & Humid Update

2011-07-18T19:14:00.007-04:00

Weather
It was a cold winter, a wet spring, and now we are deep into a totally hot and humid summer. The way the weather's been lately, I think everything would be drier if it'd just rain. It's so bad I'm dreaming of snow...go figure.

Salsa Garden
Our salsa garden is struggling this year. Maybe it will finish well, but at this point we're fighting tomato blight, the Roma tomato plants just haven't grown as big as they have in the past, and our jalapeno and banana peppers are coming in fast. The bell peppers aren't sure what they're doing--large plants, very few peppers. Early peppers/late tomatoes, it's hard to keep everything coordinated.

Our Short Salsa Garden

The Monster Yellow Squash Plant

Now if we were in the yellow squash salsa business...we'd be doing great. The squash and cucumbers are going crazy. The green beans are doing okay. Actually, our grape tomato plant is going great guns...but it would take a lot of grape tomatoes to make salsa...

Coshocton Flyer
We're in the process of producing our latest Coshocton Flyer newsletter. Lord willing we'll have it in the mail over the next couple weeks. Be watching for it in a mailbox near you.

MMS Aviation
The mission can be a crazy place with everything that God's doing simultaneously in the lives of fifteen staff families, five apprentice families, and five aircraft projects. Throw in the three families I'm currently supervising as they raise support to start apprenticeship; the administrative challenges as we continue to evaluate organization priorities, policies, and procedures; and the changing nature of worldwide mission effort (and how that directly affects us as we prepare tomorrow's missionaries) and the days seem way too short. Which, I guess, is a good reminder that TIME is short.

Fresno Bible Church
I'm still playing the drums on worship team, Karen is part of the singing rotation for worship team and continues to sing "specials" as part of the "Ladies Trio." Karen also serves in the nursery ministry and continues to be a mentor to a lady at church.

Marriage
Yes, we're still married. Which, after nearly nine years, continues to be a miracle and testimony to God's love and grace. Some days we look at each other, scrunch up our faces and have to ask: "What planet are you from?" But most other days we're moving right along in tune and in synch.

Dogs
Tucker and Tanner are fine though developing their own middle-aged aches and pains and muscle pulls and "fatty lumps" that seem to grow on so many Cocker Spaniels. Sometimes we just call both of them "Lumpy." Who knows what they call us.

Tanner Keeps Watch Over His Kingdom

Well I think that rounds out our general update. Lord willing there'll be more going on worthy of blogging in the future. It's just been a whirlwind of a year for us and we're still just hanging on in several areas but no worries, it's just God at work growing us up and drawing us closer to Himself.

Thanks for your gifts and your prayers that keep us in ministry in Coshocton, Ohio.

Video Update on the Cessna 402

2011-07-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

The engines are on and the main landing gear is in the Cessna 402!

The Gabon 207 Is on Its Landing Gear!

2011-06-24T17:48:00.000-04:00

A major milestone was reached on the Gabon 207 project as the landing gear repair and re-installation was completed.

Thank you for your prayers and gifts making progress on this project possible.

Brigade Air's Cessna 172 Restoration and Dedication

2011-06-18T17:00:00.001-04:00

After several months of inspection, restoration and repair, Brigade Air's Cessna 172 was recently dedicated for ministry.

Warmer Weather: Backyard Dog Baths

2011-06-07T19:36:00.008-04:00

Following up on our blog of a couple days ago, the warmer weather not only has caused our roses to bloom, but has also provided the opportunity for Tucker and Tanner to get bathed under our tree in the backyard instead of in the basement utility sink.

This past weekend worked out well to blend warmer weather with soapy water and smelly dogs. Cocker Spaniels have notoriously heavy, furry ears--kind of like thick carpet. The ears are the last part of a Cocker to naturally dry. After his bath the past weekend, Tanner developed a new "ear drying" technique modeled below. Tanner sat there for nearly twenty minutes with this towel wrapped around his ears. He just watched the neighborhood go by and relaxed. We were dying we were laughing so hard. He took the whole thing with quite a level of seriousness...

After The Bath

Left View

Right View

My Ears Are Drying Quite Nicely, Thank you!

GCI's King Air Returns to MMS

2011-06-07T17:09:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick video clip of Gospel Carrier International's Super King Air 200 being positioned in Hangar A after it arrived for scheduled maintenance. We expect the the aircraft to be with us for 1-2 weeks.

Warmer Weather: Roses in Bloom

2011-06-06T20:14:00.006-04:00

With the warmer weather our climbing roses are in bloom and the dogs are able to have baths outside instead of in the basement utility sink. These photos will feature the roses. Stay tuned for photos of Tanner.

Roses before bloom.

Roses in bloom.

These are known as "4th of July Roses" because they look like little fireworks.

And as pretty as they are, they smell of APPLES! When the days are hot the whole front porch smells like apples...it's wonderful.

Who would of thought to create roses that smell like apples...only God!

An MMS Graduate in Action on the Field

2011-06-03T17:40:00.001-04:00

This is fun! Here's a clip of one of our MMS graduates, Brian Pottinger, landing his Cessna 208 in Anggruk, a village located in the central highland area of Papua, Indonesia. Brian and his family serve with Associated Mission Aviation (AMA). This landing strip is very typical for mountainous flight operations.

Thanks for helping prepare families like the Pottingers for service in remote locations around the world through your prayers and gifts in support of our ministry here in Coshocton, Ohio.

Spring Has Sprung,The Grass is Riz, The Flowers Is!

2011-05-21T18:13:00.007-04:00

One of the things that gives me great pleasure in this life are the change of seasons we enjoy here in the Midwest. After a long hard winter I am usually fighting the doldrums and flowers bring me such joy! Surely God planned the most beautiful flowers to come after the gray winter to cheer and encourage us. I love getting out and working in the soil.

The lantern and flowers to welcome spring!

This spring has been such a wet and cold one that I finally went out and planted my first seeds in the rain! I just couldn't wait any longer. As Keith told you in our previous blog post, the salsa garden is in and getting a good start. My rain barrel is doing a great job to help keep the water bill down. During a spring like this one, it's a good thing it has an overflow spigot! I think I could have filled a dozen or more!

The front shade garden

The front garden has been an especially fun place to plant since it adds to the "sit-ability" of the front porch. Since that area would not grow grass we decided to give in to the natural habitat and grow a shade garden. We've been adding things for a couple of years now and it's really taking shape. The small water fountain I added last year is running again and I planted a Lasting Love Caladium directly in front of the porch. Right above it you can see the new porch box I found at a nearby discount store (yeah Gabriel Brothers! for those of you who know it). It was fun going back up to the Amish green house to pick some pretty flowers.

The bargain front porch flower basket

So now we can sit and entertain on the front porch surrounded by the beauty of some of God's floral creations. What a blessing! After summer I'll be glad for the fall and then winter but let's not think about THAT yet!!! Everything in its time.

So, if you are passing through Ohio this summer, stop by and have a sit on our front porch at....

We'd love to have you!

The Sun Came Out Today

2011-05-21T16:59:00.009-04:00

The sun came out today. Trust me, that's NEWS around here. Actually it came out one day last week, too. We're in the spring weather cycle of one day of sunshine for every six days of overcast and/or rain. But we are definitely into spring. In fact, as hard as it may be to believe, we're only one month away from summer...

We've had our second set of Mourning Doves raise a family in our front porch nest this spring (previously used by three generations of Robins), flowers are up, trees have all their leaves, we're mowing twice a week (if it's not raining), the climbing roses are getting ready to bloom, and Karen's been planting.

Here's one of our Iris's after a spring shower.

Karen's 2011 Side-Street Salsa Garden is in! Lord willing we'll be canning salsa by late August.

Jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, grape tomatoes and the monster Mum bush...

Roma tomatoes, bell pepper plants and our other monster Mum bush.

And the climbing roses just before bloom.

The roses are just a tad late this year but that's no surprise after our longer/colder winter and darker/wetter spring.

I'll see about having Karen post some pictures of all the planting she's done. We hope you're having a great weekend. Thanks for your gifts and prayers which enable us to serve!

Nine Men, Two Planes

2011-05-04T16:44:00.002-04:00

Here's my latest video project from up at the hangar. It's been several weeks since I've produced a video, but my energies of late have been rather focused on an HR administrative project. I hope you enjoy the video.

