Before the Lord called us into ministry, I had sold my personal airplane, a 4-seat Piper Cherokee 140, and had told my sweetheart Ellesha I never wanted to own another airplane again because planes cost too much money to own, to store, to maintain, and to operate.

To my surprise, since following the Lord to Alaska, He called us to buy a Cessna 170 ($27,500) and then trade that Cessna 170 for the Blue Cherokee Six, also called The Word ($42,000) and then buy the Cessna 150, which is called The Life ($15,000) and this past year to buy the white Cherokee Six, which is called The Way ($106,000) which is flown by another missionary pilot Billy. Soaring for Christ now has a fleet consisting of The Way, The Word, and The Life. In total we have invested $163,000 of our savings, and retirement in the three ministry planes; and have payments of $936/month on the outstanding aircraft loans.

We could sell the planes to recoup our personal funds, but we believe that the Lord is calling us to be stewards of these aircraft so we can continue supporting the Bible Camps and missionaries we serve in Alaska. The Lord provided enough to pay our bills over the past year, approximately $12,000 in maintenance, $12,000 in aircraft insurance, and $5,000 in other expenses. The Lord provided for our unexpected medical bills of over $10,000 for my neck surgery and Ellesha's broken bones, which were not in the budget.

Hourly flight costs vary yearly based on the maintenance needs and flight hours flown. Our costs don’t include the assistance we receive from our ministry partners and friends. This year our hourly operating cost was approximately: $216/per flight hr; $117/per passenger; $0.21/per mile.

Sometimes I wonder, is it worth it, spending all our time, treasure, and talents serving in Alaska? In Matt 13:44 Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matt 13:44 God explains here that kingdom of heaven is the only thing that is worth it in this life.