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Episode 9 with Josh and Emi True, and Ryan Vinall
January 31, 2024 · 41 min
On this episode, your host Lem Malabuyo will introduce you to three of MAF’s newest missionaries: Josh and Emi True, and Ryan Vinall. You’ll hear how God worked in their lives to lead them to this point where they’ve just gone through the acceptance process at MAF headquarters. You’ll also learn about the commitment it takes to become missionary pilot/mechanics, like Josh and Ryan. And you’ll hear from Emi, about her heart for missions and how she’s looking forward to jumping into ministry opportunities in Bunia, DR Congo.
Series From the Hangar (audio)
Bringing help, hope and healing through aviation so that isolated people can experience Jesus's love.
January 31, 2024 · 41 min · From the Hangar (audio)
On this episode, your host Lem Malabuyo will introduce you to three of MAF’s newest missionaries: Josh and Emi True, and Ryan Vinall. You’ll hear how God worked in their lives to lead them to this point where they’ve just gone through the acceptance process at MAF headquarters. You’ll also learn about the commitment it takes to become missionary pilot/mechanics, like Josh and Ryan. And you’ll hear from Emi, about her heart for missions and how she’s looking forward to jumping into ministry opportunities in Bunia, DR Congo. ...more Show the full description Show less On this episode, your host Lem Malabuyo will introduce you to three of MAF’s newest missionaries: Josh and Emi True, and Ryan Vinall. You’ll hear how God worked in their lives to lead them to this point where they’ve just gone through the acceptance process at MAF headquarters. You’ll also learn about the commitment it takes to become missionary pilot/mechanics, like Josh and Ryan. And you’ll hear from Emi, about her heart for missions and how she’s looking forward to jumping into ministry opportunities in Bunia, DR Congo.
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In this video 0:00 Paths to Purpose: Faith Journeys and Aviation Calling21:01 Preparation and Trials: From Training to the Field31:54 Commitment and Vision: Candidacy Insights and Future Ministry1:16
1:17 Good. Awesome. Well, can I can I start, Josh and Emmy? Can you guys introduce yourselves? Just tell us about yourselves.
1:23 Yeah. Absolutely.
1:25 Yeah. So I'm Josh, and this is my wife, Emmy. We, joined MAF about a week and a half ago or so. Only
1:33 a week ago.
1:34 But we have been kind of in this process for a while. We we got married earlier last year, 8 months ago. So we're stepping into this new season and excited for what the Lord's
1:45 bringing.
1:46 So That's great. Yeah. Well, tell me, like, where you guys grew up? Tell me your background. What what what what prepared you for something like machinery aviation and the organization here?
1:56 Well, I feel like my story is kinda funny because I am the non pilot, between the 2 of us. So, yeah. I was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri and, grew up in a great Christian household,
2:08 but, was saved at a young age. Just really didn't know, much I felt like I had a really small faith at that time. And so it took me
2:20 later in high school when I was discipled by a young lady, who honestly wasn't much older than I am now. But, she took a group of us in and, just poured into us and was really vulnerable,
2:32 just with her relationship relationship with the Lord. And she really taught us what it meant to follow Christ. And so, I attribute a lot of where I am now to her, but in addition to that missions, really.
2:44 So she, just taught us about a trip to India that she took, I think earlier the year when she started discipling us. And I just thought it was so cool. Like, I I really
2:56 didn't feel like I had a lot of context for someone going overseas and serving. So that was kinda probably 1 of the first looks into missions, and the Lord really kept that going and gave me a heart for other cultures
3:08 and other nations. And then, just through a deepening of my understanding of the gospel, I really was driven to join the, just what the bible commands to go and make the gospel known among other
3:19 nations. So
3:20 Oh, that's cool. That's great.
3:22 They're not really how I found mission aviation fellowship, but I think Josh could tell better Yeah. How we kinda got here. Oh, no.
3:28 Yeah. So I I am a pilot mechanic.
3:32 Well, it doesn't mean Emmy, I'm not a pilot either.
3:34 That's good.
