I'm pretty sure all of you know this, but I'll start at the beginning. Last November, Luke went to Guatemala on a contruction mission trip. While he was there, God made it very clear to him that He was calling our family into full time mission work. When he returned, he started checking out different organizations. People continually brought up Agape Flights. Luke made several phone calls last fall and then visited Agape in January.
Agape Flights is an independent Christian flight mission based in Venice, Florida. Their main role is delivering supplies, mail, and packages to missionary families in Eleuthra, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. They are a lifeline to these missions and families. Without Agape, their ministry would be crippled. It's estimated that 1.5 million people are touched through the lives of the missionaries Agape serves. That's a pretty staggering number!
Agape has asked Luke to take a chief pilot position. They recently purchased a new airplane and are looking at buying another airplane in addition. Luke's main role would be to refine the flying part of their organization -- to take a good thing and make it better. Agape is experiencing a lot of growth, and they need a standardized approach to maintain the professionalism of the flight aspect of their operation. Plus, there is potential for expansion of their ministry. Luke would be looking for ways to serve more people and more places.
We spent the last week at Agape, training and educating ourselves on what to do next. We've been writing letters, making phone calls, and meeting with people. (If you have not heard from us yet, I assure you, you will soon!) We will be faith based missionaries which means we need to raise 100% of what we will cost Agape. We are at the very beginning of our support raising. So far, it has been a very humbling and faith building process. I'm sure it will continue to be! But we remain confident in the Lord. We know He will not call us into ministry without providing a way for us to be in ministry. If you want to learn more about Agape Flights, you can visit their website. www.agapeflights.com You can even look at our picture on the Staff page! : )
So here's a little bit about our visit there. When we were getting our rental car, they had this cool little play place next to the counter. It was just little too big for Noah. He really had to stretch his legs to climb up to the next level. Unfortunately, he got stuck halfway up. Luke had to crawl in and save him (while I took pictures).
Luke was able to make a flight with Agape. Here are a few of his pictures from the plane!
We really did spend a lot of time working, but we tried to do something fun in the evenings with the kids. It was really hard for me to be away from them during the day. That's something I'm definitely not used to!
Noah LOVED the beach! His favorite thing was chasing the birds!
My mom came out with us to watch the kids during the day. I'm not really sure what we would have done without her. I think she got a lot of quality Grammy time, but I'm pretty sure she was glad for the break when the week was over!
On Saturday, we went to Myakka River State Park. It was really cool! They had this big treetops walkway. Here are Luke and Noah at the top.
Then we visited the Nokomis Beach which was beautiful!
Mom took the kids to story hour at the library, and to a splashpad, and to the park....something fun every day. No wonder she was tired at the end of the week!
Since we've been home, we've been starting to tackle our list of potential supporters. We would appreciate you all praying for us while are on this support raising journey! Thanks!