Air Venture 2016 is in the history books and what a great week it was! Having never been with an organizational booth in Oshkosh, this was a unique and rewarding experience. From our location in the IAMA tent, to the interaction with other missionary aviation groups that attended, the interaction with MASA, to the many people we were able to talk with about what we do, it was fast, eye-opening and a blessing. Over the week period, we gained 42 cards from people who were interested in our ministry and either wanted to hear more about what we're doing via newsletters or people who were interested in how they could help with the mission. Some were obviously both. There was a significant number of people we talked with that declined to fill out a card but were interested in listening to more about the mission and left with brochures, business cards etc. It will be interesting to see if any of these bear fruit in any way over the next year. While most of the people that filled out cards are geographically separated from us by substantial distance, some were close enough to Alan Eakin and Wings of Faith East that he may be able to bring them into the fold there in North Carolina for occasional assistance. Every piece of literature and every business card had a label on it with the information for the Go Fund Me campaign and there was a prominent sign on the table as well with the information. We spent some time talking with other missionary aviation groups and learned more about their mission and what they require as commitments from a prospective point of view. Since they require a significant amount of training and a resultant time commitment, I talked with them about putting those who can't or won't be able to do that, in touch with us to see if might be able to assist in our mission.
Day Two started with Alan, Marc and myself being interviewed by WRVM (FM 102.7) about our ministry with Wings of Faith. The interview began at 7:00 am, lasted one hour and was broadcast live.
Alan Eakin and Marc Weintraub were blessings to have there. Alan, being a pastor, conducted church services each Sunday and was able to talk to the respective congregations about Wings of Faith and provide literature and business cards to interested parties. He also kept everyone in stitches with his humor and jokes both during the slow times at the booth and elsewhere. He was also instrumental (no pun intended here.....) in leading the attendees in praise and worship following dinner at the MASA tent each evening while playing his guitar. Marc jumped in and made sure the literature was continually stocked, ran errands as needed and helped talk to people when Alan and I were already engaged talking with other interested passers-by. In one particular case, a Jewish woman came by and made the comment, "I don't believe in ANY of this!" Alan jumped in to talk with her and then was followed by Marc, who being a Messianic Jew, was able to approach her from a different standpoint. Whether any real progress was made with her, we'll never know, but seeds were sown and statements of faith made plainly and lovingly. Konrad Winderl