3:35 That's good. I mean,
3:36 just, you and me, we can commiserate with not being the cool pilot mechanic.
3:40 Yeah. We're not quite as cool, but it's okay.
3:41 That's right. It's cool. Yeah. So I don't yeah. Take that cool factor out
3:44 there. Yeah.
3:45 Yeah. We don't need we don't need that.
3:46 We're a bunch of soup sandwiches. You know?
3:49 Yeah. I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Strong Christian family. Parents really, demonstrated well, like, how to live out the gospel. But even with that awesome example, I kinda just took it
4:01 for granted. I didn't really consider the, like, salvation I'd received or the the life we have in God. Right? And so, kinda just coasted along until high school. A
4:13 maturing of my faith took place. God really worked in my heart. There were several events along the way, but what it really came down to was he he taught me to appreciate the gospel. He like, the Holy Spirit convicted me
4:24 of sin I had. And and then the verse in Romans 5 6 through 8 where it talks about, we were helpless in our sin and God died for us. And Rome or, verse 8 is really powerful. It
4:36 says, but God demonstrated his own love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And just Yeah. That truth really struck with me that, wow, I I'm sinful, but Christ stepped in that moment when I was
4:47 his enemy and said, no. I'm gonna die for you. Right? And, and so that and then God put a burden on my heart for the unreached and those who haven't heard the gospel. I I kind of
4:59 incorrectly assumed that because I never got, like, a dramatic specific call, you know, that you always hear about. I was like, oh, well, I didn't get a dramatic call, so I guess I'm not doing missions. But but God
5:10 really convicted me and said, no. Like, I need to spread the gospel, and I'm gonna use you. Right? And so he's gonna do it, and I wanna be a part of his his plan. So
5:19 That that sounded kinda like a call. Yeah.
5:22 It was a little bit. Yeah.
5:23 A little bit there.
5:24 We've we've been practicing
5:25 this week. So
5:26 Yeah. How about yourself, Ryan? Tell tell us about yourself.
5:28 Sure. Sure. So I'm I'm from Texas originally, born and raised, and, grew up in an awesome family. My my parents divorced when I was 3, but, awesome family, like, just was poured into. And I grew up in the church, grew up
5:39 in a Christian home, and, was always a good Christian kid, growing up. Was exposed to aviation at a young age and really fell in love with that, and also had an interest in military. So from an early age
5:51 I, you know, wanted to pursue a career in military aviation and I ended up, going to the coast guard academy and, and going down that track and trying to pursue aviation in the coast guard and long story
6:03 short ended up actually not working out, had some medical challenges that prevented me from from pursuing that. And it was really good though because, I'm I'm very good at putting my identity in
6:15 things other than Christ. And so the Lord helped use a lot of things to kinda break down some of the the the this identity that I I constantly wanna cling to of
6:26 identity and athletic success. I mean, I was I grew up doing a lot of sports, and so finding success, in the athletic realm, same thing with college. You know, I always wanted to put that hat on. And then with
6:38 aviation and the military, that was always a huge interest of, like, well, I just wanna be identified as a as a coast guard aviator. And so the Lord really, had some had some neat working in
6:50 that. So for me to go through that process and then get disqualified was probably the lowest point in my life. I mean, I was pretty crushed at that point. I was in my late twenties and, thinking that, okay, God put this
7:02 on my heart, and I wanted to serve our country, and I wanted to fly, and do that, you know, vocationally for a career, and, I mean, serve God in that capacity, and then it didn't work out. So there was kinda some
7:12 questioning, some really some really deep wrestling with Yeah. Who is God? And, you know, is Jesus who he says he is? Is the Bible credible? Like, what does it really mean to be a Christian and to live that out? And so
7:23 even though it was a challenging time, it was a really good time. And so that kind of brought me into a major career shift and and exploring what missions is all about. And I learned about Moody actually through
7:35 googling, I think I googled and reached out to, John Hook at the time was a mobilizer who got out, who connected with me and and shared about, what MAF is all about and schools to to
7:46 get involved in that, and and Moody Aviation was 1 of those. So, ended up applying and just graduated this last summer, and I'm with Josh and Emmy. Just finished up candidacy here and into ministry partnership,
7:58 and, quite humbled and grateful to be on track towards Indonesia to be a pilot mechanic there. So it's been a crazy journey, but super thankful.
