The Meaning of Life and the Boston Bombing

All of my travels have made me view life a little differently. When you leave the comfort of your home, your belongings, your friends, you start to view things in a different light. First of all, what is the use of all my belongings? Entertainment? Cooking? Relaxing? 

The meaning and purpose of life shifts when you leave everything you own behind. What you value is now different. Hmm... (JESUS). 

What now matters is different to you. This helps when you loose your luggage too- loose your clothes and belongings you "counted on". Living in a hotel, eating meals prepared for you, and having access to a TV-- what do you do with your time? Yes, there is work- but your free time- what do I do? I've gotten so sick of TV that I've not even bothered to turn it on anymore. I then watched movies- and tv series, of which I then got sick of after a couple days. Okay, so no TV or movies, what then is my hobby or takes my attention and time? Is it a pool on the roof of a hotel? No, although nice, not important. Very nice indoor gym? No.. although exercise is very much needed.. Travel? Maybe being in an exotic location is what is important in life? No... Was in CA and got to see lots of cool things, fly over the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, etc, cool, but eh, not important. Got to be in Turkey, and Dhaka.. got to see a new culture and live it and breath it. Stressfully normalized to it eventually. Cool to see, but also gets old after a while. Maybe helicopters are where its at- these too lost their interest a week or two into using them. Books? Very nice, but hard to get motivated to read when all you want to do is sleep. Maybe sleep is the answer? No.. never slept restfully while in Dhaka. Showers? No. Food? No. Photography? No. Exploring? No. Everything gets old quickly when you are limited and stripped to the core of yourself. Your true life shows through now with how you use your time- because that is where you heart is.----Nothing is "fun" anymore or meaningful or gives you a purpose by itself. Work? Stressful, but can be fulfilling- though tiring and frustrating most of the time. Maybe money? Yes, money? Money is useful to do online shopping for items...Maybe money for paying off the honeymoon? Or paying for my wedding? Cutting back debt? No. Money is not my importance in life. Money is not my meaning or the purpose of life. None of these things listed are the purpose of life or of much value by themselves.

However... these items start having value if we start doing them for the glory of God- they start having meaning and fulfillment and purpose and satisfaction. But, our nature is not to do them for the Glory of God- we don't know how or resist our flesh.

What if we were stripped of absolutely everything material in our life? What is left? I have found relationships are a purpose of life. Its the relationship- the foundation that remains- does not matter what you have done or who you are anymore. We are just a speck of dust- a human, like everyone else. What I have found that I enjoy most is relaxing and spending time with my fiance, family, and friends. (Doing any of the above with a friend changes all of those... but doing those things alone is not fun). 

What do you do if you have free time with nothing else to do? No homework, no chores, no projects, no pressures?

However, human relationships are flawed as well. Even though we can find great purpose and meaning in life through relationships- and relationships are so powerful and influential, they too are but weak, sinful, and temporary. Only Christ is perfect and His relationship the true meaning and purpose of life. Everything else fails to compare to Him... but why then is it we resist Him so much? Why do we put Jesus LAST and everything else FIRST? Why is Jesus an addition and not the sole? 

Has our American materialistic life brainwashed us enough to only make Jesus an addition to our life and not our life? Our flesh revolts to surrender. To putting Him first and not US first. Even with realizing this, I still will put myself first 90% of the time. Jesus is not as real as our materialistic world we live in- the bill that needs to be paid or the chores that need to be done or the show to watch. We are too busy for Jesus. We don't rely on Jesus for anything. He is the addition and not foundational denominator. Is this not then not Christianity? Is our life our idol of worship and Jesus just an addition to our life? Something that makes us feel good? Do we use Jesus as a crutch to get by in life? Something to hope for? Or is Jesus our life? This is scary if you think about it much. Most of American Christianity uses Jesus rather then living Jesus. We don't operate our lives with the glory of God as the driving force and factor- only then is all our tasks and business okay if this is the focus. Only then does it have purpose and meaning and fulfillment.

The meaning and purpose of life shifts when you leave everything you own behind. What you value is now different. Hmm... (JESUS). 

