It Was Quite A Day At MMS

What a day!
First the Kodiak paperwork was completed allowing a Return To Service (RTS) flight. Then the flight crew graciously took four loads of MMS wives and kids and staff up in the Kodiak for flights over the local country side. While that was going on our German missionary pilot friend, Edger and his wife Gisela, arrived from Canada. They came down to load up the recently restored amphibious floats on a trailer to haul them up to Canada to put on the Cessna 185 we restored for him about a year and a half ago. While all that was going on the Comanche project was completed, taxied, run up, and prepared for pick-up by its owner. And in the middle of all that Williams, the pastor/pilot for Gospel Carrier International was dropped off by a Cessna 150 so he could pick up his Cessna 172 we'd finished. And add in Tusca, Edgar's dog, a wonderfully tempered animal, who made our three hangars her home for the day and wandered through rooms, around projects, in offices, greeting everyone with her sheep dog shaggy smile. And in the midst of all that activity, Dwight taxied a local airplane over to Hangar B for some minor repairs which would allow the owner to fly tomorrow with nearly all of the above happening between noon and 4 PM. Zowie!

It was quite the way to end the week. Here are some shots of the Kodiak.

Ready to fly.

Karen and fellow MMS staff wife Lisa after their Kodiak ride.

The Kodiak departs MMS to resume its national promotional tour.

You'll be hearing more and more about the Kodiak as it enters the market in greater numbers both commercially and in mission aviation. Remember, you saw the very first Kodiak right here, on Missionaries, Mutts and Stuff!

(Sorry for the font shift in the first paragraph. Sometimes Blogger just does weird things.)

Kodiak, Ceremony, and Cessna

Kodiak
Work continued through the day to complete the phase inspection on Spokane Turbine Center's Kodiak. I took the snapshot below just prior to Ian and Mike taking the Kodiak outside to perform a compressor wash on the engine. When I left the shop this afternoon the airplane was all cowled up and the engine run-ups had been completed. All that's left is to wrap-up the paperwork tomorrow and the Kodiak will be returned to service.

Ian observes as Mike safety-wires an engine component in
place prior to the compressor wash.

Senior Apprentice Ceremony
This afternoon we had our traditional cake, ice cream and wrench ceremony where the latest apprentice to complete service with MMS passes the wrench to the apprentice next in line to complete their service. The wrench signifies the "Senior Apprentice" in our hangar. Today Shawn Bupp passed the Senior Apprentice wrench to David Mozombite.

Here's Shawn (L) passing the wrench to David (R).

Shawn, his wife, and their three girls "The Buppettes" have been accepted for service with Harvest Aviation in Florida. After the "passing of the wrench" we capped the ceremony with cake and ice cream for the entire crew. Wahoo! The next ceremony should be early next year when David finishes. That's a long time without cake and ice cream...

Cessnas
Just because the Kodiak is here doesn't mean all the other work stops. Far from it. Work continues on the MAG 206, the Moody 182, and the MAF 206.

Here's a shot of Dale, David (the new Senior Apprentice) and Gertjan checking the fit of a wingtip fuel tank before making the final installation.

There's always something going on somewhere at MMS and usually there are several things going on everywhere! Thanks for your prayers and gifts which help make it all happen. We couldn't be part of this mission without you being part of this mission. May God receive the glory as we serve him together.

The Kodiak Inspection Continues

Part of the phase inspection the guys are conducting requires testing the Kodiak engine's fourteen fuel nozzles for even flow. Here are a couple shots of the guys using the test process as a training opportunity.

Mike, one of our team leaders and the resident MMS turbine engine expert, explains the theory and operation of the fuel nozzles in relation to the Kodiak's PT-6 engine.

Mike demonstrates how to install one of the nozzles inside the fuel flow test cabinet.

Once inside the cabinet, a test fluid is introduced through the nozzle under predetermined pressure to establish an observable spray pattern inside the test cabinet. Observing the spray pattern allows the mechanic to determine, based on manufacturer's criteria, whether or not the specific nozzle is still serviceable. Mike determined that this nozzle was serviceable.

Chuck practices the fuel nozzle testing technique as Scott L. operates the pressure regulator to adjust the spray pattern. Observing is Dale (L), Mike (C), and Scott G. (R).