Bakery Update

2011-04-23T13:19:00.003-04:00

I must admit I'm rather blessed by a wife who loves to bake...

Karen's Pineapple Upside Down Coffee Cake

Update from Home and Hangar

2011-04-22T09:33:00.009-04:00

Friends From Uganda
The past month we've enjoyed having Mark and Sarah Newnham back in the neighborhood as part of their "home assignment" with MAF. Mark and Sarah finished MMS apprenticeship back in 2005 and have served in Uganda for the past six years. They are both from England.

During the 30 months of apprenticeship they rented the house I used to live in which is just three doors down from us. We became good friends and enjoyed each other as neighbors over their apprenticeship. It was fun to have their old house available for them during this short stay prior to their return to Uganda for continued service.

The even more exciting thing, beyond seeing them, was to finally meet the Ugandan children they've adopted: Amy and Joshua! While the Newnhams were very busy speaking at churches, visiting with supporters, and renewing friendships throughout the county, we were able to spend some extended time together and totally enjoyed becoming acquainted with their kids.

Mark, Sarah, Amy, and Joshua in our home.

Spring...Where For Art Thou?
Well, at least it's not snowing...but damp, dark, and "cold" still hold the weather pattern hostage. We've been under "flood watch" forever and it seems a good weather week has one day of sunshine for six days of overcast.

Wednesday we were awakened by the tornado siren at 3:00 AM (the strong wind, lightning, thunder, and hail also playing a part) so we dutifully grabbed the dogs and made the trek down to the basement to wait it out. No damage locally and only minor damage regionally. It's always exciting to wake-up to the tornado siren...

One sign of spring (even when it doesn't feel like spring) is the grass turns green and starts to grow again which means the rest of us start to mow again. Here's a shot of me mowing on our one day of sunshine this week...

In our backyard, between rain storms, making the second cut of 2011.

Hangar Door
The installation of the hangar door is completed though there's still some concrete work to do to smooth the transition from the ramp into the hangar. It's a rather interesting door. Different. It's hinged at the top and swings open from the bottom. Imagine a wall of your house just swinging upward and you kind of get the picture. No wait... HERE's a real picture.

The new hangar door.

Homefront
Karen and I are doing well, Tucker and Tanner have their spring haircuts, and one quarter of 2011 is already gone. We're ready for the weather to get warm, to be able to get outside to walk and ride bicycles again, and to plant our salsa garden (sometime in late May).

As I type, Karen's getting ready to bake an apple pie to share with friends this evening and to make a pineapple upside down coffee cake to share on Sunday.

Karen makes the crust for the apple pie.

Have a great weekend and thank you for making it possible for us to serve through your gifts and prayers. We trust you feel very much a part of our ministry here in Coshocton, and around the world through the people we prepare and the airplanes we fix.

The New Roof Is Going On!

2011-04-15T14:55:00.000-04:00

As I sit in upstairs in my office, it sounds like there's a herd of elephants rampaging overhead! A herd of elephants that use drills and tools and power equipment of various sizes and shapes. There's a lot of banging and driving of screws and moving around up there. The construction crew is blazing away on the roof installation as I type. They're making great progress while the sun is shining as it's supposed to get wet and windy overnight and through tomorrow.

It's exciting to have the project coming so close to completion. Lord willing we'll be able to use our front hangar again by the end of next week.

Rolls of insulation ready to be taken topside.

Additional rolls of insulation inside Hangar A. How's that new door looking on the left of the frame?

Removing the old roof panels.

The crew chief takes care of the edge-work.

There's a whole lot of sunshine spilling in!

A workman tapes off the crossbeams before laying a roll of insulation in place.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers that have made this project possible!

The New Hangar Door is IN!

2011-04-14T09:09:00.001-04:00

The new hangar door has been installed on Hangar A! It's been a challenging week or so of wet, rainy, windy weather for the construction crew but the door is up, the insulation is in, and the aluminum siding is on!

The construction crew disassembles and removes the old four-panel steel doors. This was the last good weather the crew was going to see for a while.

With the door removed and weather tarps in place, the crew removes the final structure.

The crew positions the lighter, single-panel door structure.

The new insulation and new exterior panels are secured in place.

Here's a picture of the door nearly completed.

It's really exciting to see the project finally come together in the most literal sense. Thank you for your gifts toward the Raise The Roof campaign which made this all, and more, possible. Lord willing we'll soon conduct a door swing test to finalize the installation.

The construction crew is currently overhead working hard and fast at replacing the roof! The sun is out the sky is blue, the old roof is coming off and the new roof is going on.

Thanks for your prayers.

Library/Guestroom Pictures

2011-04-04T21:45:00.002-04:00

Scrapbook design made with Smilebox

A Worthy Week

2011-04-02T11:04:00.010-04:00

It was so nice to able to take last week as a vacation week. I headed off on a personal retreat while Karen's sister, Brenda, came out from Virginia to help Karen redo our "library" (the tiny guestroom with all our books in it as opposed to our small guestroom without books in it). The walls were painted in a color very close to Navy blue and had been that way since we moved in 8 1/2 years ago.

Needless to say, with Karen and Brenda on the job, the guestroom turned out GREAT! Thanks, for helping, Brenda! Karen may post some pictures of the room in a future blog but the room's so tiny it's difficult to take pictures in it. Karen's currently in the basement working on some custom curtains to allow the windows to become more of a room feature than they'd been in the past. The fabric is from sheets she bought on clearance sale, the details are from things she has in her craft box, and the curtain "rods" are actually promotional yard sticks from a local company that we regularly patronize. She's amazing. Karen knows how to stretch a Kingdom dollar to make it look like a million bucks!

There's still some small touches to attend to: a reading lamp, two small braided rugs, a small plant stand, and the books need to be reorganized but it already looks like a completely different room and is much more warm looking and inviting to spend time in.

As far as my retreat, I have twenty pages of journal to transcribe and contemplate! I am so thankful to Karen for encouraging me to go. Here are a couple snapshots.

Here I am resting Monday afternoon.

Here's a shot Tuesday morning's sunrise.

Later that day, I made the more-challenging-than-expected hike up to a cross on top of a hill on the retreat center's extensive property.

Finally at the top.

Looking across the valley back at the retreat center.

I had a special time of communion with God on that hilltop, all alone but for the cool breeze and the soaring hawks, reading and reflecting on 1 Kings 19.

The retreat provided time to rest, to think, to read, to pray, to write, and to worship.

Here's another view of Tuesday's sunrise from behind a cross on a low knoll at the retreat center. This shot makes me think of Easter...it was a glorious morning. A fresh beginning for me in many ways.

Thank you for prayers as Karen and I seek to grow in God's will.

Here's Our Latest Newsletter

2011-03-24T20:50:00.003-04:00

Here's our newsletter for March, 2011. Just click on the each page for a larger image. We hope you enjoy it!

Images of Spring! The Winter Is Ending!

2011-03-19T13:56:00.005-04:00

We've been blessed with wonderful spring weather the past three days. Warm sunshine, blue sky, a cool breeze...the grass is starting to turn green again, buds are popping on our roses, the birds are singing, bulbs are blooming, and Tucker and Tanner are back on the deck catching a few rays.

This is one of our local Cardinals in our front tree. He was singing his lungs out when I snapped this picture.

Tucker and Tanner soak up the sun. They're ready for their spring haircuts.

These are in our front garden.

Thanks for your gifts and your prayers that enable us to serve. We couldn't be here without you being there. Are you as ready for a season change as we are?

New Microphone, New Video

2011-03-16T19:11:00.004-04:00

When I entered my office at MMS this morning and sat down, I found myself in a pixel frame of mind and started throwing video clips together like a mad man. That led me to get my nifty new Audio-Technica AT2020, cardioide condeser, USB-powered microphone out of its box, set it up, and hook it into my computer. With that, and my handy-dandy "pop" filter, I embarked on a new video narration career.

I think you'll notice a difference from my last narration attempt (since removed from the blog and replaced to with a "re-mixed" version utilizing the new microphone). Oh man, it's like night and day using this mic as opposed to the previous mic. It pays to have the right tool for the job.

Anyway, I was a bit "out of the box" with my thinking as I worked with the clips and ended up scripting a rather non-traditional narration scheme.

