Saturday, April 11, 2009

April 2009 Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! Another month has passed and we thought we’d update you on our life and our progress towards becoming missionaries with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship). Last month we told you that we’d been accepted as candidate members in an organization called Servant Wings.

Servant Wings

To jog your memory, Servant Wings is a ministry that exists to help missionary pilot candidates get the training they need to join a mission’s organization. They are essentially a stepping stone on our path to joining MAF. Because of Servant Wings Eric is able to get valuable training and time in Servant Wings planes both through maintenance and flying to help him towards completing MAF's pilot/mechanic requirements. The people involved in the organization are also great mentors to us through the process of praying about joining MAF. Because Servant Wings is a non-profit organization they raise all the funds required to keep this vital ministry going. As missionary candidates we also raise funds to be a part of this important ministry. We would like to invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in ministry with Servant Wings. More information about this is at the end of our letter, first we’d love to update you on what’s been going on this past month.

Oregon Coast Trip

April has been a busy month for us. We’ve been working hard to try to get more organized to be able to complete everything we need to get accomplished these next few months. With everything going on with work, training, schooling and fixing up the house, we decided to take a few days to rest and have some fun. Kristine had two weeks off in April for spring break so we took an extended weekend trip to the Oregon coast.

It was wonderful to get away from our responsibilities for a few days to just relax, be with each other and enjoy God’s creation. We camped out near the coast the first night and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Kristine had never been to it so it was a fun time for both of us. We saw the new “Oddwater” exhibit and many interesting fish. Our favorite fish was the Longhorn Cowfish. We put a picture of it in the newsletter so you could see it too! It’s so amazing to see the many diverse fish that God’s made.


After the aquarium we traveled down the coast towards California stopping on various beaches to do hikes and see the Ocean. Our last major stop on our trip was to see the Redwood Forest in California. It was amazing to see how large these trees have become over the course of many years. Also amazing was the fact that many of these trees have been through different forest fires and have STILL survived. In a way it’s like the trials and tribulations we go through in life while believing in God. We may be scorched in the fire, but by the grace of God we can make it through still standing tall as a testament to His glory.


Back to Work...Eric update

After we came back from our trip it was back to reality for us and all the responsibilities that come with it. Eric continued to work on updating the instrument panel and creating an air filter system for his hiperbipe (his biplane) and completed it! Soon he hopes to get back flying in his own plane again to help sharpen his skills when he’s not working with the instructors at Servant Wings and using their planes. He is still working on completing his instrument rating for his pilot’s license. He hopes to be able to take the written test soon. After that he’ll do some more flight training and take the performance evaluation to get his flight rating. With all the bad winter weather it’s been hard to get up in the plane to train, but spring is here and with it longer daylight hours and better weather! Praise God!

Kristine’s job search update

Lately Kristine has been looking again for teaching jobs and finding that there aren’t many, if any, out there. Her main goal of trying to find a teaching job is to give us a good income with health benefits while Eric’s going to PCC full-time. On April 7th she spent six hours at the Oregon Professional Educators fair talking with different districts and found out that they all have grim outlooks on the next year. It’s a bit disappointing, but we know that no matter what happens that God has a sovereign plan and will take care of our needs in the next year. Right now she is still working as an educational assistant for an early intervention autism program in Beaverton and thankful that she has a job, even if it isn’t in the field she got her degree in.

House Update

We are making some progress on the house. Kristine painted some molding and we’ve been working on landscaping the yard some more. Next we’ll finish the master bath floor and put up molding the main bath. Soon we hope to have some warmer weather to be able to finish painting the outside of the house. Slowly but surely we’re completing our tasks. After we’re finished we’ll list the house and pray to get it sold ASAP.

Class Update

We’re still working on completing our New Testament Survey class by June. Prayer for motivation to do the work for this class would be awesome. We get distracted a lot with everything we have to do and lately have been really working hard to get ourselves on an organized schedule to complete this class. After we’ve finished this class we’ll have to complete just a few more bible credits to fulfill the MAF bible requirements.

Prayer

We’d love it if you’d keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Right now motivation seems to be our biggest obstacle. We have so many things to do that sometimes it can seem overwhelming and hard to know where to start. So prayer for wisdom would be awesome during this time and for us to have a clear vision of where God is leading us in the future. Here are some things you can pray for us for these next few months:

1) Finish our New Testament Survey class by June

2) We spend more time in the word and with God

3) Complete the projects on the house to be able to sell it

4) Wisdom for us regarding Kristine’s job situation

5) Eric to finish is instrument rating by summer

6) For us to be able to raise $3800 a month as candidate members of Servant Wings (details are on the right if you are interested in partnering with us)

Contact Us!
God loves all of you and cares about you very much! We care about you too! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about what we've written or what we feel called to do. We'd love to share our hearts with you and for you to join with us as partners in ministry. You can contact us by e-mail at ericandkristinereed@gmail.com .

With Love in Christ,
Eric and Kristine Reed




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