The Kodiak Returns To MMS

The Kodiak has returned to MMS! Last at Coshocton in July as part of their national promotional tour, Spokane Turbine Center (STC) brought Kodiak 0001 back to MMS to take advantage of our hangar facility and so that we could assist in performing the aircraft's required Phase Inspection. Three of our staff, Dennis, Ian, and Mike are working with the Kodiak's flight crew, Jeff and Ed, to complete the inspection by the end of the week. To see our earlier post of the Kodiak's visit in July, click here.

The Kodiak is the first airplane specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of repeated missionary flights into unimproved and remote landing strips. It combines a turbine engine, a large cargo capacity, and short take-off and land capabilities and is proving itself to be everything hoped for in a powerful and rugged workhorse of an airplane. It has been referred to as "the new missionary mule."

It's a blessing to be able to partner with STC in this way.

Mike connects the "Get Jet" tug to the Kodiak nose wheel so Ian
can position the aircraft in Hangar C.

The phase inspection underway

Dennis inspects the left wing.

Bakewell Tart: Coshocton, Ohio Style

Boy, was I was in for a surprise this afternoon when I rode in from the shop. Not only was my beautiful wife waiting for me, not only were three happy dogs waiting for me, but there was a piping hot, fresh baked, scratch-made, BAKEWELL TART waiting for me!Is that something or what?! We each had a slice for dessert (covered in heavy cream of course, at 50 calories per tablespoon) and decided we were going to skip the next cholesterol screening in two weeks..Oh my. There's 3/4 pound of butter in this thing! It's a monster...a mouthwatering, delicious monster.

Karen and I were introduced to Bakewell Tarts in England during our stay at Ashburnham Place as part of MAF International's Facts and Friction course in July. You can check out our earlier Bakewell post here. As this was Karen's first attempt at English cooking, we discussed the tart as we ate the tart. It wasn't quite what we remembered, but it's well in the ballpark. Karen has a couple recipes for it (she found this recipe on the internet) and now that she has some context, she'll have a better feel for the next attempt.

Jolly Hocky-sticks! Chocks-Away! Smashing good show, eh-wot?

(Valerie, we have your recipe standing by!)

Opening Day of Salsa Season

Today was a big day at 368 McClain Avenue...(on top of homeowner project progress) it was OPENING DAY OF SALSA SEASON! Wahoo!

Here's a sample of the harvest.

Here's our Quality Control Inspectors Tucker and Tanner getting ready to put their paw of approval on the harvest. (They would have much rathered put their jowls of approval
on the harvest!)

Here's our highly trained and specially equipped staff of jalepeno pepper slicers and dicers ready to put the old chop-chop on the spicy salsa seasonings.

Salsa in the pot.

Salsa in the jar.

Oh, man oh man. The salsa anxiety is fading fast...

(Tanya, thanks for the tomato donation!) Lord willing, we'll get another harvest out of the tomatoes before the weather turns too cold.

We'll report on today's homeowner project in an upcoming blog.

MMS Senior Management Team

While I've mentioned the MMS Senior Management Team (SMT) in previous issues of our personal newsletter, Coshocton Flyer, and in previous posts earlier this month (August 7 & 8), it's about time we had a picture up to introduce each member of the team.Here's the SMT in the conference room having a conference. Starting from the near left: Tim Obarow, Production Manager; Bob Schwartz, Training Manager; Mary Satterthwaite, Director of Office Administration; me, Director of Human Resources; and Dwight, our President and CEO.

We get together once a month (more often if it's helpful) to report on our respective activities, projects, challenges, and to share our praises too. Basically, we work hard to communicate and coordinate to stay on the same page as we corporately manage our respective areas of the day-to- day activities of MMS under the Board's governance and Dwight's authority. Dwight's been with MMS 25 years, Mary 20, I've been here 11, Tim 7; and Bob 4 years. It's a blessing to serve with such a dedicated group. Thank you for your prayers for us as we seek to glorify God through preparing people and planes for worldwide mission service.

We also have meetings at the staff level to include our operational and hangar personnel. We'll get a photo and post of our assembled staff up on the blog before too much longer.

Have a great weekend. I'm about to ride my bike home from the hangar so I can mow the yards. Getting the yards done tonight will clear tomorrow to start the next "homeowner" project...installing hand rails on our front and porch steps.

