The goal at SOAR is always to send our candidates to the field to serve. While we agree and fully push toward that goal it’s hard to see them go. This week we will be sending our next candidate AJ and his sweet family out from SOAR to begin transitioning to Ethnos360. He still has a few steps between us and being on the field but his time at SOAR is coming to an end. Please pray for them that God will protect and guide them and for God to bless the work they are doing.
Pray for Osh Kosh Airventure
This week, SOAR will be sending a team to Osh Kosh, WI for AirVenture. The goal of this trip is simple: connect, connect, connect! We will be there with several different organizations under the IAMA tent. If SOAR’s goal is to send as many Aviation Missionaries to the field then we have to make connections and partnerships with many different organizations. Sometimes we also meet new potential candidates from all over the country that are looking for other options outside of traditional school setting. Please pray that we are able to connect and build new relationships that will ultimately send more Missionaries to the field.
Ways you can be praying for us in July:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating. • That our team is able to make connections at AirVenture.
This month has been motivating here at SOAR. We welcomed our next candidate, Bailey George. He arrived having already completed his A&P License. He will spend his time at SOAR gaining maintenance experience and working toward his flight certifications. Bailey was born and raised in South Carolina and always wanted to learn to fly. While in college, Bailey was challenged by friends and family to pursue missions and aviation together. We are excited to see how God will use Bailey and where he chooses to send him. You can read more about Bailey here.
While we are transitioning Bailey in, two of our current candidates are completing their certifications and will slowly be transitioning to their sending organizations. Phillip Sneed became a licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic. Thirty months of practical experience is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to take the 9 required written, oral and practical tests to earn an A&P license. Please pray for Phillip and his wife Brooke as the visit SAMAIR (South American Mission) to see if this is a good fit for them. You can read more of their story here.
Commercial Training is Finally moving forward!
Admittedly, fight training hasn’t been at the pace that we would have liked, however we have been making amazing process this last month. Seth is well on his way to his commercial rating. This is the last hurdle before he can begin his flight instructor training. This week he earned his High Performance endorsement, this allows him to fly a more powerful aircraft. This is a major accomplishment because the aircraft that he has been doing his commercial training is high performance. The current pace and goal is to have commercial completed by early August and CFI done by early fall. Pray that we are able to keep this timeline. We are appreciative of everyones support in this calling that God has for us. We know we say this every month but the door is open to come up and check out SOAR anytime and go on a flight if that works out.
Ways you can be praying for us in July:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating. • That we find ways to connect and rest as a family.
These past few months have been extra busy at SOAR. We are so energized by what God is doing around us. Recently we were visited by JAARS and ABWE. The visits were for very different reasons, however, both are potential sending organizations that will launch our candidates to the field that God has called them into. SOAR also attended Sun n’ Fun in Lakeland, FL. This was also another chance to connect with MAF, JAARS and Ethnos360 some of the leaders in Mission Aviation. Each time we connect and interact allows us opportunities to help our missionary candidates find the right place for them to serve. We are so grateful for these opportunities.
We thought highlighting these two organizations that came to visit so you can see where some potential places are where our missionary candidates might serve, helps you understand the global impact you have while supporting us in our calling
JAARS – JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Service) is a multidisciplinary team of problem-solvers committed to the belief—and the vision—that people’s lives and communities are transformed as they experience God’s Word in their own language. You can read more about their organization here. JAARS has been working in Mission Aviation for 70 years and has a high standard for their pilots and mechanics. For this reason many smaller organizations utilize them to evaluate the training that pilots have received. Partnership with them means that our candidates will be able to be better equipped to serve on the field. We always want to be learning and growing and a partnership allows us to be able to grow and serve the mission community better.
ABWE – ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) is a global family of ministries that exists to fulfill the Great Commission by multiplying leaders, churches, and missions movements among every people. You can read more about their organization here. ABWE is a more recent organization that we have begun to partner with. Our hope is that we can give our candidates another avenue for serving in a different way. We also want to be able to share resources between the two organizations.
