Linda and Dave both grew up in the El Cajon area and went to high school at Granite Hills High School. They met in HS but did not date until they were almost finished with college. Linda went to Point Loma Nazarene University and Dave went to San Diego Christian College. They have been married for 15 years. They have three children, one in heaven and two on earth. Hannah, who was 5, went to be with the Lord in 2003 after a brief battle with a brain tumor. CJ is 8 going on 9 and Ryan is 3. CJ is attending a public charter school here in Nampa, ID. CJ is interested in engineering type activities and Ryan likes to tease his big brother.

Dave became interested in Missions as a young Christian back in 1989. The youth group at El Cajon First Presbyterian went on several short term mission trips to Mexicali and it was on these trips that his desire to serve the Lord cross-culturally became evident. The Lord laid on his heart a desire to learn a technical trade and apply the gifts and abilities He had given him to serve others around the world. It was in the area of aviation that he felt led by the Lord to pursue and serve. Linda first became interested in missions when her youth group went on a mission trip to Mexico. Then, in college, she felt the Lord calling her on a trip to Russia and then later to South America. The Russia trip really cemented in her heart God’s call on her life to missions, as well as the Scripture God gave her: Genesis 12:1 “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’

They moved to Indonesia in 1998 and spent 9 months learning the Indonesian language. From there, they went to the island of Borneo where they flew small single engine airplanes to minister to the interior villages of Kalimantan. They spent four years in Indonesia before having to leave to care for Hannah. They were reassigned in 2004 to headquarters where Dave had the privilege of training MAF pilots to serve overseas. Part of Dave’s job is traveling to MAF bases around the world and doing flight checks for our program pilots.

The ministry involves three basic aspects: Evaluating potential MAF pilots, training new MAF pilots and retraining existing pilots. Dave feels blessed to be able to share some of his missionary experience with new pilots and encourage them as they prepare to serve overseas.

When we were flying in Indonesia, about 1/3 of the flying was medical evacuation flights. The village people were always grateful as MAF was their only life-line to the outside world. Also, we had opportunity to speak to a Muslim neighbor whose heart God was opening to him, and years later, through the influence of other MAF’ers, she accepted the Lord!

During quiet times we enjoy reading from the Bible, praying and reviewing memorized scripture.

We enjoy the book of Psalms, and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”