Cleared For JAARS Training

January 15th, 2025

Brad is now fully retired from the Air Force, and while he's had no time to relax, he says retired life is pretty good!

Last week we drove over to Waxhaw, NC for Brad's flight evaluation with JAARS. The evaluation consisted of 6 flights in the Robinson helicopter over 3 days. The two pilots giving Brad the evaluation did not give much feedback, and Brad said it was fairly unnerving to not have any idea how he was doing. In the end, though, he completed it successfully! This was the last hurdle to becoming JAARS members, and we're excited to join them in the work they're doing for the Lord.

We had a bit of excitement while we were in Waxhaw. The first day we were there, about 2 hours before Brad's first flight, our little Millie jumped off a swing on the playground and broke her arm. Fortunately, Cambria's sister was able to immediately make a two-hour drive to keep the other kids. Cambria took Millie to the doctor, and Brad was still able to do his flight.

We're now back in Florida, and we'll stay here for another month. In mid-February we plan to move to Waxhaw in order to begin the JAARS Pre-Field Orientation class. The class is mostly flight training, with a little maintenance as well.

After the Pre-Field Orientation, both Brad and Cambria will do an inter-cultural communications class. Brad will also complete a short Bell Helicopters course in the aircraft he'll be flying overseas.

All this training should take about 6 months, and then we'll be looking to move to Papua New Guinea as soon as we get visas, work permits, and all the paperwork completed. So, this coming fall would be the earliest we would move, and we're praying it will not be later than the end of the year.

One of the great things about the trip we took to Papua New Guinea this past July was all the people we were able to meet. One of those was a translator from Australia named Robert. When we met him, Robert had been working with the people of PNG and translating the local languages for over 60 years. He had just returned to Ukarumpa Center after spending his 87th birthday in a village.

Cambria and Brad were able to sit with him and listen while he told us of some of the people and places he had worked with and in. He also told us that he had gotten pretty sick this past time in the village, and he was mostly certain that he wouldn't be returning to the bush. In fact, he was leaving PNG to see his siblings in Australia.

We also met a 20-something year old translator named Ben who was fresh out of school and in his first days in PNG. We were able to introduce Ben to Robert, and Robert said, "So, you'll be my replacement."

Well, this past week while we were in North Carolina, we visited one of the museums JAARS has at the headquarters. There we met another man, also named Ben, and as we talked with him we learned that he had known Robert in PNG many years ago. This Ben told us that Robert had recently died after returning to Australia.

While it filled us with grief to hear of his passing, we felt so blessed to have been able to meet him. Robert lived his entire adult life being obedient in service. He didn't give up the work until the very end. There won't be any books written about him, and few will ever know of the life he devoted to service in PNG, but we're confident he's now enjoying his reward. 

Please pray with us as we take the next steps. May you be encouraged as we enter a New Year!

Brad and Cambria