I'm sure you'll be reading about it soon...

An Exciting Email From Troy Paul

I received an exciting email today. It seems Troy Paul, a prospective candidate I'd "recruited" for nearly two years was led to join a different ministry! So why should that excite me? For two reasons: 1) Because the ministry he joined and the role he will fill perfectly fits his natural gifts, and 2) MMS was a tool in God's hand in directing Troy to his true calling. I love it when that happens. Everyone at MMS desires to help others find their calling. If it's to MMS? Great. If it's to somewhere else and MMS can help discern that? Great! God is glorified either way.

Karen and I were blessed to host Troy in our home for a week in May. You can read that post and see a picture of Troy by clicking here. Would Troy have made a good missionary pilot/mechanic? We believe he would have. He'd purchased a plane, learned to fly, and certainly had the mechanical aptitude to be a competent mechanic. But as sometimes happens, God leads us in one direction to move is in another.

Just prior to Troy coming up, he and his wife were questioning the aviation part of their mission vision. While Troy was in the hangar, he talked with many of our guys, all of whom want one thing: to glorify God however He would choose to glorify Himself. In my time with Troy, I just listened to his heart and realized he was qualified to serve without taking another flight lesson or ever learning to be an airplane mechanic. All I did, with the help of the other MMSers he worked with and ate with and spoke with during his week with us, was provide him with some service options he hadn't considered and information to make some contacts he hadn't yet discovered. We talked, we prayed, and we rejoiced in God's faithfulness and grace leaving the revelation up to God.

Troy was seeking God's will the best he knew how by pursuing MMS and God, in his faithfulness, revealed His will to His faithful seeker by directing him somewhere else. It gives me chills to be reminded through this of how God's hand rests on MMS, our staff, and our apprentices. But not only that, His hand rests on everyone who comes into our hangar whether they are Believers or not. Whether someone is seeking His will, already serving in His will, or is a local aviator in a hurry to have us pump up his airplane tires so he can fly out for a $150 hamburger somewhere, God's hand rests on each one who enters our hangar. As Believers we are scripturally in his grip (John 10:27-29) and consequently need to be sensitive to His touch because we never know how, where or when we'll be enabled to make a God honoring difference in someone else's life.

There I Was Trying To Do My Job

I'd prioritized recruiting the past two days and there I was hard at recruiting this morning around 11:30 when I heard what started as a conversation between two women outside my office. Then it was four women and and then five women in conversation and (as conversation always does when four or more women gather together) it quickly deteriorated into into this cackling and laughing and hilarity that began to intrude on my serious world of man-work.

I was about to end all the frivolity when I realized The Head Cackler was my beautiful bride! Well, how can SHE be wrong in her cackling? So, instead of being the bad guy, I chose to be the good guy and took the picture of the five MMS women who inspired my morning. Here they are:

From left to right: Rena, wife of Dwight our CEO; Karen, my beautiful bride; Lisa, wife of Bob our Training Manager; Mary our Director of Office Administration and wife of Dennis our Chief Inspector; and Deborah, wife of Dale one of our Team Leaders.

And while it may not have been quite as bad as I made it sound, when these five ladies get together--you just have to stand back and let the adventure begin!

Karen's Home Safe and Salsa Report

Karen's Home! I just wanted to confirm that Karen made it home safely from Pennsylvania last night. All is back to "normal" again around 368 McClain. The dogs are happy. I'm happy. And Karen was pleasantly pleased with the projects I'd completed in her absence. She was so excited she went out today and bought enough paint to paint the entire landing, not just the steps. Ah, inspiration. So, be watching for future homeowner reports as an iron handrail also needs to be installed on our front steps.

Actually, Karen's up at MMS tonight with the other MMS ladies stuffing the August GroundCrew into envelopes for your reading pleasure. Once they finish stuffing the 6, 300 or so newsletters, the postal trays will be off to the post office and before you know it, if you're on the MMS mailing list, you'll be holding this very issue in your hands.

Salsa Report
I mentioned in the August 1 posting about my "salsa anxiety" related to this season's harvest of our Roma tomatoes, banana peppers, and jalepenos. Well, I still have a concern but at least now there are more and more tomatoes on the vines. The great majority of them are still green, however, and everyone's talking about how late the tomatoes are. Usually the peppers come in after the tomatoes, but this year it's the other way around. Our peppers plants are going great guns.

