My job is better than your job.

I must say that there are days when I think I have the best job in the world, and the best office view ever. This Thursday Dick Eckels and I flew a two day mission. We meet at the hanger at 6am and made short work of the pre-flight. The sky was looking ominous, the wind was picking up, the sky was punctuated with flashes of lightning, and the winds were at 13 gusting to 20, ah, what a beautiful morning to fly!(not). Dick and I decide to scram before the real nastiness arrives. We took off and climbed out in slightly bumpy weather and made it up to 18000'. We check our ground speed and learn that we have a 70knot (105mph) tailwind! Why do we always have a tailwind when we don't need it and a headwind when we don't want it? So now we have to circle for a half hour to avoid landing before 9am. (We have to pay $90 extra if we land before 9am).
Its this kind of flying that makes it so challenging. Flying in the States is so easy, we really don't know how good we have it! When you go out of the country the chips start to stack up against you. The customs paper work better be spot on. Don't be an ugly American, and always say please,t hank you, and have a blessed day. When getting into Haitian airspace the chips get stacked even higher. Bad ATC (air traffic control) poor or non-existent radar, and BIG mountains. Now fly without being able to see out the windshield. Call me crazy but this is the kind of flying I do for Agape, and I love it! Am I complaining? Not at all, I have the best job in the world, and I do it while in the mighty hands of the Father.

Reflecting the Father.

Reflecting the father...Its often easier said than done, and I'm so glad that God has lots of patience, because I just keep messing up. So, like when one of my kids fall down and scrape their knee, I go over and pick them up, dust them off and send them on their way, some times more often than not giving them a hug and a kiss. But I'm not like the Heavenly Father; I'm an earthly father, full of flaws, I'm a shameful human that without Jesus I don't know where I would be. So I try to reflect on the Father. I want to be like Him; but I can't.
It becomes a cycle of repentance. How many time can you say you are sorry, yet He forgives. I'm so glad he has patience.
So what am I trying to say...? I think its funny that just because you a re a christian that life is a bowl of cherries. Far from it! Many people will test you just to See how you will react. I found this to be very true when I worked as a corrections deputy. The inmates would always question me on my fairness when I would ask them to lock down or take away their TV when they would misbehave, "Hey man! I thought you were a christian!" they would shout or other vulgar remarks. I had a Sargent that would call me into his office a try to intimidate me, but he could never figure out why he could never get me down. I read one of his reports, and it said " After talking with deputy Mikarts on several occasions he always seems to be in good spirits." It must have stuck in his craw that after talking with him I would walk out of his office with a smile on my face. The world will try to smash you to pieces, but not if you wear the holy Armour thats talked about in the bible, that's not to say that you won't feel the blows.
I'll keep trying...after all I'm only human...and He is God.

Saint Kristin

Today is our anniversary. Time does fly when you are having fun. Has it been 10 years?! I have to admit, I am the luckiest guy in the world to have some one in my life like Kristin. When God put us together I knew to my core that she was the one for me. So on this special day of our tenth year, Kristin is officially a saint! After all she does have to put up with 3 kids ! (I know we only have 2, but I'm including myself in that number),Happy anniversary Princess, I love you!!

Baby Ryan is 4!! How'd that happen?

Recently my son Ryan celebrated his 4Th birthday. I remember when we would all call him baby Ryan. Now that baby boy that came into the world Nov 17 4 years ago is 4! He brings me so much joy, that kid has many girls wrapped around his little finger, he has that little smile that is hard to resist. I pray that God gives me wisdom to bring these boys into the world has Godly men, nothing would be more of an accomplishment. These kids are growing like weeds!!
I don't know who had more fun with his toys, Ryan or me. I must say, they were a hit. They got up this morning and rushed to the new toys.
Zach has a new trick, he will come to me and pull me along and ask, "You want to play?".
Ryan will grab me by the hand and point to what he wants to play with. How can I resist.
On the king Air front, I hear that the plane has moved out of the prep hanger into the paint hanger. We have decided to replace one windshield due to a crack that was causing the windshield heat not to work. I've heard nothing but positve stuff so far, hopefully we will have the plane back soon.