Luke 5:11 ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

I like this picture from Syria...http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/syria-manhunt.png

Americans are so self-centered. Honestly, I could care less about the Boston bomb. All of America came together for this- everyone has the flag at half mast across the nation (this is almost laughable). Yes, tragic, yes horrible, yes I wish it didn't happen. But what I care about more, is more tragic, more horrible, more devastating- Why don't Americans unite over the fact that children are dying each day due to poverty and illness? What about abortion? Yes, a young boy was killed in the Boston bomb, but millions of innocent children have died because of abortion.  Why don't we unite over the sex trafficking industry?  People die every day because of evil in this world. More people are going to hell faster then we can blink an eye at. Why do we not care about this? Hell is a horrible...unimaginable place that is cut off from the glory of God.

If relationships are important in life, then ultimately, I want to strive to push and show and spread the most restoring, wonderful, awe inspiring, loving relationship that has ever existed- that of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sin. Our horrible, self-centered, evil, selfish, greedy, sin. Christ loves us unconditionally and wants a restored relationship with mankind. Why don't we get this? Why do we cling to materialism and a fake self-security and meaning found in items we own- our house, car, 401K? What about instead of buying more, we gave more? What about instead of paying off debt as fast as we can (only to make another debt), we give as fast as we can? Extravagantly? Giving in the name of Christ for His glory? You can have all this world... just give me Jesus. God help me and forgive me. Hear my heart and heal me from myself. God you are all that matters, and I'm sorry I've made it all about me. I am yours and I surrender my will, my desire, my passions, my finances, my earthly possessions to be used however you see fit.

Travelling 101

For all my faithful blog readers, your job has been easy. I have not posted anything new in a very very long time, and for various reasons, which I will get to in my next blog perhaps. But for now, the forefront ideas in my head is to write briefly about travelling overseas and some tips I've picked up over the last 6 months.

October: Gabon
December: South Africa, Lesotho
January: Gabon
California
March- Bangladesh

1. In some countries- don't travel alone if at all possible. Don't go out at night. Always bring an ID card and a phone. SIM cards can be purchased pretty much in any country and can save your life. Make sure you have a phone that has a SIM card slot.

2. Make sure you are up to date on shots and required medicine. Good idea to bring pain killers, anti-diarrhea, cold medicine, etc. Antibiotics would not hurt either.

3. Hat, bug spray, sun screen.

4. Water purifying device. I have a steri-pen, ultraviolet purifier:

 http://www.rei.com/product/807755/steripen-adventurer-opti-water-purifier-with-solar-charging-case

This purifier also has an fits all filter which can be useful depending on your bottle size--

http://www.amazon.com/SteriPen-FAF-ADP-SteriPEN-FitsAll-Filter/dp/B002GQZDJE/ref=sr_1_7?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1364015622&sr=1-7&keywords=steripen

The Katadyn system is also an excellent choice.

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-8013618-Pocket-Water-Microfilter/dp/B0007U00YE

5. Make sure your electronic devices are capable of receiving the correct voltage (otherwise buy a voltage inverted) A power adapter will be invaluable as well. Not all locations have an outlet that accepts your plug.

6. Make sure to bring the max allowable baggage limit for long trips. Being prepared is always a good thing. Bring clothes in a carry on. I lost my bag with all my clothes in it, and needless to say, 2+ weeks later without clothes stinks. Overseas trips usually allows 2 checked 50lb bags, a backpack and a small rolling suitcase as carry-on luggage. Additional bags are good to bring home items- just make sure its not illegal!

7. Flying on an airline: Exit rows, isle rows, or rows with a bulkhead in front may be desirable. Avoid seats next to the bathroom.

8. COOKING: Want to save a buck, or 2 or $100? Bring food with you. Get a dual voltage water kettle:

http://www.amazon.com/Narita-International-Electric-Voltage-NTK-007/dp/B0030HO5KQ

I have cooked pretty much anything and everything in my hot pot. Don't forget to bring a bowl, plate, silverware  coffee mug, and strainer. Pasta, soups, you name it.