So, since you're on pins and needles wondering whether or not Keith's going to have enough salsa from this year's crop to last through next growing season, here's a picture of how the garden started:

Salsa Planting Day, May 22

How the salsa garden looks today, August 19.

And here's a shot of my "heavy producer" tomato plant.

This year, for some reason, the tomato plants are shorter than ever and the tomatoes aren't staying on the vine until ripe. They just fall off and we finish the ripening inside. All you tomato experts out there, what are we doing wrong? Anyway, we do have 65 tomatoes already in the crisper, but 65 tomatoes does not a salsa season make. We'll keep you posted.

I'm running low on the 2007 batch.

Blue Sky, Warm Sun, and the Rattle of Rivet Guns

We have been totally blessed by near-perfect weather these past couple weeks. Low humidity (36%), moderate temps (60-80 degrees), and lots of blue sky can make summer very enjoyable. Here's a shot I just walked outside to take:

MMS Hangar Facility

Making Noise
A noisy hangar is a happy hangar and our hangar is rather noisy now. The staccato sound of rivet guns, the buzz of grinding wheels, the soft tapping of a ballpeen hammer shaping aluminum to fit a wooden form, and the whine of pneumatic drills all combine to send the message that progress is being made and missions is one day closer to having the airplanes in our hangar back in service.

Asas 206-Brazil
Ian continues work on the control surfaces of the Asas 206 bound for mission service in Brazil. Right now we're so shorthanded that Ian's working on this project by himself. Fabrication and installation of aluminum skin takes time and requires a good eye, steady hands, and patience. Ian is well able to demonstrate all three.

Ian rivets aluminum "skin."

Moody 182-Spokane, WA

When I shot the video of the project earlier this week, Josh and Scott, were getting the "tunnel" ready to be riveted together. Well, that's all done and you can see the lower cowl sections are being secured to the airframe. This project still has a ways to go before it can return to Moody Aviation in Spokane, WA and serve as a training airplane for prospective missionary pilots.

Josh & Scott and the Moody 182

MAF 206- Chad
Gertjan's been taking care of detail work on the interior of the aircraft and prepping for the installation of the Flint wing tip fuel tanks. The tanks should be installed by the end of the week. Then they'll be able to fuel it up, get it running, and finish the putting the cabin trim in place and the seats in their rails. This project is in the home stretch!

Chad 206

Karen

As I type this Karen's about two hours away from home! I just called Tucker and Tanner to give them a heads-up and to get them cracking on cleaning up the house. I rode my bike today so I'm hoping they have the place all straightened up before I make the pedal home.

Me
Me? I spent the day in a meeting. So did Bob. So did Tim. It had been a while since the three of us had met and we had a lot of ground to cover to reconnect our three departments (HR, production, and training). There are many exciting things on the horizon as we look ahead. The challenge is fitting the new opportunities in with existing responsibilities and necessary resources. Yeehaw. But that's not necessarily new or unique to mission service. It's management. It's stewardship. It's doing the best we can with the gifts God has given us and giving Him the glory for it. Amen? Amen!

Thanks for making it all possible through your partnership and prayers.

Sink, Steps, and Surf Saturday

Normally, Saturdays are Karen's and my one day a week to start the day together. We sleep in (or "lay in" in English English), we walk the dogs, and then have our one breakfast together for the week. But with Karen in Pennsylvania this weekend, I started the morning early with a pot of coffee, a PhotoShop endeavor, and a project for MMS.

With the photos uploaded to the lab and the MMS project as far along as I could get it, I headed out to good ol' Wal-Mart to pick up a few things I knew I was going to need to surprise Karen. Things like a plumbing repair kit of washers, seats, and o-rings; and a belt sander...you know, the usual things you like to surprise YOUR wife with.

Well, Karen will be surprised as long as she doesn't check the blog!

Sink
The plumbing repair kit was to stop the drip from the spout in our kitchen sink.