Flying for Jesus, an adventure.

Ah...yes, how time flys when your having fun. The family and I went to the drum circle Zach a and Ryan had a great time, Zach got a new drum, what were we thinking!
On Wednesday I flew to Haiti & the D.R. We are back to flying the Cessna 414 while the King Air is in the paint shop.
The 414 got another new engine and I got to put it through it paces. So I filed for an altitude of 22,000' figuring I would take advantage of a tail wind of 32 knots which would put us at a nice ground speed of 225 knots!
With an airplane fully loaded (I mean fully loaded...with 2 doors , and regular cargo) off we went.
The climb was no problem until we got to 21,500' when we got into thin cloud layer. I noticed that we were picking up some ice. I told John my co-pilot to ask Miami for higher altitude, figuring I could climb out of it into colder air where ice would not stick. In my attempt to climb the ice got worse to the point were the plane started to shudder, due to lack of lift; just as John was asking for higher I was saying LOWER, ASK FOR LOWER! The plane had accumulated so much ice that we could not hold altitude. As soon as we got into warmer air we blew all the ice of and continued on our merry way.
Honestly folks, where else can you get this kind of excitement, and serve Jesus! I love flying for God. And for my supporters in this ministry I love you too. Stay tuned for more flying adventures.

I love my boys!

There is one thing I must say. I love my kids! I am so proud of them and their accomplishments. Their accomplishments may not be what the world may consider to be much, but to me its a lot.

Ryan's little smile melts my heart, I love to look at him straight in the eyes, I drown in his love, and feel so compelled to pick him up and hug him. It breaks my heart to See him fall and get hurt, I would throw myself under him if I could.

Zachary is getting so big now. where did that little boy that doctors told me would have a 50% chance of walking go!? Now I have to run to catch up to him. Zach's laughs make my day. I swear each day that I hear that boy laugh it adds a day to my life.

God has so richly blessed me with these two boys. They make me see the world in ways that I would never other wise. We are all students to each other, they learn from me, I learn from them, and the heavenly Father teaches us all something new.

You want to hear something strange? I don't know how to act around "normal" kids. Kids that walk and talk are strange to me.

I love my kids so much! I would shout it from the roof tops. So if you ask me how my kids are doing ,I'll tell you "just great!" I mean it , they are just great! I don't know about you, but I'm blessed beyond belief.

The Crucible.

Whew, what a week! I feel like I've just walked through fire. ( No, I don't have athletes foot). God has once again saved our bacon! He is in complete control. Here's why. Earlier in the week Kristin and I were planning to fly up to S. Carolina to visit some friends, so Jeff steps up and offers to fly for me because Wednesdays flight got pushed back a day making Friday my return day; the day Kristin wanted to fly.

Thursday afternoon Kristin really needed my help and had I flown to Haiti Kristin would have had to deal with an ugly situation all by herself. The weather turned bad anyway for our flight up to S.C. and I was able to be home where I was needed. God had worked wonders in our family's life. The prayers of all the people that heard of what had happened were felt ( thank you!!!).

It is times like these that remind me that we all go through a little purifying from time to time. Like gold or steel it is put through the fire to refine it, to purify it; making all the imperfections bubble to the top where they can be scraped off. I've found the blast furnace that is life is always there to turn up the heat when it is least convenient. The only way I have to get through this fire is to keep my eyes on Christ. Every breath that I expelled had a prayer on it.

I need to be Christ-like now, and forgive the people that did this, I now that the people involved were looking out for the best and I am glad that we have people like them. I must forgive.

Kingair pilot ~ at last!

Yes, yes, yes! The long awaited Kingair has finally arrived! On Oct 5th the plane arrived, and we could hardly believe it. After so many false starts, the plane finally made it to our hanger!

Now, the first impression of this plane is not a good one. The paint has a lot to be desired, and thier are not seats except for the two pilots. She is what I call a "sleeper". Does anyone remember when a friend would have an old beat up car that looked terrible on the out side, but on the inside it would have the best stereo? And when you would look under the hood it would have a totally kickin' engine that would totally rip up the road? Well that is how the King air is. The avionics are top notch (radios for you non-flyers) the engines have been over hauled and have fresh hot sections. Kickin'!