Other useful food items: cliff bars, snicker bars, jar of peanut butter,

Continental breakfast is your best friend. Grab food to go. Grab a couple apples or oranges. Eat them with peanut butter. You just saved $10-$20 for lunch. Drink water. Buy drink mix packets to mix up the taste- iced tea, lemonade, etc.

Hotels with a fridge and a microwave are amazing! Go to a food store and buy different frozen meals. Or buy jelly and bread. Save a lot of money this way.

Alternative fridge: Hotels with central air can be used for semi-refrigeration. Take the metal screen off and place items inside the air conditioning duct.

9. See the sights as much as you can. Living off hotel food can get old quick. There is only so much TV you can watch (if you are lucky it might be in a language you know). Cheap alternatives: Parks, museums, bodies of water, national parks/forests, etc. Ask the locals what to do and what to see.

10. Get visas beforehand and for a long enough period.

11. Bring cash. Not all places accept credit cards or debit cards. Cash is king in most countries. Exchanging money can be difficult as well. Some countries charge a huge fee for money transfers

12. Bring a camera. Don't forget to use it.

13. Pack the right type of clothes. Snow on the ground when you left and arriving in 100 degree weather you don't want to have all winter jackets. Make sure your clothes are culturally appropriate.

14. Expect delays and frustrations. Smile. Laugh. Be patient.

15. Be freindly with hotel staff and drivers, etc. You will most likely see a lot of them. Having them on your side is great. Don't forget to tip and thank you. It is not a bribe, its a thank you.

Add your thoughts and advice...

Alaska Mission Trip Report

Family, friends, and church families,

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for my time with Kingdom Air Corps (KAC) in Alaska! I apologize that this letter has taken so long to get to you. My time in Alaska was such a blessing and a great learning experience as I prepare for full time mission work with aviation and maintenance. A great deal happened over the month and a half I was in Alaska. As such, I will try and break my trip up into different categories.

Flying:

            Flying in Alaska was completely different than anything that I was used to! I had the chance to fly the following aircraft: Cessna 150, Cessna 152, Cessna 170, Cessna 172, Super Cub, and Champ. I flew for a total of 27.6 hours. I learned a great deal about how to fly in the mountains, read the wind over the terrain, and how to fly into and out of challenging runways. The runways were grass, gravel, narrow, had a slope to them, not straight, and had terrain and animals you had to watch out for. I was also able to simulate searching for a lost person on a river by following the river at a low level. I gained firsthand experience of how to approach different mountain ridges and passes with low visibility and how to make a safe go no go decision. Overall, I received great bush flying experience.

Maintenance:

With a fleet of older aircraft comes an endless list of items which need to be fixed. Since it never really gets dark in Alaska during the summer, it was not uncommon for us to be working until 10-12 at night. My biggest challenge was learning what was acceptable for wear and tear of parts. I was able to gain experience working on landing gears, wheels/bearings, exhaust systems, painting/paint removal, corrosion, sand blasting parts, compression checks, and servicing batteries and spark plugs on about 8 different aircraft. I was also able to help out with an annual inspection on a Cessna 175 and several other hundred hour inspections. I was able to help supervise and answer questions for the inspection crew that came from LeTourneau University for a couple weeks. Another interesting project was helping take the wings and tail off of a storm damaged Cessna 172 in order to trailer it back to the ranch.

Aircraft maintenance was not the only work that needed to be done around the ranch. I was able to help burn a ton of wood in order to clear land for space for campers to stay. I was also able to help move an entire cabin that someone down the road donated to KAC. I was often sent into the town of Palmer to pick up aircraft parts or run different errands.

Brooks Range Bible Camp:

            The Brooks Range is one of the most remote places I have ever been. Fly north of Fairbanks about 3 hours, or about 230 miles and you will not see any gas stations, rest stops, restaurants, or buildings. There is only one road which follows the Alaskan pipe line with absolutely nothing else in sight for miles and miles of wilderness. I was absolutely amazed that hundreds of people live in such remote locations inside the United States. If I did not know I was in Alaska, I would have thought it was another country! The place we held the Bible camp at was called Paradise Valley and used to be an old gold mining camp. Our team picked up children from Anaktuvuk Pass (population 300), Allakaket (population 100), Wiseman (population 21), and Coldfoot (population 13). The first week of camp we had 33 younger kids and the second week we had 25 teens and a total of 30 staff members for both weeks.

