GroundCrew Issue - April 2009 - Page Four
President's Pen - Dwight Jarboe
There is an old hillbilly song that complained, “I got the milk ‘em in the mornin’, feed ‘em, milk ‘em in the evening blues.” (Tennessee Ernie Ford, a popular singer in the ‘40s and ‘50s, recorded it for Capitol Records in 1949.) It’s a light-hearted look at the constant routine of the dairy business.
At the end of World War II my father and his brother, Harry, bought a farm together in Central Kentucky. It was near where they had grown up and was a fairly large farm for that area. They soon established a herd of good Holstein dairy cows.
Dad, Uncle Harry and a hired man kept the farm operating. As my brothers and I grew we helped in ways appropriate to our ability. Milking, feeding, caring for livestock, mending fences, maintaining equipment and a host of other farm duties could be handled by this regular “staff”. But, when we put up hay, we needed help.
Boys in their early teens would come each summer to earn some spending money by pitching hay bales, and our two barns would be filled. They were paid five dollars a day plus an ample noon meal. A lot of good-natured teasing and friendly competition happened as the hay was harvested and stored to feed cattle the following winter.
On page one you read about the trip to Missionary Flights International in Florida. This month Scott Grote is helping Harvest Aviation in Florida and Josh Adelsberger is in Zambia to help CMML. MMS Aviation mechanics are similar, in some ways, to the boys who came over to haul hay.
Generally speaking, mission organizations recruit personnel to cover the routine needs of their aviation programs. To over-staff each operation would not be good stewardship and would under-utilize good pilots and mechanics most of the time. Major inspections, upgrades to aircraft, and repair after mishaps are times when extra help is usually needed.
A team from MMS Aviation sent to a field program may bring additional knowledge and experience to a specific task. However, we do not have an attitude that would say, “Stand back and watch the pros get this done.” Our mechanics enjoy sharing what we know with those we serve. In several cases, local mechanics working with the MMS team received the experience and confidence to repeat the maintenance event in the future. This is especially true concerning major inspections.
It’s a joy to serve the Lord by serving the mission aviation community. Even though we don’t earn five dollars a day, the fellowship on Rapid Response trips is not unlike that of the hay-hauling crews during my boyhood. To me, that’s a good thing.
Prayer and Praise
Praise God
... for Mark and Jenny Beckwith passing evaluation and being accepted for aprenticeship.
... for the progress made on the Moody 182 restoration project.
... for David Mozombite completing apprenticeship and pursuing service with South America Mission.
Please Pray
... for the candidate evaluations scheduled in April and June to go well.
... for Dale and Deborah Coates to quickly raise the additional support necessary to return to hangar service.
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MMS is a member of the International Association of Missionary Aviation (IAMA).