I had the privilege of having the first flight. Our king air instructor Jim Lewis flew with me as FO (first officer). We arrived at the hanger at 6am and by the time we got all ready we climbed in.
Now one has to keep this in perspective. Its dark, and every thing we do is by flash light, Jim gets into the air plane by climbing up the little ladder and settles in. I go up, unhook the ladder from the side of the airplane and now their seems to be not enough room to get the ladder in. So here I am banging and clanging poor Jim in the head with this metal ladder that somehow must fit in the back of the cockpit. After 15 minutes we get it figured out (I know what your thinking: stupid pilots!). The plane is a lot faster than the 182 mph Caravan - the kingair will zip along at 260mph, not too shabby.

As with any thing, it still has some bugs to be worked out. But, how grateful we are to have this plane. God yet again has provided! His grace never seems to end, and not just with this plane, but with everything. If I've learned anything about stepping out in faith, its this: don't worry, God has everything under control. Jas 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for your Lord your God is with you wherever you go" How awesome is that!

"Two weeks"

Wait. The mention of the word brings up visions of time gone wrong. Everything is in slow motion. A point in time seems light years away, and one seems to feel like they are growing cobb webs........."Two weeks". That is what we are being told as we await the arrival of our Kingair A-B90. I don't mean to be impatient, but it seems that every time we think the plane is going to show up........(Ringggg) "Hi, sorry the plane as another issue" Don't miss understand, I want the plane to be fixed before it gets here. I suppose that I sound like a little kid at the ice cream store; you know, jumping up and down with anticipation.
I can't wait for the day when we can carry a larger load, and get there and back in a decent amount of time. Looking back I must say I'm spoiled. I remember flying the same route in an Aztec, let me tell you at 130kts it takes a little time to get there.
Then again it never was about speed, it was about meeting the missionaries; getting out of the plane and your comfort level, and shaking their hand while looking at them square in the eye. Then it slaps you in the face why we do this. Ever thing matters, words, actions and the things you bring become God's tools for His kingdom. At time like these I feel a glow, and I thank the Father for using me...little me. God is sooo good!! Two weeks, yeah, I can wait.

Mark, the Carribean Hurricane Jinx!

Hi, it's Kristin...

I've decided that Mark is the Carribean hurricane jinx... Notice how it's been a few weeks without a hurricane over Hispanola? Well, that's because Mark wasn't scheduled to fly!

He was scheduled to fly the week Gustav was around. No flight. He was scheduled to fly the week Hannah was around. No flight. He flew for one day between Hannah and Ike. The week of Ike - his week. No flight. Then Jeff was scheduled for one week and John Olinger was scheduled for last week. No Carribena hurricane activity. Mark is schedule to fly this week, and there is a tropical depression right between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic! Here's praying I am blogging prematurely and NOTHING HAPPENS! But if there is a hurricane, blame it on Mark!

Or the other possiblity is, God really wants me waking up early and running in the mornings. I have been spoiled this month and not had morning-boy-duty. I have been able to go to the Y and exercise. When Mark is gone, I have to go in the afternoons and I am not nearly as productive!

Flying between hurricains

Flying down on September 5th was not your "usual " flight. Nothing went wrong, the weather wasn't all that bad even though hurricane Hanna's effects were being felt. No, what was unusual was that on the way over to Exuma to refuel it was made known to us by the wonderful folks at Miami A.T.C (air traffic control) that we had two DC3s inbound to the same airport. We had one in front, and one behind us. When we all landed John Ohinger & I recognized them; it was our brothers in Christ from M.F.I. (Missionary Flights International). We all started talking and how we we all getting our flights in while we could. I had a chance to look over the paint jobs of their planes, as Charlie (our director) wanted me to do, and I must say the paint job looks great. So Charlie if your reading this, I say its a "go" for having the plane (our new Kingair) painted in the D.R.