I was a counselor for the first week and had nine kids in my cabin, along with two other counselors. The kids were quite a handful! Picture the most unruly kids you have known and you might get close to how these kids were. All the kids barely listened to us and did pretty much whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to. There were several underdogs in my cabin who got picked on because they were from a different village. Fighting, spitting on (gleaking), and name calling among all the kids was a fairly constant occurrence.

A typical day started out with chapel right after breakfast which consisted of skits, puppets, memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18, and a Bible message. After chapel we would have cabin time where we would discuss what we learned and open it up for any questions the kids had. After cabin time, we would play anything from Eskimo kickball, to wreck the castle, basketball, link tag, or swimming. However, as soon as you put your feet into the water, they were numb! I have no idea how the kids could survive going into the water which came from glacier runoff. Another obstacle that we all had to face was the swarms of bugs everywhere! There was also minimal electricity and running water in the camp. Other activities included camp fires, songs, obstacle courses, volleyball, and an ugliest counselor contest.

At the very start of camp, I was super annoyed at how misbehaved the kids were. I was fed up with breaking up fights, being spit on, lied to, and yelled at. Often the kids would yell “I’m bored! I want to go home!” As I thought upon this whole situation, God taught me a great deal about love. Christ loves the unlovable, no matter what their attitude is. As a counselor, my goal was to build relationships with the kids and show Christ’s love through my own actions. By the end of the week, I was amazed to see how the kid’s attitudes changed. Many kids even wanted to stay longer and were upset that they had to leave. Although no new decisions for Christ were made among the kids in our cabin, I was able to help mentor kids who had already made a decision for Christ during previous years. Discipleship and a Christian influence is seriously lacking among the villages which the kids go back to.

During the second week of camp, I was on the grounds crew. In reality, I should say I was the ground crew. The rest of the grounds crew left to go on a rafting trip that was moved up a week to help a guy, John, who was stuck on the river. The rafting trip was geared towards people who were 21+ from the villages. Each day, my duties included cleaning the outhouses, collecting fire wood, building camp fires, and projects for Mick, the owner of Paradise Valley.

God’s Provision:

What really stood out to me during my time in Alaska was just how God provided for all of our needs. While at KAC, several different people gave us the following: 200 pounds of potatoes, a large cabin which sleeps eight people, 500 gallons of aviation fuel and all the groceries for the Brooks Range Bible camp. We also received about two or three moose that people hit on the road; there is nothing like fresh road kill moose for supper! God also provided safety in flying time after time. I want to share with you a story of how God watched over me while flying. The following story is taken from my blog at http://vulken.blogspot.com/

“Another issue of trust that I have been thinking about is with aviation and flying. Every time I hop into an aircraft I am putting my life on the line. It is a risk which comes with the territory; both with terrain and aircraft parts. I trust that the five bolts holding the propeller on will not break, the couple nuts holding the fuel lines together, wing attached, and so on and so forth. One little bolt, one little nut, one little part which comes loose or fails could cause an aircraft to lose power or control. And yet I fly. I fly off of short grass strips, knowing this risk. There is very little room for error, mechanically or with technique exists.

On the 4th of July, I flew into a fairly short, unfamiliar grass strip, trusting my finite skill as a pilot to land the aircraft. On takeoff out of the same strip, it is scary to know you are traveling at about 60kts, half way down the runway with large trees at the far end which you need to clear. Upon liftoff, you hold the airplane down in ground effect, accelerating to maybe 70-80kts straight at a line of trees. It takes judgment and skill to know how to takeoff and when to pull up to clear the obstacles. This takes trust in the aircraft and your own personal skill. That takeoff was one of the scariest runways I have flown out of so far. Safe? Yes, as long as the aircraft performs how you want it to.

Upon landing back at KAC, I had another scary moment for a pilot. Short final, about to land, just below the tree line a wind gust caught my wing and pushed it over. Slow and low with a wing banked 45 degrees is not a good place to be. I quickly added power, reacting on impulse to what happened. The stall warning was going off, and I was headed at about a 45 degree angle away from the centerline of the runway. This all happened in a flash, and I reacted with the training I had received. The thought ran through my mind that I was not going to make it. There was no instructor on board to help me out, I was all by myself. Somehow I managed to recover and get the plane on the ground. I thank God for His protection.