Living Sent
SOAR is prepping to send two more candidates this year. While this is sad for us, it’s also amazing to see how God is using SOAR to accomplish his work. You can read about the missionaries we have currently sent here. They are currently serving at Ethnos360, UIM, MARC, and Tanalian Bible Camp. They all serve in various capacities of aviation and utilize aviation to bring the gospel to the nations. Some more directly than others but all valuable in their own ways. These missionaries are physically being sent but I love how God has given them the heart to live sent long before they were on the mission field. Many of them began the work of partnering with God in their daily lives long before they knew they were called to missions. We see this in the candidates before they arrive and during their training. Many of our candidates along with their flight, maintenance, PD, and bible training also serve in their local church and other organizations. They bring a servants heart and a willingness to give. I am always amazed how God has knit them in that way. If you would like to read about our current candidates you can here. The two candidates we are sending out are hoping to serve at Ethnos360 and SAM air. We are praying for them as they finish up the last of their training and work toward the work God is calling them into. Please click the links and share what God is doing with people you know. They need prayer and financial support to get to the mission field. Please be praying for wisdom for Seth and me as we try to help them in any way possible to finish their training.
Personal Partnership and other challenges
We have now been serving at SOAR for over a year and we are excited about the work God is doing here. Some of our funding has run out and we are again looking for partners who are willing to join us in helping send candidates to the field. We love sharing our story both in person or at a church. If you know of someone who might be interested in hearing our story we would love to share. Please contact us or share our story with someone you know so we can get connected. If you are not currently giving or would like to give more you can do that here.
We are again blessed to see how God has provided. A few months ago we were presented with the challenge of finding another flight instructor. It is a challenge we continue to deal with. The flight instructor that had gotten Seth his IFR training was no longer able to continue Seth’s training. We are so grateful for him and the time he poured into Seth and SOAR. So we were on the hunt again. We connected these last few weeks with another flight instructor who is passionate about training well-equipped instructors. This is exactly the type of instructor we are looking for. This has been such an answer to prayer. Seth’s goal of getting CFI by the end of summer may still be a possibility. Pray that there are no more hiccups in his training and we can continue to work toward the goal that God has set before us.
Ways you can be praying for us in 2022
• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team. • That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that God has called him into. • That God grows and shapes our candidates to be used on the field and that he opens doors for them to be able to serve.
Ways you can be praying for us in May:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating. • That we find ways to connect and rest as a family.
For a year now Seth has been working towards getting his IFR rating. We have continually hit delays and schedule conflicts over and over it seemed. We have felt like we fell into the same hole that SOAR has been struggling to fill which is a consistent flight instructor. Finally, in the fall we got some consistency. This was a huge blessing. We have been so blessed by the people that have made the effort to make it a priority and helped push Seth to this first milestone. There is still a long way to go. The next rating is his commercial rating. We are praying that it doesn’t take as long to get this but we are on God’s timing aren’t we. Pray for us as we continue to push forward and push toward this next milestone.
Continuing to Share
This year has a lot in store for SOAR. We ended January speaking at an EAA dinner in Jeff City. We had a great opportunity to share what SOAR does and how the program works. Not everyone there was a Christian so we hopefully were able to open the door for gospel conversations also. Lastly, we hope that events like this open doors for God to bring the right volunteers to serve at SOAR. The event was supposed to have Kerrick speak but due to sickness Seth had to fill in the gap. We are grateful for opportunities like these to be able to connect with other organizations and people about SOAR and the mission. We have several more events throughout the year where we hope to share SOAR’s story. Please pray that God guides our words and steps to open doors and create relationships.
Small Moments
One of the goals this year is to get to Instructor rating. This means doing a lot of flying to get hours in. The bulk of time has been with instructors so our family hasn’t really had a chance to sit in the plane together. This month we have had the opportunity to take Jo up on her first flight and we got to fly around Springfield at night to see the lights as a family. With our crazy schedule sometimes we don’t get many moments to enjoy things like this. So we are grateful for these small moments. Hopefully, we will have more opportunities to do more flights with the girls this year.
