Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Well it has been a LONG time since I wrote a blog... but now that I'm on vacation I have some time!
Here's a little recap of what we have been doing in school:
Aircraft weight and balance
Fluid lines and fittings
Welding
Covering aircraft parts (wings, fuselage, ailerons) with fabric (used in light aircraft as the skin)
Painting
Electrical projects (building electrical circuits that do things (turn on lights, horns, switches, etc)
Generators (tear apart and put back together)
Landing gear (removal, dis/re-assembly, and putting it back in the plane)
FAA General Written exams (an exam over everything we have learned in the last 3 months)
I also fixed my fuel pump/filter and muffler in my car.

It's definitely winter in Ionia. When I left we had at least 6 inches of snow and it was freezing, icy and rainy. On the way down I stopped in Louisville and then continued on the next day with the cats to Johnson City, Tennessee (our new home) where it was 60 degrees and sunny.

Some fun events we got to do to "advertise" SMAT a little more were having a float in the annual Christmas parade down main street (we decorated the helicopter on a trailer with Christmas lights and had people dressed up as stars and the kids had little red cardboard airplanes. We also had a manger scene on our trailer. Over the past few months we've had the opportunity to perform mini music concerts in the town. We have an abundance of musicians and we all use our talent to glorify God. Liesl (in top left corner left of me in the picture below) and I are eventually going to do a duet of Jesu Joy of man's desiring with organ and viola. Also everyday we have Bible study right after lunch and on Wednesdays we have "Worship Wednesday" where we sing hymns or songs and have a testimony or video or something just glorifying God (in the picture below you can see some of the students playing).

It is such a wonderful group of students at SMAT. We get to grow and learn from each other and just have fun. Over the past few weeks we have been having dinner together with about 7 of us. It is such a wonderful time of fellowship- whether we are in class, fixing planes or cars, snowmobiling, snow ball fighting, or just eating lunch. God has given us all the blessing of being able to go to this school.

Now I leave you with this GOOD news:

Luke 2:9-14

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened,  but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!  The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!"  Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others -- the armies of heaven -- praising God:  "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors. "

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and may God bless you all!
Fly with Christ,
Helen 

Prayer is awesome!!

This week God has just been working in me a lot. I was a bit down, frustrated, mad, annoyed, and what not and I just prayed that God would lift my burden and just help me to trust in Him alone. I prayed that I would be able to forgive, forget, and not let this issue consume my thoughts. I was so stressed and could not even focus on studying. I prayed through my whole run in the rain and stopped at the river crossing to just take in God’s beautiful creation and pray some more. I was still a little frustrated later that night, but I could feel my spirit lifting. In the morning I woke up with a smile on my face and said, “today is going to be a good day” (which has been a common theme this week between my roommate and I). I went to school just like normal and continued to pray that God would help me to block any negative thoughts and help me to be happy. God answered my prayers for sure! My spirit was light and I was not frustrated or mad. Often when I am sad or frustrated or down I listen to By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. The song is as if God is talking to us.. “why are you striving these days… why are you crying let me lift up your face….why are you still searching as if I’m not enough”. I think about these words every time I feel subpar. God reminds me that it is about Him and not about the little things in life! I rejoiced, praised, and thanked God for answering my prayers and through that God showed me Romans 2: 4, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

I needed to repent of my sins and ask forgiveness and trust in God that he will make straight my path -Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

God answered my prayers and made my heart cheerful and I thank Him for everything! Proverbs 15: 13 and 30 say just that “ A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. 30 Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” So whenever you are down and out, pray and God will answer your prayers.

SMAT has been such a blessing to me. My class is full of Christ seeking people all with a gung ho spirit to spread the gospel. It is so refreshing to be in a school where we read the Bible every day, discuss it, and even bring it up in class when talking about simple things. In our Publications and Regulations class we were talking about some of the regulations and one of my classmates brought up Proverbs and how it related to the situation! Wow! That is so cool. We take talking freely about Christ for granted and yet even in schools you can’t do what we do at SMAT. It just energizes me to be more excited and want to share about what God is doing through me and through my fellow classmates. 

