Category: Gabharts

It feels like we have been away as much as we have been home in the last few months. In mid-April, Sam got the opportunity to travel to Chicagoland and share at the 50-year celebration for an organization that had a huge impact throughout her life. Outreach was the community center in Carol Stream where she spent much of her time in grade school, helped her go to camp where she met Jesus, walked with her through traumatic events in high school, and helped her be able to go to college.  It was great to be able to be present for the event and for Sam to be able to talk about how this organization saved her life to people who are supporting this wonderful ministry.

Sam recording her story for future promo videos for Outreach

MFI booth – Moody Aviation’s Missions Week

At Missionary Flights, Haiti continues to be an on-going prayer request. Gang activity is on the rise and people are beginning to be fed up. This is leading to people acting out against the gangs and then the gang members retaliating. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti, that this situation can be resolved, preferably without additional bloodshed. Please also pray for the missionaries to have safety and wisdom as they continue to serve the people of Haiti and point them to Jesus.

James sharing in a breakout session for Moody Aviation’s Missions Week

Sam sharing in a breakout session for Moody Aviation’s Missions Week

At the end of May, Sam and James got the opportunity to spend almost two weeks in Spokane to be able to visit with supporters. It was a wonderful time connecting and updating as we were able. God also orchestrated the trip dates to align with Moody Aviation’s Missions Week. We were able to connect with the Moody students and provide encouragement as they pursue mission aviation as well as share about Missionary Flights. We were blessed by all the opportunities to share while in Spokane and our only regret is that some people were overlooked in our notification that we were coming.

In the interest of improving on that front, we are in the process of finalizing our travel dates for fall. We are planning on being in the Midwest during September and hope to be able to visit with all of those desiring to catch up. Those who receive our newsletter via email, watch your inbox in Mid-August for dates when we will be in your area. We will include the finalized schedule in the September newsletter, but if you want to reach out early and get on the calendar, please let us know.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI.

James and Sam Gabhart

Family News

May was a busy month for our family!  Two weekends in a row, we had mud runs.  The first was with the youth group kids at Teen Missions on Merritt Island.  Their Tough Gator 5k was a huge success for our kids. Chris and Abby ran it this year while Sam and Jonny took pictures.  In Sam’s words, she wasn’t going to “punish” her body two weekends in a row doing mud runs.  The following weekend, Sam and Abby ran in an all-women’s mud run in Tampa with the Mud Girl.  They had such a great time doing that this year that they have tickets to do it again next year.  These events are such fun and truly show the progress everyone has been making with becoming stronger!

Chris and Abby at Tough Gator

Sam and Abby post run at Mud Girl

Summer is arriving at Growing Minds Academy, the name of our school.  This summer brings us the joy of sharing that Jonny is officially moving on to high school work come fall!  This feels huge to us, and truly is an achievement for him.  For those unfamiliar with Jonny’s challenges, he battles reading disabilities, as well as learning delays, as a byproduct of his primary disorder, Neurofibromatosis type 1. Also, this next year we will officially have two middle school kids – Chris and Abby met their milestones of moving onto 7th and 6th grade work. As their parents, we are so excited about the next steps as we continue to meet them academically, persevere with them, and to challenge them too.  We are so proud of them!

Jonny with his 8th grade completion certificate

Chris and Abby at Tough Gator

This summer also has a lot in store for our kids.  First up is youth camp for our boys.  The first full week in June, they are off to Student Life Camp with our youth group. Shortly after that will be our church’s High Power Sports Camp and  then Vacation Bible School.  Summer though won’t be all spent at church.  We do want to check out some new beaches we haven’t been to yet, as well as focus on, as a family, finding what truly refreshes our souls so we can start the next school year off well.

Prayer Requests

• Prayer for people to fill the open positions at Missionary Flights (Director of Development, Marketing, and Warehouse Assistant)
• Prayer for opening of doors for us to share the ministry opportunity with new people
• Prayer for the full summer schedule – the ability to participate in the activities as well as the margin to rest around them (in short, a balanced summer)
• Prayer for Haiti and the continued turmoil, kidnappings, and hurting hearts and for wisdom and safety for the missionaries continuing to serve there
• Prayer for God to bless our ministry partners in their consistency to support the work He is doing

Ministry Update

We are so thankful to all who are following God’s leading in supporting us. We are currently receiving $5,500 (93%) in monthly commitments.  We need an additional $400 monthly to be fully supported.

Online Giving:
www.missionaryflights.org/gabhart

OR

Mail Checks to:
3170 Airmans Drive
Fort Pierce, FL 34946 
Memo: Gabharts #2837

Definitely an Interesting Time

This is definitely an interesting time to be serving at Missionary Flights.  MFI has experienced an increase in both passengers and cargo even while the situation in Haiti has not improved. A few weeks ago, one of the pastors that MFI serves who works in the more rural part of Haiti was kidnapped and is being held for ransom. Missionary Flights is taking as many precautions as possible that each flight can be accomplished without incident, but the situation on the ground is much more dynamic than it has been in the past. Please continue to pray while MFI supports those God has called to serve in an increasingly unstable country.

As I am learning the Load Master position, one of the responsibilities is flight logistics: when do items fly and what else goes on the plane. MFI’s general procedure is first in, first out. Sometimes we get items that work well with that process and other times not. Recently, Go Build Love, an MFI partner organization, acquired 21 pallets, 8 feet tall, of buckets. This is an awesome gift for their ministry. They use the buckets to make home water filtration setups. With the cholera outbreak, clean water is a huge need.  This ministry is able to provide each home with a filtration bucket, and as a result, God has blessed them with opportunities to introduce many families to Jesus through filter buckets. Watch this video to hear how the partnership with MFI is changing lives.

