December Backyard Bird Blog: PART TWO

 Here's the promised PART TWO of our Backyard Bird Blog featuring sun and blue sky!

Downey Woodpecker: male

Carolina Wren

Northern Cardinal: male

Carolina Chickadee #1

House Finch #1

Carolina Chickadee #2

Eastern Blue Bird: female

House Finch #2

We trust your Christmas was filled with wonderful memories and that your New Year will be one of great joy!

December Backyard Bird Blog: PART ONE

Well, it's time for another winter backyard bird blog! PART ONE features several local feathered friends who've been hanging out with us this week. These were shot earlier in the morning on an overcast day.

Tufted Titmouse

White Breasted Nuthatch

Pine Warbler

Brown Headed Nuthatch

White Throated Sparrow

House Finch

Carolina Wrens

Stay tuned for Part TWO featuring sunshine!

Here's our Fall Global Flyer Newsletter!

 

MMS Aviation In Black and White

Back at The Shop

December Missionary Greetings from Coshocton, Ohio and MMS Aviation. This week Karen and I are up at the hangar for another candidate evaluation. As it snowed here Monday evening, I thought I'd present the photos in a nice retro B&W finish. Let the photos commence!

Here we are in the MMS Conference Room at 11:09 yesterday morning (Screenshot taken from the corner of my computer screen) coaching a young lady raising support to serve in Congo. We've had eight coaching appointments while participating in this week's candidate evaluation.

Candidate Evaluation

Dale & Jillian Liff are our final candidates of the year. Dale is an electrical engineer. Jillian worked in school services. They hope to use their technical, life, and ministry experiences to advance the gospel through missionary aviation. I've worked with the Liffs for the past six months. If the evaluation  goes well, Karen and I will begin their training/coaching process for support development.

Dale and Jillian Liff

Karen Operates High Speed Machinery

While it may not have a propeller on it, don't underestimate the danger and risk inherent in operating the MMS high-speed paper folding machine.

Karen folds December's "donor letter" for envelopes. 

She started and finished with all her fingers!

  Karen also helped prepare and stuff the 2021 MMS Calendar mailing with some of the             apprentice and staff wives (and kids!).

And Now For The Airplane Pictures

This Aerostar is used for ministry in Haiti. Our crew just completed its annual inspection.

LAMP just dropped off their Piper Lance for a new avionics package and routine maintenance. 

Gospel Carrier International's Super King Air 200 is in for routine maintenance. We've maintained GCI's aircraft for twenty years. This airplane transports Chinese evangelists across the US to reach concentrations of non-English speaking Chinese with the hope of Christ.

Apprentices Kyle and Josh work with Project Supervisor Jenny on the restoration of a Cessna 206 pulled from the bottom of a lake in Canada. In this shot they're repairing one of the doors. This airplane will be used for ministry in Canada once the restoration process is complete.

One of Missionary Air Group's Cessna 206's is in for an avionics upgrade. Project Supervisor Jim works with Apprentice Bryan to calibrate some of the new instrumentation.   This airplane will operate in Central America when returned to service.

Jim and Bryan push buttons and set numbers and adjust flashing lights in the 206's cockpit.

Thanks for your role in making all this happen through your gifts and prayers. It's such a joy to labor at your side in the name of Christ to expand God's Kingdom through preparing people and planes for worldwide missionary service!

Taking Care of Business At MMS Aviation

 Greetings from Coshocton, Ohio! 

I'm up at our hangar facility this week to assist with the In-Hangar Evaluation of Tyler and Sharee, a young couple from PA who've applied for Apprenticeship. This evaluation is the final step of their mobilization/application process and, should the eval go well, results in their change of status from Applicants to Approved Candidates and initial orientation for Partnership Development. 

The unusual aspect of Tyler and Sharee's application is that they have BOTH applied to the apprenticeship program. This is the first time at MMS that both husband and wife have applied to become missionary airplane mechanics. Usually one of the two enter apprenticeship. It's an exciting time in the hangar. 

Sharee completes replacement of an airplane tube and tire.

Tyler demonstrates his soldering ability.

Our staff will keep them busy Monday-Wednesday on aviation maintenance tasks and evaluate their technical and non-technical skills. Thursday morning we'll have an interview with Tyler & Sharee to debrief their week of evaluation, discuss the results, and if everything's within  training parameters, invite them into the ministry. If an invitation is given, they'll have the rest of Thursday to discern their response. Should they accept our invitation, we'll spend Friday in an administrative orientation and prepare them to be trained and and then coached through developing the team of financial and prayer partners necessary for full-time ministry.

But there are some other things going on in the hangar as well.

Supervisors Jim and Mike perform a static leak test on cockpit instruments.

CEO Phil Maddux inspects Austin's rivet exam during Basic Training.

Josh and Bryan learn maintenance of the PT-6 engine under Chris Jutte's supervision.

Volunteers are helping reassemble the cockpit of this missionary helicopter.

And here are the two major projects in Hangar A: Missionary Air Group's Cessna 206 (foreground) and Gospel Carrier International's Super King Air 200 (background). You can't see them but there are several engines in the engine shop for overhaul!

Thanks for being part of it all through your friendship, 

love, gifts and prayers.

Watch for our latest Coshocton Flyer newsletter coming to a mail box or inbox near you sometime before Thanksgiving!

It's Salsa Season and Summer Newsletter Time!

And a Bonus Backyard Bird Shot of what it means to REST.

Ordinary Time

In the Christian liturgical calendar "Ordinary Time" can be defined as, "...two distinct segments which together comprise the majority of the Christian Year: the time between Epiphany and Lent, and the time between Pentecost and Advent. Ordinary Time presents us with an ongoing opportunity to witness to the living Lord who makes all things new."

This is Ordinary Time at the office.

There is such a thing as "Ordinary Time" in the mission world as well. It's the part of ministry that isn't glamorous, newsletter worthy, and doesn't earn an extra special rating on the kingdom expansion meter. It's called getting up and showing up. It's going to the office or the village or the medical clinic or the hangar or the cockpit even though it's the last thing you want to do and then faithfully doing the mundane things that are the grease of "thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." It's reflecting Jesus as we can, where we can, when we can, to the degree enabled and empowered by His Spirit to do so. It's falling over and getting back up. Again. It is the never-ending practice of giving and receiving grace.

And with that come God's gifts of beauty, distraction, creation, and renewal. It's cyclical, it's seasonal on multiple conceptual layers and, through His grace, we have the blessing of a new moment to follow each past moment until our future moments become eternity.

Here are photos from some Ordinary Time in and around Graham, North Carolina.

Local Car Show

Hike on the Haw River

Reconnnection with a baseball friend: Xavier Fernandez, Birmingham Barons

Backyard Birds

Mac-N-Cheese Dogs at a Sock Puppet's Game

Thank you for being part of our lives and ministry in Ordinary and Extra-Ordinary Times. We serve at His pleasure through your generosity, friendship, prayers, and encouragement. 

We are so blessed to have you as part of our past moments, this moment, and the moments to come.

Spring 2021 Global Flyer Newsletter

 Here's our latest newsletter!

Bonus Bird Shot #1: Eastern Bluebird

Bonus Bird Shot #2: Northern Cardinal

Bonus Bird Shot #3: Carolina Chickadee

Thank YOU for being part of this ministry, having a hand in its Kingdom outcomes, and direct involvement in transforming lives and shaping eternity through your friendship, gifts, and prayers.