Left: Jolene Erlacher is a leading researcher on Gen Z and has given us some great direction for Mission Aviation. Right: Our mission candidates were also able to connect with mission agencies from all over the world.
March and April have flown by this year, largely marked by our involvement in the IAMA conference. This year, we were excited to host 38 agencies in Bolivar, Missouri. Among our guest speakers were Jolene Erlacher, author of “Mobilizing Gen Z,” and Ryan Batchelor, Leadership Consultant at the Table Group. Additionally, we had the privilege of hearing from several speakers representing organizations pioneering innovation in Mission Aviation, along with those highlighting field and local needs. While the week left us feeling exhausted from the rigors of hosting, it also left us invigorated by the momentum driving Mission Aviation forward.
Left: We were honored to have our pastor share at the conference this year. Right: It’s amazing to watch this community surround the next Generation of Mission Aviators and cover them in prayer.Bella this year chose to help us during the event. We loved being able to watch her serve others so willingly.Heath Adamson shared at the dinner that was hosted at Convoy of Hope.It was a lot of fun to share some local favs like Leong’s (The original cashew chicken) and Andy’s Frozen Custard.
In a bold move, SOAR ventured into new territory by partnering with Convoy of Hope to introduce Mission Aviation to Southwest Missouri in a first-ever Community Banquet. The event proved to be a success, providing a platform for various Mission Aviation Groups to share their stories with the local community. It was a bit surreal to have both our local community and our mission aviation community collide. Convoy of Hope graciously hosted our banquet, with Heath Adamson, Senior VP of Global Program at Convoy of Hope, sharing a bit about Convoy of Hope and some words with our guest. The event also provided an opportunity to connect Convoy of Hope with Missionary Aviation organizations that can assist them in their service endeavors both locally and abroad.
Left: The Mission Aviation community sharing with our friends and family. Right: Dinner with the community.We were so honored to have the presence of numerous family friends here with us. While we regret not capturing a photo with each of you who came to show your support, please know that we are immensely grateful for the encouragement you provide us.
Kids and Missions
Another aspect of our packed schedule this month involved engaging with our home church’s children and sharing about our work. This is by far one of our favorite things to do in ministry. From preschoolers to sixth graders, we explained what mission aviation entails and how SOAR contributes to spreading the Gospel worldwide. If your church is interested in learning more about Mission Aviation, please reach out to us. We’re always eager to connect and share our journey, illustrating how God utilizes aviation for His purposes.
Welcome to Bolivar… Kind of
Last, our recent months have also been busy due to our relocation to Bolivar, which has been a time of adjusting to new rhythms. While Bolivar isn’t the smallest town we have lived in, it is notably smaller than Springfield where we lived for 17 years. Additionally, frequent trips to the Springfield area for school, church, and other commitments have kept us on the move. However, the tranquility of small-town living has been a welcome change for our daughters, with Jordis mastering bike riding in the driveway and Bella exploring the neighborhood freely. Although our new home is smaller, we view it as an opportunity for hospitality and community. Despite still unpacking boxes, we are trusting in God’s guidance and peace as we acclimate to this new chapter of life. Please be praying for us as we end the semester and things become more final.
Last month we mentioned that we would be attending a Train The Trainer event in Waxhaw NC. Last week we attended the event and it was a great time of collaboration. Two days of training on several topics were covered that will help us be better trainers. We learned how to communicate more clearly, identify attitudes and influences that are affecting the learning process, and how to be safer by helping our students critically think. This was just the first of many training events to come. Thanks to JAARS for hosting, and all the other schools like SOAR that attended. This shows their commitment to using aviation to spread the Gospel.
Seth and Madeline are ready for another day of class.
A Big Move
For some time now we have been feeling the pull to make a big change for our family. One of the prayers for our work at SOAR was that we could build community with the people there. This has been more difficult than we ever imagined. We expected the culture to be similar to Springfield, where it is not uncommon for people to drive 30 to 40 minutes daily. However, living life together so far from each other’s living rooms has made this challenging. We understood that navigating life together might present challenges, yet the full extent of the issues only became apparent during a Fall meeting, where numerous relationship struggles and concerns at SOAR surfaced. Our hearts were heavy and broken and we felt God confirming that this was the direction we needed to go, knowing all that we would have to change. So with much prayer, counsel, and hope we decided to move to Bolivar. We will continue to be at our home church until the Summer to finish out the semester. Please be praying for our family. This is a big change for our girls and there are mixed feelings about this. We are sad to be leaving so many people and things that are so familiar with but we are pressing into the Lord for his peace as we make this huge adjustment for our family.
Somehow by the grace of God, we have managed to reach our third year in ministry. It seems to have flown by and gone slowly all at the same time. Thank you for another year with us as we launch into a new exciting season of ministry. We have some big plans for the year and here are a few that you can be praying for.
