We’ve reached our funding goal!
We’re very excited to announce that we reached our funding goal for our service in Papua New Guinea! This last round of support raising I was dreading, honestly. It looked impossible and yet God, through many generous people, has overwhelmed us with his provision. It’s very humbling. Who are we to be in this position? Nevertheless, we’re excited to be so. Thank you so much! What about moving expenses? Our current situation (we’re not living overseas yet) doesn’t require our entire support quota so we’re saving up the excess. Lord willing, we’ll have enough by January to cover most moving costs.
What about moving expenses? Our current situation (we’re not living overseas yet) doesn’t require our entire support quota so we’re saving up the excess. Lord willing, we’ll have enough by January to cover most moving costs.
We’re currently living in Alaska…
Currently we’re living near Soldotna, Alaska where I’m volunteering at Missionary Aviation Repair Center (MARC) until the end of September. A generous person is letting us stay in their log cabin! We’re about three miles from beach access on the Cook Inlet, although if you laid on the beach in your swimming suit you’ll get frostbite instead of a tan. Still, it’s beautiful! We’re here so I can get more experience with line maintenance (the primary goal), spending time with my brother’s family, and learning to know more people in mission aviation.
At MARC, I helped inspect a Piper Cherokee Six and a Piper Apache. We’ve also done work on a Beechcraft King Air C90 (MARC uses this to transport interior children to Summer Bible camps) and a Cessna 185 for a bush pastor. I’m learning all kinds of new tricks – even things like welding and sewing upholstery!
We also visited Kingdom Air Corps which is in Sutton, Alaska, about four hours north of where we’re staying. KAC does bush pilot training and hosts Bible camps in the interior. We wanted to build relationships with several people: A fellow Samaritan Aviation family training there and two MMS graduates serving there. During the trip we met another family who is in application with Samaritan Aviation. We really hit it off and I hope their application goes well. We also met the founder of Mercy Air, the Aviation Director of the Free Burma Rangers, and many other people who know people that I know. Janice even met with a woman who’s dad was the very first MMS Aviation apprentice! Her and her husband serve in Papua New Guinea and are home in Alaska on furlough. They gave Janice great cultural advice. The web of connections we made spanned continents!
We’re connecting with my brother Matt’s family who live up here and, whether they like it or not, our kids are over at their house all the time! Matt has a little go-kart and I think the kids have put a hundred miles on it just driving in and out the long dirt lane! Adi and Mary Kate (Matt’s daughter) have become really good friends. Every time Adi has to come “home” she puts up a royal fuss. Elliot and Logan (Matt’s 4 year old son) have been fighting a lot but I guess that’s one way boys get along. Logan is four and his younger sister, Hannah, is eight months old (two months behind Oliver). Both Elliot and Logan love tackling their younger siblings, thumping them on the head like ripe watermelons, and making silly noises at the top of their lungs to get their sibling’s attention.
The other day we saw moose in our front yard. Moose actually kill more people each year in Alaska than grizzly bears. I guess we did our due diligence telling our children moose were dangerous because Adi was sure that the moose was going to kill us. We had to explain the moose wasn’t scratching at the doors and peering in the windows trying to get it’s next meal. It just defends itself if you happen to surprise it or threaten its young. She wasn’t convinced.
In other news, we have started our visa paperwork for our move to Papua New Guinea. Pray for speedy processing!
What’s Next?
- October 1: Back to Ohio!
- October 17(ish): Leave Ohio for culture training at Missionary Training Institute (MTI) in Colorado. We’ll be driving the van. Pray for safe travels!
- November 19: End of classes. Back to Ohio!
- Thanksgiving and Christmas: Traveling to PA and MI to visit family and say our goodbyes.
- January (sometime): Move to Papua New Guinea to start our term.
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Send a check with a note designating it for the “Snaders” to:
Samaritan Aviation
PO Box 20697
Mesa, AZ 85277
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