It took me a few minutes to figure out how to shut down the water, but as soon as I accomplished that major task, I dove right in to removing the faucet hardware from the sink. When I pulled the innards from the faucet assemblies I discovered the rubber spring-loaded seat on the hot side was worn out. Ta-Da! I'm a plumber! Unfortunately none of the 75 items in the "plumbing repair kit" could fix the plumbing I held in my hand. So, it was off to Auer Ace Hardware for the real thing. Thirty-minutes and $5 later, I was back at it and had successfully reassembled the faucets.Unfortunately, when I turned the water back on, the faucets had two settings: on and full-turbo. There was no "off" position where the water would stop...Okay, I'm NOT a plumber.

It took a few panicked minutes to determine I'd rotated the faucet innards 180 from where they should be. So, once again I took everything apart and then put them back together and Ta-Da! I'm a plumber! Water on, water off and no drip!

Stairs
Last week Karen pulled the carpet from the steps to the landing between our kitchen and the basement. She was tired of the red carpet with black triangles. She planned to pull the carpet, paint the steps, and then put runners on the steps. But when she pulled the carpet the padding on the steps had been glued down with glue manufactured before the EPA was around which held on to most of the rubber backing. She did the best she could to remove the sponge rubber and adhesive...but this was going to be a job for a Man with Power Tools and this seemed to be the perfect morning to be that MAN and to go out and buy the necessary Power Tool: an nuclear powered belt sander...

Lord willing, Karen will come home Monday evening to sanded and sealed steps ready for her to pick the color coat!

Surf
No, there isn't any ocean within 12 hours of here, but there is one surfing DVD to rent over on 2nd street. I rented it. Later this evening Scott, fellow missionary at MMS and gifted harmonica player in our church's worship team, is coming over to grill some hot dogs and watch the surf documentary about the history of surfing large waves.

I haven't surfed since Karen and I were married six years ago (August 25). It'll be fun to at least watch surfing for a few hours.

Thanks for checking in. I need to go seal the steps!

Video Struggle

Well, I'd hoped to just post up some video today but after literally uploading, embedding, and waiting for it to appear for most of the day...it has yet to appear in the blog.

YouTube failed me twice and my little 50 second video has now taken over three hours to "process" through Blogger and has yet to "finish."

We'll I'm finished. I think I'll start a DVD and call it a night.

As an update: Karen's safely in PA and having a great visit with her cousin and Aunt.

The dogs and I are doing well in Karen's absence. The weather is great and I'm really enjoying riding my bike to the hangar.

The video I'd hoped to imbed was of Josh and Scott working on the Moody Aviation Cessna 182 project. If you'd like to visit YouTube to see the clip, click HERE.

Enjoy.

Karen's Off to Pennsylvania

Karen pulled out of town this morning headed to Pennsylvania. She's going to spend time with her cousin, Tammy, and visit with her Aunt. Karen plans to drive back on Monday. That means it's just me and the dogs for the next four days.

But before Karen left she made up a tub or two of three-bean salad, baked a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies, replenished my supply of Raisin Bran Crunch, bought a fresh pack of hot dogs, packaged three lunches for me from left-overs, and made two pitchers of ice tea!

Is she a good woman or what? Am I blessed or what? She is a good woman and yes, I am totally blessed by having her as my wife!

As far as my schedule: tomorrow I'm at MMS. Tomorrow evening a fellow missionary is coming over to watch a surfing documentary. Saturday I plan to attempt a couple simple home repair projects (at least they're simple in concept--we'll see how they work out in practice) and yard work. Sunday is church and men's fellowship and Monday, Lord willing, I'll be back at MMS and Karen should be back home that evening. There you have it.

Somehow me and the dogs will struggle through the next few days. You can be sure we'll let you know how it's going. Thanks for checking in, keeping us in your prayers, and showering us with your love.

MAG 206 and the Asas 206

It's time for a quick hangar report!

MAG 206
Work on the Mission Aviation Group (MAG) 206 from Honduras is coming along with visible results. The fuselage is back on its landing gear, the engine has been installed, new windows are in place, and the cargo pod is being pre-fitted before going back on the aircraft. It's great to see the airplane coming together. This is a classic aviation situation where an airplane came in for inspection and the more we inspected, the more we found, and the more we found, the more needed to be fixed but that's what we're here to do! To make sure the missionaries and pilots have safe aircraft and to train airplane mechanics for mission service as we do it. The guys have received, and are receiving tremendous experience on this project. Here's a picture:

Chuck makes adjustments to the newly installed engine, Scott L. works underneath making structural repairs, and you'll notice the cargo pod beneath the belly of the fuselage.

