Dear all,
As you may have noticed, this newsletter is a little late. We actually wrote it a month ago, but were unable to send it; so we hope you enjoy this newsletter, most of it written while on our world travels and the rest a fresh update from the lives of the Sampsons.
We are writing to you from Ponoka, Canada, where Keiran’s brother Aaron had his wedding last Saturday. It was a great time to celebrate and catch up with Keiran’s family (as they are all over the world now!). The wedding ceremony was beautiful – there was snow everywhere so it was also VERY cold (-180C at night)! The journey here took almost two days, including stopovers, and we are so thankful that God kept us safe and kept us from any severe jet lag. Next week on our return to Australia we will be backpacking in Hawaii for a short break – we figured that since our flights are through there we may as well have a few days looking around the island and having a well-earned break from such a big last two years. As grateful as we are for this break from the busy-ness, we also pray that it would be not just a time of self-indulgence, but that God would give us opportunities to glorify Him in as many ways as possible on our journey.
So as many of you are no doubt wondering – what does next year hold in store for the Sampsons?For the past six months we have been praying and seeking God’s guidance on what He wants of us for next year. Keiran has always felt led that God wants him to be a Missionary Pilot, and felt that God wanted him to do engineering so as to be able to maximise his usefulness on the mission field. For the past six months, though, we have been unsure as to whether we should wait a year and work to get funding for the mission flight training, or whether God was calling us to take a step of faith and in faith start the training with only part of the funding. Over the last 2 months in particular we have both felt strongly that God has been calling us to take a true step of faith and depend on Him wholeheartedly. It is so easy in the modern age and in our wealth to live lives that are so safe and not truly needing God day to day, and we feel strongly convicted from God to wholeheartedly trust in Him. Its not an easy thing to do and if we started the course and half way through ran out of money, it be a disappointment for Keiran, but he realised that the main reason for this is that it would be a huge stab at his pride for it is not as though we would be homeless or destitute. Its not that it’s a huge financial risk since he could suspend his training if required, it is a risk that we may appear foolish. But we don’t think that this is a good enough or godly attitude to take. God has told Keiran that he is going to be a missionary pilot and we need to trust that it is going to happen. We ask for your prayers as we take this step, it scares us at times, and we do get plagued with doubts at times, but we take strength from Gods word where he says that he will provide for us, and that he does keep his promises.
God has been blessing us the past few months. As we wrote in our last newsletter, Keiran got an interview at Bunnings, and now has a casual job there. He has been getting about three shifts each week, which makes up about 15 hrs. Hopefully he will pick up more shifts at Bunnings throughout the holidays, and also continue possibly in a permanent part time position next year as he studies flight. We would greatly appreciate your prayers that he will be able to cope with the workload, as the aviation program is much more rigorous than engineering when it comes to homework and study. Many of the students doing aviation have found the workload a challenge.For those of you who don’t know, Keiran’s flight course is designed specifically for Mission flying. Training as a pilot in a commercial situation is focused on becoming a jet pilot. The training at ACMA is carried out by MAF mission pilots who have spent years flying in places such as Papua New Guinea where flying is extremely dangerous with severe weather conditions, mountainous terrain and where airstrips are often too short, on mountain tops and up-hill. The training is designed to teach us from the beginning how we as future mission pilots will be flying; not only flying skills, but also all the roles that missionaries undertake in remote areas of the world. This includes making ethical and moral decisions in life-and-death situations, weather difficulties and fuel limitations. Imagine, for example, you are a pilot halfway through a delivery flight when you receive a radio call to attend a medical emergency in which the patient is going to die in the next three or four hours without medical care. The weather conditions at your destination are dangerous but you may be able to get through if there is a whole in the clouds. Add to this that you have been flying since 6am, it’s late afternoon and you can’t fly once it’s dark. The place you are delivering the supplies to has not had clear weather for weeks and is totally dependant on the supplies you are bringing. This is a situation that many mission pilots face every month, and ACMA’s goal is to train their missionaries to be able to deal with these situations with confidence and a clear head. The job of a mission pilot is not easy. It often a very stressful one, with long tiring days (there’s no one to help load or unload the plane). But Keiran has a strong passion for these remote communities to serve them in any way that he can, and Corinne has such a passion for people, to see that they know God.
Keiran completed his last engineering exam for the year the week before we left. He had been dreading this one exam on electrical and aircraft instruments for over a year, but came away from the exam feeling confident he had passed, and we thank God that he achieved a really good result. He had planned on sitting the last two smaller exams in December, however with our travels to Canada, decided to take the rest of the year off exams and focus on his Engineering Practical work, and he will sit the final two sometime next year.
We do really want to praise God and thank Him for allowing Keiran to pass every exam he has sat over the past 2 years. Most people have to resit several exams with the added stress and expense, and we are so thankful for your prayers that have carried him through the worst of them.
Corinne finished her last exam and essay for the year the day before we left for Canada. We had been told that Corinne still had 2 subjects to finish next year (due to lost credit points with changing universities from Sydney to Melbourne. But after 2 hrs lining up she was told that she only had to do 1 subject to finish her degree, Trans-European Translation, which she will do next year in semester – needless to say she was very excited. It was only ten minutes later that she got a phone call from a Christian training organisation in Lilydale asking if she could have a job interview for an administration position she had applied for. As we left for Canada the next day they were gracious enough to offer her a Skype interview. Corinne came away from the interview really excited and feeling it had gone well, and it must have as two days later they offered her the job which she joyfully accepted. She starts there on Monday the 28th – the week after we get back. They are also happy for Corinne to finish her studies second semester next year as well. God does bless us indeed!Well we have now been back in Australia for 2 weeks and 1 day. Corinne started her new job the Monday after we got back and is loving nearly every minute of it. She is getting used to having her first full time job and is quite tired after the long busy days associated with helping get a new business up and running. Keiran has 1 week left of Engineering for the year, and this past week has spent his time working on a Piper Aztec Twin Aircraft fixing its retractable undercarriage and rewiring all of the warning systems associated with it (they all appeared to have been wired in backwards or not wired in at all by a past student!) He has also been getting many shifts at Bunnings and will keep working there over the Christmas holidays and next year. Pray for him as he is often tired—currently working 5 days at ACMA in the hangar and several more shifts a week at Bunnings after hrs and on weekends.
We will be home for Christmas with Corinne’s family in the Blue Mountains for 4 days over Christmas. Pray that it will be a joyous time where it wont be too stressful and where we can focus our whole attention on Jesus.
There is so much to say, and so little space. If you have any more questions about our Mission Training or what our plans are for when we finish our training, we would love to hear from you and to share with you all that God is leading us into.
All our love and God bless,
Keiran & Corinne