Ways you can be praying for us in 2022
• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team. • That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that he feels God has called him into. • That God grows and shapes our candidates to be used on the field and that he opens doors for them to be able to serve.
Ways you can be praying for us in February:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating. • That we find ways to spend time as a family and
Growth is something that is hard. No matter how big or small it can be painful and difficult. This year SOAR has experienced a lot of growth. We were added as staff in January, and with that comes extra roles and jobs that need oversight and consistency. These changes have come with growing pains for SOAR but God has been faithful to lead. We are constantly reminded that this is his mission and we are partnering with him.
This year SOAR adjusted their tagline to better align with what we believe God has called us into. Mission Aviation Readiness is a statement about our commitment to not just give our candidates the technical skills, but also the life skills needed for a missionary in the field.
It was a productive year for our current candidates and alumni during this year! Here is a recap of what has happened with them. Candidates Abi McWhorter: became licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, became rated as Certified Instrument Flight Instructor, attended a summer internship with Send in Alaska. Matt McWhorter: passed his commercial checkride, became licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, attended a summer internship with Send in Alaska. AJ Hollaway: received his high-performance endorsement, passed his commercial checkride. Phillip Sneed: received his high-performance endorsement, earned his instrument rating, Josh Hamilton: joined SOAR. Madeline Hooks: joined SOAR, received her high-performance endorsement, reached 1000 hours of flight time. Alumni Jeremy & Blinda Dunn: moved to Papua New Guinea to serve with Ethnos360. Nathan & Kayla White: began training to serve in Mexico for UIM. Lance and Caitlin Rensberger: Lance gained R66 helicopter training and continues to serve with Ethnos360 at McNeal, Arizona. Fred and Lydia Holcomb: Fred is continuing to serve at MARC in Alaska through flight instruction and aircraft maintenance.
We are so glad to be a part of their lives and we have loved getting to cheer them on as they work towards their goals.
This year SOAR has grieved the loss of one of our volunteer instructors.
We along with other SOAR staff attended Oshkosh in July. We were able to create relationships with other Mission organizations and connect future missionaries.
Our candidates continued their maintenance training throughout the year through working on SOAR and customer aircraft. SOAR’s aircraft received much needed upgrades and our customers were able to receive quality work.
During 2021 Seth was able continue his IFR training. He has currently passed his written portion and is scheduled to complete the oral and flight portion in the next few weeks. Seth has also been able to utilize his background in construction to help with much needed facilities maintenance and upgrades. Deb was able to utilize her Design and Marketing to help create videos, graphics and update our website.
Ways you can be praying for us in 2022
• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team. • That Seth and I are able to support our candidates as best as we are capable. • That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that he feels God has called him into.
Ways you can be praying for us in January:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That we are able to balance all of our commitments. • That Seth is able to pass his IFR oral and flight exam.
What a great month this has been! With churches opening again, we have been able to visit more churches to help us finish our partnership goals. This is a new challenge for us to be speaking in front of large groups. We much prefer to be behind the scenes. We have been so blessed by the words of encouragement and prayer from these people. God has been using them to encourage us to keep moving forward and he has opened doors for us to meet with new partners. We are so grateful for the pastors and members who have taken the time to listen to our story.
This month has also been a busy month. Seth has been flying with the instructors as often as the weather and his schedule will allow. The next rating he is working toward is his IFR(Instrument Flight Rules). This is one of the more difficult ratings to get. It is about 80% academic and 20% practical skills. Our instructors have been working him hard and we are grateful for that because the end goal is to be training competent mission aviators.
Deb has been working with the marketing team to help SOAR better define their message. This is exciting work, and the fruit of this will help other mission organizations and the general public understand what we do. SOAR has a unique role in mission aviation and she is enjoying helping them refine what that message looks like.