After passing customs and refueling we all departed for Haiti. The effects of the hurricanes that have been pounding this poor island were very evident. Many towns were flooded, and many of the meager crops that people were growing were also flooded. Now more than ever the Haitian people & the missionaries that that serve there need your prayers. Here in the States our biggest worry is if there will be any plywood at the box store.

When all was done , we flew into Cap Haitian, Port Au Prince, & Les Caye, we had departed Venice at 6:30am and returned the same day at 10:30pm. I've got he greatest job in the world! I fly for Jesus Christ.

Mark

Kingair Training-an exersise in faith.

On Aug 28-29 Jeff and I went for simulator training. You my ask, "whats the big deal?" but you see it is a big deal. Jeff and I did'nt have to spend one red cent! I was all worked up on how we were going to afford $5000.00 worth of training. God is soooooo good!! A freind of Agape who resently retired from the airlines, works part time at a training facility, and through the grace of God he asked if he could bring some friends in that needed some trianing. His boss said yes and we were in! Praise God!
Now we were able to do all of the training that we couldn't do in the real airplane. All of the white knuckle stuff that you don't do in the airplane. Things like engine failures on takeoff, Systems failures, you name it, electrical, hydraulic, and yes, engine fires. Let me tell you, these aren't the little beauties that you find hooked up to your PC. These are full size cockpits, and you could not tell you were in a sim. So needless to say our palms got a little sweaty! Our instructor Jim gave us a real workout!
I just want to say that Gods timing is ALWAYS perfect. Our plane is just about ready and He puts Jim in our lives. He knows that our wallets are light. He knows that we (both Jeff & I) came with no money(I mean NO money), yet we ate at Jim's house, and then, at the facility during dinner, it was instructor appreciation day, and we were invited to eat in the staff break room to a wonderful pasta dinner(by the way, Jeff & I are both flight instructors). God Is good!! ALL THE TIME!!! In scripture it says to worry about nothing, but pray about everything. How true.

Me? I don't have an eating problem!

How many times have you heard that. In my 40 + years I've heard that a lot of times. I just thought I would never be the one with the eating problem!
So great now what? Do I follow the made up rules and falsehoods of "don't eat this ,& don't eat that" I say NO! My wife Kristin has been taking an on line course called Setting captives free. It has worked wonders for her.
So I've decided to take this course also. I an learning to fill myself with God rather than stuffing my face. The true food lies in the word of God. No food will ever satisfy my soul, God is the only one that can do that.
Its so easy to let let ones guard down and give in to the flesh. I'm weak! Last week I fasted for the first time in my life. Let me tell you I was not easy. But every time I felt hungry I prayed to Jesus that he would take the hunger from me, & the temptation, and the urge to be mean.
God is so good!
This is so huge. I feel as though I have been walking blind. Totally oblivious to this problem, now I see how I use food. I eat out of boredom, I eat hurriedly, I eat out of control.
I see all this now, now I ask humbly the God of the universe for help; and I know that He will.

Mark

What we've been up to...

Nothing exciting and earth shattering is happening in the Mikarts' world, but we haven't posted in two weeks so I'll just ramble on about a few things that come to mind!

The boys started school last week - and I would upload a picture of them in their uniforms, but Mark hasn't taken it yet. Zach and Ryan ride the bus and they LOVE it! Zach has Ms. Dana again and he absolutely adores her. This is his 3rd year with her and I'm not sure what we will do next year when he moves on to another teacher. She is a saint!! Ryan has Mrs. Mirville again and she is also an incredible person. How anyone can work with kids like Zach and Ryan is beyond me! I spend 20 minutes working on the ABC's and I'm done!!

We've been spending a ton of time at the playground lately. Ryan is a daredevil and loves to hang over the openings of equipment. He has this crazy laugh and I know he is playing "chicken" with me - who is going to crack first? Will Ryan get both feet on the playground sooner or later than Mommy jumps to the opening to catch him? I finally taught him how to safely get down and "jump". Zach has also learned how to hang from the monkey bars and throw himself to the ground. I figure this is actually safer than not letting them do all this. But the funny part is, Ryan can master crazy playground equipment but the curb on the way to the car causes the blood! He scraped his cheek when he fell off the curb. Go figure...

