Living in the "Now"

Tyler and I have now lived in Spokane for over 4 years.  When we first moved here, our immediate plan was:  attend Moody Aviation flight school for 2 years.  After that we knew Tyler would need to gain more experience and we would need to pay off student debt, but did not know the "where" or "how" of these two things.  Neither of us thought we would end up staying in Spokane as long as we have.

 The move to Moody is not that far, only down the road.

The Lord certainly surprised us by opening up the doors of the Spokane Turbine Center (STC) internship, and allowing us to be missionaries with Proclaim Aviation these last 2 years.  We are so grateful for the time we have spent with STC, but as we continue to move towards to an overseas missions, we are taking another step in that direction.  Starting in December, Proclaim is allowing Tyler to switch his responsibilities at STC over to Moody Aviation as a maintenance instructor for the 4th and 5th year students.  The goal of this is to give him the required maintenance experience on the single piston engine (like a car) that he will need for the technical evaluation (TE) he must take to join any mission organization.  We are also hoping that switching over to Moody will give him a little more time to fly the aircraft he will also be tested on, a Cessna 206.

 Cessna 206

Our original plan was for Tyler to take his TE in 2012 at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).  As we continue to pray about this, we face two issues:  Tyler may not have enough time in flight and maintenance to prepare him for the test by spring, and, our other big obstacle of our student debt.  We still have a little over $21,000 in school debt and to be able to join MAF we need to be debt free (or very close).   Because of these two factors, it is more likely that our goal will be for Tyler to take the TE in 2013 sometime.  We are in constant communication with the MAF recruiters about our time table for TE and a date has not been nailed down as of yet.  It will still be an act of God (a miracle) if we can get our debt down to almost zero by that time. But when things are impossible for man it just opens up the way for God to work in a mighty way, and this is a great opportunity.

Sometimes I (Renae) feel like we are often in "limbo land".  We know we're not here to stay, yet we are not at a point where we are able to go overseas.  It makes it hard for me to feel "settled", and to make permanent connections.  We are still learning how to "live in the now", and make all the relationships and interactions we have here as important as if we were going to live here the rest of our lives.  I, personally, am learning how to ask God to help me live how He would want me to each day; to love Jesus, to love people, be myself, and take advantage of the opportunities we have here and now while we wait for the next bend in the "Schmidt journey."

Please pray for us as we:

• Make a plan for Tyler to take the Technical Evaluation (TE) in 2012 or 2013
• Reduce our school debt to zero by our TE date 
  
• Try to take advantage of opportunities to know and serve people better
• Learning how to love God more and teach our kids to love God through our actions

til next time,

the Schmidts

There and Back Again...

 The Schmidt's are finally back in Spokane after almost 2 months gallivanting around the States. It has been a wonderful summer seeing family, visiting supporters, and flying the Kodiak to new places. Over the two weeks that Tyler was gone he had traveled over 4800 miles, given rides to 300+ people and gained 17.8 hours of valuable flight time in the Kodiak.   The Spokane Turbine Center crew also visited over 9 States on this trip, and even got to play a little in the Colorado mountains with the Kodiak. We are so thankful for the safety that God provided during that time and the almost problem free trip with the Kodiak (some lights didn't want to work on the Kodiak). 

A heavy dew on the cowling at Smoketown PA

Ken Smoll and his dad, fixing the strobe lights that didn't want to work.  This was due to the moisture from the dew getting in the power box of the strobes, but as soon as they dried out we were set to go.  Thankfully it was not a major problem at all

Tyler doing what he does best...Shutting the door

Tyler flying one of the many legs to the next destination

Jeremy and Jill Hart were our host family in Colorado and good friends of Ken's.  We took them out to Eagle CO for lunch in the mountains and had a blast.

Got to see some pretty neat stuff like this waterfall

Also thunderstorm clouds started to "pop" and we got to "work" the weather and fly around some rain showers

The Hart family and STC crew in the Kodaik heading back to Centennial/ Denver CO

The dramatic walk away (with theme music of course) after a good flight

 

These are some of the kids we gave rides to in Grand Rapids MI from Western Michigan Aviation Academy, some of these guys had never ridden in a plane before

 

The man in the white shirt is Dick DeVos. He is the one funding the Western Michigan Aviation Academy and invited us back a second year to give rides to the new incoming freshman class.

Our "small" Kodiak parked next to a Gulfstream 5 in Dick DeVos's Amway hangar.

 

All packed and ready to head home!

 

Tyler is snoozing while Aaron is contemplates the complex pattern on the blanket he is face planted on

After two weeks of not seeing my family I am sure glad to be reunited with them

As we passed through North Dakota to pick up Renae, we were able to give a ride to Renae's sisters family.  It was their first ride in an airplane and they enjoyed it!

Rain or Shine

Day two was a little wetter than yesterday.  We had just started to set up when the rain clouds started to come in and we had to wait out the rain.

 

The Kodiak getting a little wet

 

The Nate Saint's Piper Super Cub (replica) with a wing of the piper cub that was in the "End of the Spear" movie

Alisha, Ken and Anna waiting out the storm and getting some paper work done

 Rain, rain, go away....