Stay tuned for blogs about what my next step will be in flying and after I am done with SMAT and where God is leading me (ps I’m still staying tuned too to hear what God has in plan for me). And stay tuned for more updates on classes and what we are studying next, and an update on our adoption process.

Here's a few of my favorite songs that I haven been listening a lot to lately. Listen and enjoy!

Scandal of Grace 

Tears of the Saints 

Kings and Queens 

 

 

Fly with Christ,

Helen

Finally an update!

Lots of things have been happening in the past few weeks!! 

Maintenance hangar with all the projects/ planes we work on.

Work area

Other half of the lab. The classroom is at the far right corner.

The multimeter that I soldered together from scratch!

 

CLASSES update: 

In Electricity class we learned how solder and made multimeters by attaching all the components to the PC circuit boards and learned how to troubleshoot circuits. Today we had our final for electricity and I think it went well and are moving on to rules and regulations.

Troubleshooting circuits and seeing how they work.

Safety wiring

We finished Math, Safety & Ground Operations, and moved on to complete Physics as well. We are now are into Cleaning and Corrosion class and Tools & Hardware class. In cleaning class we are in groups and working on different cleaning projects. My group is working on a rusted old landing gear from a PT19 military training plane. We spent a day cleaning it with soap and water, another day taking the tire and wheel off, another day for beat blasting and wire brushing off the rust from the nuts, bolts and the strut, cleaning off paint, priming it, and now we are almost done painting it.

Being fancy for the banquet.

Some of the other projects we have been working on include, de-riveting (taking out the rivets) on damaged plane wings and cleaning airplanes to get ready for our banquet. The banquet was for all the sponsors of SMAT and those who are connected and support the school. A few of us students served at the banquet as tour guides, and clean up crew so we go to dress up and be fancy.

In hardware class we’ve been working on have been identifying nuts, bolts, cables, rivets, and much more. Some of the fun things we get to do is safety wiring, crimping cables, and installing helicoils.

 

 

FLYING update:

SMAT planes all lined up

Fying with Caleb

A week or two ago I got checked out with Benz Aviation and now am able to fly in their plane and so I can take it up when I go flying. I also got to fly in one of the SMAT planes. Caleb, one of the other A&P students who is a pilot, wanted to practice some instrument approaches and so I flew as his safety pilot along with 2 other students who just came along for the ride (and to reduce the cost). It was neat to fly in the SMAT plane- it is a regular Cessna 172 but they add a missionary checklist box that helps you to go through the procedures methodically and safely. In the next few weeks/ month I will explore the area more, do a night flight or two, and get up to date on instrument flying. Tomorrow I’m flying to Grand Haven which is right on the lake.

 

FIXING update:

So I noticed my coolant was leaking in my car about a week ago. I checked the fluid level and noticed it was a little low, so I added new fluid. By the next day everything I had poured in was on the ground (at least ½ a bottle). Hmmm. Something is wrong here. I asked around and some of the guys in my class thought it might be the water pump that was bad. Since I’m a mechanic student, I figured it would be a good experience to try and fix it myself. So I called up AAA and got my car towed to school so I could fix it there and use any tools that I might need. I ordered the parts (water pump, gasket, and radiator hose), and with the help of some knowledgeable friends we got it fixed! Now it does not leak anymore! This was the first major project I have ever done and was a neat experience to learn how things work and how to fix them.

School is going great even when it’s long, tiring, and tough. But God provides us strength and energy every day.  

