Hello from David, Shelby, and baby Claire! With this blog post, we hope to catch up and give you an overview of where we are and what God has been doing in our lives lately.
Taking it back a bit…In June of 2024, David completed a 2-year aviation maintenance program at Traviss Technical College in Lakeland, Florida, and he tested for and successfully received his Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) licenses, which allows him to work on aircraft as a mechanic. Knowing that he would soon be graduating from the program, we started looking for jobs for him, praying about where God would have us live and work next – whether we would move from Florida or stay. In the middle of David’s last semester in school, an opportunity came up to serve as an apprentice with an organization called JAARS. JAARS is a missionary aviation organization, the acronym stands for Jungle Aviation and Relay Service. JAARS uses specialized aircraft, boats, and land vehicles to support Bible translators and church planters in unreached locations around the world by relaying people, goods, and resources needed to carry on the work of gospel ministry and Bible translation.
We have both felt God’s calling us to serve with JAARS since the Sun N Fun airshow in Florida in 2022, where we met JAARS missionaries who shared their stories and how God was using missionary aviation. This meeting is what prompted David to pursue aviation and to go back to school to get his A&P. Usually, after going to A&P school, one needs a few years of aircraft mechanic experience before they can seek to serve with JAARS overseas, but with this new opportunity, David could come to JAARS after receiving his A&P license to receive that few years of experience needed from JAARS-trained mechanics instead of getting that experience at an airline or other mechanic shop. Once the training is complete, we will be sent overseas with JAARS.
So, in September of this year, we moved from the Tampa, Florida area to Waxhaw, North Carolina where JAARS has a large campus with an airport, maintenance hangar, housing for missionaries, and all the other administrative support staff that keep JAARS running. We get to live on campus, and that is a huge blessing, allowing David to walk to work and us to live in close community with other missionary families and trainees! There are 10 other apprentices training with David plus a few more maintenance trainees and their families receiving extra training before going overseas with JAARS. We will likely be serving in the same location overseas with many of the individuals with whom we are now training. We have currently committed to 6 years of serving with JAARS including 2 years of upfront training here in North Carolina at the JAARS base and the following 4 years at a location to be determined. Since September, David’s training has been in full swing with airplane inspections, rebuilding an airplane, and learning in the machine shop.
Other components of our life and training right now include…
- individual discipleship with a mentor for both of us
- attending and getting more involved with our church here
- group trainings for the whole family on topics such as Biblical Theology of Missions, Healthy Families & Transitions, and Partner Development
- lots of opportunities to get to spend time with other families, encouraging and learning from each other
This is a season of building up and preparation, one of growth and plentiful blessings, but it is also a simple season, where David goes to the hangar everyday from 8am-5pm and Shelby and Claire spend time with others around campus and do mundane daily things. But as I (Shelby) take Claire on our daily walks around the JAARS campus and we hear the airplanes and helicopters take off and land, I am reminded why we are here: to train to use these aircraft overseas to help aid in the advancement of the gospel to lands and people who have yet to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, which is such a privilege. We thank God daily that we get to be here at JAARS and we thank you for praying for us and supporting us in our missions journey that is really just beginning!
We will continue to share updates about our training and preparations as well as more about JAARS and the work they have done and are currently doing in some of the most remote locations in the world!
Some ways you can pray for us…
- for a deeper love for the Lord and diligence to be in His Word
- that we would be doers of the Word in every aspect of our lives and not hearers only (James 1:22-25)
- for a joyful Christmas break with our families in Florida