Thank you so much for your commitment to pray for Kelly and I. I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you a little bit more about my journey to this point and why Kelly and I are leaving North America to work for Christ overseas.
I made the decision to accept Jesus Christ into my life and to serve him when I was four years old (1982). I do not remember much about that day, but parents have told me that they did not push me into making a decision. They waited for me to decide for myself to follow Christ and trust Him as my savior. I grew up in a Christian home. Both of my parents are both strong believers and made a point to encourage us in our Christian growth and service.
In high school my beliefs and convictions became my own. Rob Tingley and Greg Kline (my small group leaders from First Alliance Church in Calgary) poured a lot of time into me and a few of my friends. They taught us how to study the Bible and talked through a lot of issues that we were dealing with. They encouraged us in our faith and provided an excellent example of what it meant to live for Christ. They were constantly sacrificing personal priorities for the needs of others.
After graduation I decided to go to Capernwray Hall, a Torchbearer Bible school, in England. During my time there I was able to learn a more about the Bible, but more importantly was what I learned about living the Christian life. Capernwray had formal classes, but its focus was very much on ministry and development of your personal relationship with Christ. The focus of that year could be summed up in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”. This was a revolutionary for me. In the past I felt like God was far away and I that I was trying to bring myself closer to Him. I felt that God was removed from the things that I did and was looking on from a distance. I had heard this verse before, but I had not been living this reality out. This lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. I now realized the importance of my relationship with Him. With the strength of the Holy Spirit, I could accomplish anything that He purposed for me to do.
Initially when I went to Capernwray I had no desire to be involved in full time ministry. I had already thought through what I wanted to do with my life, time I came to the place where I realized that what I did with my life should not be my decision, because my life was not my own it belonged to Christ. I had to be open to God’s leading and willing to do anything that He had for me. One day Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) UK sent a representative to speak at the school. I don’t remember much about what they said, but I remember being convicted that this is what God wanted me to be involved with. God had gifted me with my hands and with mechanical aptitude. It became clear that He wanted me to use the gifts and abilities he had given me for His service overseas. At first I was very apprehensive about the idea. I didn’t feel like I was missionary material.
When school ended I visited my roommate and his family in Kenya. They were serving in Africa with Africa Inland Mission (AIM). One day they took me by the AIM hanger to pick up a package that had been delivered for the hospital that they worked at. Once again I sensed God convicting me to serve Him using missionary aviation.
I arrived home after my trip to Kenya not sure what God wanted me to do next. I was apprehensive about heading towards a life of missionary service. I continued to pray that God would make it clear to me what He wanted me to do. While I was seeking God’s will I began working for my dad full time for the year as a carpenter. I applied to Moody as well as a couple other schools for unrelated things that I was interested in. I prayed for God’s guidance and He made it clear to me by the end of my second year working at home that Moody was where he wanted me.
In 2000 I packed up my things and my parents drove me down to Chicago, Illinois to attend the Moody Bible Institute.
After two years of Bible School in Chicago, I moved to Tennessee to attend Moody Aviation. Moody had a very difficult aviation program, but it was responsible for training fifty percent of the missionary pilots working overseas. I found a new church and got connected. Training was very busy and difficult as I worked through getting my Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanics licenses as well as all of the flight licenses that I would need. Daily I dealt with fears and insecurities about the huge task set before me. Through this training God had been revealing to me His desire to be involved in every area of my life. Once again I needed to be refocused on the fact that I do not face challenges alone, because I have the Holy Spirit living and working through me.
I heard about New Tribes Mission when I was at Moody Aviation. My roommate Brian Pruett grew up overseas with New Tribes and had many stories of his families work with the tribal people. I also had Jason Miller, a New Tribes pilot to Venezuela, as my flight instructor at Moody for a semester. He and his family were home in the United States because of his mother-in-law’s health. I learned a lot through him and gained a lot of respect what New Tribes does. It was through these two people that I got excited about partnering with New Tribes Mission Aviation (NTMA). I am excited to be working in aviation, but what excites me most is seeing the gospel spread.
Missionaries often get discouraged and face a lot of trouble and setbacks. They do not have much communication with anyone from the outside world. One of my primary roles will be ministering spiritually and emotionally to these missionaries. I want to do what ever I can to encourage and support those who are living in tribal locations to help them continue the effectively spreading the gospel. Thank you for praying for Kelly and I as we continue to seek God and follow what He has set out for us.
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