Cessna 206 advanced high-performance checkout
CFI-I ( Instrument Instructor)
Implementing the KSAs and Professional Behaviors (Soft Skills)
An Icy January
January is a mixed bag when it comes to flying weather. This year January has been filled with ice and freezing temps. We have been blessed to stay warm and not have to get out into these frigid temps. This means Seth is not doing much flying. But that doesn’t mean it has been slow. This has been a great opportunity to begin implementing KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills & Attributes) into flight training and moving in that direction. The focus on attributes (soft skills) allows us through technical training to evaluate how they will handle real-world issues. It also gives us a measurable way to track progress in this area.
Wedding Season?
This month we were busy celebrating some special days with two special couples. Josh one of our mission candidates who is specializing in Maintenance met his sweet wife Bethany during his time in our program. The other was a special and old friend of ours. We so loved celebrating this time with both couples and it was nice to have an excuse to dress up.
Coming up!
Feb 22-24 JAARS- Train the Trainer event in Waxhaw, NC: This is the first event coming out of the MAST (Mission Aviation Specific Training) summit to help us standardize as flight instructors in this mission aviation community.
March 12-14 IAMA Conference (International Associaton of Missionary Aviation)- This is exciting that for the first time, we will host this annual event in Bolivar. Stay tuned for more details about how you can be involved
I am sure you all have been wondering where we have been. The fall historically has been a busy season for Deb but this year was especially busy. She has taken on some extra work to help fill some of the gaps financially. This means some things at SOAR for her have taken a back seat to make sure our family is taken care of. That being said a lot of things have been happening this fall at SOAR and we are excited to share what is new and how God is using SOAR to make our Mission Candidates (students/missionaries) ready to serve on the field!
Closing out the Season
Moving out of the busy summer season the fall brings some reprieve from busyness in all aspects. We are finishing the airshow and conference season strong and are thankful for the relationships built with new potential candidates and the strengthening of the partnerships with other mission organizations. Seth and Jordis headed to Nashville, TN for the last scheduled conference of the year. This was a quick one-day event that is missions focused, it is a free event for the local community. The event allowed us to share about and represent SOAR and the work we are doing.
School is back in Session!
As many of you know we homeschool our kiddos and in the fall we began our 10th year of Homeschooling. That’s crazy to us! Bella started High School and Jordis is in Kindergarten. Bella also participated in volleyball, student council, & worship team at both church and Co-op. This has made for a very busy season but we have loved watching her grow in her skills and gifts.
WELCOME SKYLER & NICKI!
We are so excited to welcome Skyler and Nicki Redding our newest MC. Skyler and Nicki will be joining SOAR to begin their preparation for serving in missionary aviation. He was raised in Iowa and always knew the importance of missions. While attending Ethnos360 Bible Institute, God put it on his heart to pursue mission aviation. Skyler and Nicki met while at the Bible Institute and they were married in March of 2023. Once they have finished raising support and moved to Bolivar, Skyler will be training to earn both his A&P and his pilot’s license. Deb has been working closely with them on partnership development and it has been fun to watch them grow in this area and we at SOAR are thrilled to welcome them to our program.
MAST (Mission Aviation Specific Training)
I know, another acronym! While aviation is already full of acronyms SOAR wanted to muddy the water a little more by adding another! Seth and Kerrick began the year trying to focus on where we are taking the SOAR flight department in the future. We felt a sense of need for clarity in how the mission originations were viewing the candidates and their level of readiness when they were being evaluated coming out of our program when we reached out to other mission aviation training programs that were feeling the same thing. What started as a collaboration between Seth, Kerrick, and a representative from JAARS (The main mission aviation evaluation organization) turned into a summit with several training programs being represented held at Bolivar. We determined and made a list of 3 main objectives. We all need to accomplish these to make sure that all of the organizations that are training missionary aviators need to focus on them. Making sure the candidates are ultimately successful in reaching the mission field. These are: 1) Mission Aviation Candidate Testing and Evaluating Standards(When Training is completed. 2) Train The Trainer (T3) (Standard Training for all mission aviation CFI’s). 3) Standardized Mission Aviation Curriculum. Number 3 is near and dear to Seth as you will remember that God put this on his heart early on to make sure we are training with lots of intentionality. We will keep you guys posted on the progress of this as it moves forward. We have follow-up meetings scheduled in Kansas City in December and Waxhaw NC in February.
Prayer Requests for the December:
1. December MAST Meeting: Pray for safe travels as we attend another meeting in December. Also, pray for wisdom and continued cooperation between missionary aviation organizations to push forward on creating a standard for future students.
2. Missionary Candidates: Lift our missionary candidates who are currently undergoing training and preparation for their future service in the mission field. Pray for the ones who have not decided on the organization they are joining. Pray that this time at AirVenture creates clarity and direction for them.
3. Financial Provision: Join us in prayer for our financial needs at SOAR. Pray that God would provide abundantly, enabling us to meet our monthly budget and move closer to our financial target. Ask for open doors, divine connections, and generous hearts to support our ministry financially.
