Less than a year after Pastor Rick Cobb earned his Private Pilot certificate through Wings for Christ, he is planning his first international cross country flight. Rick and fellow missionary Todd Lovett will depart for Saltillo, Mexico on March 1st with a fresh annual inspection courtesy of WfC Chief of Maintenance Joel New.

Joel is quite familiar with Rick’s classic 1959 Cessna 172A. Rick bought the plane from Pastor Charles Henry, a long time friend of Wings for Christ. The blue on white fastback plane passed the annual with a few minor tweaks and is ready for the trip.

Rick and Todd will meet former WfC student Glenn Weid in Saltillo, who will drive them back to his home in Galeana, about two hours to the southeast. Once there, the men will visit many area towns and churches, give their testimonies, and look for ways that Rick’s church, Journey Christian Fellowship in China Spring, TX, can be supportive to area missions.

Rick’s flight instructor, Monte Michael, is excited for his student and knows that he is ready to go. “This is a ministry milestone that really is a culmination of what we are about here at Wings For Christ. I am so excited about this ministry extension of the vision and mission that Jesus has so graciously allowed us to be a part of.”

Pastor Rick has also taken his plane on several trips to west Texas to visit with pastors at new church plants. We are so glad to continue to be part of his training and pray for a safe journey to Mexico.

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Wings for Christ needs to write a Thank You letter or send some flowers to the people at Google Maps.

Let me explain…

About a year ago, the folks at Google added our airport to the area map of Waco. Ever since, we have been getting lots of calls from people interested in what we do. On February 26, 2011, some of those people came to visit the airport, learn more about us, and take a ride in Gracie.

Holly, Hannah, and Brittany, three friends from Liberty Hill, Texas, founded and co-write a blog about being twenty-something Christian women and what an adventure it is to seek God and live out faith every day. The blog is called “faith in between” and you can link to it here.

They were going to be driving through Waco on their way home from a women’s conference (or “feminar” as they called it) and spotted the airport on Google Maps. Visiting a mission flight academy was just the kind of thing they wanted to share with their readers, so after a few emails were exchanged, everything was set up for their visit, which would include a ride around the area in our Cessna 150 trainer.

Unfortunately, the weather was a little grim, with low ceilings. Not wanting to get caught away from the airport if things got below minimums, we kept the flights to the WfC pattern. The good news was that the air was like silk. Brittany and Holly had never flown in a small plane before, so a smooth ride was welcomed.

Each passenger got a low pass down the runway and then after another circuit a smooth landing. Advanced student pilot, Kelly Filgo (who received his private pilot certificate in 2009), was the pilot and really enjoyed the opportunity to introduce the guests to the airport. Also in attendance were flight instructor Monte Michael, student pilot Matt Dillon and his wife Kim.

Holly was very excited to go on her first small airplane ride and said she would tell her pastor back in Liberty Hill, who is a pilot himself, all about the visit. Hopefully we will create a long lasting connection with our new friends.

Thanks, Google Maps!

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Dear Friends of Wings for Christ,

2010 was a great year at Wings for Christ, and we are so thankful to have been able to serve the mission aviation field as we joyously work where God has called us.

As evidenced by the massive need to move people and provisions into Haiti after the devastating earthquake in January of 2010, aviation plays a vital role in mission work that affects millions of people worldwide. We had the privilege of assisting mission pilot Kelly Hein, who flew several trips to Haiti in the months after the earthquake, by coordinating some local fund raising for him. Any way that we can serve mission pilots, we are happy to help out.

At Wings for Christ, we exist to prepare a new generation of pilots for the mission field and serve our Saviour with our talents and treasures. In 2010 we had the privilege of working with two primary flight students in our program.

Rick Cobb, Pastor of Journey Christian Fellowship in China Springs, received his Private Pilot ticket on July 12. Since then Rick has flown his own airplane all around Texas as part of his ministry to pastors of new church plants. In just a few weeks, Rick will be flying to Saltillo, Mexico to meet missionary and WfC partner Glenn Weid for two weeks of service in nearby Galeana. The trip will also serve as a learning experience in dealing with international flight rules and flying in unfamiliar areas. We are hoping that this trip will serve as a model for introducing advanced students to flying in other countries. Soon, Rick will have enough flight hours to start working on his Instrument Rating. Please be in prayer for Rick during his trip.