Asas 206
Restoration work on the Cessna 206 purchased in Alaska for service in Brazil by Asas de Socorro is coming right along. To check out its arrival at MMS on an earlier post, click here. The paint is partially stripped from the fuselage, the fuselage is on its side, and control surfaces are being repaired.

Here's the fuselage rotated on the passenger door side to facilitate structural repairs.

Here's Ian, the project Team Leader fabricating a new skin for one of the aircraft's elevators.

Please pray our hangar crew as they have much work to do but few hands with which to accomplish it. Pray for the mission administration as we strive to be good managers of the resources available. Thanks for praying, thanks for checking in.

Paul Jones, MMS Apprentice

Paul Jones is our newest apprentice at MMS. Paul, originally from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, first contacted me in March 0f 2003 to share his calling to serve in mission aviation as a pilot/mechanic. Paul had earned his wings in a collegiate flight program and was working as an airline pilot to pay off his student loans. Paul and I stayed in regular contact over the next three years leading to his application for service with MMS in the summer of 2006. After successfully completing the MMS evaluation in late winter 2007, Paul began raising his support team and reached his quota figure earlier this summer. He moved to MMS and began the hangar orientation process last week.

Here's a picture of me providing the two day HR component of Paul's "pre-service" orientation.Just joking...

While it's really not as bad as Paul and I made it look in the photo, orientation is critical to shaping the perceptions and understandings of the new missionary before they begin to face the realities of full-time ministry. Helping people understand an organization's weaknesses, strengths, dreams, desires, foibles, and sharp edges (and then offering the tools to help that person meet the challenges before them) is part of what Karen and I do. In this instance, Karen was receipting donations for MMS and consequently wasn't able to sit in with us.

Here's a more realistic picture of me and Paul.Something else I'd like to point out is how long Paul's been obediently pursuing God's calling. First he learned to fly in college. He heard God's call in 2002 and began contacting mission organizations. He was referred to me in early 2003 and arrived at MMS in August of '08. He'll serve with us for thirty months to gain his A&P certificate. That takes us to February of 2011. He'll then join a mission with an operational flight program, undergo at least six months of language training and will probably have another six months of field orientation before he finally makes his first solo flight as a missionary pilot.

He started this path in 2002 and it's likely his first flight as a full-fledged mission pilot will be sometime in 2012. Ten years. God will have prepared Paul for ten years before before he ends up where God ultimately called him to be (though he's right where God wants him to be right now). Patience? Sure. Trust? You bet.

Missionary pilots don't grow on trees. Neither do missionary airplane mechanics. But they do grow, and one of the places they do grow is at MMS Aviation. Thanks for being a part of Paul's path to field service through your gifts and prayers for Karen and me. After working with Paul for five years (through initial contact, continued counsel, application, evaluation, orientation, and support development) it's really exciting to have the privilege to finally orient him for service with MMS.

I hope it's exciting for you.

Coshocton Flyer Newsletter Mailing Day

That's right, the July Coshocton Flyer will soon be appearing in mailboxes near you!

Karen and I started this morning with the first of 500 newsletters and noted, stuffed, and sealed the last one about 8:30 this evening. I'd written and printed the newsletter last weekend and Karen had labeled, stamped, and return addressed the envelopes this week. Here's Karen in the midst of today's newsletter production.
We did take a break at newsletter 275 to go ride our bikes so we could take in a few minutes of the the absolutely gorgeous Ohio day outside.

Speaking of the newsletter, I think you'll enjoy the dog story this issue. Tanner had a lot to say on page 2.

Have a great day of worship tomorrow and be watching for the newsletter!

Mission Reality

This is pretty much all you'd have seen me doing if you'd been at MMS looking over my shoulder for the past week and a half. There I've been, sitting there staring at the screen and pounding away at the keyboard. It may not seem like it's very missionary-esque but, between completing the England report, preparing for yesterday's SMT meeting, writing the minutes today from our meeting yesterday, and preparing material for staff meeting next week (after which I'll write those minutes) someone has to manage and create the paper work that makes everything else move. Even so, my missionary world can sometimes seem pretty small. So small it only consists of a computer screen, a keyboard, and a ringing phone.

