Through the Clouds, Into the Next Town
Welcome to Pioneer Aviation Ministry! Our aim is to utilize aviation to reach more people, train more missionaries, and encourage isolated preachers in the gospel ministry. We hope you’ll read more about us here and experience the excitement that we feel about serving the Lord with airplanes!
Over the course of deputation, we visited over 300 churches. In the majority of those churches, we played our ministry video to describe exactly what God has called us to do. The video closes with the following quote:
“The Lord has called our family to plant an independent baptist church on the west side of Sioux Falls, SD. He has also given us the vision of reaching out to the next towns that are scattered across South Dakota and the upper midwest.”
See our original deputation video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puWs5XXNbio
Over the past 3 years, the Lord has allowed us to complete the first part of that vision to plant a church on the west side of Sioux Falls. Here at Cornerstone Baptist Church, we have seen people saved, baptized, discipled, and excited to serve the Lord! Though we have faced many trials and taken on several large projects, the Lord has supplied every single need, time and time again! Our congregation is ready to reach out to the next town and work together with us to plant another church!
In order to reach the next town, we may need to travel anywhere from 75 to 400 miles! This distance seems almost impossible- but God has a plan! The Lord gave me a vision years ago, inspired by stories of Jim Elliot and the modern ministry of Brother Todd Bell, to use aviation in order to reach more people and plant more churches. Now that we have an established church, we have home base to reach out and a team to assist us in doing so. It’s no longer just a dream or a vision, but its steadily becoming our reality!
As I write this letter, I have only a few hours of flying left to earn my private pilots license! It has taken me about 5 months worth of consistent studying and flight lessons, but it has been an amazing and exciting time preparing to serve the Lord. The next steps for our ministry will be two fold.
- Continued education for additional licensing: not only do I want to fly a plane, but I want to train other missionaries to do so. I can save another missionary anywhere from $15,000-$50,000 over the course of their training by providing the training for free! I will need several additional certifications and an instructor’s license. In order to complete this training, I hope to have an airplane so that any further investment in my training can go towards a plane rather than rental fees.
- Flying to other towns to survey, preach, and host Bible studies. We are ready and the Lord has prepared our family and our congregation to reach the next town! I can start immediately-but will spend large amounts on plane rentals, fees, and fuel.
A plane will be an indispensable tool in our ministry and I know the Lord is going to use it for his glory to do great things here in the Upper Midwest! Please go and watch our Aviation Ministry video on our YouTube channel! You can find it easily by typing in
We are all so excited to begin this second phase of the ministry that the Lord has called us to and hope that you will be as excited as we are! Aviation can be a bit foreign to a lot of people, so I want to just provide a few quick details to help answer any questions you might have.
Purchasing a plane built for our needs: Airplanes require quite a bit of maintenance and can feature an incredible amount of technology. Old planes can be very affordable, but to bring them up to date on maintenance and avionics can cost 2-3 times the purchase price sometimes. We have spent months in research and seeking the wisdom of other aviation ministries to determine what we will need.
There are 3 major features that we need in an airplane for it to fit our needs, and 3 major conditions to help us make a wise investment:
Main Features
- 7 Seats and seatbelts to haul our family
- A single engine (dual engines mean double the maintenance cost and additional training)
- A high usable load capacity for hauling our gear with us. (Hymnals, tracts, bible study literature, keyboard, groceries for missionaries, relief supplies, etc)
Conditions
1. 1960s-1970s model to keep us in a reasonable price range. A Plane this old can be in pristine condition due to maintenance regulations!
2. Not due for an engine overhaul soon. Most small aircraft need the engine overhauled every 2000 hours. This repair may cost $50,000 or more! If we find a plane with low hours since it’s last overhaul, it’s like saving that $50,000 on the purchase price!
3. Updated avionics. The technology in 1960s planes is difficult to use and far less safe than what’s available today. To retro fit an old plane with new avionics is another massive investment-leading us to find an airplane that already has the upgrades installed.
The plane we have settled on and hope to purchase is a 1960-1970s Piper Cherokee 6. This is the smallest and most affordable plane that fits within our needs. This year and model can be found for sale anywhere from about $75,000 -$500,000. The cheaper planes typically need $100,000 worth of work done to be operational. Please join us is praying over this next step to reach the next towns!
What we need for the Pioneer Aviation Ministry
– $250,000 to purchase a Piper Cherokee 6 and fund the remainder of my training
- $50,000 to purchase a trainer plane to keep training costs down and train other missionary pilots
- $2,000 in additional monthly support to cover hangar fees, required maintenance, fuel and insurance
Ways to support out ministry
-Prayer!
- give monetarily through Macedonia World Baptist Missions
- Purchase our Ministry Merch here: bit.ly/PlaneShirts
- Donate a plane! Call me for logistics.