I really like the microphone. It's totally easy to use and sounds great. What do you think?

The Sky Is Blue And The Sun Is Out!

2011-03-12T13:02:00.009-05:00

After Thursday/Friday's latest "winter storm warning, watch, advisory" rain, and snow and localized flooding, it's kind of nice to see some blue sky and feel the sun again. It's windy, but we'll take a little wind to help dry things out. The local river levels are dropping and damage wasn't much beyond some closed roads in outlying areas. We're getting closer to the beginning of spring and everyone's more than ready for the season change.

While things around 368 McClain are pretty much the same, this morning was a little different in that it's newsletter time again. We're spending the day getting our March Coshocton Flyer ready to mail. Be watching for your copy in a mail box near you. If you're not on our mailing list and would like to be, send us an email to let us know: kdodson368@gmail.com and we'll be glad to add you to our ministry team.

Keith works on newsletters.

And, as it's Saturday, Karen was in the kitchen baking away. This morning it was oatmeal, raisin, and pecan muffins...Oh Yeah...

Karen drops batter in the paper muffin cups...

And a few minutes later, removes the muffins from the oven.

Tucker is very interested.

Tanner is very interested.

Keith is very interested.

Have a great weekend. We hope to get the dogs out for a walk after we get a few more newsletters in envelopes!

Wednesday Morning Blurb

2011-03-09T04:49:00.004-05:00

I'm up a bit early this morning and thought I'd post a quick update. We're in a couple days of rain right now, local flooding continues to be minor and "usual" for this time of year. Karen conducted a rather "gutsy" demolition project in the basement yesterday which really improved conditions down there as she continues to develop her sewing area. Baby blankets and personal tote bags are her two current specialties. I think we've had ten babies born over the past ten months at our church here in Ohio...God's growing His Kingdom from the inside out at Fresno Bible Church!

Up at the mission I have two primary projects underway: 1) putting the April issue of the GroundCrew together (the MMS organizational newsletter); and 2) continuing to explore new areas of video/audio editing, production, and authoring. The new microphone has arrived and I had something of a DVD authoring/production breakthrough yesterday which cleared up several months of video related confusion and frustration.

In my office at MMS working on GroundCrew

With the GroundCrew, I spent Monday afternoon making a broad review the project photographs I've taken over the past four months. That gives me a feel for the direction the newsletter will take. Yesterday I pulled photos to "build" the issue. Today I'll crop, edit, and adjust each photo as necessary. Tomorrow, Lord willing, I'll write the copy and captions. And Friday I hope to put it all into a digital package, with preliminary layout, and attach it off to our graphic designer (Tammy, Karen's cousin!). With all that, you can look for your issue of GroundCrew to arrive toward the end of April.

On the video front, I finally stumbled onto the realization I needed an additional software package to deal with the VTS and ISO files generated by the DVD authoring process. I've been very happy with the AVS video editing software but didn't understand I needed an additional package to re-use the DVD files generated during the original authoring process. Yesterday while exploring the AVS website I found a question amid their "help" pages that clarified the problem and, after a quick download, provided the solution. I can now retrieve and re-burn previously generated DVD projects. The process of technical/digital self learning is unreal. Paul Jones, our latest apprentice mechanic to finish his training at MMS and an extremely talented videographer, describes the process of teaching yourself video/audio editing as "months of nauseating discomfort and frustration punctuated by a few moments of joyful creativity." I can relate.

I don't intend working with the new microphone, or venturing into an additional audio editing software package, until AFTER I have the GroundCrew finished. Amen? Amen!

At home, we're also working on our personal newsletter, Coshocton Flyer. Our goal is to have that in the mail before the end of this month.

Have a great week. Thanks for your prayers and your gifts which enable us to serve. There's so much going on at MMS right now it's crazy. Heavy restoration and reconstruction of airplanes. Heavy restoration and reconstruction of missionaries into Christ-likeness. Paul finishing apprenticeship. Ben & Caroline moving in from Missouri to start apprenticeship. Stay tuned. Be checking your mail box. Hard copy newsletters will be headed your way soon.

God's blessings upon you!

More Rain, Snow(?), and Video

2011-03-05T08:58:00.008-05:00

I'd rather have 50 degrees and rain (like right now) instead of 32 degrees and rain which is more typical of our Coshocton winter. It does appear we're transitioning into spring though a snowy mix is predicted for tomorrow. The crocus and daffodil bulbs are starting to break ground and we are experiencing more rain than snow. We even had our first real thunderstorm earlier in the week.

We're also having our usual late winter/early spring flooding of low-lying areas. At this point, there's no threat to most of the county beyond the inconvenience of some rural roads being closed and flood-plain farmland getting wet. The Walhonding, Tuscarawas, and Muskingum rivers are all above their banks in various spots.

On the video front, I've made another attempt at narrating a video clip. The learning curve continues as I know nothing about recording audio beyond 1)you have to speak into a microphone and 2)I'd like a higher quality recording than is on the clip below. I did purchase a microphone specifically designed for recording through a computer (and a "pop" filter) which should arrive sometime next week.

I'm also researching and trying out various DVD authoring freeware in order to put the MMS videos on DVD's anyone can watch or share. The commercial software I used to use isn't compatible with Windows 7. I've had some luck with video production freeware before but so far am finding the DVD authoring choices to be either too limited in options but simple to operate, or very manual and rather complex to work with operational glitches. I won't go into all the details because I'm not that much of a geek...I just know what I'm looking for and haven't found it yet. There's got to be a happy medium somewhere. I'm not adverse to buying a commercial package, I just want to find the best package for the best value. I have my eye on a couple "free trial" downloads for the next level of exploration.

Besides, next week I need to be totally focused on writing, assembling, and editing the MMS April GroundCrew newsletter.

But all that to say here's the latest video from the MMS Aviation Video Production Department--(you may need to turn your volume up to understand what I'm saying and no, I wasn't standing in a box when I made the recording...)

First Grill Session of 2011

2011-02-28T19:14:00.006-05:00

Our weather's been rather unpredictable lately. Today the temps dropped 25 degrees in four hours. We had robust, nearly tropical thunder showers at 6AM this morning and by 10AM it was cold enough to snow...We had a frigid Saturday and a summer Sunday and our six inches of snow has mostly melted off.

Speaking of Saturday, Karen nominated me to be Head Cook that evening. After consulting the recipes and nutritional info I always keep nearby, I decided to prepare my bride a meal of The Perfect Food, and braved the elements to conduct the First Grill Session of 2011.

Karen caught me in action and documented the event.

Keith and his Grilling Associates.

Just another perfect evening at 368 McClain...

On a more missionary note, we've been blessed to host a volunteer in our home for the past week. Trevor is up from Texas to work with Bruce Wolff of Brigade Air. MMS is performing a complete inspection and restoration of a Cessna 172 donated to Brigade. Bruce and Trevor arrived last Tuesday and are preparing the airframe for paint. They may even try to get the airplane painted before they leave later this week.

I'm working on another video project at the shop. This time I'm trying to incorporate narration instead of having to enter type overlays on the various scenes. I'm also trying to incorporate a video overlay. Lord willing, I'll have that clip up in the next day or two. Beyond the video, I administered two apprentice performance reviews today and am organizing the details for a work team of students from LeTourneau University who are to volunteer in the hangar March 14-18.

Karen's back working 3 days at the mission this week.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

Video: A Glimpse Into MMS

2011-02-24T18:07:00.006-05:00

Weekend Report
We had a great visit with Duane, Cindy, Josiah, and Joanna over the weekend. We laughed, we ate, we snacked, we were tourists up in Amish country, we broke out the HO train set...and did I say we ate? Oh man...did we eat. We also saw our first pair of Z-Coil shoes up at Charm Boot and Harness. Very interesting. We didn't buy any, we just looked and wondered what in the world they were thinking when they designed them. They do explain their thoughts and technology on their web site.

Weather Report
We also got hit with six inches of snow Monday evening through Tuesday morning. Now we're supposed to get hit with heavy rain tonight that's supposed to turn to snow tomorrow. We'll see. The heavy stuff appears to be staying just south of us for the time being. But after looking at the radar, it appears as we may get wet, yet. Temps are up in the 40's right now.

Video Report
But wait...there's MORE! Here's my latest video project about MMS. Enjoy. Thanks for making all this possible (the video and what you see in it) through your prayers and your support!