Fly with Christ,

Helen

Fixing and Fishing

Well it has been an exciting time for the last week and a half! I now am 3 days into the year at SMAT (School of Missionary Aviation Technology) and have only 1880 (out of 1904) hours to go till I am a certified aircraft mechanic! I moved to Ionia, Michigan about a week and a half ago and now live with a lady, Marilyn, in her house. School started with orientation day and followed by a long weekend. During the long weekend I had one of the girls, Sun (like the sun), stay with me because her housing situation was not working out and she needed to find a new place. God made that place Marilyn’s home and now Sun is my other housemate! We spent the week getting Sun’s belongings to the house and setting up her room for her. On Wednesday, we had the first official day of school and it went well. Here’s what a typical day looks like:

5:30AM- Wake up!

6:15AM- Bike 4 miles (6k) to school.

6:40AM- Arrive at school and clock in

7:00AM- Class 1: Electricity

10:00AM- Class 2: Math

12:00PM- Lunch

12:30PM- Bible study! We get to study a chapter of the bible every day and are in Hebrews right now.

12:45PM- Class 3: Ground Handling/ Operations and Servicing

3:15PM- Clean up time

3:30PM- Clock out and go home

4:00PM- Get home, run, and begin homework/ studying.

Each hour we get 10 minutes of break. The classes will rotate throughout the year as well. There are a certain number of hours per class, for instance Basic Electricity is 40 hours lecture and 41 hours lab (hands on). There are also 3 main divisions for the year: General mechanics (400 hours), Airframe (body of the airplane, etc.)(750 hours), and Powerplant (engine, etc.)(750 hours). At the end of each division we will take the tests associated with each one.

The class is made up of 6 ladies and 24 guys and it is a great group of Christians who are all on fire to go to the mission field and spread the gospel. Today at the church I visited, The Well, the preacher talked about what it means to be a fisherman. Christ’s first priority for us is to be fishermen- to go out and catch people and lead them to Him (Matthew 4:18, Jeremiah 16:16, Matthew 28:19-20). We are to be patient, courageous, and persevering, but most importantly we need to decrease ourselves and make Christ increase- John 3:30. Being a missionary pilot mechanic is what I will be in the next few years but the important part of my job description is the first word. Missionary. My main goal is to share the Good News of Christ to people everywhere, whether in the remote villages that can only be accessed by aircraft or with your neighbor next door. Our job is to cast the net, go fishing, have faith, and follow Christ (Matthew 4:18; 5:1-11).

Tomorrow, I go back to school to learn how to fix planes, so that I can fly them to the remote areas of the world, so that the gospel goes to every tribe, tongue and nation (Revelation 14:6).

Stay tuned for the next blog on what I’m doing with flying, more on what I’m learning and doing, and where the Lord is leading me.

Fly with Christ,

Helen

I'm BAAACK!

Well it's about time I write a blog about my trip!
What a wonderful blessing it was to see my family again and to travel with my immediate family. We departed on June 18th and flew to Holland via Detroit and spent a couple of days with my mom's side of the family. We even got to go to Amsterdam and see everything there.

Classic french fries and mayo!

AMSTERDAM!

On June 24th we departed for South Africa and came there the same day but at night. We stayed with family for a couple days and then drove off to the "wildtuin" (Kruger National Park- C-G on the map) in the northeastern part of South Africa. We spent a week there enjoying God's creation and seeing His magnificent beasts and birds. Everyday we would depart from our camp and would drive along looking for animals. On a couple of the days we actually met up with family in the park and spent time with them as well. We saw 4 out of the Big 5 (Elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, and buffalo), the only one we didn't see was the leopard. But instead we got to see cheetah and wild dogs which are both rare to see. Several times we were very close to large herds of elephants and it was magnificent to see how they could just disappear into the bushes.Here are just a FEW pictures (out of the 500+ I took!)

Kudu

Zebra

Cheetah

Giraffe

Me, Koos, Theo (Dad), Francine (Mom)

King of the Beasts- a young male lion

WOW an elephant's foot is large. I wear women's size 10.

4 of the 100+ elephants we saw.

