When the Husband Is Away.....

"For everything there is a season" so the Good Book says and so I believe! When Keith told me he was going to be away for a week in June I decided it was the "season" for girls week. My good friend Cindy and her daughter Joanna, along with Joanna's friend Lydia, traveled from PA to NC to spend the week and enjoy some time off.

Cindy and I go back a long time. I returned home after college to a new town where my folks had moved and so really knew no one. Cindy was a wonderful answer to my Mother's prayer for a good friend for me. We've known each other for about 32 years if I count correctly. Our friendship preceeds husbands, kids, missions and professions and includes all the ups and downs of life. She is a constant reminder to me of how God answers prayer (personally, I think a mother's prayers are especially close to God's heart) and provides for our every need.

We met in a retail store working in the craft department together and our faith and "craftiness" continue to define our relationship. Cindy showed me how and helped me hand knot my first quilt while she was here. I had sewn the top and we worked together to add the batting and backing and then knot them together. 

Cindy and I take over the kitchen table to knot my quilt.

Joanna and Lydia enjoyed some shopping near by on one of the days they were here and then came home and cooked supper for us all. What a joy it was to be served in that way and delicious too! They cooked a very healthy style of vegetable alfredo. Keith was glad there were some leftovers when he got home!

Joanna, Lydia and Cindy ready to serve dinner.

Joanna and Lydia are turning sweet 16 this summer so we decided to take a field trip and tour the campus of the University of North Carolina. We had such a fun day walking the campus with its beautiful old trees and buildings, stopping on campus at a unique little place for lunch, and then something special at the sweet shop. We all enjoyed the campus which I had not visited before either, and the girls got their first look and feel of a beautiful, and very large, venerable old campus. It was fun to be part of their first college "look-see".

Joanna and Lydia take a first look at college together.

Good friends are a treasure and a blessing from the Lord and I do not take that for granted. It's refreshing to spend some "down time" with those who have been through the thick and thin of life with you while never letting go.

So, while Keith was away and Cindy's husband and son (Duane and Josiah) stayed in PA to work and hold down the fort, we had girls week out right here in Graham, NC.

Friends for 32 years and counting.

MAG Staff Meeting & Aviation Summit, June 4-6, 2014

From Wednesday, June 4 through Friday June 6, Missionary Air Group held its first Staff Meeting & Aviation Summit. It was a blessing to have our entire missionary staff in one place at the same time (Carlos participated by video conference) to discuss organizational issues, review manuals, conduct training, and enjoy fellowship with each other and our volunteers.

Here is the assembled MAG crew of staff and volunteers outside our international headquarters. Carol is displaying one of Daily Donut's world-famous Apple Fritters.

The conference coincided with our monthly First Friday Fritter Fest. Scott washes down his second apple fritter.

Here's our aviation staff (left to right): Westley Wiles, Honduras; Sean Donnelly, CEO & Chief Pilot; Paul Jones, Guatemala; and Scott Grote, Aviation Maintenance.

Sean (left) conducted Paul's Instrument Proficiency Check as part of our conference. Paul is wearing "foggles" to simulate instrument meteorological conditions as he flies our Cessna 172 over Alamance County.

 Paul, me, Scott, and Sean on the ramp at Alamance Regional Airport.

The picture above is extra fun because God graced me to help bring both Paul and Scott into ministry as apprentices with MMS Aviation. Now I have the privilege of serving with both of them as part of a full-time, medical/evangelistic ministry saving lives and souls in remote areas of Central America!

And these are some of the people we're working to reach.

Thank you for being part of saving lives and souls in Central America. Your friendship, encouragement, gifts and prayers are what enable us to deliver Help and Hope by Air!

Fragile Component for Congo & Prayer for MAG Meetings

Delicate Aircraft Component Delivered
Karen and I had the privilege of being part of the solution to a recent, five month old, "How do we get this hand-carried to Congo, Africa?" question.

No, we didn't have the chance to hand-carry the delicate aircraft instrument to the Congo ourselves, but we did have the opportunity to hand-carry it to the volunteer who IS hand-carrying it to the Congo!

We were contacted by missionary friends of ours because of our proximity to Charlotte, NC (90 minutes SW of here). They were in central PA and had spent the last five months working to have this component delicately "land" at their field facility in Congo, Africa. They had a volunteer in Charlotte who was leaving for Congo and they wondered if we could work out some way to get it to him. The aircraft instrument was too valuable (nearly irreplaceable if damaged) to send via UPS, USPS, and/or Fed-Ex.

It turned out I was actually in eastern PA for a mobilization conference when they called and they were headed right by my location on their way into New Jersey for a missions conference. It couldn't have worked out better. They dropped the instrument by the conference on Thursday, I carried it back to Graham on Friday, and then Karen and I drove it down to the Charlotte area Sunday and delivered it to the volunteer heading to Congo. Totally cool. Thanks for being part of changing lives and eternities in Congo, Africa by being part of our ministry in North Carolina!

Here I am delivering the part from Pennsylvania, to the volunteer in North Carolina, who'll deliver the part to a mission aviation program in Congo, Africa.

Prayer for This Week's MAG Staff Meeting & Aviation Summit, June 4-6
This is an exciting week for Missionary Air Group as Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday our administrative, operational, and aviation personnel will gather in Burlington for three days of reports, meetings, and fellowship.

Our Program Directors from Honduras (Wes) and Guatemala (Paul) are already on their way up. Our Director of Aviation Maintenance (Scott) is coming down from Ohio. Of course Sean, Karen, and I are already here, and our Director of Pastoral Ministries (Carlos) will join us by video conference as he will have just returned to New Hampshire late Tuesday night after nearly a month in Rus Rus, Honduras.

On Wednesday our meetings will center around organizational topics. Thursday and Friday our aviation staff will focus their efforts on updating our Aviation Operations Manual.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we meet.

A Quick Caption From Tanner

"Thanks for taking such good care of our humans!"