Into the Weather-Wonderful Weekend

2011-02-19T07:10:00.008-05:00

Weather Report
The past few days we've enjoyed TREMENDOUS weather! It's been over 60 degrees, blue sky, sunny, a bit windy, but we'll take that over subzero temps and ice and snow (more typical for this winter and the month of February). After such a hard winter this short pause is most refreshing and encouraging. There's more winter weather to come, you can be sure of it...but right now we're rejoicing in what we have. Actually, we're heading back into the cooler weather today with highs in the low 40's and snow/rain predicted for tomorrow.

But that's tomorrow! Today the sun is out and there's not a cloud in the sky!

MMS Aviation
I was pretty much tied to my computer up at MMS this past week. I was either staring at the monitor punctuated with intense moments keyboard activity or roaming around the facility and grounds shooting video. I have some shop footage I'll put together for you next week. It's amazing how much time it takes to put a two minute clip together. I hope you enjoyed the RTS flight video in the previous post.

Friends in Town
We have some friends in town from PA! Duane, Cindy, Josiah, and Joanna are in for the weekend. They arrived yesterday afternoon and we're headed out to Amish Country for the day today. Last night (after a meal of Karen's World Famous Taco Bake) we spent the evening in a rousing session of SCUM. It's a card game that is well known in this region of the world. During the course of the game I worked my way down from Vice President to Scum in rather short fashion but came back and finished as Vice President to Karen's President. We laughed, we cried, we ate a pound bag of peanut M&M's...

This morning we'll be off to Charm, OH for stops at: Miller's Quilt Shop, Keim Lumber, Charm Boot & Harness Shop, the Polish Pottery Niche, and Miller's Bakery. Then to Walnut Creek for a few minutes at Walnut Creek Cheese; and then up the road to Berlin, for stops at: Zinc's Fabrics, the Amish Flea Market, and Cindy's Diner. It's always a fun day and the weather just makes it better.

Tucker and Tanner Get Ready For Guests
When Tucker and Tanner heard we had guests coming they begged for a bath so they would look, smell, and feel Cocker Clean. We, of course, obliged their wish.

Tucker-wash cycle

Tucker between cycles

Tanner-wash cycle

Tanner-rinse cycle

Tanner-dry cycle

The Piper Navajo Takes To The Sky!

2011-02-17T19:29:00.003-05:00

The Arctic Barnabas Piper Navajo made its Return-To-Service flight yesterday afternoon. Here's the video I put together:

After three months of heavy repair and modification, there are still some adjustments to make and some fine tuning to take care of before the airplane's ready for release, but it won't be long until the Navajo departs Coshocton for a paint shop and then heads back to Alaska for ministry.

Thanks for being part of the project through your gifts and prayers!

Video: Arctic Barnabas Navajo Engine Run-up

2011-02-15T18:12:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest video clip from MMS. I shot and edited it this afternoon as Dale and Chuck ran-up the engines on the Navajo operated by Arctic Barnabas. Matt, the pilot of the Navajo is in town from their base in Alaska and the guys are wrapping up the paperwork and getting everything in order for the airplane's return-to-service flight tomorrow. It should be an exciting day.

Lord willing, I'll be out there with my camera to capture the event! I hope you enjoy this clip:

An Aztec, A Navajo, A Skipper, And A CEO

2011-02-11T10:37:00.002-05:00

Here's a quick update from the hangar at MMS Aviation:

The Aztec belongs to The Pfeifers, a Southern Gospel singing group, who use the airplane as transportation between the various venues and events they have scheduled all across the United States. Andy S., our newest apprentice, is breaking in as part of the crew conducting the Aztec's annual inspection.

Andy S. and Terry repair engine baffling on the Aztec.

The Navajo belongs to Arctic Barnabas, a ministry of encouragement and support to missionaries in remote, inland Alaska. The overhauled left engine is on the airframe, the crew door is in place, and the annual inspection is nearly finished. As soon as a spinner bulkhead arrives, the airplane will be closed up, the paperwork completed, and airplane returned to service.

Chuck and the "crew door" he installed on the Navajo.

The Skipper is a local, non-mission airplane, that we're inspecting and repairing. Mike, Mark, Jim, Andy, and Paul G. have worked their way over the airplane and through its various systems and structures for three weeks now. The project should be wrapped up and back in its hangar "across the field" any day now.

Jim makes some adjustments on the Skipper's engine.

Mark inspects beneath the Skipper's floor panels.

The CEO is Dwight Jarboe, MMS Aviation President & CEO and holder of an FAA mechanic certificate for 42 years. Dwight led the apprentices in a special class on "carburetors" this morning blending "theory" with hangar floor reality.

Dwight explains a diagram as Andy S., Bob, and Andy P. look on and listen in.

There's always something interesting going on around our facility whether administrative or operational, whether dealing with people, with planes, or both people AND planes. Thanks for being part of God's work through your continued interest and involvement with us.

Spring in the Air?

2011-02-09T18:51:00.009-05:00

There may be snow on the ground but spring is in the air....or at least in the tree in our back yard! The temperatures are below freezing this week and the ground is still pretty much covered with snow but as I have worked on the kitchen computer this week there have been a whole flock of Robins in the tree outside of the window! It makes me think that perhaps they know something we don't. Maybe spring is coming sooner than we think!

Looking at our tree from the upstairs window

For the last 3 years we have had robins come and build a nest and start their families on our front porch post. We've totally enjoyed watching them each year. By the looks of this tree I'm thinking those three generations have all come back to roost! Can you count how many robins in our tree? There are 16!

16 robins!

It's good God made birds with feathers they can fluff out because it's cold out there! I don't recall ever seeing such "puffy" robins. They are beautiful! I have to admit I had a small moment of feeling sorry for them and wanting to invite them in to get warm....it passed quickly as I thought that fully through...

"Puffy Robin"

It was an encouraging thing to see these creatures that make us think of spring weather. It was actually Ground Hog Day when I saw them the first time, right after Punxsutawney Phil said we'd have an early spring this year. Between he and the robins I'm beginning to feel convinced! We can always hope.

Keeping Watch For Spring

So keep an eye out! Spring is surely on it's way and most assuredly, we'll be ready.

Eating Kim Chee on a Rainy, Sleety, Snowy Saturday

2011-02-05T13:41:00.005-05:00

We've had snow, rain, and sleet so far today. It's a good day to be inside though, all things considered, it's not all that bad outside. Rain at 32 degrees can go either way.

I ran some errands this morning but have spent most of the day here at the computer working on missionary stuff. It's all part of the ministry. Karen's at a baby shower for one of the MMS ladies. Tucker and Tanner are curled up on their fleece-covered bean bag beds.

By the way, my chop sticks are in hand and I'm eating Kim Chee. Karen buys it for me because she loves me...not necessarily the Kim Chee. She doesn't eat the stuff. Won't eat it. Refuses to eat it. Doesn't even like the smell of it. Kim Chee is a Korean side dish made by fermenting cabbage with all kinds of odds and ends and then stuffing it in a jar to continue its fermentation. It's the only snack food I know that's labeled with a safety warning:

"Contents are under pressure due to constant natural fermentation. DO NOT PUNCTURE. To prevent spills cover cap with napkin and open slowly over sink.

I recommend following the instructions when you open it and using chop sticks to eat it.

Doesn't that look good? Actually just the photo makes my mouth water.

I think it tastes pretty good (hot, spicy--heck they crush shrimp and anchovies in it so it HAS to be good) but not everyone agrees with me. Hoever, everyone in the room or building does knows when someone's been eating Kim Chee. It has as distinctive of an aroma as it does flavor. You should be able to find it in your grocer's deli. If I can find it here in Coshocton, you can find it there wherever you are.

Enjoy your weekend! I have the breath mints standing by...

Doing the HR Thing

2011-02-03T18:58:00.003-05:00

On Thursdays, Karen and I have the pleasure of working together at MMS. Tuesdays and Fridays Karen works for the MMS Accounting Department but Thursdays she works for me in HR. That's right, on Thursdays the HR staff doubles in size!

