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