I find it interesting/ a God thing that later that night, after my gusty landing, I read my friend Katrina's post about trust. Also, here is an e-mail I received from my father this morning, not knowing what happened the previous day:

Ken,

     You were literally in my dreams last night.  I love you.  Be blessed with safe flying.

 Love

Dad

Again, trusting in an aircraft to do what it is supposed to do. Trusting in my skills to recover. As I was thinking about trust, trusting the small little aspects that keep an airplane performing, I was thinking about my trust in God. Do I trust Him as much as an aircraft? Do I trust Him with my entire life? Do you trust God for your life? I am blessed and thank God for His protection. ”

            While flying back from the Brooks Range, we encountered a 40 knot headwind in Windy pass. A headwind means you are going much slower and are using more fuel to get to your destination. As I already mentioned, where we were flying in Alaska was very rural. As such, there are not many airports to land at if a problem occurs. After finally making it out of Windy pass, we encountered rain along the route. Normally, light rain is not an issue; however my carburetor heat cable broke. This means that it was a possibility to get icing in the throat of the carburetor which would cause a decrease in power if not complete loss of power. Thankfully I did not ice up! However, upon landing at the closest airport, I found out that I had about 35 minutes of fuel left on board when I should have had about an hour and a half. Again, God was providing for our needs!

            I want to leave you with one more story of how God started this whole journey to Alaska for me. I feel this is a testimony to how God is active and sovereign in our lives.

I watched fireproof last Thursday night (Feb 3) with the guys in my apartment. In the movie, they have something called a 40 day challenge. I thought the movie was great and I was in the shower and was thinking about the 40 day challenge. I was also thinking about what to do this summer. One idea is to stay in Alaska after our family reunion cruise is done and go to Kingdom Air Corps with Dwayne King.  Anyway, in the shower I was thinking about just the idea of spending 40 days on something and the significance of the number. This brought me around to wondering how long it would be from the time our cruise was over to the end of the Bible camp that Kingdom Air Corps holds. I thought to myself, man that would be awesome if it was 40 days and how that would really be a confirmation of what I was supposed to do. So I went to my room and ran the numbers: we are supposed to leave Alaska on June 14th, Bible camp is the 2 middle weeks in July. The day Bible camp ends on July 23th, which is when I would probably be leaving, or the day after. Doing the math, this is 40 days exactly (17 days in June, 23 days in July). I had sent an e-mail to Dwayne King several days before asking to get together and talk with him about Alaska. I also had met with Mr. Poelman to ask his advice and talk about some concerns I had. One of the things Mr. Poelman said was that it was ultimately going to be for God to show me one way or the other what to do this summer. So right after I ran the math, I checked my e-mail and received an e-mail from Dwayne King. He wanted me to call him sometime and figure out a time to meet. When I saw that it was 40 days I started laughing, and then right after that I saw Dwayne's e-mail and laughed even more and wondered what the odds were of that being a coincidence.

Again, thank you for your support and prayers! You helped make a difference in the lives of many kids in Alaska. God is alive and active! Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. Most of my pictures from Alaska are on Facebook.

            Please keep checking my blog to stay in touch with me! I have been home in Pennsylvania for about a month now and have been working on many odd jobs around the house and for people I know. I am still searching for a job and would appreciate your prayers! As soon as I pay off my school loans of about $25,000, I hope to serve in a closed country where Christians are not allowed.

Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”

Peace and love,

Ken Misiak

Life Trust

Wow, where to start this update... Everything has been going well, and I have been very busy moving from one project to the next. As many of you know, I have also been searching for a job start the beginning of August. This has been on the forefront of my mind for pretty much my whole time here. It has been a little discouraging hearing about many of my friends already being hired by someone, and I am still looking. I have found many places who may hire me, but I have just not felt right about it in my spirit, just not thrilled about the company or just don't think its a good match. Maybe I am being picky, but I don't know. I have a strong conviction not to work on any aircraft which are used offensively/defensively. 

