Mission Update

God uses people to help SMAT fulfill its mission. This year, we welcomed several new people to our team. Anna Barnard and Hannah Devereaux graduated with the SMAT aviation maintenance class of 2023, and promptly passed their certification exams to become A&P mechanics! Anna was hired as a lab assistant in the aviation maintenance training program, and Hannah was hired to work in our live aviation maintenance facility. Rachel Barna has joined the SMAT team as our financial assistant, stepping into the finance and bookkeeping responsibilities of Jim Sutter who is retiring after serving nearly 16 years as our finance director. Case Visser, a SMAT graduate from both programs and with missionary experience in Papua New Guinea, will be joining our aviation maintenance training team as a full-time instructor in January 2024.

Through people like you, God provides resources to help SMAT fulfill its mission. This year, He has provided us with a Beechjet, which is being used to enhance the aviation maintenance training program. A small tug was also provided as a means to move the Beechjet, and other aircraft as well. God also provided the opportunity and means for SMAT to purchase a Piper Arrow, adding a much-needed complex airplane back into our flight training fleet. Two years ago. we entered into a lease-to-own agreement which has been fulfilled using the financial resources God provided, through people like you, to complete the purchase.

Support SMAT

  SMAT
  Wish List

  Keep Us In
  Your Prayers

As we look out over the horizon and envision where God is leading SMAT, our needs include:

• Chief flight instructor
• Full time flight instructor(s)
• Director of Maintenance
• New hangar door for maintenance hangar

Our Needs

While we are very grateful that God has provided much of the finances to carry out both planned and unplanned projects over the past year, we are still in need of financial resources to shore up our finances. We encountered two engines that needed unscheduled overhauls totaling nearly $75,000. We were able to fulfill our financial commitment to purchase our maintenance hangar with a total cost of $200,000 over the last two years. Finally, we were able to purchase the Piper Arrow for $200,000. All these expenditures—totaling nearly $500,000—have occurred during the last fiscal year, creating the necessity of rebuilding our resources to stay financially sound. Are you willing to help with this need?

We are also in need of additional personnel. Neil DuBois, our past Chief Flight Instructor, was on loan to us from JAARS. He has taken a new assignment with JAARS. Additionally, Caleb Nelson, one of our current flight instructors who is a graduate of both training programs, has been invited and plans to join JAARS at the end of this program year. Consequently, we are in need of additional flight instruction personnel. We continue to seek solutions for a Director of Maintenance, or other experienced maintenance personnel, in our live aircraft maintenance department. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the SMAT team, please let us know.