Buckets to change thousands of Haitian lives Buckets, food, and hygiene kits

To make the buckets easy to handle, the receiving department processes them in stacks of ten as shown in the picture. The picture contains eight of the pallets that Go Build Love has brought to MFI thus far. The logistical problem is that each stack is 18 pounds. To send them all on one flight will fill the airplane space-wise and barely touch the 6,000 to 8,000 payload that the DC-3 can carry.  So we send buckets in batches and offset their “fluffiness” with items that are more dense. I’m very grateful for this time to learn the nuance of flight logistics before it is my daily responsibility. Scheduled engine change Pre-dawn departure

In February, MFI suffered a tragic loss. The MFI Port-au-Prince mailroom leader, Jean Charles, was traveling on his motorcycle and was in an accident. Unfortunately, he died from his injuries.  Please pray for his wife and young children as they adjust to their new life without him. Also, please pray for the community to whom he was ministering to have someone step into his place. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI. James and Sam Gabhart

December 2022 It is hard to believe that we are already entering the advent season. As we think about Christ coming, this year we are reflecting on how different Jesus’ arrival was than what was expected of the Messiah. Those expectations contrasted against the reality of Jesus resulted in many missing Him. We had expectations for what this season at Missionary Flights would be like and the reality is very different. In our last letter, we felt things in Haiti overall were improving. The reality was that things were going down hill. The gangs established a blockade that prevented gas and diesel entering the country for over two months. The fuel shortage that followed prevented supplies from getting into the country. Today, food is still scarce. The water treatment companies ran out of diesel to run their plants and cholera is now out-breaking throughout the country. The gangs are still blockading roads in the country and kidnapping people daily. Veteran missionaries are reporting this is the worst they have ever seen things.  Many evacuated for their family’s safety.  Many that stayed are keeping a low profile. Pastors are telling us that some of the Haitian Christians are turning to voodoo rather than Jesus to get through.  Please pray that the Haitian people will find and rely on Jesus through this situation. Pray for wisdom for those in country on whether or not to stay. Pray for wisdom for those that have evacuated on when they should return. Working together on James’ birthday Feed My Starving Children cholera treatmentThis time of year we are normally sending lots of boxes of Christmas gifts for the missions. Due to the fuel shortages, many missions have delayed sending the boxes. Instead, we are busy sending water filtration products and cholera treatment products.  As the fuel blockade is now broken, we are starting to see an increase in the amount of cargo that people need us to send. The Christmas boxes are beginning to come. Please pray that we will continue to have the pilots and the planes available that we need to fulfill these needs.   Packages beginning to resume in volume MFI Hangar Banquet Each November, MFI hosts a banquet to celebrate what God has done that year and to fund raise for the coming year. This year, the theme of the banquet was preparedness. It was encouraging to hear stories from missionaries on how God prepared missionaries we serve and how MFI makes their ministry possible. For several years now, MFI has been refurbishing a third turbine DC-3 and God has made a way that we could have it operational by the end of next year. It is awesome to see God working to prepare MFI for the work He has for our future even when it does not look how we expected. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI. James and Sam Gabhart

Family News Good news, friends, we have survived, not just our first hurricane, but our first two.  Hurricane Ian gave us quite the insight of how hurricanes can look. It was quite the learning curve as a homeschool family to learn the balance between what we want to do compared to what we feel like we have to do.  Forty-two days later, we got to put into action the things we learned from Hurricane Ian as we went through Hurricane Nicole.  While in each storm we had some minor flooding, Nicole brought some new challenges to us – losing power for 19 hours.  Jesus brought us through, and our neighborhood fared well overall.  Learning to trust through the storms on a different level brought one worship song to mind most, “Firm Foundation”.  The bridge of that song says, “rains came, winds blew, but my house was built on You.  I’m safe with you, I’m going to make it through”. Those words brought comfort, especially as the winds blew outside. Chris turns 12! Birthday Celebration Day Birthday Celebration Day November ends for us with celebration.  James turned 40 the beginning of Thanksgiving week.  Chris turned 12 the end of the same week.  We are so grateful to be able to celebrate them.  We took a trip out to Busch Gardens the week prior to their birthdays and had a spectacular day riding coasters and spending time with a dear friend from church. Having the passes we do has been such a gift, over and over, with spending time doing something different from our daily lives.  It has also been such a joy to take friends with us as our guests. As we come to the end of the year, Sam is finding opportunities to take pictures for families.  It’s a blessing to have a little extra income, especially with a decline in our regular support from some and the ever rising prices.Prayer Requests Praise for the winter volunteers coming to MFIPrayer for wisdom and opportunity for Sam as we prayerfully consider her getting a part time jobPrayer for the Christmas outreach activities at church and the families that can be impacted by themPrayer for Haiti and the missionaries serving there to have wisdom and safety as they do what God has called them to doPrayer for Sam and I as we seek to be good examples to our children in our walk with JesusPrayer for God to bless our ministry partners in their consistency to support the work He is doingMinistry UpdateWe are so thankful to all who are following God’s leading in supporting us. We are currently receiving $5,000 (81%) monthly. We need an additional $1200 monthly to be fully supported.Online Giving: www.missionaryflights.org/gabhart OR Mail Checks to: 3170 Airmans Drive Fort Pierce, FL 34946  Memo: Gabharts #2837

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