Thunder storm clouds building while we were flying

All in all this was a great weekend over here at Smoketown.  We had a safe conclusion to the airshows and gave rides to about 100 people.  I was able to meet some old friends from Moody and spend part of a day with them and also meet some new people as well in between giving safety briefings for rides.

One such person I met was very interested in missionary work and how the airplanes could do such radical maneuvers such as land on short sloped mountain airstrips.  After a while our conversation steered from airplanes to spiritual things and I realized that this man wasn't a Christian.  Even though we were at a missionary aviation fest there were people at the event that were not believers but were curious onlookers of what we do. That drove the point home that there is a mission field in every heart and soul that we talk to and even though this man was not very open to talking about Christ, I pray that the seed that was planted will not return void.  

Thank you for your prays as we continue to travel and give rides.  Please pray that Renae will be able to handle our very energetic two year old Caleb and our newest addition Aaron till I get back.

Smoketown PA, Missionary Air Festival

 The Spokane Turbine Center crew has arrived in Smoketown PA, and have been busy giving rides and giving safety briefings to passengers before they take their rides.  That is my job, to give a safety talk to the passengers about how to operate the doors, where the fire extinguishers are, what to do in an emergency, how the seat belts worked and how not to throw up.  Sort of like a glorified airline stewardess :)

Talking to folks about the Kodiak

 

 Giving the next ride a safety briefing

Loading the passengers

Helping put on the seat belts

 A little girl excited about her first flight

 

Passengers are all set and ready for lift off, Tyler just needs to get out of the airplane

The Kodiak in Rugby, ND!

after landing at the Rugby Municipal Airport

Who would have thought that the fabulous Kodiak airplane would fly to my hometown of Rugby, ND?  Yesterday, on the 18th, we flew directly from Spokane to Rugby in less than 4 hours.  This was the first leg of the long Kodiak tour that Tyler, his supervisor Ken, administrator Alycia, and Ken's daughter Anna are on.  The four of them will take the Kodiak to Smoketown, PA where they will participate in a mission aviation airshow and give rides on the Kodiak.  After several days here, they will continue on to Michigan and Colorado before returning to ND to pick up me and the boys to return to Spokane.  During the course of the tour they will continue giving Kodiak rides to students, friends, church groups, families, and others interested in learning more about Spokane Turbine Center and the Kodiak.  If you are interested in finding out more about their schedule, contact me or Tyler and we will let you know where they will be at and when. 

During this tour please pray:

-protection for the pilots and guests
-good sleep and energy so the pilots will be safe
-that the Lord will lead hearts to support STC's ministry and/or get excited about mission aviation
-good weather for flying
-me (Renae) and the boys as we stay with family but are without husband and father for 11 days!

We are so thankful that Rugby ended up being "on the way" for this trip.  I know God would give me the grace to have taken care of the boys alone during this time, but I am so happy that He worked it out that my family can help take care of us too! 

 Aaron loves his bumbo seat!  Caleb loves getting dirty...dust and dirt from rocks plus bubbles...

 Anna (Ken's daughter) helping with happy Aaron

 Caleb fell asleep for maybe 10 minutes of the trip...this after waking up before 6a.m.

trying to get a family photo in the Kodiak. Tyler did not fly this leg so he could help with the kiddos during the flight.

More to come soon!  

the Schmidt's

Missions and mosquitos

For those of you who do not know where Tyler and I come from, I guess you could say we both are old-fashioned conservatives fashioned in the Midwest, North Dakota more specifically.  Although Tyler did not live there, his mom and that entire extended family lives there.  I, Renae, am actually from ND after moving there when I was nine.  Now, to make our connection even closer, my sister is married to Tyler's cousin (don't worry, there's no blood relation there and we're not Mennonite).  Because of these many connections, North Dakota has become somewhat of a "home base" for us since we got married and now as we seek to raise a support team for our time doing missions.

The extended Deckert Clan

We were able to spend the last month on vacation with family while also using our Sundays to share our presentation at several churches.  One thing we both love about North Dakota is how the small communities and bodies of believers feel just like family whether or not you really know the people.  You can hardly meet someone new without having some kind of connection through a common friend or relative.  We were so blessed by the few churches we visited and their love for the Lord and their enthusiasm for our ministry.  The Lord also provided a new church support, as well as some individual commitments.  And in answer to a previous prayer request on the blog, all of our Sunday's were filled!

Foggy morning drive to church in Grace City ND

Caleb helped navigate for us and pointed which way to go

We enjoyed the time with both of our immediate families.  Caleb and Aaron loved having their aunts, uncles, and grandparents around to dote on them.  We celebrated Caleb's 2nd birthday (coming on the 25th), and enjoyed a family reunion over the 4th of July weekend.  I bravely fought off the mosquito's (they just LOVE me) by staying inside as much as possible when they were out looking for victims. We could continue sharing more about our trip, but we'll just post a few pictures before this becomes a novel.

The three Schmidt brothers

Mom Wissink with her two newest grand kids

 The Fred Schmidt clan together at last

Aaron giving Tyler's Mom a big smile

Fred Schmidt with his two grand kids

Grandpa and Grandma Wissink holding 

 Caleb's second birthday cake made by Renae's sister Andrea 

 Real men grill out in the rain

 Caleb is getting use to the idea of getting in the water

We got to have some summer fun on the lake

Until next time,

The Schmidts