That's when I have to leave my office and get down to the hangar for a few minutes. Down there I can touch the airplanes that are being repaired so they can return to the field and carry the gospel to remote locations. Down there I can rub elbows with some of God's most dedicated servants who are either preparing other servants to go, or are the servants being prepared to leave.

The staccato sound of a rivet gun pounding rivets into aluminum or steel can sound so much more fulfilling than the clickety-clack of my fingers on plastic keys. The sparks flying from a high-speed grinding wheel restoring critical aircraft components to serviceable status generates a bit more excitement in me than watching another sheet of my mistakes being pulled through a paper shredder.

But each are part of missions...rivet guns and keyboards, grinding wheels and paper shredders. And while God, in His perfect wisdom, didn't gift me to work on airplanes (hallelujah!), He did privilege me to work in their presence as I serve in His presence. I can't imagine doing anything else than what God has gifted, called and enabled me to do with MMS.

Thanks for being part of it through your gifts and prayers. You're very much a part of every rivet that gets driven and every document that gets signed and filed (or shredded!). Karen and I couldn't be here without you and we rejoice in your partnership.

May God richly bless you!

Keith & Bob

The Senior Management Team meeting went well. It's always fun to get all five of us in the same room and then close the doors for three hours. Ha. Actually there is a lot of laughter, kidding, and appreciation that goes on during our meetings. The SMT consists of Dwight, CEO; Mary, Director of Office Administration; Tim, Production Manager; Bob, Training Manager; and me, the HR guy. I did present my report on our England trip this afternoon.

God has truly blessed MMS with a diverse and close-knit leadership team that works well together and has a unified heart for glorifying the Lord through the ministry of MMS.

Here's a picture of me (on the left) and Bob (on the right). Bob's our Training Manager. Bob and I work closely together in our admin roles and it's not uncommon for our responsibilities to overlap as situations require. Bob was in mission service for nearly twenty years in Alaska before joining MMS five years ago with his wife Lisa, and son David. Bob's a pilot and a mechanic and has a theological degree as well as one in Christian counseling. We sometimes call him "Pastor Bob" because part of his role is related to member care and he makes it so easy to sit down and to talk to him. He's a good listener.

Me? I'm a good talker. And I point my finger real well. That's why we need Bob. He balances Keith. Pray for Bob!

The Report is Finished

I wrapped up my formal report on our trip to England this afternoon! Now it's catch the last typos, give it a final edit, and head for the photocopier first thing tomorrow morning to assemble copies for the Senior Management Team meeting tomorrow afternoon. The body of the report finished out at twelve pages with fifteen pages of related documentation.

Karen gave it a read this evening after prayer meeting while I practiced with the worship team for Sunday's service. She caught some things I missed, made some editing recommendations, and brought up some additional points to consider. She's a great editor for me.

So, I'll spend tomorrow morning preparing for the afternoon's meeting, tomorrow afternoon IS the meeting. I expect to spend Friday typing up the minutes from our meeting. Monday I'll probably wrap up the minutes and finish the HR portion of Paul Jones' orientation for service. Along with all that, I need to follow-up on two months of recruiting contacts and begin to assimilate and analyze the MAF materials to see how Karen and I can best utilize them with future MAF personnel.

Karen ran out to Zanesville today to pick up the MMS August GroundCrew newsletter from the print shop. It looks really good. Be watching for it later this month! Lord willing we'll have our own personal newsletter out in the mail soon as well.

Thanks for making our ministry possible through your prayers and gifts. Please tell your friends about our blog. The more the merrier!

At the Airport, Back in My Office, Back in the Hangar

At the Airport
We did have fun running the dogs up at the airport on Sunday. It's beautiful up there now. Everything's totally green, the wild flowers are still blooming, there's always a refreshing breeze, and Sunday afternoon there were flocks of butterflys of all sorts flitting about. Here's a shot of me with the dogs. Don't I look like a real dog handler, outdoorsy type?
Back in my Office
This week I'm focused on compiling a written report for MMS summarizing our trip to England. My goal is to have it ready to present to the MMS Senior Management Team at this Thursday's meeting. I'm already on page ten, without attachments, and am hoping to wrap-up writing the main body of the report tomorrow.

