January 2018 newsletter

What’s happening at Trinity Aviation Academy?

Trinity Aviation Academy has finally been able to connect to power. This is a HUGE answer to prayers! The students can now have their heaters plugged in and use their microwaves at the same time. Trinity is already connected to water. They still need to connect to the sewer; which they will start in the spring when the weather is warmer.

TAA currently has four active students and does not plan to take on additional students until the facilities are finished.

Tim Brown, who has attended TAA in the past, is currently serving an internship with Mission Aviation Fellowship at their headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. He is getting good experience and receiving opportunities to stay proficient at flying airplanes. I plan to work with Tim later this year to earn his advanced pilot ratings.

What’s happening with the Swinefords?

               

We have been lots of craziness here! This is part of the reason that it has taken SO long to get a newsletter out. We made the decision to apply to Mission Aviation Fellowship back in January and spent four months applying and preparing for the technical evaluation. MAF decided not to accept us based on Ruth’s food allergies. We have had multiple persons contact us with other opportunities. We are praying and seeking the Lord’s direction as we move forward and continue our present ministries.

In March we endured some physical and emotional difficulties.  Ruth had a miscarriage early that month in her tenth week of pregnancy. She recovered quickly and we are all dealing well with it. She experienced another miscarriage at about ten weeks again in September. They are unsure of the cause, but it is possible the second one was caused by some tissue that was missed from the first one. This has been taken care of and Ruth is healing.

Also in March, about two weeks after Ruth’s miscarriage, I spent four nights in the hospital due to some internal bleeding in my esophagus. I had to get a blood transfusion and was on a restricted diet for a few days. The wound has healed and it took me several weeks to regain my full stamina after the blood loss, but I am doing well.

Our younger son, Zebedee, was diagnosed with a speech disorder and has been in speech therapy for the past year and we are also using a web-based program to help him at home. He has made lots of progress but still has difficulty communicating and often gets frustrated.

 Ruth’s hip which had been fine for six months decided to act up in April. She has had to deal with multiple doctors, lots of waiting, and lots of new medication allergies. There have found some changes in her hip and also in the nerves in her back. Currently she is taking nothing for the pain and is awaiting another MRI. They recommend that she try to take it easy and rest. This is very hard for Ruth to do with the kids, but would be anyway. Ruth has lots of energy and doesn’t sit still well.

 Despite all this craziness we have had lots of good days in the year and a half since our last newsletter. We have lots of days of happy and healthy kids, support from our friends and family, and prayers that help us navigate through the crazy. We are all alive and we praise God for that.

 We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers! We would also like to partner with more churches. If anyone would be willing to hear about our ministry. Please let us know. We would love to come and talk about our ministry with your church, pastor, mission board, and/or elder board.

Serving Him,

Andy & Ruthy

January 2016 Newsletter

ANDY & RUTHY SWINEFORD

Serving with Trinity Aviation Academy

January 2016 Newsletter

New arrival!

We are happy to announce the birth of child number four! Elizabeth Sky was born to us on November 2nd. She is a very healthy and happy baby and looks a lot like her big sister. Ruth has made significant progress in healing from her hip injury. It is no longer keeping her from being active. This is a big answer to prayer as she has been struggling with this for over two years.
We greatly appreciate the gifts of support we received over the past few weeks. The Lord has been providing for us through many of you. We are thankful for your faithfulness and generosity.

Training successes!

This month Isaac Carmichael completed his Private Pilot certificate and will be starting on his instrument rating next month.
Last month Andrew Gray completed his first solo flight! Andrew had been struggling with the FAA for over a year to get his medical certificate to be legal to fly. He finally cleared that hurdle and was able to take to the skies on his own. He is on course to complete his private pilot certificate by the summer.
I have been working with Tad Henry, TAA’s Director of Academics, for the past several months on getting his flight instructor rating, which he received this month! That is a huge milestone for a pilot!
There will be two new students coming to us at the end of January to begin training. Both will be studying for their maintenance certifications and their private pilot certifications.

Please be our ministry partners!

As the work continues to grow, Ruth and I are seeking to increase financial support. I am still working at Spanaflight in Puyallup to get the bills paid and keep food on the table, but this takes a lot of time away from the work I could be doing at T.A.A., training pilot/mechanics so they can use these skills to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
If you are excited about the work that I am doing with these young men and women who are dedicating their lives to serving the Lord, then please consider a commitment to support us monthly. Our goal for full-time support is $2,500 per month. If you could contribute $25, $50, or $100 per month, it would put us closer to our goal and allow me to dedicate more time to this work. Our current support level is about $150 to $200 per month.
If you would like more information before committing to financial support, please contact us. We would be happy to answer any questions about our ministry and would be happy to meet with you and / or your church to talk about the important work we do at T.A.A.