A runway on the highway!

After Kruger, we drove across to Botswana and eventually ended up in Maun.On our way there we drove across a runway in the middle of the highway! Quite strange but cool to see!Click this link to see where it is...Highway Airstrip In Maun, we departed for another wonderful part of the trip. We got to take mokorros (long wooden/ plastic boats in which the guide stands and pushes with a long pole) up the Okavango delta. We camped there for 4 days and each day we would go on hikes with the guide and see the wildlife there. The best part of that trip was being surrounded by 20 elephants who were having dinner 50 feet from our camp! As long as we had a fire going we were safe.

Me in a mokorro- It's quite difficult to steer but once you get the hag of it and practice you get better.

One of the elephants having dinner within 50 feet of camp (this picture is within 30 feet!)

In the mokorro.

After the Okavango (I on the map) we visited some missionaries and saw what they were doing in a village/ town near Maun (I on the map). We stayed with them for a day or two and got to go to their church! It was a mix of English and Tswani (language of Botswana). The missionaries- the Cronjes- were the leaders/ preachers of the church. It was an encouragement to us and them to see what God was doing and what He has in store for the future. After visiting the Cronjes, we visited another missionary family in D'Kar (J on the map). They planted the church where the Cronjes lead. After visiting we left to go back to Pretoria.
The next part of our trip in South Africa was relaxing and visiting with family. We came back on a Wednesday or Thursday and on Saturday my family and one of my uncles and aunts ran a 25k (14 mile) trail race around the Fortrekker monument in Pretoria. It was to longest race I had ever done and it was on hilly tough trails. But it was the coolest and most fun race I have run!

Our route of travel.

Before the race, with the monument in the back.

After the race we had a family reunion and spent one more day all together (that is Theo, Mom, Koos and I). On Monday the 15th I left early to fly to Lesotho, my parents left at night to go back to the States, and Koos went to connect with missionaries and churches in another city in South Africa.
I spent one and a half weeks in Lesotho, learning from, flying with, and encouraging the missionaries I know there. I got to go flying a couple times in the mountains where I also worked on updating the map they have for navigating. My project is to create a specific flying map (sectional) for them with locations of airports, cell towers, obstructions, terrain, and much more. While flying one day we had the most turbulent air possible in and around the valleys/ ridges. It was so severe that I came off my seat and my head hit the ceiling! I guess that's why the pilots wear helmets. While on the ground I was able to help and learn while the pilots worked on fixing and inspecting the planes. When we were not at the hangar I spent time with most of the families for dinner, mountain biking, or taking trips to South Africa for lunch and touristy things. I had an amazing time and I hope to be back real soon!

Lesotho mountains

Unloading people and cargo

Gorgeous countryside!

Runway

Being a tourist at a game farm with lion cubs!

Simba the lion cub I was feeding.

Being goofy on the train tracks.

I got a "new" motorcycle for my birthday!

After I got back from Lesotho I was in Pretoria for 1 day and then flew back to the States at night. When I got to the States I had about an hour to get off the plane (from the back), through security, immigration, baggage claim, baggage recheck, and then 5 terminals down. I was right on time and was in the plane about 20 minutes before it left! God sure provided for me throughout the entire trip.
I hope you enjoyed this photo blog and stay tuned for the next blog about moving to Michigan!
Fly with Christ,
Helen