Last week was our first hurricane day in about 4 years. It was overcast and ugly and not one drop of rain (well, maybe 5 minutes of rain). But then the next 4 days it rained off and on like crazy. Today is the first sunny day and so we splashed in the pool. Ryan is getting to be quite the swimmer boy. He has the biggest grin while he swims around.

The last thought running through my head is that I'm FINALLY excited about this school year from a work perspective. My heart wasn't into my work until about 3 hours ago! I suddenly caught the excitement of all the places God is going to be working at VMS/OPS and I want to jump on board and be part of it! I can't wait to see what He accomplishes. What a great feeling!

Kristin

Gavin joined us for our hurricane day... The boys were worn out - can you tell?? They all ran around like crazy and then crashed in front of Elmo.

A day in the life of a missionary...

Ha... yes, flying to and from the Caribbean sounds great; and it is! But what about when I'm not flying? Being the facilities manager is a big challenge. Think of it as a huge honey do list that if unfurled at the top of the Empire State building, would have no problem making it to street level. O.K. no problem you might say, but one has to remember who my boss is...You guessed it, God, and I work at doing things to my best!

With this in mind, there are lots of things at the hanger that need attention. Plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work which at times can be quite challenging. The volunteers that work at the hanger are a huge blessing! How would you like to work with a rocket scientist, a nuclear engineer, or retired pastor. What amazing conversations we have!

Some of my favorite volunteers are the folks that come to Agape for community service. I get the privilege of working with these people on a one on one basis. I see many of these people come in bummed out, but usually by the time their community service is up, many come back as volunteers, and I have had the privilege of sharing my faith with them! God is good!!

If anyone out there reading this is good with landscape - let me know! I have some huge flowerbeds that would love your loving touch and/or ideas!

Mark

Pit Crew-Haiti style

Here's a fun little diddy about my trip last week... On Wednesday the 16th of July, we departed for Haiti and the D.R. We successfully delivered all of the missionary mail and cargo and stayed over night in Port au Prince Haiti. Upon our return trip form David Heady's compound (one of the missionaries we serve) the tire on our truck blows out. At this point I think "no problem, change the tire." But remember, we are in Haiti, not some nice highway in the States. This is after David is done telling us the story of how some one tried to kidnap him on the highway and fired two 45 caliber rounds into the side of his truck. Now we are sitting ducks for anyone that wants to rob us or kidnap us. The ditch is dirt and craggy with rocks, and trucks are whizzing by on the road. Dave produces this tiny little bottle jack (5 inches tall) and we have to put it on top of rocks so it reaches the axle. Once we get all the lug nuts unloosened, the actual wheel won't come off the truck axle. And... we can't hit the wheel too hard or the truck will fall off the jack. Finally we pry the wheel off and we are on our way. We put our pilot shirts back on and proceed as if nothing had happened. This was, of course, before we witnessed a riot in Santo Domingo! On the positive note, we visited with the other pilot's sister in the Domincan Republic and were treated to a fantastic, native, meal!

I praise God for our safety, I praise God for the opportunity to serve in more than one capacity. Finally I praise God for your support in making this possible.

Mark

A vivid picture of God the Father

If any of you know or have spent time with our little Ryan, you will understand where I got this vivid image of our God. You see, Ryan is a fairly new walker and he falls all the time. On top of only walking for 9 months, he has serious balance issues and seizures. So his head gets pretty banged up. When he falls, his forehead usually slams to the ground. While he puts his hands out, it doesn't always stop the head from smacking the ground. He usually has several lumps on his head. I can make jokes about it and say that it's his horns coming through (afterall he is three...) But the truth is, it just tears me up.

So today Ryan has had at least 5 good smacks (and most of them are out in public, so I have witnesses that I'm not causing it!) My defenses are down anyway, so these bonks on the head have really bothered me. Just a few minutes ago, Ryan fell and it knocked open a scab on the side of his head. He's had that spot for over a month now and every few days he opens the scab. Sometimes when Ryan falls he thinks its funny and belly laughs - but this is usually when he is into mischief. But just now, Ryan is tired, so the fall really hurt him; he did that cry where nothing comes out for a few seconds. I, of course, ran to him and scooped him up and snuggled him.

