We are waiting…

On the way to church yesterday we heard While I’m Waiting by John Waller.  What an awesome song!

I’m waiting…  I’m waiting on you Lord and I am hopeful…  I’m waiting on you Lord though it is painful…   but patiently I will wait ... 

I will move ahead bold and confident…  taking every step in obedience… while I’m waiting.  I will serve you while I’m waiting.  I will worship while I’m waiting.  I will not fail.  I’ll be running the race even while I wait.

I’m waiting…  I’m waiting on you Lord and I am peaceful...  I’m waiting on you Lord though it’s not easy.. but faithfully I will wait.  Yes I will wait.

Our references, applications and testimonies are in and we are waiting…  waiting and praying.

Our airline reservations have been made and we have arranged homes for our kids while we are travelling to Soldotna 12-19 Nov and we are waiting…  waiting and asking for wisdom.

Please pray for our references, applications and travel.  Please begin to pray for our finances – we are asking God to guide us on preparing our home to sell when we are given the green light.  We have land in northern Greenville county that must sell – please pray. 

Please pray for our patience while we are waiting.

Application and Trip to Soldotna

Tomorrow it is going to be sunny and 46 in Soldotna (we won't talk about today's weather).

We are finishing our application today.  AMEN!  Please pray that God will bless this process.  We plan to send them off by the end of the weekend.

We talked to the director of M.A.R.C on Thursday about us making a trip to Soldotna to meet some of the staff, explore the M.A.R.C operations and learn more about the surrounding area.  Jennifer and I are going to fly out to Soldotna for one week (Nov 12-19).  We are in the process of working out childcare and with the size of our family this is going to be a huge undertaking.  Please keep us in prayer.

God's Call to Alaska

As our Christian faith has grown and our relationship with Jesus Christ has developed we have desired to serve God as missionaries. 

God has been opening doors for us to serve as part of an exciting ministry in Soldotna, Alaska.  Yes Alaska.  When the doors started opening and we started walking through them I was sure God could not possibly be calling us to Alaska.  In my mind Alaska was a cold desolate place and we had never desired to go there.  It turns out the need in Alaska to minister to the remote villages is great.  There are several hundred villages in Alaska that are reachable only by air and there are missionaries that are dedicated to bringing the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to these locations.  God is opening doors for our family to serve in this ministry as part of M.A.R.C (Missionary Aviation Repair Center).  
http://www.marcalaska.org/

M.A.R.C. (in cooperation with Samaritan's Purse) flies several different aircraft around bush Alaska to bring the Gospel to the villages that are unreachable by any other means of transportation.  Where do we fit in this organization?  I have served in the United States Air Force since I was 18 and have been given the awesome privilege of being trained to fly the C-130 Hercules.

God is opening doors for our family to move to Soldotna, Alaska and use the skills he has given me as a pilot to serve in M.A.R.C.

There are 4 phases of the Application Process:

1. APPLICATION - Completion of formal application and references
2. CANDIDACY- Once our application is approved James will be invited to Alaska for Technical evaluation.
3. DEPUTATION - If accepted, new members will enter deputation. Deputation is the time period where your support (prayer and financial) team is assembled. Staff are required to fully raise support to cover their living and ministry expenses before entering the last phase.
4. FIELD ORIENTATION/TRAINING - Once you have completed deputation and relocated to the Soldotna area, you begin orientation/training for field service.