From May 20-22 two of us recruiters attended the annual IAMA (International Assoc. of Missionary Aviation) conference at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Brian Behal and I (Ron Hilbrands) represented MAF there and had good time connecting with other mission groups and schools that train specifically for missionary aviation. There were over 80 attendees there and Liberty did a great job of hosting all of us. Next year the event will be at UIM (United Indian Mission in Tucson, AZ. MAF will be hosting the conference next in 2012 here at Nampa, ID.

At the conference we heard from all the groups as to what was happening in their organiziation and how the economy was affecting them. There was discussion and a presentation on safety and security training for missionaries. We also discussed the major changes involved in moving toward turbine aircraft. IAMA is always a great place for networking. There was also a lot of talk about how IAMA and missionary aviation will be highlighted at the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh.

MAF Kodiak # 2

While visiting Moody Aviation in Spokane I took the short drive to Sandpoint, Idaho to tour the Quest manufacturing facilities. It is very impressive to see how far they have come in a short time.  Here is a picture of the next MAF Kodiak. It is in stage 5 of a 6 stage process. Each stage takes 10 days to complete. This Kodiak, #17, should be out the door in less than 20 days.

Moody Aviation Graduations

I traveled north to Spokane to attend the commissioning service for the Moody Aviation students on Friday May 29, and the graduation on Saturday May 30. It was a very nice ceremony. This was my first time to see the Spokane campus. I arrived early Thursday morning and participated in the chapel at 6:45am. MAF has 5 staff on loan to the Moody Aviation program. Three of the families have passed milestones in service. I was privileged to present 5 year service award to Gene and Jen Arnold, 15 year service award to Dan and Jodi Appleby and also Bruce and Wendy Devries. These families have been doing an excellent job in mentoring the next generation of  missionary pilots and mechanics.

Great New stuff in MAF

Regina Manley directed MAF’s first US Story & Oral Strategies Workshop in March. 17 representatives from 9 different organizations wrestled with seeing life from an oral communicators perspective. We made 3 tracks available that could be taken independently or in various combinations – Instructor’s Workshop, Practitioner’s Workshop, and an Oral Strategies Seminar. Read more at www.maflt.org/node/108

The folks that Regina trained in biblical story telling last January at the Mayan Bible School in Huehuetenango, Guatemala are now training 3 pastors’ wives to reach Tztujil (Mayan language) speakers. They ask prayer for “Demonstrating the Simply The Story method of story telling and coaching the ladies in discovery of God's word for themselves.”

MAF's first Kodiak will be visiting the Vancouver, WA-Portland, OR area May 23rd and 24th. You're welcome to come and see it at the Pearson Airport near the museum. See pictures on our main web site http://www.maf.org/

Liberty University LAMP Meeting

I went to Liberty on 21 April to attend their LAMP (Liberty Aviation Missions Potentials) meeting. I went over early and availed myself of a "Discovery Flight" in the Schweizer Helicopter (300 CBi) as an early (late?) birthday present. Had a great time and am trying to justify how to do more of that!

At the meeting Tim and Rebecca Ingles with New Tribes Mission presented their work with the Wano tribe in Papua, Indonesia and the Ingles' heavy reliance on Missionary Aviation (both fixed wing and helicopter) to accomplish their task.

I then showed the newest MAF video which was produced by CTN's All Over the World (see http://www.aotw.tv/) about MAF's work in Kalimantan. Afterwards Tim and I answered questions.

LAMP meets regularly throughout the LU Academic year. See the Facebook Group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47283539099 for more information.

My next trip to LU will be for the annual IAMA conference (International Association of Missionary Aviation - see http://www.iamanet.org/). Each year IAMA rotates where their meetings are held and this year LU is the host.

I'm also in the final stages of planning my annual Vision Trip to Ecuador for prospective Missionary Aviators. That trip will be from 29 May - Jun 7.

After that the next big trip on the calendar (see http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v3svo8c4i91jgs2amrfpu2oo6c@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles) is our annual Oshkosh AirVenture trip. This year the theme at AirVenture is Fly 4 Life and will feature Mission and Humanitarian Aviation. If you have even the slightest opportunity to attend I encourage you to do so.

Hoping to see you then!

The orientation classes started this week. The class did a chapel on Wednesday and told about how God meet them during their fund raising time. These are always are favorite chapels.

Exciting to see new staff returning from support raising to begin the final phase of training before going overseas. They begin non-tech orientation on Friday. Two weeks. Then the pilots begin 6 weeks of flight and maintenance.