Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Coshocton-Burlington Commute Continues

Burlington: June 5-9
I returned to Burlington, NC June 5-9 to work with Sean. I prepared material for that week's Board meeting, assisted with assorted administrative tasks, and participated in interviews with two families that are prospective candidates for the MMS/MAG pilot-mechanic training partnership.

The Coshocton/Burlington trip works out to an eight hour drive (one way) with a meal and gasoline stops thrown in. It's a relatively easy drive (no crazy interchanges, excellent roads, typically light traffic) with lots of fantastic scenery to enjoy through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia.

Preparing packets for the MAG Board Meeting

The MAG Board meeting in session.

As I finished out the week, Sean joined me in the car for the drive back to Ohio as he had multiple meetings scheduled in and around Coshocton.

Coshocton: June 9-14
We arrived in Coshocton Sunday afternoon and arranged for Paul Jones (MAG's Guatemala Program Director) to meet us at our house for a hotdog grilling session. Paul was driving in from Indiana to spend the week in Coshocton for meetings as well.

Sean & Paul on our front porch.

Sean, Paul, and Scott Grote (MAG's Director of Aviation Maintenance) spent Monday in Akron with the director of Hospital Shalom. Hospital Shalom is the Guatemalan hospital for whom we're to provide air support. Paul will deploy to Guatemala in September to begin the many months of groundwork necessary to establish our air ambulance service in conjunction with Hospital Shalom.

Tuesday: Sean met with a local fund raising specialist who has an interest in projects related to mission aviation and providing medical services to remote peoples. Karen whipped up some awesome grilled Turkey Ruben sandwiches and three-bean salad for our lunch. (I should have taken pictures of the sandwiches.)

Wednesday: I was up at MMS with Sean as he conducted a flight consultation with Jason Maust, a prospective candidate for the MMS/MAG pilot-mechanic training partnership. Sean also conducted a Bi-annual Flight Review (BFR) for Paul.

Sean leads Jason in conducting a pre-flight inspection. 
Here they're inspecting the airplane's rudder.

Thursday: Sean, Scott, Paul, and I met with Andrew Tonn, an Ohio based photo-journalist and videographer who as a passion for the people of Rus Rus, Honduras and for our work with them. Andrew came to MMS to shoot hangar footage and conduct initial interviews related to a new video project he's undertaking. Andrew intends to follow Paul Jones to document the story of how he became a missionary pilot-mechanic and to record Paul's experiences as he opens our new field of operations in Guatemala! Is that totally cool or what? Paul is a graduate of the MMS Aviation apprenticeship program.

Andrew interviews Paul in the front hangar at MMS Aviation.

On Friday, Karen and I drove Sean into Columbus to meet with an architect from Kentucky, another friend of MAG, who has volunteered to draw up plans to improve the hospital facility. He's also assembling a team to go to Rus Rus to survey the entire air base and hospital compound!

On Saturday Karen and I returned to the Kokosing Gap Trail to ride our bikes from Howard, OH to Mt. Vernon and back. It was a wonderful day for a bike ride. Here's a snapshot from the public garden along the trail. It's a great place to park your bikes and to take a short break!

We usually park our bikes on the small bridge that joins the trail to the garden.

Flowers in bloom in the garden along the Kokosing Gap Trail.

Thanks for your continued prayers as we live in Coshocton and commute to Burlington. We look forward to God revealing His plans for our move to North Carolina.

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