I'm not writing all this just to defend the bumps on the head. It was when I was holding Ryan tightly, that I had this image of God the Father doing the same thing with me. After a few sobs, Ryan squirmed to get loose and was back to his terrorizing, like nothing happened. Right now I'm battling the sin of awful eating habits. Every time I fall into temptation, I realize and I get another "bump on the head" and I can picture God's heart being broken because I sinned again and I'm in pain. But I also see God snuggling me close and wanting nothing more than to take the pain away. So I go to Him and when I feel better, I squirm away and wander off and eventually fall again. How much better off would I be if I let God hold me all the time. While I know this isn't possible, it does bring to mind the fact that I can go to God more than when I'm hurt. Just like Ryan - he comes to me for the good times too - I need to go to God often

This was simply on my heart to share and I hope you can see the image of God the Father too.
Kristin

Dreaming

Mark and I were sitting in the pool this afternoon with the kids floating in their tubes and we just started dreaming about where God was going to take us. I can't shake this restless feeling I've had lately. I hope it means that God is preparing us for something huge.

We dreamed about the different planes that Agape is interested in acquiring. We dreamed about teaching others how to fly it. And we dreamed about where we might live. That last dream is so exciting to me and fearsome for Mark! I would love the adventure of living in the Dominican Republic. So I always seem to pray, "Lord - take us there!"

But the difficulty in dreaming is jumping ahead of the God's plans. I read in Isaiah about how we dig our own broken cisterns and ignore God's true water. I relate this to my own life. I think I walk around carrying a shovel and digging in spots all the time. I figure God needs my help in determining my life. How wrong is that?? I need to let go and let God direct my path. He will whisper in our ear which way to turn. He already knows what's in store for the Mikarts family. His guiding in our life has already exceeded anything I could dream up!

So as I sit here and think about the dreams, I realize that it's fun to think ahead and be open to possibilities, but I need to wait and see what God has down the road! I personally hope it involves another country!

Kristin

Apple?

Hi, thanks for checking in! I thought I would tell you a little about my last flight on July 8th. As usual we departed Venice at 6am and arrived in Cape Haitien at about noon. As we were unloading the cargo one of the missionaries noticed an apple rolling around in the plane and asked if he could have the apple, I said sure and didn't think any of it. The missionary ate up the apple, savoring every crunchy juicy bite, practically sucking on the core he told me that that was the first apple he had had in over a year! The Haitians that were helping us unload had never seen an apple!
Once again I an amazed at what we take for granted here in the States. I am so honored to serve these people, I think I got a bigger kick out of watching him eat that apple than he enjoyed eating it. Praise God!!

Mark

Our New Video!

How we got here in a paragraph or two...

Mark and I think that blogging about our experiences with Agape Flights, and our faith journey in general, would be a great way to share what we are learning and being enabled to do. But just starting a new blog is a bit odd for me, so maybe a little background is needed??

Mark has been a pilot for 20 years (well, as of August 8th, it will be 20 years). Anyone who has spent a few minutes with Mark will know that flying is a HUGE passion of his, especially flight instruction! When Mark turned his life over to Jesus a little over 10 years ago, he always wanted to combine his two loves - flying and the Lord. Through a series of connections, he heard about Agape Flights and he volunteered with them for a year or so. He would fly to Haiti as a co-pilot. Then we had our first child, Mark got a "real" job, and he wasn't able to volunteer anymore. But he was always praying for a way to become more involved with Agape and that they would move from Sarasota to Venice.

Guess what? Six years later he is on staff with Agape as a captain, flight instructor, and maintenance man. God was amazingly gracious to us during the support raising process and we have an amazing team of supporters behind us! So this blog is for you - to see how you are involved in Agape Flights. We wouldn't be here with out you and you are the hands and feet of this operation! Thank you... You are involved in some mighty Godly things!! Hopefully through this blog, you will get a glimpse of what is being accomplished for His Kingdom.

Thank you and God Bless!
Kristin