Nice sunny day today. We had a lot of visitors to the MAF tent. The big attraction yesterday was the White Knight, launch platform for space ship 2. (pictured above) Today on the flight line was the new Airbus 380, the worlds largest airliner, I will post pics later.

We are here at Oshkosh and it is really exciting. I don't mean the airplanes (yes they are exciting to see) but I am referring to the people here. There are 30 mission organizations and over 400 missionaries, mostly pilots, here to talk to the public about what we do in mission aviation. Pray for us as we have conversations and divine appointments. Here are a few pictures of the opening day.

Aviation Camp

Wow! Did we have fun! And learn a lot about God's work around the world. Mission Aviation Adventure Camp was held in Cascade, Idaho. This is the first one in Idaho and it was a great experience for everyone involved. We had 11 students attend the camp, one from Washington State and 2 from Montana. The remainder of the students were from the Bosie area. The students had flights everyday (weather was nice) and ground school. Activities in the afternoons included building balsa wood models, canoeing on the North Payette River, swimming and playing games. One night we had a wonderful time around a huge campfire. Christian Zimmerman made a special appearance and spoke about his aviation experience along with being hijacked. He is currently teaching English in a University in China.

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/