D O N A T E

If you are excited about the work that the Swinefords are doing with Trinity Aviation Academy and would like to support their efforts financially, there are two ways to give:

Write a check:

Mail check to:

Original Design Ministries
P.O. Box 367
Eatonville, WA 98328

Put Andy’s name in the memo line.

PayPal:

http://trinityaviation.org/donate/
Click on the donate button.
Put Andy’s name in the special instructions.

I N F O R M A T I O N

If you would like more information about the work that Andy is doing with Trinity Aviation Academy please contact Andy directly.
253-951-4118 andy.swineford@gmail.com January 2016

October 2015

Andy & Ruthy Swineford

Serving with Trinity Aviation Academy

October 2015 Newsletter

A lot has happened in the past year and a half.

Most importantly, our son Zebedee was born in February last year and is a very strong and healthy young man. We have been getting settled into our new home in Graham, WA over the past couple of years and have been making progress. We have been blessed with helpers in getting some of the fix-it-up tasks done and are grateful to those who have pitched in. More tasks have yet to be finished and we would appreciate your prayers in getting these done.

Ruth has been struggling with a hip injury for the past two years and healing has been slow. Trying to keep up with three small children slows down the healing process, and I have been trying to help her with it as much as I can. We are expecting child number four in just a few weeks and are very excited! Please pray for continued healing for Ruthy and that all will go well with her pregnancy.

I have been working at Spanaflight, a flight school in Puyallup, WA since last spring as a full-time instructor. This has been keeping the bills paid and I’ve been getting valuable experience that the students at Trinity Aviation Academy will benefit from. I have over one thousand flight hours logged now, much of it in the past year.

The work at Trinity Aviation Academy continues.

This year I have been helping Tad Henry, Trinity’s Director of Academics, with getting his flight instructor certificate. I have also been working with Isaac Carmichael, Trinity’s newest student who arrived last September. He will soon be completing his private pilot certificate. In addition I have worked with Andrew Grey in getting his private pilot certificate.

We have continued to host another Trinity Student, Timothy Brown, here at our home. He will be completing his advanced ratings this fall and will be going to Alaska to serve with the North American missions.

There is still much work to be done. I am training to get my instrument instructor rating, which will allow me to train students to fly in the clouds. This is quite an effort and I would appreciate your prayers for diligence and focus. Ruth and I are seeking to increase our financial support so I can be more available to train the men at Trinity Aviation Academy as they prepare to serve the Lord as pilot/mechanics. While this type of work takes financial support, it also takes prayer, and we covet your prayers above all else.

The Swineford Family:  Andy & Ruthy, Isaac, Zebedee, and Esther

Meet the missionary.

Howdy, my name is Tim Brown and I have for the last few years been training in Washington State to serve as a missionary pilot & mechanic.

By God's grace I am licensed minister, and a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. It was during my graduate studies that I was challenged to go to where my skills and service would be most needed. Originally from Georgia, I then committed to go where ever the Lord sent. I am preparing to serve with the Alaska Baptist Convention next year as a church planter & pilot.

Over a year ago my situation changed and the Swineford family showed me more kindness than I could have ever imaged by letting my park my RV by their house and letting me use their shower and laundry.

It has been a joy getting to know the family and moments with the kids has become one of the cherished moments of my life. I do not know what tomorrow may bring, but I know God gave me friends like Andy & his family to help me through it!

Timothy Brown, preparing to serve with Alaska Baptist Convention.

To Support the Swinefords please send a check to:

Original Design Ministries
P.O. Box 367
Eatonville, WA 98328

Write Andy's name in the memo line.

Or use PayPal:
http://trinityaviation.org/donate/
Click on the donate button. Put Andy's name in the special instructions.

To contact the Swinefords

253-951-4118
andy.swineford@gmail.com
andyruthy.blogspot.com

September 2013

Andy & Ruthy Swineford

Serving with Trinity Aviation Academy

September 2013 Newsletter

Tim investigates an oil leak on the Cessna 150.

What's happening at Trinity Aviation Academy?

One of our students, Jessica, flew by herself (soloed) for the first time several weeks ago and has been moving swiftly though her training. We expect her to be a licensed pilot in the next couple of months. Another student, Tim, is preparing for his practical test to get his pilot license.
 

We continue to perform maintenance and inspections on the airplanes. Our primary training aircraft, the Cessna 150, has been working hard and serving well. Praise God! Our other training aircraft, the Piper Cherokee, suffered some damage a few months ago and is in the process of being repaired. We hope to have it flying again next month.
 

Lord willing, we will have a couple of new students joining us next month. With our expanding student body the facility construction is becoming critical. Please pray that all of the building inspections will go well so that the construction may continue.

