I finally got a picture of Jason with most of his guys together. These are all but 2 of the students he has worked with since the start of the school year in July. The day before Thanksgiving marked the end of the semester. Due to the winter weather conditions here in Spokane, the flight program flips their school year to have a winter break instead of a summer break.
Jason will continue to work at school throughout the winter break getting guys caught up when the weather permits. He and the other flight instructors will start to receive training for flying the Kodiak airplane (read about it here). We are also hoping to start to work on raising our support level this winter. So we plan on staying busy!
I have to say that the students in the flight program are pretty amazing. They definitely get a chance to stretch their faith while in school. Many of the guys are married and several of them have kids. A normal schedule is a 9 hour school day, which doesn't include those special 5 am flights in the summer or the recent night flights. Most of them juggle some kind of employment outside of school while balancing their families and most often some kind of ministry through church, etc. It boggles my mind how some of them make it through.
There was a small commissioning on the last day of school for some of the seniors that are headed out on an internship over the winter break. In order to graduate, the students must do a 6-8 week internship with a missions flight organization. One of Jason's students it planning on going to Bolivia for 2 months. He and his wife have had to work through lots of decisions including whether or not she should accompany him (she is staying here in Spokane) and how they would be able to cover the cost not only of the trip, but of his time away from work. It is amazing to see the work these guys put and the sacrifices they make to finish the program. Keep them in your prayers!