SOAR is growing a lot in a short period of time. We have taken on several new members that will be a huge asset for us as an organization. This has brought some challenges in space and organization, but we are working through that. God has been sending some unique people to help us. Please pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our leadership as they try to understand what His vision is for this organization and how to steward the people that he is bringing for His glory.
Foundational Intentionality
One of my (Seth) current flight instructors is a very successful United Airlines pilot. He felt the call to missions at a young age but the opportunities never came. He is currently serving at SOAR two days a week coming alongside us to help develop the flight department. The thing I appreciate the most about him is his wisdom. It has taught him that the foundation of God’s word is essential, even in our everyday tasks. Yes, I know this idea sounds elementary but we begin each flight lesson with a foundation of Gods word. Sharing where we are individually in Gods word and how that applies to what we are doing. All this happens before we brief our flight or even talk about flying. I challenge you to try this in your everyday tasks and be amazed at the difference it will make.
Ways you can be praying for us:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That God will continue to create unity and a clear vision for what comes next with SOAR. • That we will always be quick to give God all the glory for the work he is doing.
Here we go again. This past year has felt like change after change. From the sale of the house to the shift in jobs, we have not felt settled. This month starts another shift for us. The first week of January we began working at SOAR. This was a bigger shift than we were expecting. Now our side work that we were doing in the evenings and weekends is now our day job. Things that we would normally wait till we had spare time are now our main focus. Seth began his more intense flight training and Deb began helping with marketing. This is also the first time we have ever worked in the same office. We are having to think through how to create separation of work and family. As we switch from a full schedule with every evening booked to living out intentionally during our daily schedule. I really think God is shifting us from our old focus’ to new goals and to a focus of long term goals and really leaning into Him and the path that he has lain out before us. This takes lots of intentionally in prayer and study of his word, and extra focus to slow down and listen. We would love some feedback on what tools and disciplines that you guys use to be successful in this area. It has been a huge shift for our family but ultimately he is working for our good to do what he is calling us to.
Winter Flying Woes
Weather dictates so much of when we do and don’t fly in light general aviation airplanes. I (Seth) find myself becoming much more aware of the weather conditions daily. I have been trying to keep a schedule of flying 3 times weekly. This is certainly difficult during the winter months. Battling clouds, precipitation, and winds when is warms up a bit as they can easily get above the airplanes maximum wind rating. I am trying to get through my instrument rating within the next three months. When trying to earn a new rating in an airplane its important to be consistent and frequent to polish those skills as they are being learned.
This last month one of the Mission Candidates and I flew down to northern Arkansas to a grass strip to scout it for future training flights. This is part of a long term goal of mine to build a network of places to fly that will give our students more of an ability to learn advanced skills that they will need before getting to the Mission Field.
Ways you can be praying for us:
• That relationships will be built at SOAR and God helps us love those around us well. • That God will continue to build partnerships. • That Seth will be able get the remainder of his flight hours quickly.
As this year comes to a close we know that many of you have gone through major transitions of your own. 2020 has been the year to remember for sure. We however can’t begin to express our gratitude for each of you that have chosen to come alongside us this year. We would not have been able to get through this season without your prayers and support. Your love and encouraging words have been a huge comfort and a place of stability for us this year. From our Family to yours. Merry Christmas!
