Dearest Family and Friends,

We have a big announcement to make!! There has been a HUGE change in Timothy’s future schooling plans for Missionary Aviation and we wanted to make you all aware of it. Let us explain…..

In Timothy’s first semester of college at Moody Aviation in Washington State – we were all filled with exciting dreams for Timothy’s future and his dream of flying to remote places to bring them the glorious Gospel. He did great in his first semester and worked EXTREMELY hard to pay his own way. When he paid his last installment (totally DEBT FREE) for that semester, he breathed a sigh of relief and expressed his joy to his college mates. It was then that one college mate in particular looked at him and fairly scoffed… “You may be able to do that the first year, but CERTAINLY not in future years!!”

You see, the aviation schooling is a 5 year program and his classmate (his senior) explained that the the prices continue to go DRASTICALLY up due to the type of training. For the 4th year of college there, Timothy would have to pay OVER $50,000 to cover college expenses, flight gas, etc.

This news nearly knocked the wind out of Timothy’s sails. Most ministries that take missionary pilots (once they have finished college) won’t even consider taking you unless you are debt free. So, this would put Timothy into a tailspin of MOUNDS of financial debt……just what Timothy was trying to avoid.

Before entering Moody, Timothy had asked SEVERAL times for a “break down” of the costs of each year there. They ignored his request, so learning of this, was a shock. He knew it would be expensive, but over $50,000 for just ONE year?!! Let’s just say, you are PAYING for the “name” of Moody when going to school there. Our entire time of dealing with Moody last year while trying to enroll Timothy, was nothing but a headache. They were impersonal and we struggled getting answers from them to our most basic questions. However, we felt God leading to that end and had little to no other options for this line of work/ministry.

It was early December that I remember talking with Timothy on the phone and he was discouraged. Not ONLY about the finances but also the spirit coming from one professor in particular at the college. He continually criticized Timothy for using the KJV 1611 Bible (which we were told before he went there, that they did NOT care which Bible you used and NEVER “pushed” their preference on you.) We knew they were not “like minded” to us in Bible Version and some Bible Doctrine. However, we were confident that Timothy’s upbringing and being grounded in a GREAT church there, would bolster Timothy’s faith to stand strong. Timothy DID stand strong, and hence it GREATLY discouraged him when he suffered disdain and his professor looking him in the eye and telling him that he threw his King James Version of the Bible RIGHT into the trash! (If that doesn’t prove that this version of the Bible is under attack, then what does??!!)

Between these 2 things, we KNEW there had to be another option for Timothy’s schooling. We began to pray. Nearly RIGHT away, God answered our prayers. We found the ministry- “Wings As Eagles” in Oshkosh, Wisconsin – Brother Terry Rushing. They do not have an organized program for training, but work with some local, Christian pilots to help young men with this specific calling. They also have a local tech college – Fox Valley Tech – where Timothy has already successfully enrolled for this upcoming semester – August 2019. It is a FRACTION of the cost to learn airplane mechanics there as opposed to how much it cost at Moody. Timothy will literally save TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars!

We are THRILLED that God has blessed Timothy’s desire to stand STRONG on the Word of God AND to stay as DEBT free as possible!! Timothy stayed in Washington this past semester and saved his money like CRAZY!

This June and July, he will be FLYING! Wings As Eagles ministry recommended a Christian pilot for Timothy to get his first installment of pilot training from. He gave Timothy a $ amount to come with to cover training and fuel expenses, and we are so proud of Timothy that he worked hard to save that!!

So, with that said, Timothy continues on pursuing God’s call for his life- just at a different college / ministry. He is excited about his future!!

We are honored by Timothy’s choices and can’t WAIT to see pics / videos of him flying soon!! Timothy has “flown the nest” for good, because there is NO way he can give up his job every holiday / summer to come home to see us. We miss him, but talk and text him a lot. We have NO greater JOY than to hear that our children walk in truth.

We trust and KNOW that Timothy’s steps have been ordered by the Lord and this brings us peace.

Psalms 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

Thank you for your continued prayers for Timothy. We (and he) love you all.

In Christian Love, David, Jill & Timothy Rodrigues