As I was looking back on where God has taken me, time after time everything has worked out one way or the other. As I work here in Alaska at KAC, I keep asking myself, why am  I here? What purpose is in it? I know its to gain more experience, and also the Bible camp coming up, but it is easy to loose sight of the big picture. I have been blessed beyond belief so far in my life. I graduated college with only a fraction of debt as many of my friends. I have about $30,000, whereas many of my friends have over $100,000. I have to ask myself, why me? Why do I have so little debt? I could just as well be on the opposite end.

I have been stretched in all areas of my life here in Alaska. As I have been searching for a job, I would like to be closer to home where my family and friends are at. I don't like the idea of "starting life over" if I were to move to who knows where to work. I would need to build a new church and friend pool. This is hard for me, and takes a while to build any significant close relationships with people. At the same time, I am also the one who wants to go overseas and serve God using my pilot/mechanic skills. Sure, I may be working with a team overseas, but if I can't live more independently now, whats to say I can't later? Reminds me of my blog a while back when I was thinking about the idea of what I am now is what I will partly be later.

Another issue of trust that I have been thinking about is with aviation and flying. Every time I hop into an aircraft I am putting my life on the line. It is a risk which comes with the territory. Both with terrain and aircraft parts. I trust that the five bolts holding the propeller on will not break, the couple nuts holding the fuel lines together, wing attached, and so on and so forth. One little bolt, one little nut, one little part which comes loose or fails could cause an aircraft to loose power. And yet I fly. I fly off of short grass strips, knowing this risk. Very little room for error, mechanically or with technique exists. On the 4th of July, I flew into a fairly short grass strip, trusting my limited skill as a pilot to land the aircraft. On takeoff out of the same strip, it is scary to know you are traveling at about 60kts, half way down the runway with large trees at the far end which you need to clear. Upon liftoff, you hold the airplane down in ground effect, accelerating to maybe 70-80kts straight at a line of trees. It takes judgment and skill to know how to takeoff and when to pull up to clear the obstacles. This takes trust in the aircraft and your own personal skill. That strip was one of the hardest strips I have flown out of so far. Safe? Yes, as long as the aircraft performs how you want it to.

Upon landing back at KAC, I had another scary moment for a pilot. Short final, about to land, just below the tree line a wind gust caught my wing and pushed it over. Slow and low with a wing banked 45 degrees is not a good place to be. I quickly added power, reacting on impulse to what happened. The stall warning was going off, (which I had previously thought didn't work all the time), and I was headed about a 45 degree angle away from the centerline  of the runway. This all happened in a flash, and I reacted with the training I had received. The thought ran through my mind that I was not going to make it. There was no instructor on board to help me out, I was all by myself. Somehow I managed to recover and get the plane on the ground. I thank God for His protection.

I find it interesting/ a God thing that later that night, after my gusty landing, I read my friend Katrina's post about trust. Also, here is an e-mail I received from my father this morning, not knowing what happened the previous day:

Ken,

 

    You were literally in my dreams last night.  I love you.  Be blessed with safe flying.

 

Love

Dad

Again, trusting in an aircraft to do what its supposed to do. Trusting in my skills to recover.

As I was thinking about trust, trusting the small little aspects that keep an airplane performing, I was thinking about my trust in God. Do I trust Him as much as an aircraft? Do I trust Him with my entire life? Do you trust God for your life? I am blessed and thank God for His protection. More later...

The following is a brief summary of what I have been up to the last week or so. I need to keep track of the maintenance items that I have been doing for mechanic FAA reasons. For many, this short summary of stuff  may be very boring, but for others it may be fascinating. A bit of other items are mixed in as well.

-----------------

Wednesday: Worked on the 206 wheels the whole day. What should have been a couple hour project turned into a whole day event. Our project was to change the tires, but once we took the wheel off, we found a great deal of corrosion, and so we had to strip the paint off, then sand blast it clean, wash it, and inspect it. Breaking the bead on the tire took forever.

Thursday: Worked on 206 wheels, spray painting wheels, stripping paint, and figuring out how to separate two halves of other wheel. Also polished spinner.