The MMS Aviation Human Resources Department

Today Karen spent a good portion of her day updating and troubleshooting an Excel file that I use to track information from the hangar floor. She handled the mission phones; worked through her "HR To Do" folder that I fill during the other 4 days of the work week; logged data from other forms I collect; and stuffed, sealed, and posted a special mailing of 232 pieces for one of our candidate families who'll soon be moving to Coshocton to begin ministry. She managed the mission mailing list, tracked new support, and sent partnership response letters. She also worked closely with Dave, our facilities manager/safety officer/network administrator/groundskeeper/information technology and software guru as he set up an additional workspace for receipting, tied it into the network and linked it to a shared printer. Yes, at a small mission we all wear a lot of hats.

The staff had its ICQC meeting today. The first Thursday of every month we all get together for Information, Communication, Questions, and Comments (ICQC). As part of the meeting I gave a short presentation regarding our project tracking logs, explained the results of the 2010 log summary, and discussed the data collection process for 2011. The guys had some good ideas regarding the form and the process and we'll be moving ahead with what we discussed.

The second and fourth Thursdays of the month I participate in the Senior Management Team meetings (SMT), and occasionally I'll be involved with the third Thursday of the month Training Staff Meetings. Of course every Monday is our Department Head meeting. Would you like to have a meeting, too?

Around the meeting I handled a slew of email, finished the prayer card project for one of our staff families, edited a newsletter for another family, compiled performance review documentation for two of our apprentices (Lord willing I'll administer the reviews next week), ordered a cake (like I said, we wear a lot of hats at MMS) for tomorrow's celebration of Paul Jones completing his apprenticeship, had a short meeting with our CEO, shot photos and blogged for the mission, and reviewed some recruiting related forms and documents.

All in all it was your typical day in HR at MMS Aviation. Thanks for your gifts, prayers, and continued interest as together we prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Airplane Icicles in Ohio

2011-02-01T19:33:00.003-05:00

The winter storm arrived as predicted though, around here, it hasn't yet proven to be the "Storm of Historical Proportions" many media outlets, weather prognosticators, and politicians have prepared us for. That being said, "the rest of the story" is supposed to blow through over the next 24 hours.

The freezing rain was real enough though not to the degree of causing power outages or tree damage. The local street crews have done a good job of keeping the roads passable. Here are a couple icicle shots of the one airplane that's tied down outside our facility.

Meanwhile, back in Hangar C, the left engine is being hung on the Navajo.

Dale sorts out part of the wiring harness.

A good portion of my day was spent in a meeting. On either side of the meeting, I worked on fine-tuning a prayer card for one of our MMS families, handled several inquiries about apprenticeship, updated more forms, worked with a prospective candidate who may tour the mission on Monday, began the process of organizing for our newest apprentice family to move to Coshocton in March, took photos of the hangar activity, organized reports, and pulled some items together for a special mailing I need to organize for later this week.

Karen was up at the shop taking care of the receipting for the mission.

Thanks for the part you play in enabling us to prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service. We couldn't be here without you being back there!

The Engine Arrived--Full Speed Ahead At MMS

2011-01-31T20:02:00.002-05:00

The engine I mentioned in yesterday's blog post arrived at MMS! The guys spent a good portion of the day preparing the engine and getting ready for installation on the Navajo. Lord willing, they'll hang it on the airframe Tuesday or Wednesday.

The overhauled engine still in its shipping crate.

Me? I spent the day in my office pounding on my keyboard working on emails, answering the phone, directing calls, updating documents, supervising approved candidates, recruiting, record keeping, compiling reports, and preparing for upcoming meetings. I did break away a couple times to take the photos on this page. With the institution of our Substance Abuse Program I've been provided a whole new avenue of activity to pursue.

We had some nice weather today. It was clear and in the mid-20's. We are, as of this evening, under a Winter Storm Warning for the next couple days. We'll see what we get out of it.

In other parts of the hangar:

Jim worked with Paul G. on the Skipper annual inspection.

Chuck continued installing the Navajo's crew door.

Paul J. and Andy S. ran the the Aztec engines in preparation for the airplane's annual inspection.

Paul J., our most senior apprentice, is leading Andy S., our brand new apprentice, through the inspection process.

We now have two "Pauls", two "Andys", and one "Mark" in apprenticeship.

Thanks for your friendship, prayers, and gifts. We daily thank the Lord for each of you who are paying and praying so that we can serve. Without you at our side, we'd be unable to be here preparing people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Week's Re-Cap & Winter Storm Watch

2011-01-30T17:06:00.007-05:00

The last week of January has come to a close, February is set to start, and another Winter Storm Watch has been issued.

The big news from the mission is I have a new role as part of my HR responsibilities. I'm now the "Administrator" of our Substance Abuse Program (otherwise known as random drug testing). While not typically a problem in a hangar situation like ours, it is a standard aviation industry practice for random drug testing to take place where commercial aircraft are maintained or operated. While we don't fall directly under that industry standard (as we don't work on aircraft that fall into the "commercial" category) the MMS Board felt it would be a good testimony to our customers and partners to voluntarily initiate such a program.

After working with a substance abuse consultant for nearly a year, Jon Speckman of ADATC, Inc., we finalized our specific policy with him in December. Karen and I had the privilege of hosting Jon in our home two nights when he arrived Wednesday evening to provide the required group and individual training on Thursday. There were three different training sessions which encompassed the entire day: one for the whole group, one for specific supervisors, and then a final session specifically focused on policy administration with an inspection of our local "collection point" at Coshocton County Hospital. I was part of every session as was Terry McClary, our production manager who is my Assistant Administrator. Jon did a great job leading the training. His 35 years of experience in the field provided depth of insight and information not many others could share. We greatly enjoyed having Jon in our home and I look forward to working with him as I grow in my new responsibilities.

Karen and I spent yesterday working in the basement. It must have something to do with the weather outside that drives us underground this time of year. With the basement cleaned and straightened we had worship this morning and then took the rest of the day off.

Speaking of taking Sunday off...here's a rather typical way we spend part of our Sundays:

Here I am surrounded by my books and covered in Cocker Spaniels. It won't be long until nap time.

Karen works a puzzle. According to the container, this puzzle is the smallest 1000 piece puzzle in the world.

Those are some tiny, tiny pieces and the sky pieces are all the same shape!
(Thanks for driving Karen crazy, Lynette!)

Sundays are restful days for us. We hope you are able to enjoy a day of rest on Sundays as well.

A winter storm watch has been issued for the region with rain and ice and snow predicted to start Monday night and to run through Wednesday. We'll see what we get and keep you posted.

Thanks for your prayers and gifts which enable us to serve! We'll be back at ministry tomorrow!

Asas 206 Engine Run & Taxi Test

2011-01-25T18:50:00.003-05:00

It was an exciting afternoon at the hangar yesterday as Ian and Paul pulled the Asas amphibious 206 out to run the engine for the first time and take it on a taxi test. After extensive restoration and repair, the airplane started on the first crank and performed well. And yes, it was snowing lightly which contrasts somewhat with the tropical environment the airplane is headed for down in Brazil.

The upper cowling was left off to facilitate engine inspection and access.

Here's the video I put together this morning:

Cabin Fever: Or How to Enjoy a Walk in 11 Degrees

2011-01-22T18:18:00.004-05:00

It doesn't me or Tanner long to develop the need to get outside and go for a walk. We'll walk almost anytime as long as it's not raining or icy and it's light. Both of us greatly enjoy walking and we have a regular three mile loop that we take across the railroad tracks (right behind our house) and through several Coshocton neighborhoods. The snow hasn't gotten icy yet so ice really wasn't an issue and THE SUN WAS OUT! The last two snow storms have been very un-Coshocton like. The snow has been dry and fluffy and the sun has come out and stayed out the next days after the storm. I like that. Colder, drier, and sunnier makes things much more enjoyable.

However, with a -3 degree temp outside when we got up this morning, we didn't rush right out for a walk. Tanner slept in and I met a friend for breakfast returning around 10. After that, Karen and I settled down to discuss a devotional book we're working through and before we knew it it was noon! By then I needed to stretch my legs and Tanner had his "If you guys are done talking can we go for a walk NOW?" look on. It's really clear when he wants to go for a walk He just comes up and sits and stares at me with a very expectant look on his face. He just sits there and stares. Follows me around and then just sits and stares. When I go for my shoes he perks up and when I grab his leash he is very pleased that I finally caught on.

Heading out

Happy to be outside on our nicely plowed side street!