Back in the Hangar
Back in the hangar the Cessna 206 projects continue. Summer can be a challenging time for manpower as vacations are taken, speaking engagements are kept, and special schools are attended. The crew did make it back safely from Oshkosh yesterday evening. We look forward to a report on all they did and all the contacts that were made over their week at the airshow. Mike is off at Flight Safety attending a two week King Air maintenance course.

Here's a picture of Chuck working on the engine for the MAG 206 headed to Honduras.

Here's a picture of Dale, with his hand inside the wing with a bucking bar, and Josh on the ladder, driving a couple rivets in the top skin of the Chad 206's left wing.

Whether upstairs in admin, or down on the hangar floor, we're doing everything we can to move missions forward, get airplanes out the door, and put technically qualified and spiritually prepared people out on the mission field.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers which make it all possible!

Dog Blog: Happy Dog Video

Tanner's Two-Cents

Well, Tucker and Hope and I are rather glad our humans are home. While Aunt Chele and Uncle Tim take good care of us while Keith & Karen are away, it's always nice when Keith & Karen come home.

We're pretty much all back to our regular routine of sleep, wake-up when Keith comes downstairs, go back to sleep until Karen comes down, go for our walk, eat, sleep, bark, sleep, run outside and bark, run inside and bark, sleep, wait for Keith to come home, bark, eat, sleep, watch the Weather Channel, have a snack, watch Keith & Karen go back upstairs, go to sleep and start over.

We did have a wonderful break in the routine Sunday evening as Keith & Karen took us to the most wonderful place around: the Coshocton County Airport and acres and acres of grass and fields to run through and explore. Not to mention stinky rotten things to roll in and tasty treasures to eat. Not necessarily in that order.

We've included a short video clip of how happy we were after running around. I'm glad Keith didn't have the microphone on, so there's no sound to the clip. That's fine. If there was, you'd hear all our huffing and puffing and understand how tired and worn out we were. Yes, we were worn out, but boy were we HAPPY!

By the way, I'm the big, handsome dog in the blue collar. Tanner's the girl in the red collar.

Friday's Finishing Thoughts

At MMS
It seems I finished the week at MMS further behind than I started! Oh well, it's like that sometimes whether you're in ministry or not. I did ride my bike on Wednesday and today and today's ride was a lot more enjoyable than Wednesday's. The hill didn't seem quite as tall this morning. One thing's for sure, it's a great year for corn around here. Highway 36, the four lane highway leading to MMS, is lined with cornfields. It's so pretty in the morning as the rays from the rising sun dance between the fog banks drifting through the corn (and me huffing and puffing in the little bike path trying to dodge the road kill with eighteen wheelers blowing their horns and kicking gravel at me).

At Oshkosh
MMS sent a team of staff members up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin this year to represent MMS at EAA's Air Venture 2008. Air Venture is one of the largest air shows in the world and mission aviation has had a growing presence there over the past several years. This is the first year for MMS to be at Oshkosh. I've talked to three of the team members over the past couple days and they're really excited about the contacts they're making, the people that are learning about mission aviation, and the aviation connections being developed. Please pray that Scott, Tim & Michele, Ian, and Dave won't lose their voices with all the talking and that they'll return safely to MMS early next week.

Evening Plans
After riding home today, I'd planned to mow our yard and the Stalter's yard but the evening thundershower commenced partway into the Stalter's yard (that's the house I rented for the first five years of ministry). Karen kept weeding the flower beds and I kept mowing until the yard was done but the grass was rather wet, and so were we, by the time we pushed the mower home. It looks like the Lord wanted us to watch movies instead of doing yard work this evening. We're currently under a severe weather warning.

Salsa Shortage?
I'm concerned that our tomato plants aren't going to produce as many tomatoes as we need to put up a decent supply of salsa this season. The bushes are smaller than any we've had before and the tomatoes look less robust and fewer in number. Karen thinks it's my annual salsa anxiety kicking in and that by the end of the season we'll have the normal 50 quarts on hand. I'm not so sure. The peppers are in early and the tomatoes are running late. Please pray for more tomatoes.

Thanks
Karen and I are thankful for your friendship, your thoughts, your prayers and your partnership. We're so pleased you're keeping up with our blog. May God bless you in an unexpected way this weekend.

Cheers!