Feb. Newsletter

Our family has been reading and studying the book of Ephesians and a certain verse has came to life for me. Eph 3:1 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles”. While reading a commentary on this verse it explained that Paul did not blame his imprisonment on the Jews who had him arrested or on the Romans who were holding him, neither did he blame himself who appealed to Ceaser, he attributed his imprisonment to God’s plan. One commentary I read on this verse explained that if Paul had not been held by the Romans he probably would have visited the many churches (Ephesus, Galatia, Corinth, ect.) and not written them. We would have been without many of our New Testament letters. Paul, this great thinker, great teacher, great missionary best served Christ chained to a guard under house arrest. We are beginning to understand that God’s timing and plans are not the same as ours as we believe he has kept us in Coshocton to continue the work here. Unlike Paul, we do not feel imprisoned, on the contrary, we love Coshocton and MMS. My heart still is greatly burdened with the work that needs to be done in the Amazon, God has not taken that away. That is why I am equally confident that one day in his timing he will send us on our way.
While we wait I continue to work on Edgar Schreiber’s floats at MMS. The floats, like the plane, had considerable damage from the crash and plenty of corrosion from the salt water they endured. I’ve completed the structural repairs on the left float and will start stripping paint tomorrow. The right float is currently undergoing structural repairs, preparation for assembly, and installing new bottom skins. The knowledge that I’ve received from this project will be of great value in the Amazon. I thank God for the opportunity to serve both Edgar and MMS while preparing and learning about these necessary appliances for ministering in the Amazon region.
Please pray for us as we continue to work with the embassy, trying to get the visa’s processed. Asas de Socorro is also trying from their side to help with government contacts. We continue to save money towards our start up expenses, an additional $10,000 is needed along with another $600 per month in monthly support. It is hard to believe, but it is true that the US dollar has fallen over 18% against the Brazilian Reale. That means if we go with our original support quota we will be almost 20% under our budgeted needs. Also, in switching from MMS to Interlink we lost around $300 per month of income. People that either chose to drop or support or just never got around to changing. We thank those of you who did make the switch.
Thank you to the many of you who made it possible for us to serve at MMS this last year. Your gifts and support are much appreciated and accepted with the service of Christ in mind. We look forward to partnering with you into the future, serving Christ however and wherever he chooses.
May God continue to bless you this year as you serve in Aviation Maintenance by faithfully praying for and/or financially supporting us.
Josh, Kristi and kids