Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21
Dear Ministry Partners,
We often share that getting to be a part of what God is doing around the world is the favorite part of our work with Missionary Air Group. Yet to send apprentices out to the ends of the earth we must first celebrate and then say good bye.
This spring saw 3 apprentices complete 3 new ratings. These are busy and stressful milestones for the pilots and their instructor! Andy Gudeman earned his commercial rating. Jason Maust became instrument rated and Keith Woockman became a private pilot. Sean also worked diligently with Brad and Andy on their advanced training. At the end of April they both enjoyed flying around Tepic Mexico and getting great experience with UIM.
In May we also celebrated two apprentices (Brad Hoblit and Andy Gudeman) completing their pilot training with MAG. This was the second of such ceremonies- we are starting build traditions! At the end of the ceremony this wooden prop is passed along to the next Senior Apprentice. Joy, prayers, and thanksgiving to God abounded.
As we prepared for the completion ceremony we were wishing that all of those who have invested in this ministry and prayed so diligently for us could be here to share in the celebration. God gave Carmen the idea to ask Aaron Hammitt could do an update video as he and his family move to Bolivia. He was the first of the apprentices and many of you met him through the video he made for us when we first started our support raising. Well, he did way better than that- he put together an amazing update on all 3 families who are launching this summer. All the footage is from his drone at training locations or at our base in Honduras. Please watch this video so you can celebrate with us in what God has done! This joyful sending is the result of your investment in this ministry- thank you!!
Short video of the work we’ve been doing at MAG with the apprentice families.After all this celebrating came the bigger challenge of saying good bye to these families we have so grown to love. We are so excited for the calling God has on their lives, but our whole family will miss their presence with us in Burlington.
We have also had to unexpectedly say good bye to several U.S. based MAG staff families. This has been a challenging loss and significantly multiplies our work load. Yet we know God is good to provide what we need. We are learning what it means to look to Jesus, to know if He is pleased with us and how our day went. Otherwise frustration and discouragement can easily creep in. We don’t want to unintentionally burden ourselves with concerns that Jesus has not asked us to carry, but instead to fix our eyes on Him. Jesus is worthy! Jesus is enough!
Recently a Dayton area youth choir visited us at MAG. We were so excited to do some show and tell with these teenagers. It meant so much for us to have visitors from our Presbytery. We’d love to host your youth group if you are in the area!
This spring we were so blessed that some new friends at church came for a photo shoot at the airport as they launch a new photography business. That was a wonderful gift! Hopefully new prayer cards will be heading out before the end of the year. For our fall newsletter, we will be excited to share more about who God is brining into our midst next.
With Love,
Sean & Carmen Garrigan