Matt Dillon, who works as a junior engineer at RAM Aircraft in Waco, began flying with Wings in June. Matt has been progressing steadily with his training, soloed for the first time on October 20 and just recently began his cross-country dual instruction. Balancing a first job out of college, moving across the country to start his flight training and having his wife Kim in graduate school at Baylor takes a lot of concentration and energy. Please be in prayer for Matt as he continues his training. When the Lord calls, Matt and Kim plan to enter the mission aviation field full time.

Of course, there are lots of other things going on to support the students at Wings for Christ…

You can’t have flight students without a flight instructor! Monte Michael, or Chief Pilot and Mission Coordinator, is that person. Monte has trained many students over the years, but most importantly, he also mentors our students and prepares them for the mission field in ways that a traditional flight school instructor could never provide. Monte isn’t just a great teacher, he is a great friend.

Our mechanic volunteers (Ron, Joel, Brent, Mike, Rachel, Larry and lots of others… Thank you!) have been working hard to keep Gracie Bird, our Cessna 150 primary trainer, up and running. Gracie received some upgraded radios last year and is now an instrument rated aircraft, allowing advanced students to get instrument training while still flying an economical (i.e. easy on av-gas) airplane.

Work has progressed on our restoration of Mercy Bird, a 1966 Mooney M-20F. There are still a few modifications to the instrument panel left and some fuel tank sealing to be done, but Mercy will be flying again soon and we will be able to offer complex endorsement training to our advanced students and use her for longer range mission work again.

Another thing that has been overhauled at Wings for Christ is our presence on the Internet. We have committed to better communication with our ministry partners and are taking a technology based approach to achieve our goals. By giving you the ability to access the stories and news of Wings for Christ directly, you are in charge of how much information you receive. Also, we reduce our operating costs by reducing the number of mailers and other printed material we use to communicate with you.

Our technology volunteer, Ellen Filgo, completely revamped our website in 2010 and created a Facebook page and Twitter account for us. The website is your best option for staying current with the happenings at Wings and you can even sign up to receive a message every time we update the site (Look at the top of this page). If social media is your thing, be sure to “like” our Facebook page and subscribe to our tweets. Just search for “Wings for Christ International” on Facebook and “@wingsforchrist” on Twitter.

However, nothing can replace face-to-face contact and that is still our favorite approach to building relationships. We would love to have a cup of coffee and a live conversation with you any Saturday morning that you can come by. We meet at 9am at the airport for a weekly prayer meeting, northeast of Waco, just off Highway 84 at the Mexia split.

Speaking of creating relationships, we had some public outreach in 2010 as well. In October we attended the Reklaw Fly-In and held a worship service on Sunday morning in the gazebo. We made lots of new friends and spread the news about the WfC mission. In November we revived the traditional Wings for Christ Fly-In and even had some of our new friends from Reklaw fly and drive in from as far away as Tyler, TX. Student Matt Dillon’s parents came all the way from Duluth, MN! All in all, we served 50 hamburgers to hungry supporters and people wanting to know more about Wings for Christ.

On a final note, this year also saw a modernization of our record keeping at Wings for Christ. We are now using a very affordable web-located database service to track our ministry partners’ activity. Over time, this will allow us to better communicate with our partners and gather data for grants from ministry related foundations. Another feature that we are excited about is the ability to take donations via debit or credit card. Many people have asked for this feature and we will be able to offer that service economically and easily in 2011. If you want more information please email Kelly Filgo at kelly.filgo@wings-for-christ.org.

To close, I want to thank you again for your support in 2010 and look forward to your continued partnership in serving Jesus Christ through aviation in 2011. Please keep the ministry in your prayers as we can do nothing without our Lord at the forefront.

Sincerely,

Kelly M. Filgo
Director of Development
Wings for Christ International, LTD

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