Prayer Requests for 2023:
1. Global Impact: Pray for an increased impact of our missionary pilots and mechanics in reaching unreached areas with the Gospel. Ask God to open doors for strategic partnerships, favorable relationships with local communities, and effective ministry opportunities. Pray lives would be transformed, and communities would be impacted through our ministry.
2. Spiritual Growth: Please pray for our personal spiritual growth and deepening relationship with God. Pray that we would have a hunger for His Word, a fervent prayer life, and a sensitivity to His leading. Ask for a greater understanding of His will for our lives and the strength to walk in obedience.
3. Wisdom in Decision-making: Seek God’s wisdom on our behalf as we make important decisions personally and professionally. Pray that we would have the discernment to make choices that align with His will and bring glory to His name. Ask for clarity, guidance, and confidence in the path that God has set before us.
Wow, We feel like we have been running at 100 MPH since the Spring. This spring we gave ourselves a deadline for Seth’s training and that meant that we have used our extra focus on that since then. That doesn’t mean we have slowed down in other areas it just means pulling up our bootstraps and doing our regular jobs along with allowing for time for training. It’s been hard but well worth the effort.
EAA Airventure 2022 was a success. We met with lots of other organizations, shared what SOAR is doing with a local group, served in our booth, and got to see some pretty cool things. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve SOAR in this way.
During the summer we participated in Oshkosh EAA Airventure. This was our second year attending and it proved to be a great week of engagement with other organizations. This is always one of our priorities when we go.
In the fall we started another year of school. This marks our 9th year of homeschooling. Bella began 8th grade and Jordis began Pre-K. We also added volleyball to our school schedule, it’s been such a joy to watch Bell learn and grow in something she enjoys
In October we spent an evening at the Ethnos360 training center in Camdenton, Mo. It was such a great night of fun and fellowship. We were thankful for the opportunity to see their facility and to get to know these missionary pilots who are being trained to be sent. The partnership between SOAR and Ethnos360 will help us to be able to send more missionaries to the field.
Cookout time at the Ethnos360 training center in Camdenton, MO
Lastly, we have been serving with the youth and production teams at LifePoint. We have been doing this for several years and we love serving in this way. Students always challenge us to grow in our faith. Worship production gives us an opportunity to use our talents and skills in unique ways.
This summer and fall have been extra busy with events. We have loved this season of serving with the youth.
Big news and Transitions
It’s official! Seth has completed his CFI certification. We will fully admit we were not sure if we would make this deadline. The instructor we were using pushed hard and we are so thankful for that. We are also grateful for each instructor who poured into Seth. Without them, this could not have happened. We genuinely believe that each of them was brought to us at just the right time. Each one contributed to his training in a way that we believe will benefit SOAR in the long run. All of it for God’s glory and mission.
Greg and Micki Shetterly have been such a huge blessing to us and to SOAR this year. Micki is an experienced flight instructor and Greg is a flight examiner. Both have been pushing Seth to not only complete his training but to also go above and beyond so that SOAR can be a good steward of the candidates that God brings to us.
This month Seth will begin training his first missionary candidate, Bailey! We feel such a sigh of relief and excitement and we begin serving in a different capacity at SOAR. Seth’s roles that will continue are safety, some airport/city management, and now adding flight instruction. Right now he is tasked with the big job of organizing the fight curriculum. Thankfully he won’t be doing this alone. The group of instructors that have been so vital in getting him to his goal are also going to be involved in getting the curriculum organized. We are ready for this new challenge and ready to see how God uses us in this new season. The last transition will be one more rating. The next goal is CFII. This will be during the same time he begins training Bailey. This one is not as time sensitive so we are hoping to have a bit of reprieve while we focus on other goals personally.
Bailey George has been with SOAR since the spring. He will be Seth’s first student as we work toward training Missionary Aviators.
Partnership Focus
As we wrap up this last goal of getting Seth’s ratings done we are now shifting our focus to getting new partners. This will be a lifelong journey as we continue to work at SOAR. We need YOUR help. If you know of someone who might be interested in our story or what we are doing at SOAR please let us know. You are also welcome to share this newsletter with them! If you are not currently a partner with us through prayer or financial support we would love to share our story with you. Please contact us for more information. Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us on this journey. You have been such a support and blessing to us in ways we could never repay. Thank you!
• 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 November:
• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed. • That we can find rest in this busy season. • That God shows us direction for the next season here at SOAR.
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.
Seth and Terry (one of his flight instructors).
Continuing to Share
Seth sharing with the EAA members.
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.
Kevin and Madeline connecting with some EAA members.
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
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.
Praying for everything to go smoothly. Pray that healing is quick.
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.
We are so grateful for the support that LifePoint is providing for us. Thank you for being our church home.
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!
1st Day of School!
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.