Update on the Swinefords:

The house we are buying was delayed in closing, but we finally closed. Now that the closing is complete there is work we are doing on our new place. The well water system needs to be repaired, and the kitchen ceiling will need to be reinsulated and dry-walled, and new flooring will need to be installed.
 

We are still in the process of selling our current home. There are a lot of houses for sale in our area. Many of these are short sales and foreclosures. We just finished some extensive landscaping in front of our house to make it more attractive. Please be praying that we will find a buyer soon!

Answered prayers!

A few months ago I had to take Ruthy in to the ER for an extremely painful kidney stone. The cost for the ER visit was exorbitant. We applied to the hospital for financial aid. They decided to forgive 100% of the amount we owed and the physician service matched this for us, so that the amount we paid for the visit was about $180 (for the CT scan) instead of the estimated $14,700 (not a typo). God is so good! Thank all of you for your prayers and generous financial support!
 

MAF Intership

We have applied to MAF for an internship which will likely happen in the first part of next year. We don’t know where they will send us, but we have asked to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. We will keep you updated on this in future prayer letters.

Academy director Dan and prospective student David prepare the engine to be installed on the Piper Cherokee.

Prayer requests:

• Direction for the school as we continue to make important desicions.
• Diligence for me as I seek to get my Instrument Instructor rating.
• God's continued provisions and additional partners for us and the other missionaries at Trinity.
• That I would be able to work full time at Trinity Aviation Academy.
• We have applied to MAF for an internship (2-3 months long) early next year. Please pray for us to discern God's will in this matter.
• The second job continues to be a challenge-- continue to pray that I will have the wisdom to deal with this.
• That we will be good stewards of ALL that we have.

Our children, Esther and Isaac, having fun.

Jessica has rebuilt the nose wheel for the Piper Cherokee and prepares to install it.

To Support the Swinefords please send a check to:

Original Design Ministries
P.O. Box 367
Eatonville, WA 98328

Write my name in the memo line.

To contact the Swinefords:

253-951-4118
andrew_swineford@hotmail.com
andyruthy.blogspot.com

May 2013

May 2013

Greetings and blessings to our partners in God’s work,

Great things are happening at Trinity Aviation Academy.  I love working there and helping students to get ready for the mission field. I love that the school wants to get them there as soon as possible and for as little cost as possible. We want them to be on fire for God and not just pilots. I want to be a missionary pilot myself and I have had a long road.

I started schooling back in 1994 at Prairie Bible College, but the costs were causing me to go into more debt than I wanted to. I worked as a mechanic for a few years, and then got laid off in 2001.  So, next I joined the military and had 6.5 years of active duty. Next, I went back to school for my advanced flight ratings, which I finished last year.  It has been 19 years and counting.  These years have made me very passionate about helping those who God has called be able to answer that call.

What’s happening at Trinity?:

            We are still doing lots of maintenance at Trinity.  We are doing an annual inspection on one airplane, and repairing the carburetor on another.  We had some landing gear damage to another of the airplanes, which we’ll be repairing soon.  On top of all that we still need to get our advanced training airplane put back together.  There is a never-ending series of projects going on at Trinity Aviation Academy.  This is in addition to the facilities construction which is still on-going.

Update on the Swinefords:

             We made an offer on a home in Eatonville in April, but they took another offer. God has provided something else for us. We are in the process of purchasing a house in South Graham which should ultimately eliminate our mortgage payment. We hope to list our house in the next few days. Ruthy had to go to the ER for kidney stones. It was a very expensive visit and the care we got was far from ideal. We are trying to be lights in the midst of this trial.

Answered prayers!:

            We are SO thankful for all the gifts we are receiving. I don’t make enough to pay our bills every month. Yet God has been providing for us and our needs. It’s amazing because the numbers don’t add up. We have not missed any payments thanks to supporters and God’s interventions!

Prayer requests: All those involved with Trinity try to pray (wherever they are) on Mondays at 9pm

• Direction for the school as we continue to make important decisions.
•   Diligence for me as I seek to get my Instrument Instructor rating.
• God’s continued provisions and additional partners for us and the other missionaries at Trinity.
• That I would be able to work full-time at Trinity Aviation Academy. 
•  We are considering doing short-term missions (2-3 months long) later this year. Please pray for us to discern God’s will in this matter.
•  The second job is not quite what I expected.  It is a lot of responsibility for not very much pay—pray I will have wisdom in how to deal with this.
•   That we will be good stewards of ALL we have.
• Prayers concerning Ruth’s ER bill

We still hope to send out prayer cards with our support letters in the future. If people would like to meet with us in person we would love to do so. Feel free to call or email me if you would like to chat more about our ministry. More information is available on my internet blog at http://andyruthy.blogspot.com/.  You can e-mail me at andrew_swineford@hotmail.com or call me at 253-951-4118. If you can support us financially please sends checks to: Original Design Ministries P.O. box 367 Eatonville, WA 98328 with my name in the memo line.