Training the Trainer
Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine your spouse is sitting in the car beside you trying to teach you how to drive without you being able to look out the window. Now for some of you, this picture is enough, there is no way in the world you would ever entertain this idea, especially from a spouse because you already know the outcome, but alas I will continue. It doesn’t take long for you to build up confidence that you’ve mastered this as you are driving straight down the wide 2 lane road keeping your speed perfect and the car right between the lines. About this time your spouse gets the genius idea to drive through this random neighborhood. Oh, look honey it’s our dream house, BABE, your driving in the ditch, ouch that was one of those brick mailboxes. Nevermind that this whole time you were never supposed to see outside and they were supposed to be coaching and cross-checking you not searching for dream homes. Now you are flustered and the equilibrium in your inner ear is all messed up and you can’t quite get back on track again even though you are out of that neighborhood and back on that wide 2 lane road. If we take away something that we take for granted, like sight reference, it makes the task that we could probably actually complete without seeing it very difficult to recover from something unexpended without that reference. Learning to fly an airplane on instruments is much like this, I took for granted the sight reference that was always able to reacclimate me to straight and level. While flying an airplane on instruments your equilibrium can get messed up but you have to fight the urge to listen to what your body tells you and trust the instruments. Thanks to Josh my patient flight instructor for bearing with me while I take us all over the sky. Climbing, descending, left turning, right turning, and rarely straight and level. At least he gets to smile in pics while I am struggling to keep the airplane headed in the correct direction. (Photo included for all your viewing pleasure)
Do We Really Trust God to Follow Through
From the beginning, we set a launch date goal of January 2021. We knew that this would be a lofty goal just on its own. We prayed and felt like this was the goal we wanted to accomplish, surely it wasn’t something a little hard work could overcome. Then a pandemic hit. Nothing could have prepared us and anyone around us for the year that 2020 became. Any and all resources we had access to, just didn’t have the info or experience we needed to develop partnerships in a pandemic. There was no other path but to trust God. So we set out this year trusting that if we were going to hit the goal of being able to launch in 2021, God would provide. And provide he did. We have seen some amazing things happen this year. God has provided and we have reached 60%! This is amazing considering the circumstances and could have only been the work of God. Now I know what you are thinking. Um guys 60% is not 100% and you would be correct. In October after we had worked so hard to try to get the remaining 40% we were beginning to think that we would not be able to make our January goal. We had been praying and asked everyone we knew to be praying that God would provide but we just didn’t see how we could make 60% of our budget work. We were disappointed but hopeful that God’s timing was best. At the end of November, we were surprised again by God’s provision. The remaining 40% for the year 2021 was covered by a one time gift. Now we are not at 100% of our monthly giving budget but this means that we will be launching and beginning our work at SOAR in January of 2021. We were shocked. I laugh as I write that sentence because if you notice at the beginning of the story I said we prayed for God to make this happen. He did. Why are we so shocked when God gives us what we ask from him? Is it because we don’t actually believe he is God or that we don’t trust that he actually will provide what we need. I don’t know, but we are overflowing with gratitude for the goodness of God. Now notice I said that we still have 40% of our monthly giving. So that means we still have work to do but now Seth is able to finish his training beginning in January and we have time to finish building the remaining partnerships with a little more breathing room in our schedule. Pray for us in this season of change for our family. We are nervous and excited to see what God is going to do with 2021.
Praising God:
• Jordis’ surgery was successful and she has made a full recovery.
Ways you can be praying for us:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That our family stays strong as we continue to transition into our new schedule. • That the transition into our new jobs goes smoothly and we are able to clearly see the direction that SOAR needs to be heading.
September was mostly quiet. We have been spending the month getting into a rhythm with school and we are continuing to meet with people building partnerships. We are trying to squeeze those last few drops of summer out with a few more camping trips. October however, will bring some new challenges for many reasons. First, we have a few churches that we are beginning to build relationships with so that we can create partnerships. This process of meeting with churches has come late in our journey due to COVID. Please be praying for us as we share our hearts and God’s will for our lives to these churches. Second, many of you know that our youngest daughter deals with an eye condition called Exotropia. We have monitored her eyes for a couple of years now and it has come to a point where surgery is needed. The surgery is very common and is considered outpatient surgery. We are trusting in God’s hand to protect our sweet girl. Please pray for peace for us and God to guide the hands of the surgeon.