Flying Frenzy

It's been a flying frenzy this week! Over the past 7 days I've flown 4 days which is way more than I am used to! One of my trips was my long cross country flight requirement for commercial training. I am required to fly a 300+nm trip with 1 leg being 250 miles and landings at 3 airports. My trip went from Bowman field to KHKY- Hickory, North Carolina, then up to 0A9- Elizabethton, Tennessee, then to KTRI- Tri-Cities Regional, Tennessee, and finally back to Bowman. I was an exciting trip but at the same time not very eventful. My first leg was 253 miles to Hickory, NC. God surely provided for me throughout my trip and the first way was through clear skies (with a few clouds below and some turbulence) and through meeting someone in KHKY. I park at the FBO (Flight Based Operations office) go in there and check the weather and then see a young guy (about my age) sitting there waiting to go flying.
I ask him, "where you flying?", he responds- "oh just around the area, doing training for my commercial."... "oh me too", I said, "so what do you want to do with flying?",... "I want to be a missionary pilot", he responds... "NO WAY!!!!! I want to do that too!!!!" I exclaim. God sure puts surprises in your path especially when you least expect it! Here is this middle of nowhere airport that I pick to go to because it is 3 miles over the 250 mile minimum and near the area I was flying to, and God puts this guy, Colt Feimster, who is my age and doing exactly the same thing as me, right in my path to meet and connect with as a missionary.

Flight plan map: Tri- cities & Elizabethton are in Tennessee just southeast of the Virginia/ Tennessee/ Kentucky border. Hickory is in North Carolina, just south of the Tennessee/ North Carolina border.

On my next leg of my trip I stopped in Elizabethton, Tennessee- a tiny town which was once the headquarters for Moody Aviation (a missionary aviation school). I met with Jon Egeler and his wife Pam who are missionaries with MSI- Mission Safety International- a group dedicated to missionary flying safety (http://www.msisafety.org/index.htm). They have traveled all over the world doing safety audits and teaching pilots about new things they can do to be more safe. I got to talking about maps with him and he put me in contact with some people who work with missionaries and map making. I am hoping to begin working on a project that allows missionary pilots to have up to date aeronautical maps of the countries they are flying in. We will see where God leads me with that.

Sunlight rays shining down on God's beautiful creation!

One of the legs I flew went well but was slow! The leg usually takes about 1 hour 45 minutes but due to a headwind it took 2 hours and 15 minutes! On another part of my trip, I had to wait for a large storm system to pass. I ended up departing at the exact right time and flew through the last bits of the storm (mostly large clouds and rain) and then was racing another severe storm system. I landed with plenty of time before the storm hit and God protected me throughout the trip in many ways! I praise Him for His guidance for my life! Another thing I learned was how to fix the plane! I had a hard landing which caused a ring in the nose wheel seal to become damaged and thus making the nose wheel strut contract. I noticed that the nose was really low and the tail was really high. When I was back in Louisville I was able to help the mechanic fix the nose wheel and change the oil as well. It was a really interesting and exciting lesson to learn how to fix the nose wheel and get some hands on experience.

Getting ready to depart just after the storm had passed.

A couple more things before this blog gets too long. Towards the end of the week I went night flying and also got to take two of my friends, Cliff and Allan, up flying. We flew up to Madison, IN (~25miles north of Louisville) and just explore the area. It was neat to take up friends and I think they had a lot of fun. I also learned a lot about weight and balance of the aircraft. I was going to take up 3 friends but with all of us in the plane and with almost full tanks of fuel we were over maximum weight. So I decided that I will take my other friend, Rachel, another time. (Stay tuned for pictures from the  flight). Also, one more important thing! I almost forgot... with all this flying I made it to 200 flight hours!!! This is a major milestone in training and once I get to 250 hours I can take my commercial rating test. So onward and upward!

The next time I write a blog will probably be halfway through my trip or at the end of my trip. On Tuesday, we (my parents and I) depart for the Netherlands and South Africa for vacation and to visit family and missionaries. We will be traveling/ visiting family in the Netherlands and then meet up with Koos in South Africa and stay with family there. We will also be traveling to the Okavango delta in Botswana which will be a wonderful time to see God's creation. My parents will depart for home on July 15th and I will go to Lesotho then and spend time with the MAF missionaries there. I am super excited to see them again and I know God will bless my time there. 

I come back on July 26th, so until then... or maybe sometime in between.
Fly with Christ,
Helen