Thank you and May God bless you,

            Andy, Ruthy, Esther, and Isaac

March 2013

March 2013

Greetings and blessings to our partners in God’s work,

What’s happening at Trinity?:

            Lots of maintenance is happening at Trinity. We are working to rebuild an airplane that sat in a barn for a long time and we are working to assemble an engine that will go into our Cessna 177RG. The weather finally cooperated so that we were able to bring home the Cessna 182 that God had provided for the school.  It was stuck in northern Idaho for three months.

Update on the Swinefords:

            I started a job at Safety In Motion Flight Center. I am their mechanic and they plan to allow me to be a flight instructor as well. It is full time, but will be good experience. They are willing to work with me so that I can still help at Trinity and also complete my instrument instructor rating. We are waiting, at least a few months, to list our house. We decided that it was a bit much to try to sell our house with a new baby, my two jobs, and my class.

Answered prayers!:

            My new job will definitely help us as we gain more support partners. It decreases the financial stress and we are very appreciative of it, but it is the same amount I was making eleven years ago—so there is still a gap. In December we received $250 in support. Thank you! In February we received $330! And praise God as of March 15th we have already received $355!! We know that God will provide for all our needs. And God has blessed us and helped provide for us with a large income tax refund. We will use this pay off medical expenses. It is a great deal more than we expected to get back and we are very excited to see God work in this way!

Prayer requests:

V  Direction for the school as we continue to make important decisions.

V  Diligence for me as I seek to get my Instrument Instructor rating.

V  God’s continued provisions and additional partners for us and the other missionaries at Trinity.

V  That I would be able to work full-time at Trinity Aviation Academy.  I feel a strong call to this ministry and my heart is in it.

We still hope to send out prayer cards with our support letters in the future. If people would like to meet with us in person we would love to do so. Feel free to call or email me if you would like to chat more about our ministry. More information is available on my internet blog at http://andyruthy.blogspot.com/.  You can e-mail me at andrew_swineford@hotmail.com or call me at 253-951-4118. If you can support us financially please sends checks to: Original Design Ministries P.O. box 367 Eatonville, WA 98328 with my name in the memo line.

Thank you and May God bless you,

            Andy, Ruthy, Esther, and Isaac

January 2013 Newsletter

Greetings and blessings to our partners in God’s work,

What’s happening at Trinity?:

            Trinity made the decision to temporarily suspend training students in order to finish construction and administrative tasks. We believe completing these tasks will help training go faster. We plan to restart maintenance and flight training the beginning of next month.

What am I doing during this time?:

            I have been helping my wife, Ruth, with our new son Isaac who was born December 2^nd and our 21 month old daughter Esther. Right now at Trinity I am primarily doing maintenance. I am studying for my Instrument Instructor rating. This will allow me to expand who I can teach. I will be able to use my VA benefits to pay for it.  I am looking for a part time job in addition to my work at Trinity to supplement our income. This will help us while we wait for God to grant us more support partners.  I also used this time to complete the little projects that needed to be done on our house. I am keeping very busy.

Answered prayers!:

            Ruth’s labor at home went extremely well and fast. This was especially an answered prayer for Ruth’s mom who was concerned about the baby being born out of the hospital. The last bit of the pregnancy migraine went away within an hour of Ruth giving birth.

We have made great progress on our house thanks to the help of our immediate and church family. We don’t know whether we will be selling or renting it, but it is ready.

Since we sent out our first prayer letter in September we have raised just under $500 per month in support.  Some of this was from one-time gifts, and some have committed to supporting us monthly.  We are very grateful to those of you who are supporting us both with finances and prayer. This is a great start! We still have a ways to go.  Our current living expenses are $3500 per month and we are actively looking for ways to reduce this!  This is a little less than half of the amount we will need to raise when we go overseas.

Prayer requests:

• Direction for the school as we continue to make important decisions. 
• Guidance in finding a part time job that will give me experience that is applicable for the mission field.
• Diligence for me as I seek to get my Instrument Instructor rating. 
• God’s continued provisions and additional partners for us and the other missionaries at Trinity.

We hope to send out prayer cards with our support letters next month. More information is available on my internet blog at http://andyruthy.blogspot.com/.  You can e-mail me at andrew_swineford@hotmail.com or call me at 253-951-4118. If you can support us financially please sends checks to: Original Design Ministries P.O. box 367 Eatonville, WA 98328 with my name in the memo line.

Thank you and May God bless you,

            

          Andy, Ruthy, Esther, and Isaac