Pushing Through The Stall
In August families including us began the transition back into school season. This made partnership meetings inconsistent and difficult. We felt the pressure of the partnership goal increase more than it had been prior. God has proved Himself faithful through this season and has given us the strength to push through the stall. September was a month of gaining momentum, learning how to adjust to a new season for everyone, and finding our new rhythm. We are sharing our story with our home church, LifePoint Church this weekend. This weekend is our church’s 16th anniversary and we are honored to have this privilege on such a milestone day. Sharing with our home church will kick off a season of sharing with other churches that God has been providing opportunities to speak with. If you don’t have a home church or yours isn’t currently meeting we would love for you to join us at our home church. We would love to share what God is doing at your home church as well. Contact us to set up a meeting. God is getting ready to do some amazing things we couldn’t be more excited to partner with him.
God is our Cornerstone
During the month of August, I (Seth) found myself relying on my own strength to push through. Days were long and I thought if I just do more we can get this to work. Just one month of relying on my own strength in partnership development was too much of a burden for me to carry without depending on the one who strengthens me. God reminded me that he is the one who is doing the work and I am coming alongside him. This meant that I am to look to his word for direction, encouragement, and depend on the firm foundation that he has already established. Friends, what season are you in? Is God the one leading, or are you carrying a burden you shouldn’t? Are you going the other direction alone instead of walking beside him? Rest in these words from 2 Timothy 2:19 (But God’s firm foundation stands bearing his seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity”).
Ways you can be praying for us:
• That God will protect our sweet girl and that she will have complete healing. • That God will continue to build partnerships. • That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules. • That God would give us wisdom for these upcoming months.
New Video post! We wanted to share a bit of history. Click the video to watch.
Back to School for everyone!
August in our home means that it’s time to start back to school for the kids. This is our 7th year of homeschooling. The girls participate in a homeschool co-op that we are fortunate to be able to attend this year. We are excited about the new school year and getting back into rhythms. The girls are not the only ones going back to school. A unique opportunity has come up for some specialized training for me (Seth). Our original plan was to begin training in January but we were contacted by a pilot who volunteered to help train me. Please pray for our schedules. This season has already been busy with partnership building and now school this will add another thing to our full schedules and we will need God to sustain us during this season.
Training Opportunities
Most of you have heard me talk about my vision for the flight training at SOAR. The need for specialized training specifically geared towards the demands of mission aviation. I have been praying that God would provide for us the resources to build a curriculum from the ground up with the guidance of someone with real-world practical experience. This month I met with a missionary pilot on furlough from Papua New Guinea that serves with Ethnos 360. He is actually the training director in-country and has the primary role of getting new in-country pilots up to speed and also oversees recurring training. He and I will work together to build the new curriculum for SOAR. He has volunteered to take me through the rest of my training. This is a huge opportunity for him and us to take a blank slate so to speak and mold it the way that we can use our resources more efficiently. Equipping our students better and more prepared for the mission field is at the core of my vision. Stay tuned in the upcoming months for updates on this!
Family Reunion (Deb)
For our family, July/August is usually filled with church camp, mission trips, and many other things. This year all of that has been different. We have been blessed with opportunities to use our summer to serve but they look very different than we are accustomed to. One thing that we look forward to each year is that my (Deb) family gathers for a family reunion. I know many of you are rolling your eyes but we genuinely enjoy it. The weekend is filled with games and family time. We end the weekend every year with a small worship service. Hands lifted in love to our savior who sustains us each year. This year’s reunion was different for us and we were sad about all the changes. It was during this season we were reminded how grateful we were to be together. We were grateful for his provision and we were grateful for his grace which sustains us. The four of us have had a lot of ups and downs this summer. It was in this service where we sang “The Blessing” over our family and future generations that God reminded me he has been working and will continue to work. He was the reason we were together. Yes, we have family ties to each other, but we were also connected because we were a part of a larger family. God is working in each moment and each event for our good and his glory. Our home church regularly says this blessing at the end of the service, it has been such a sweet reminder of his goodness. So with this, I wanted to send this blessing over all of you who are reading this today.
Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Ways you can be praying for us:
• That God will continue to build partnerships. • That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules. • That God would give us wisdom for these upcoming months.