It was 11 degrees when we took off for our walk. We had a GREAT walk! Tanner was an icy, snowy, mess on his legs and belly but that's just part of the experience. He LOVES being toweled off once we get home. We stop along the way so I can check his paws for ice and then we keep moving. It took us a little longer today because not everyone shovels their sidewalks, the snow plow covers others, and I don't have snowshoes (nor do I want any!). Consequently we took some side streets as alternatives as the streets were clearer.

Tanner slept most of the afternoon after his big day out. He likes wearing his snappy little green sweater that Karen made for him.

Tomorrow's supposed to be cold again with a low of -5 predicted for the morning. So wherever you are it's either colder or warmer (my Dad said it was 70 out at their place in Southern California) or colder (praise the Lord, God didn't call us to Minnesota or Canada!) so stay warm! or stay cool!

Thanks for your friendship, your gifts, and your prayers.

The Great Raisin Bread Experiment

2011-01-21T18:02:00.006-05:00

We did get six inches of fresh snow out of the storm. It was a nice snow (again)! Light, easy to shovel and the snow plow even plowed our side of the street along the side of our house. It NEVER gets plowed. Well, almost never. I was so excited I ran out (and promptly slid down our embankment on my back) to give the snowplow driver a bag of cookies! The fall and slide to the street was the most "fun" I've had in the snow in a very long time. Karen was just hoping we weren't making a trip to the hospital. HA! I'm fine, the snow plow driver was pleased, and all is well with the world...

Plus (get ready, Karen was in the kitchen again) home made RAISIN BREAD! Karen's wanted to try baking raisin bread and the six inches of snow put her in such a wonderful mood I couldn't hold her back.

Karen works the raisins into the dough.

Raw raisin bread...

And now, a little video.

We're going to have it for breakfast tomorrow!

3" - 6" of Snow on the Way

2011-01-19T18:26:00.007-05:00

While the next weather system sweeps in from the west, we're still working away up at MMS! We had snow flurries on and off all day today and I had to scrape a light coat of freezing rain from my car windows when I left the shop this evening, but it's just Coshocton winter as usual.

Karen stuffing receipts for mailing.

Karen's been busy with an extra day of receipting each week filling in for Rena who is recovering from surgery. I'm still working on documentation: updating for 2011, revising, designing in Microsoft Publisher, and then turning them into active PDFs in Acrobat Pro. I know just enough to make a simple PDF that can be filled in, saved, and then attached back. Little by little I'm transforming my paper world into more of an electronic one.

I did spend an our so so working on a new prayer card for one of our mission families. We shot the photo yesterday and I was able to PhotoShop the file this afternoon. Praise the Lord I saved a "template" and then worked from a copy because right in the middle of everything--I made a standard left click to transfer color from the "Paint bucket" into the MMS logo and PhotoShop informed me that something bad had happened somewhere and shut-down at the same instant. There wasn't any form of that file to be found ANYWHERE...Bummer, dude. Lost a little work, but not all of it. I should be able to pick back up tomorrow at nearly the same place as the crash occurred.

Working on the prayer card before the crash...

The Missionary Mutts hadn't had much of a presence on the blog lately so we'll add a couple snapshots from the Cabin Fever Cockers. They, as well as we, miss the walks we regularly get in when the weather is nice. It can still be "nice" when it's cold, we just can't walk when it's nice and icy...

Tucker

Tanner

Thanks for your gifts and prayers that enable us to serve!

Another Monday at MMS Aviation

2011-01-17T20:19:00.008-05:00

Pretty much every Monday morning at 10:15, you'll find me meeting with Bob, Terry, and Tim in Bob's office. Bob is Director of Training, Terry is Production Manager, Tim is Director of Maintenance, and I'm Director of Human Resources.

Even though MMS is a small mission, the nature of our ministry necessitates an extremely high level of ongoing communication. Our weekly meeting provides the forum for an integrated approach between maintenance, production, training, and HR. It's a privilege to serve with such dedicated men committed to preparing missionary airplanes and missionary airplane mechanics for service around the world.

L to R: Bob, Director of Training; Terry, Production Manager; Tim, Director of Maintenance; and me, Director of Human Resources.

With a break in the weather (sunny and 32 degrees), one of the missionaries we serve flew his Piper Aztec in this morning. With the next weather system predicted to arrive tonight and his airplane in need of its annual inspection, it was prudent for him to deliver it a little bit early. We've maintained his airplane for several years. You've probably seen pictures of it on earlier blogs. John brings his airplane in for inspection every January.

John Pfeifer's Piper Aztec on our ramp before being positioned in Hangar A.

The Cessna 206 being restored for service in Brazil is very nearly completed. Lord willing the engine runs and taxi tests will be conducted next week prior to the airplane making its "return to service" flight, or RTS. The airplane looks rather impressive towering over everything in our hangar. I look forward to shooting some video of the engine runs, taxi tests and shake-down flights. Stay tuned...

The Asas de Socorro Cessna 206

Keith in the Kitchen: Sticks and Scones?

2011-01-15T11:40:00.012-05:00

Well, it IS warmer today (33 right now) and the snow continues to melt. The wind's blowing, so AccuWeather says it actually feels like 21 degrees outside. There may be a few light flurries later but it's winter so that's okay.

Here's our little house on the corner

In The Kitchen
My brother-in-law, Ralph, evidently made Swedish pancakes for breakfast the other morning and the event has become a lengthy and animated Facebook comment thread as many of Karen's family, and several friends, hadn't ever seen the "Swedish Chef" before (one of the featured characters from The Muppet Show), "Bork, Bork, Bork!" Karen had linked to the Chef's donut making episode on YouTube.

While not having the Swedish ancestry that Ralph does, I did feel compelled to cook breakfast for Karen this morning. No, Ralph and I aren't COMPETITIVE...but our wives, as sisters, do talk rather frequently...

Anyway, in keeping with the international flavor (pun intended) and family context, I boldly entered the kitchen this morning with the intent to whip up a batch of cinnamon & pecan scones from a mix from Karen's cousin, Tammy. Scones are one of the major food groups in England and with three families from the UK and two from countries in Africa with colonial roots in the UK serving with our mission, scones are not unheard of in MMS circles. However, this is the first time this native Californian ever attempted to make a food he'd never really eaten. For those of you non-scone eaters, a scone is kind of like a flavored biscuit. Basically it's a pile of dough without icing (though it is okay to cover scones with something like cream and/or jam which are two UK topping favorites). This mix provided a pouch of powdered sugar to turn into a topping using orange juice which is then "dribbled" over the warm scones before serving.

So there I was. I had no idea what "cut in the butter" meant and was about to use two sticks of butter (for one cup) when the recipe called for 1/2 cup or one stick of butter. Sticks and scones can break my bones but too much butter never hurt me...no wait a minute...Karen walked through the kitchen just in time (God's sovereignty?) gave me the appropriate directions and corrections, and I continued on my merry way. Big dish, small dish, blend the ingredients, makes 12-16 scones...I went for twelve MONSTER MANLY scones...

Mixing the 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, and teaspoon of vanilla.

Fresh from the oven after 13 minutes at 375 degrees.

Ready to serve and "dribbled" with the sugar/OJ topping glaze. Not too bad...

Well Mark & Jenny, Andy & Esther, Andy & Heather, Mike & Isobel, Dale & Deborah, do these look like REAL UK scones?

What do you think?

Karen and I ate several the scones a few hours ago and we haven't had any negative side affects so I must have done something right.

Back in your court, or kitchen, Ralph...

End of the Week

2011-01-14T18:29:00.010-05:00

This past week I developed a couple new documents with Adobe Acrobat, shot/edited/posted another video on the MMS blog, handled a stack of email, worked with prospective candidates, gave a tour of the facility, supervised the approved candidate's support raising efforts, and answered the mission phone nearly every time it rang.

It was also a week of meetings. Department Head meeting, Senior Management Team meeting, a meeting with representatives of another mission organization, a meeting of hangar and admin staff to review our revised Standard Operating Procedure's manual, and before too much longer the hangar crew will sit through a review of our Certificated Repair Station manual. I'm exempt from that meeting.

Meetings move mountains. Prayer and faith do too, don't get me wrong, but in missions (as in any business or ministry) the better the information flow, the higher the level of communication, and the greater the level of combined creativity. When a group of well-informed, hard working, creative people all pull in the same direction with a high level of commitment motivated by faith in a Cause...God can really work.