Friday: Exhaust on blue aircraft. Marshaled aircraft all day for sight seeing people and a bit of sand blasting. Learned how to hand prop aircraft.

Saturday: Cessna 175 annual inspection: compression check, exhaust removal, serviced tires/wheel bearings, fixed navigation light on tail/cleaned up ground connection. Serviced sealed-lead acid battery, helped remove inspection cover panels, checked ELT for proper operation and security.

Sunday: Went to church in the morning, went flying/got checked out in the 150, went to church at night, celebrated Joe’s successful completion of private pilots license.

Monday: Worked on landing gear for a little bit, then flew into Palmer with Dwayne King. Made a lot of stops, flew back, ate dinner, went down to the river and had smores/shot guns.

Tuesday: Started to work on super cub engine, taking off accessory housing. Went flying twice with Dwayne King in the mountains. Very good learning experience.

Wednesday: Worked on wheels again- stripping paint/bead blasting. Worked on inspecting engine cowling- stop drilled several cracks/replaced a rivet. Went flying to pick up Jeremiah (Dwayne King’s grandson).

Thursday: Fixing seats for 206/working on sealing floats. At night did formation flight with friends.

Friday: Compression check on 150, troubleshooting rough magneto on 200SD. Went flying up to the glacier. Finished wheel project.

Saturday: Worked on troubleshooting 200SD all day- checked ignition leads, changed out spark plugs, checked timing, removed mag, replaced distributor, still ran rough- 200 rpm drop and popping, two cold cylinders, Dwayne ran it and thinks it’s a bad cylinder.

Sunday: Church, nap, flew into Anchorage to drop off Lauren and Pat.

Monday: 4^th of July.  Had the day off. Flew into Gulkana again to pick up Jeremiah. Then flew to Downwind airstrip- small grass strip near Palmer for a 4^th of July party. Bowling, maintenance, pool, air hockey, ping pong, you name it. Very fun time in fellowship. After that, took off, flew to Palmer, picked up Jeremiah then landed back at King ranch. Big fireworks display once it got “dark”. Also shot a couple of exploding targets.

Update 2.0

Saturday: Today we went to a gun show where most of the group shot a lot of different guns. The people there were giving out free hotdogs and gun safety glasses. After that, we went across the street to the airport and toured around looking at all the different aircraft. I posted a lot of pictures up on Facebook. After this, we went to A&W and went on a hike to a waterfall, then went to a very pretty lake, then to a really good pizza place. After that we went to a sporting goods store, walmart, and then back to the ranch. It was a fun and relaxing day.

Sunday: This morning we went to church, came back and had really good turkey with all the fixings.

Monday: Made tags for wheels. Helped put tailwheel on the champ. Made repair to 200SD, Cessna 150 cowling. Tie wrapped oil pressure line on 200SD. Also helped with cabin- putting big heavy logs up into place.

Tuesday: I just remembered one day last week we went after dinner to try and move a cabin that was given to us. This is a fairly large project, and we have to haul it up a large hill and then take it 2 miles down the road. But anyway: Today I finished up the cowling project. We fixed the mixture cable as well, it was getting snagged up on a nut. After that, I went flying in the 150 and did some slow flight, steep turns, and stalls. I practiced landings as well at the ranch with Jon. After that was dinner, and now blogging/updating. I have been reading a book called Weird, which is very interesting and makes you think. I feel like a lot of it is tailored towards older people/people who are married/have jobs and kids already, but it is still good. I would recommended it to anyone.

I am at a strange time/place in my life. I’m done with college, and I am a pilot/mechanic in Alaska. I have no job lined up yet. There is a slight possibility I could stay in Alaska if a job does not come through in VA. I would prefer working in VA, being close to family and friends and all, but I have to think Anchorage may be my new home. I will be going with a friend of mine, Daniel, to take a look at different companies in the Anchorage area. Daniel bought a one way ticket up here. Please be praying for God’s direction for my life and where I should go/what job I should take. I had a good conversation with Dan, the head mechanic that I have been working with here, about what it is like the first couple years and dos and donts in the industry. This was very helpful and encouraging.

