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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September 2022 Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. Lamentations 3:22-24 HCSB It is awesome to serve a God who answers prayers. I have now been serving in the role of “Missionary Support” for three months.  As an introvert, answering questions by phone and email is not the task that I would gravitate towards on my own. However, I am learning much about the way that Missionary Flights operates and what things look like in country once the people and cargo leave the airplane. God has been daily answering the prayer that I would have the energy, grace, understanding, and knowledge that I need to work with those calling in with questions and requests. I am very grateful that most of the people that I work with are generally appreciative and pleasant as opposed to a typical “Customer Service” job where most of the calls are angry people. I’ve also been able to apply some of the knowledge that God allowed me to gain at previous jobs to make reference materials and form emails so that it is easier to transfer knowledge and procedures to others working at MFI. I am grateful that in mid-June another pilot started at MFI and he and I are beginning to share the responsibilities of Missionary Support. This will allow me to resume my training loading airplanes and paperwork that goes with it. Haiti has been in our prayers much lately. In the areas around Port-au-Prince, Haitians are kidnapped daily. Fuel is still scarce and people are trying to figure out ways to survive. Unrest has been on the increase with riots, demonstrations, and strikes becoming more frequent.  At Missionary Flights, we have been trying to coordinate cargo service to a new city, Jacmel, where we periodically fly passengers. Each flight has had logistical problems – customs, airport construction, riots – and we’re praying in the coming months that things will begin to operate more smoothly. Other parts of the country have been comparatively peaceful and the missionaries in these areas are able to continue their work unhindered. We’ve seen an increase in passengers lately – both short-term teams and long-term missionaries – traveling to these areas of the country.  We thank you for joining us in praying for God to change the situation in Haiti for the better and for His glory. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI. Family News It’s constantly amazing how fast the time flies when you have children.  The end of August was another one of those moments where we take pause, and remind ourselves that we blinked too hard.  Abby is now 10 years old.  Our last baby is double digits.  She was able to spend most of her birthday hanging out with one of her best friends from church.  A few short days after that, Growing Minds Academy resumed school for the 2022-2023 school year.  As homeschoolers, we really enjoy having a little bit more flexibility with our schedule and when we are beginning to dive into our curriculum.  This next year, we have some changes coming to our curriculum.  While our core subjects are staying the same, we are adding in some new things.  One of them is the kids will be learning how to play the piano and learn music theory along side of it. For those unfamiliar with Sam’s background, she went to school to be a music teacher, so this new subject has an extra level of excitement for her.  For the last several weeks and now continuing forward, each week the kids are taking turns coming into the hangar with us for the day. When we began at Missionary Flights, it was always part of our plan to work into the kid’s schooling to have a day where they could help in the warehouse. Originally, we were thinking about having all three along, but it works out much nicer to have a rotating schedule with them. A fun incentive for them with it is getting to go swim at the hospitality park after working all day in the hangar. It’s so great for the kids to have the opportunity to serve along side us. Teaching that they are able to help stand in the gap for missions, being missionary kids, is a valuable life experience we can’t get elsewhere.Prayer RequestsPraise for the new staff at MFI. Prayer for MFI to grow during this transition of new people and that we will serve wellPrayer for our children as they begin school again; to have a productive and educational yearPrayer 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 $5,700 (93%) monthly. We need an additional $400 monthly to be fully supported. Online Giving: www.missionaryflights.org/gabhartORMail Checks to: 3170 Airmans Drive Fort Pierce, FL 34946 Memo: Gabharts #2837Click here to download a printer friendly version.Copyright © 2022 Gabharts Flying By Faith, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you requested to receive communications from us. Our mailing address is: Gabharts Flying By Faith742 Forster AvenueSebastian, Florida 32958Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

June 2022

The word we have been reflecting on recently is “transition.”

The first area, which is minor in comparison to the others, is in getting used to the weather here. As someone used to experiencing four very distinct seasons, this is very different. Our winter and spring temperatures of 70-80 degree highs have transitioned to the summer temperatures of 80-90 degree highs. The distinguishing feature of summer here is the frequent afternoon thunderstorms and the humidity. Most days start sunny in the morning, shift to overcast in the afternoon, and then move into rain and thunder in the late afternoon and evening. This makes the flights that Missionary Flights does interesting for our pilots as they navigate home. This also means that the best time for outdoor activities is in the morning.

Before After I wore my “mechanic hat” and installed a new rail for cargo straps on the aircraft floor The second area of transition is at Missionary Flights itself. In the last several months, we have had a number of staff transition into other roles. Two of our pilots felt God leading them into the airlines and have left MFI. Our reservationist left to pursue being a doula. Our bookkeeper left to spend more time helping with her family’s company. The gentleman who handled our missionaries’ questions has retired. Our volunteer coordinator has shifted roles within MFI to do more community relations. This has resulted in new people coming on board. We have a new reservationist, new bookkeeper, and new volunteer coordinator. We also had a new pilot start in June. I’ve been asked to help answer the missionaries’ questions and am trying to take that on in addition to learning the Load Master position. The intention is to have a team able to answer questions. As others are trained, I won’t be trying to do two full-time jobs. Transitions like this are opportunities for growth as well as fumbling. Please pray that this transition is handled well, that MFI grows through this transition, and that our stumbles are kept minimal. Repackaging 9,000 Covid Tests into fewer boxes to send to Haiti Repackaging 9,000 Covid Tests into fewer boxes to send to Haiti The third area of transition is in our communication. Recently we’ve been having several devotional thoughts and sermons on the power of prayer. We’ve realized that we’re not communicating prayer needs as often as we could be. To that end, we are going to start sending a monthly prayer calendar. Each day will have an item to pray for: some will be generic, some will be specific to MFI, and some will be specific to our family. We plan to start in July as an opt-in type publication – meaning we would like you to request this via mail (742 Forster Ave, Sebastian, FL 32958) or email (gabhartsflyingbyfaith@gmail.com) – rather than assuming all of our newsletter recipients would be interested in this. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI. James and Sam Gabhart Family News Summer is most definitely upon us.  The weather is warm, humid, and a great opportunity to go to the beach when possible.  Our favorite place to go is fondly referred to as “The Bathtub Side” of the Sebastian Inlet, one of many Florida State Parks.  Sam and the kids go almost weekly and all three kids are becoming stronger swimmers. Sam and the kids are developing a new routine of running.  Back in May, we had the opportunity as a family to participate in a Mud Run at the Teen Missions headquarters on Merritt Island.  It was shortly after that when Sam began running on her own, and now the kids have joined her.  Now they each are taking turns having a run time with mom.  Going forward, these times will be rolled into our official homeschool curriculum. Post-run Photo Defense! Church Basketball League “Hustle Back!” Church Basketball League Post Game Church Basketball League As the school year drew to an end, the kids were excited for a break from the usual amount of work each week.  Being homeschool kids, they don’t take too much of a break during the summer. This summer, we are reading “Artemis Fowl”, working on solidifying some math facts, creating Bible stories out of Lego, reading independently each day, and helping out with chores around the house.  We have fun going up to church to practice basketball for the church league on Saturdays and going to the Sebastian Inlet. The kids thrive on having some sort of expectations to meet before they can play games, and as their parents, we are thrilled to help them.