Meetings and paperwork probably don't come to mind first when most folks to think about what it means to be a missionary, but after 14 years as a full-time missionary...communication is critical and meetings, good meetings, facilitate, enable, and provide a forum for effective communication.

Karen handled her own paperwork all day Monday, Thursday, and Friday, worked for the accounting department Monday/Friday, and worked for me Thursday.

Locally, the high temps are climbing into the 30's, the snow is slowing melting, and the Cleveland Browns have a new head coach. That may not be news to you, but for a transplanted Californian who misses the Los Angeles Rams and has adapted to rooting for the Cleveland Browns, it IS news. It hasn't been easy being a Cleveland Browns fan since they returned to the NFL in 1999. After 2, 5-11 seasons, the fifth head coach in 13 years is on his way into town. Of course, I guess I could always root for the Cincinnati Bungles...NOT.

We've Signed On For A Fifth Term

2011-01-12T19:40:00.008-05:00

New Year's greetings from Coshocton, Ohio!

We're somewhat surprised to wake up this morning and find January 2011 already half over. Wow. And yes, there's snow on the ground out here. Six very fresh inches of it...but as Karen, Tucker, and Tanner love the snow, I'm doing my best not to hate it. And actually, this snow isn't all that bad.

I guess the big news is we've just renewed our commitment for another three year term with MMS Aviation!

MMS Aviation, January 12, 2011

There are lots of exciting things going on up at MMS: aircraft projects are being completed, operational and staff changes continue to be discussed and implemented, one of our apprentices will complete service next month and has been accepted for service with a mission in Guatamala, discussion about expanding our administrative area has renewed, and we're only a few hundred dollars short of the Lord's full provision of the $140,000 need to complete the Raise the Roof Campaign! And along with that, the installation of the new hangar door and replacement of the roof is scheduled for later this spring.

Thanks for being part of it all through your prayers, your gifts, your love, your friendship, and encouragement. We look forward to keeping you regularly updated on how the Lord is working in us and through us at home, in the hangar, and at Fresno Bible Church.

Amen? Amen! We'll see you around the blogoshere...

Installing the Amphibious Floats on the Asas 206

2010-12-17T04:24:00.000-05:00

A major milestone was reached in the Asas 206 restoration project with the installation of the amphibious floats! This airplane will be operated from the liquid runway of the Amazon River and will taxi in and out of the river on a ramp that leads to the Asas de Socorro maintenance base in Manaus. We hope you enjoy the video.

Video: Here's What's Happening in the Hangar

2010-12-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

I shot this on a hangar walk-through last week. With five missionary aircraft in various stages of inspection, repair, and modification, our guys are keeping rather busy.

Not only that, but the Cessna 207 arrived from Africa on Friday!

The 207 arrives from Gabon, Africa.

Unloading the Cessna 207.

Saturday Morning View

2010-12-11T09:17:00.005-05:00

Saturday morning greetings from Coshocton, Ohio. We're enjoying a 24 hour break between arctic weather patterns. It's going to hit 42 today with the next weather coming in tomorrow with the high forecast for Monday at 19 degrees. 19 degrees with snow. I know that'll be warmer than some other parts of the US but it's still cold to this raised-in-Southern-California boy.

Pre-Christmas errands and some minor house projects seem to be the plan for my day. Karen's working on our finances. She's also baking some apple, raisin & nut muffins which are smelling rather good right now. I should know how they taste in the next few minutes.

They tasted as good as they smelled. Wish you could have been here.

Tucker and Tanner are doing well. They love the snow. They race outside and try to eat it all. This time of year their outside world becomes one giant snow cone.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated.

But if you don't mind, I'll embed a little video project that has languished unfinished since September. This morning I finally had the time, concept, and motivation to complete it.

For your viewing pleasure: "Into The Salsa Garden"

December Newsletter

2010-12-04T15:57:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Here's our latest Coshocton Flyer! Just click on the image to enlarge the newsletter.

First Snow and A Video Hangar Update

2010-12-01T11:46:00.002-05:00

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, but today we're having our first snow of the winter. It's light, flurries really, but snow is snow. Karen's really excited. Tucker and Tanner are really excited. I'm not really excited.

BUT there are exciting things going on up at MMS!

Here's a little video project that will fill in some history as both spar straps are now in place and the guys are prepping the engine compartments for engine installation. In this clip Jim, Terry, and Mike were making major progress with securing the left spar strap in place.

In other projects, Ian is shooting paint on the amphibious floats for the Brazilian 206; Jim and Paul G. are inspecting and repairing a Cessna 172 for ministry; Mike has just started an annual inspection on a SR-22; Andy and Mark are continuing the engine compartment work on the Cessna 402; Dale is conducting an annual inspection on a local airplane and following up on all the paperwork and problem-solving involved with bringing a containerized airplane from Africa into the US; and Scott, Paul J., Terry, and Chuck are hard at work on completing all the modifications and repairs on the Navajo used for ministry in Alaska.

Thanks for your prayers and gifts as Karen and I continue to prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Video: Cessna 402 Project Part 6

2010-11-23T14:57:00.001-05:00

Here's Part 6 of the ongoing Cessna 402 project. With the spar straps installed, the guys are getting the engine compartments prepared to set the engines back in place.

Back From Vacation

2010-11-21T21:13:00.010-05:00

Well, we're back safe, sound, and refreshed from our week away in southern Ohio. We rested, read, put jigsaw puzzles together, walked, enjoyed each other and talked about how God is working in our lives, marriage, and ministry. Thanks for your prayers.

We thought you might enjoy some photos.

Here's the cabin from above on the driveway.

The cabin from below. Yes that's a hot tub on the deck.

The view from the front window with the fishing pond through the trees.

The first of three puzzles we completed.

The second of the puzzles.

Karen relaxes on the sun porch.

We had a fire to roast hot dogs one night.

Enjoying the fire. Enjoying each other.

Taking A Break

2010-11-15T05:32:00.003-05:00

Karen and I will be "unplugged" for the next week at a remote cabin in southern Ohio. Tucker and Tanner are staying behind to watch the house. We're getting away for a time of isolation and rest.

But before we leave, I need to run into MMS for a meeting first thing this morning, and Karen has a dentist appointment. After that we're on the road. Everything's packed (games, jig saw puzzles, snacks, books, food, clothes), we just need to load it all in the car and head south.

We're excited about the trip. It's been quite a while since just the two of us have gone anywhere by ourselves without any ministry commitment to meet, ministry need to fill, or performance expectations to satisfy.

Thanks for your prayers as we rest. Please pray that we'll enjoy each other and that God will take vacation with us, too. We're expecting to meet Him there.

A Saturday in November & Mission Video

2010-11-06T08:59:00.006-04:00

Hello Everyone,

29 degree greetings from Coshocton, Ohio. It seems Saturdays are becoming my day to blog. That's okay.

Home
As this year rapidly draws to a close and Karen and I look ahead, we look to establish some different routines. Over the past year, our ministry to the Fresno Bible Church young adults in leading them through Steve McVey's Grace walk and Andrew Murray's Abiding in Christ, has impacted us deeply, given us new understanding of God and the possibilities in growing to know Him, and opened our eyes and hearts to desire an intimacy with Him we could have never before imagined. We're still trying to grasp it all and are trusting God to incorporate these Scriptural truths into the very essence of our souls. Its so exciting to learn there really IS more to God and faith than the every day grind we'd become so accustomed to and entrenched in.

I could run a list of the books and people The Spirit has used in our lives over the past three years, and is using, to re-shape our faith but now isn't the time. However, I will mention two more books, that are real and vibrant in our lives right now: The Complete Green Letters, by Miles J. Stanford; and Mansions of the Heart, by R. Thomas Ashbrook.

The Mission
Things at MMS are changing, too. The mission is entering its third year of organizational evaluation and reorganization. It has been, and continues to be, an amazing process where God is clearly at work reshaping and refreshing a solid, proven, and well-respected ministry to better meet the needs of a dramatically changing mission environment. This God-process is causing each one of us to dig deep within and determine on the most intimate personal levels whether or not we trust Him enough to handle every little detail of mission administration and operation. I can never get far away from Proverbs 3:5-6. I guess if I have a "life verse" that would be it.