3 day Update

Wednesday June 15^th

First day at Kingdom Air Corps. I drove the van back after picking up Patrick and Daniel from Anchorage. We arrived at about midnight. No one was awake except for Zack. He was very helpful and had a list of where everyone was supposed to stay. However, no one knew where my cabin was. So I ended up sleeping on the floor of their office- I really didn’t care and could have slept anywhere since I was so tired. The next morning I went to breakfast which starts at 7am. (Lunch is at 12:30 and Dinner at 5:30 I think). Before each meal, we all sign a hymn and then pray. In the morning, we have devotions, and Dwayne King shared this morning. After that, I found the right cabin where I was supposed to be staying and put all my stuff in there. I then helped cut up, move, haul, lift, and burn a ton of logs. (More like 10 tons of logs!) Our burn pile was huge! Thankfully, it was raining on and off so the fire would not spread/kept us cool. I did that pretty much the whole day. I got to meet a lot of cool people so far, I’m just having a hard time keeping their names straight. In other news, I still have a cold that I have been trying to get rid of for quite some time now. Your prayers on this would be greatly appreciated.

At night in Alaska, it isn’t really dark at all which is very hard to get used to!

Thursday June 16^th

This morning the group went around and shared a bit about themselves, their background, experience, and what God has been doing in their life. It was cool to hear/get to know everyone. After that, I worked with Dan and Daniel in the hangar working on a super cub all day. We took off both front tundra tires and inspected them, cleaned/re-greased the wheel bearings, inspected the landing gear assembly, inspected the empennage, and worked on fixing several discrepancies. After dinner, a group of us went up to Victory Bible Camp just up the road to attend their chapel for the kids which are at camp now, but for some reason they did not have it that night so we will try to go another night.

Friday June 17^th

This morning I got to go flying in a Cessna 150. This was a great experience after not having flown in many many months (other than the sightseeing trip with Roger). I thought I was going to be really rusty, but I was surprised that all my landings were pretty good for not being very familiar with the aircraft. All of them were smooth and I got to even land on a gravel strip and the strip at Kingdom Air Corps. After the flight, the engine is shut down by pulling the mixture control- I pulled this, but it came out right in my hands. The aircraft is pretty old, so it was not a huge surprise, but we got busy trying to fix it. Turned out the cable snapped. When we took the cowling off, we found several other discrepancies that had to be fixed.

I am really enjoying my time here. Everyone is like a big family, working together. Each person has their own set job, but we all come together and form a community of believers. It is really cool to see how God works. One person donated like 200lbs of potatoes (we have been having them at every meal!). We have also been eating a ton of moose! Very tasty! (Some of it came from roadkill too!) Another person just donated a cabin about a mile down the road, and we worked today to try and move it. We will be putting it on a trailer. So many people come up and donate their time to cook, clean, build, and do whatever needs to be done. 

Live update from Anchorage!

This morning I woke up at 3:50am to catch a flight at 6am from Fairbanks. The flight was uneventful, only about 30 passengers on a 737. I had three seats to myself. I arrived into Anchorage just fine and began to wait, and wait, and wait. I arrived at 7am, and I met up with a group of people from Kingdom Air Corps at 9am. Thats the short story- The problem was that I did not have any cell phone reception so I could not get a hold of anyone from KAC. Thankfully, I ran into my tour director from Denali and the bus driver and they were able to let me use their phone. Three phone calls later, I met up with the 4 people. Two were flying out right away, and the other two I spend the day with touring around Anchorage. We hit up the market area, many shops, got burgers for lunch, and then went to an Air museum to kill time! Turns out they were also flying out from Anchorage... which means I'm left with a 16 passenger van all to myself! Needless to say, I'm still at the airport now, because I need to pick up someone who comes in at 8:30pm, and then another person at 10:30pm. Thankfully they have free wireless internet! After I pick up these two LETU friends, we will have about an hour drive back to the ranch. If your bored, get on skype, FB, or Gmail and we can chat! Peace out!

Links to all my pics so far:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101153086846604.3583749.9391920&l=f4c441434a


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101157662961034.3585796.9391920&l=cdf5470fbc