Which One?

One of these photos will hopefully go on an MAF prayer card...but which one?

The last week has been filled with paperwork, paperwork, and...you guessed it...more paperwork. It seems that becoming a missionary requires, among other things, A LOT of forms and papers to fill out! I've also been working on our most recent newsletter (which is now done) that will soon be mailed out to all of our loving family and friends.

What about this one?

When I'm not followed by the seemingly endless trail of papers, you can still find me down in the Seravnt Wings hangars getting all greasy while mending unsafe conditions on the aircraft.

We are also excited to announce that MAF is now accepting donations on our behalf! Any donations received would be used for our initial outgoing expenses, including: housing during our summer orientation (5 weeks), MAF flight and maintenance orientation training, one year of language school, initial field assignment, shipping costs for our belongings to be shipped overseas, visa processing, immunizations, passports, and several other things.

One last photo, our first attempt at aerial photography. Featured is Servant Wings' Cessna 206 departing a grass airstrip about 10 minutes north of Vancouver, on an incredibly beautiful day!

A Few More Shots

On the maintenance side of evaluation, I had a lot of different projects--everything from disassembling a magneto to figuring out why a light wouldn't work on the aircraft tug!

Here I am working hard on my sheet metal project. I had to make an aluminum box out of one piece of flat metal, and then rivet it together. I also had to "write" my initials in the center of the box with more rivets. This project involves a lot of math, among other things, which is NOT one of my strong suits. But that's OK, I had a lot of fun!

Here's the finished product...not too bad!

An Inside Look

Here are some snapshots of the past two weeks that may help solidify the goings on down at MAF.

This is a photo of the actual wreckage of N5156H, the aircraft used by Nate Saint in the Equadorian jungle to reach many tribal Indian villages. While trying to reach a certain group of native Indians, Nate Saint along with four friends were killed by the arrows and spears of the very people they were trying to reach. While tragic, the event was a spark that ignited a fire among the mission community and as a result, many dedicated their lives to serving as missionaries overseas. The book Jungle Pilot is an account of the five men and their families who risked everything in order to share God's love with a people who had never heard. I was one of the people who read the book, which was a huge factor in my decision to become a missionary pilot. Seeing the wreckage is a great reminder that God uses everything to glorify His name.

My ride for the first week--flight evaluation. This is a modified, turbo-charged Cessna U206G, long the workhorse of mission aviation around the world. It is very much the truck of the airplane world, capable of hauling almost 2 tons of people/cargo in and out of very small landing strips. Training through Moody Aviation, and then Servant Wings, I came well prepared to fly this beast, which can be a very tough bronco to tame if you're not used to it.

I mentioned that Joy was my cheerleader during the past two weeks, well, here she is again providing moral support for team Konop!

Drum Roll Please....

The two weeks of evaluation are over, you know we already passed the flight portion, what about the maintenance?!? My instructor checked me off for recommendation from the maintenance department Friday morning, and the candidate committee invited us back to Idaho for summer orientation! We made it!! Although we are not officially missionaries under the banner of MAF...yet, we are semi-committed to each other. So what happens next? We will be traveling back to Nampa, ID, the second week of July and will be staying there for four weeks. During that time we will go through non-technical evaluation, orientaion, and a two week support raising seminar. Also during this time we will receive a "field assignment" for where we will be spending the next four years of our lives. Joy and I have no real preference on where we would like to serve, and with MAF being a worldwide ministry, we could be sent just about anywhere! We are excited to have come this far along the journey and during the past two weeks we walked away feeling God's confirmation again that this is what He has designed and prepared us to do. Halelujah! Praise be to God!

Joy was definitely my cheerleader during evaluation! (Among other things)

50/50

Looks like my Moody training has paid off...so far! My first week of MAF evaluation was spent in the air, performing various maneuvers, takeoffs and landings, mountain flying, and a "cross country." I was also tested on my aeronautical knowledge with several written exams and an oral exam. At the week's end, I've received the "stamp of approval" from the flight department. It was fun getting to know my instructor/evaluator during our flights, and I felt very comfortable with everything.

While I've been off flying, Joy has helped out in the MAF office wherever she's needed. She has also gotten to meet many of the MAF staff and here lots of stories about serving overseas. We are spending the evenings with long walks, reading, and relaxing in the "Treasure Valley" sunshine.

Next week starts off with a visit to the local "shrink" that will last all day Monday. We have to take a 500-something question test and individually interview with the doctor. The rest of the week will be spent in the shop, for my maintenance evaluation. All is going well so far, and we are encouraged as we go through the process that God is continually affirming His call on our lives. Thanks for the many prayers so far!

April Showers Bring...What?

Here we are, heading full steam ahead into what's supposed to be May flowers, but the April showers are playing tricks on the vegetation here! No folks, that's not rain falling, that's called snow, and yes, it's the end of April, and this was taken in Vancouver, WA, where it's never supposed to snow. By the way, the temperature was 48 degrees. I'm not really sure what to say. I'm no stranger to snow, but this is a stretching the boundaries a little, don't you think? I've witnessed blizzards and late spring "NorEasters," but I've never before seen anything like this. Of course, the shower didn't amount to much, but nonetheless it was an interesting sight. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning for Nampa; everything is packed and we're excited to begin the next challenge on our journey. Blessings! And don't forget to watch for strange things falling from the sky!

SHOWTIME!!

It's coming down to the wire now, Joy and I will be leaving Sunday morning for Nampa, Idaho. We hope to arrive around dinner time so we can get settled and relax before the big debut. Most everything is in order; we still have to get physical exams done today so the doctors can send in their evaluation of our health. Other than that, we got everything done on time. Now all that's left are a few landings, putting a few bandaids on a couple airplanes, and trying to convince a shrink that I'm not crazy for giving up everything I have here in the States so I can go overseas and fly over dense jungles. I'll give it a shot.





We had our monthly Servant Wings meeting on Saturday where we were "comissioned" and sent forth from yet another organization that prepares mission pilots. I was really struck though with our conversation with the treasurer of the club. I was expecting a rather large bill for all the flying I've been doing lately to prepare for TE, but she said that a lot of people have stepped up on our behalf to help pay for our expenses! We've found out that we probably owe about half of what we were expecting! What a relief! And thanks in advance to those who have contributed financially on our behalf; we were really wondering how we were going to pay for all these bills and still stay on track with MAF. We don't know who you are...yet, so thanks for being part of the team! Continue to pray that we will be able to pay for all the upcoming flight costs (our TE will cost about $2000).



Sunday I got a little more practice in, mainly takeoffs and landings...it's really hard to touchdown a 3500 lbs bird in 100 feet! I was encouraged though, the practice went well. Joy was my "judge" letting me know precisely where I touched down on the runway. We treated ourselves to a little picnic lunch in Vernonia, Oregon, not too far from Portland.

Look for updates in the next few weekends for news on how our evaluation with MAF is going! We cherish your prayers.