On the technical side at MMS, the guys are tearing into the Arctic Barnabas Navajo. Here's a video I put together to begin documenting the project and a couple snapshots.

A week ago.

As of Thursday.

Replacing belly skins on the Navajo

Test Flight of LAMP's Cessna 337

2010-11-01T15:55:00.000-04:00

I just finished editing the video of Friday's test flight of LAMP's Cessna 337. The test flight went very well and, as test flights are supposed to do, revealed some minor adjustments which needed to be made before the airplane could return to mission service.

The guys worked late into Saturday evening eliminating the "squawks" enabling the aircraft to return to missionary service Sunday morning. This airplane will soon be back in northern Canada expanding God's Kingdom across four provinces.

Enjoy the video!

End of October: Saturday Update

2010-10-30T08:50:00.009-04:00

Here At Home
We're enjoying a slow start to our Saturday. It's 31 degrees outside, the sky is clear and the sun's just rising over the hill to our east. Karen's in the basement exercising. The dogs are curled up and asleep in their bean-bag beds. I did my workout earlier, have had my devotions, and am enjoying a pot of fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee. For the first Saturday in quite a while, we don't have any expectations we need to meet or ministry to fulfill or house projects to attend to. It almost feels like a vacation day.

Tucker

Tanner

The biggest question we face right now is what to have for breakfast...that's kind of refreshing. I believe Karen's going to make blue-berry muffins.

One of Karen's homemade muffins...

At The Hangar
The Cessna 337 didn't fly on Thursday but it did make its first test flight on Friday. The flight went very well. I shot video but didn't end up having the time to edit the clips. Fridays at the mission have a way of getting very, very short very quickly for some reason. There' s still 8 hours in the work day, but time always runs out before the task list does. And on Fridays, everyone also has weekly clean-up responsibilities. I clean the administrative area. Lord willing I'll put that video together when I get up to the shop on Monday and will have it posted shortly thereafter.

I'm currently involved in the application process with a young couple, am still supervising five families raising support, am producing short videos for the mission and some of the families in the mission, am updating orientation materials in preparation for the Swanson family's arrival from England, sent the December GroundCrew off to our graphic artist, recently re-wrote our training agreement with MAF-UK, met with my candidate evaluation team to debrief the four evaluations we conducted in 2010, and am involved with our leadership team in discussions related to operations in 2011. Actually, I spent a good part of Friday (when not shooting 337 video) reviewing and updating my binder related to all the BHS, CIS, ICE, and SEVIS regulations regarding my responsibility for our international apprentices.

Karen worked her usual Thursday for me and her Friday handling the MMS receipting and mailing list. She also supervised the stuffing/mailing of the 2011 MMS pocket calendar mailing. Those of you who have donated to MMS over the past year will soon receive your 2011 pocket calendars. Thank you to Dana, Sherry, Rachel, and Laurie who helped label, stuff, and stamp the envelopes!

At Fresno Bible Church
Karen just rotated off worship team, I'm still playing the drums, and Karen and I are about to wrap up 12 months of leading the young adult Sunday school class. We have four more chapters to go in order to complete discussion of Abiding in Christ, by Andrew Murray. Prior to starting Murray's book, we went through Steve McVey's Grace Walk.

We both continue to disciple individuals from church.

Thank You!
Thanks for your prayers, your friendship, and your gifts. We're blessed to be here in Coshocton serving on your behalf. We look forward to finishing 2010 well and being prepared for what God will reveal in 2011. We greatly appreciate having you with us each step of the way. And don't be afraid to stop by for some homemade muffins!

Muffins!

Oh, those muffins...

Cessna 337 Rear Engine Installation

2010-10-28T09:24:00.002-04:00

I shot these clips prior to the last video posted of the Cessna 337's engine runs and taxi test, but never had the chance to go back and edit these clips until recently. So, even though the airplane is going to be test flown later today, here's an earlier record of Scott and Paul installing the rear engine. I did add in some of the previous test run footage at the end.

Right now the guys are "swarming" the 337 while Scott puts the finalizing the mountain of paperwork that accompanies every aircraft project. Ian, Andy, Josh, and Jim are down there taking care of all the small details before they roll the aircraft into the fall sunlight and prep it for its test flight later this afternoon.

This airplane will be used for ministry in northern Canada.

The Arctic Barnabas Navajo Arrives from Alaska

2010-10-25T16:03:00.001-04:00

Here's a snapshot of the Arctic Barnabas Piper Navajo as it pulled onto our ramp this afternoon.

The Arctic Barnabas Piper Navajo

Arctic Barnabas flew their Navajo down from Alaska so we could replace the windows and windscreen, replace the belly skins, remove an engine and ship it out for overhaul, remove its flaps and elevators so a specialty shop can repair them, repair the engine cowling, install a new crew door, and conduct an annual inspection. We've committed to have all this completed and the airplane back in service in three months, by the end of January 2011.

Ian checks some details on GCI's King Air.

Late last week, GCI flew their King Air down for a wash. Here's Ian checking some details before washing the airplane. The airplane in the foreground is Pfeifer Evangelical Association's Piper Aztec which was in for an oil change and to have an instrument replaced.

Indications of Fall

2010-10-23T06:55:00.004-04:00

We've had our first frost warnings of the season. As I drove off to the mission yesterday morning, our neighbor was outside scraping the ice from the windshield of her car. After living my first five years in Coshocton without a garage, I've praised the Lord nearly each morning over the past eight years that we've been blessed to have one. As a guy raised near the beach in Southern California, it's rather depressing to stand outside in freezing temps, in the dark, dressed in several layers of clothing, just to scrape ice off the windshield before going to work. Not an issue when you can park inside a garage. Praise the Lord for garages, all you His people!

Dad & Jane were out for a visit. We had a nice week together exploring local and regional culture, eating at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl, spending time in Charm, lunching at Grandma's Homestead, browsing at Lehman's Hardware, and eating more ice cream at Hartzler's Family Dairy. We even went south to try Jack's Steakhouse and to ride the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway. Tip on the railway...it depends on how one defines "scenic" as to whether or not the railway is as advertised and if you have any loose teeth...don't get on the train...they'll be knocked out by the rough track...

Locally, the Coshocton County Fair and the Apple Butter Stirring Festival are over, the Fall Foliage Tours have ended, and the natives are closing down most tourist related activities in preparation for winter.

We are getting a new pizza parlor in town...Little Cesar's lopped19 feet of the Family Video outlet to put in a storefront. Putting a pizza parlor in Coshocton is like putting another crater on the moon...this town must already have more pizza parlors per-capita than any other town in the US. We will soon have 15 pizza retailers for less than 11,ooo residents. There's some sort of odd ratio in Coshocton that demands more pizza for less people. In the nearly 14 years I've lived here I only know of two pizza places that started and closed. At least in Coshocton itself, pizza is more Midwestern than meat and potatoes...unless you're ordering a meat and potato pizza...

Karen and I are doing well, are 3 weeks into an exercise/diet program that we're actually enjoying (only gained 3 pounds during Dad & Jane's visit), and Tucker and Tanner are fine.

Thanks for making our ministry possible through your friendship, gifts, and prayers.

An Update From The Hangar

2010-10-19T15:30:00.002-04:00

Wings With The Word's spar strap installation is in the home stretch. Once this strap is fully secured, the next steps will be to finish updating the wing wiring and re-install the engines.

Jim and Andy work on the right wing spar strap while Mike pulls wires through the left wing root.

Gospel Carrier International's King Air was in for a phase inspection. The inspection is complete and the airplane returned to mission service yesterday afternoon.

Ian inspects the King Air's right engine.

The Cessna 337 project continues toward completion. Paul J. and Scott are taking care of the final systems squawks before replacing the airplane's interior prior to its scheduled test flight next week.

Scott and Paul with the 337.

Pfeifer Evangelical Association flew their Aztec in for an oil change this morning. While the airplane was here it was decided to keep it for an additional repair. Lord willing the airplane will be back in service this Friday.

John Pfeifer talks with Terry about aircraft repairs.

You can see we're enjoying some very nice fall weather right now. Karen and I have been rather busy on several fronts lately and we hope to be a bit more bloggy over the next few weeks. Thanks for your patience, your prayers and your gifts that enable us to serve!