GOD IS GOOD! It has been amazing and humbling to see the way
that He has orchestrated events to bring in the financial support in His
timing. I have remarked to some people that the way that God has brought in the
support in the middle of an oil recession in Alberta seems like a miracle. To
anyone else it would seem that trying to raise support in the middle of a
recession is nothing short of futile, but our God is not restrained by economic
hardships. He has continually reminded me of Ecclessiates 11:4 where it is
written that, “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the
clouds will not reap.” How true that is!
It has continued to be a busy season as far as support
raising goes. On April 12th I was invited to Athabasca to speak at
the Athabasca Missionary Church. Because I had previously been living and
working up there I still had a few connections within the community. During the
church service I was able to give a full presentation on the ministry of MAF as
well as giving part of my personal testimony. It was a good time of meeting new
people and renewing friendships. I even met some people with connections to
Brownfield.
 |
| Craig Lewis and I speaking at the MAF Fundraiser Dinner |
The following Sunday was the culmination of many weeks of
planning and preparation. On April 19th we hosted a MAF fundraiser
dinner and auction in Brownfield. It was a good evening of community fellowship
and learning about the vital work of MAF. We were able to raise over $16,000! Thank
you so much to everyone who made the fundraiser a huge success! From those who
helped plan and set up, to those who helped run the event, to all those who
attended the event and bought up all the auction items. It would not have been
a success without your support. More importantly, the work of MAF is not
possible without your incredible support. A special thank you to our guest
speakers at the event, Rick Willms and Craig Lewis, and also to our auctioneer
Kurt Cole and his team, you all did an amazing job.
The next Sunday found me speaking at the Evangelical
Missionary Church in Castor. I have to admit, public speaking is not my
preferred vocation. There are many times when I would simply like to go to PNG
and start flying for MAF. But then there are times when I am speaking at a
church and I can feel the Holy Spirit moving and I know that this is also part
of MAF’s ministry. I know the words I am speaking are not mine. Because I am
not that good of a public speaker. At those times I know that the Holy Spirit
is speaking through me in order to reach out to people. Speaking at Castor was
one of those times. The response from the people in Castor was incredibly
overwhelming.
On May 3rd I was able to speak at the Forestburg
Community Church and the Killam Baptist Church on the same Sunday. It was
possible to do both services on the same day because the Forestburg Church
meets earlier than the Killam Church. It was a good time of meeting new people
and sharing about the work that MAF does.
The last Sunday in May I was able to put up a display table
at the Camrose Fly-In Breakfast. This annual event is hosted by the Camrose Flying
Club and is the largest fly-in in Western Canada. When talking about MAF
outside of churches, I have found that pilots are one of the most receptive
groups because they more fully understand the need for air transport in
isolated areas. This was true of the pilots at the Camrose Fly-In. I talked to
several pilots who were very inquisitive about the type of flying and the work
that MAF is doing.
On the first Sunday in June I will be speaking about MAF at
the annual Zinger Breakfast Fly-In just outside of Coronation. Because I will
again be speaking to a group of pilots I anticipate that this will be another
good opportunity to have detailed discussions about the work of MAF. If you
live in the area it would be great to see you there!
In terms of timelines moving forward on my journey with MAF
there have been several options discussed. If the God brings in the rest of the
financial support quickly then I can start flight training in August down in
Nampa, Idaho. For this to happen I would need to have 90% of my monthly support
raised before the middle of June. Then I would receive some orientation
training at the MAF International headquarters in England before jumping off to
PNG. Plan B, if the support doesn’t come in quickly, would have me doing
orientation training in England in November and then jumping over to Australia
for flight training. After that I would make the short hop over the water to
PNG. But then again, these are only projected timelines. I have learned that
God’s timeline can be very different, as He says in Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s
heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”
With regard to financial support, 100% of the outgoing support has
already been raised! For the monthly support, 66% has come in, leaving another
$1,800/month still to be raised. From now on, any one-time donations will be
divided into the monthly total. With those financial needs in mind, would you
prayerfully consider supporting the first four year term of ministry at $50,
$100, $200/month or whatever the Lord lays on your heart? As I mentioned, if I
can reach 90% of the monthly goal before the middle of June, then I can begin
training in August instead of November. I am hoping to reach this ministry
target as soon as possible so that I am able to serve the people of PNG through
MAF. Thank you so much for your consideration and for your incredible support!
If you would like to help with financial support and/or prayer support that would be great. You can donate to this ministry online, by phone, or by mail. Please designate your donation to go towards Ryan Cole. If donating by phone, call toll free 1-877-351-9344. If donating by mail, please make your cheque payable to Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada. If donating online you can follow this link: https://mafc.org/missionarypages/cole/index.html#donate
If you are unable to give financially but still want to be a part of this, then please feel free to sign up for my MAF newsletters by sending me a message at ryancole277@yahoo.ca
If you know of other people who would be interested in hearing about this work with MAF, then please spread the word. Because the more people that know about this, the better. Check back to find out about events where I'll be speaking about MAF.
To get to know me better, check out the video below.
Thanks for reading this and thank you so much for your support,
-Ryan
To donate by mail, send your cheques to:
MAF Canada
264 Woodlawn Road W.
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 1B6
For USA donors online:
More Info:
No comments:
Post a Comment