8:08 Cool. Yeah. That's awesome. Mhmm. Yeah. That's like I mean, the the the lesson of identity, I think, is something that every Christian is I think every Christian kinda goes through. Right? Because it's so
8:20 easy to find identity, like you said, in in anything other than Christ. Right? And especially when, like, you meet someone for the first time and they ask you, you know, like, so tell me, who are you? Like, what you do?
8:31 And, like, what do you do is always, like, the thing that they want you to identify you as. Right? Like, I'm a pilot. I'm a photographer. I'm a graphic designer. And, really,
8:43 like, what God really wants us to do, right, is, like, say, oh, I'm a Christian. I'm a Jesus follower kind
8:48 of thing.
8:48 Right.
8:49 So but it just sounds like, you know, God really prepared you for something even greater than than what you even planned for yourself. Right?
8:58 Yeah.
8:58 So that's really that's really neat. Okay. So, like, you guys you guys went to Moody as well. Did you guys go together? Were you guys did you guys know each other, there?
9:06 We crossed paths a little bit.
9:08 Yeah. I I started at Moody in 20 16.
9:11 Okay.
9:12 And then graduated 20 21, which was just a couple years before Ryan, but we the last couple years overlapped. So Okay. Yeah. We knew each other. Yeah.
9:20 Yeah. Well, how did you 2 meet then?
9:23 We also met at Moody.
9:24 Oh, okay.
9:25 For freshman year?
9:26 Yeah. She came out to do a year of, like, biblical mission studies.
9:30 Mhmm.
9:31 And, we we lived couple houses down from each other and kinda just got to know each other. We didn't date till after I finished Moody.
9:38 But Oh, okay.
9:39 It's pretty amazing the story of God just to his timing, honestly. No. You just never think this friend from your freshman year of college would end up you would end up marrying. So it's pretty great.
9:50 Yeah.
9:51 So you guys started dating, like, well well after Arthur Moody. Yeah.
9:54 Absolutely.
9:55 And so did you stick around then?
9:57 Or
9:57 No. So I, after that first year at Moody, I moved back home, and then I ended up getting an undergraduate degree in design at just a college
10:04 in my
10:04 town. Yeah.
10:05 Oh, okay.
10:06 And then it was toward the end of I was close to finishing up my degree, but I had stayed in contact with my friends at Moody. And I knew they were all about to graduate and, you know, move around the world. And so I was
10:17 like, I gotta visit them 1 more time. Gotta see them 1 more time. So that was kinda how we got reconnected. That's cool. Yeah.
10:24 That's cool. Okay. So, like, you were telling us telling us about mobilization and how you worked with John Hook and everything. Yeah. Tell me your guys' like yeah. What was your experience working with, mobilization
10:36 and the people that you were connected to to even kinda, like, come into MAF or be interested in it.
10:42 Yeah. Yeah. You wanna you guys Sure.
10:44 I can go. Yeah. So, I mean, at Moody, there's several instructors who either were with MAF or are currently with MAF still. And that's just a great connection piece because you get to know them really well while you're
10:56 working with them. And so I had a couple instructors in particular who just really stood out, and you could ask them honest questions about, you know, what were positive things about being on the field with MAF. You
11:07 know, were there ever struggles? And and they just they kinda talked about, you know, just life on the mission field. And it's in just a the relationship of instructor student or whatever, and so it's very natural and
11:18 great to hear their stories and and their MAF's passion for, using the airplane as a tool for the spiritual transformation. It just really stood out to me. And then after
11:29 Moody, we worked with a mobilizer, in the Midwest area because that's where we live and and Garth, and he just helped us a lot with scheduling the technical eval, and and he's he's amazing. He followed up,
11:41 like, text us Merry Christmas. After we passed, he texted us and emailed us. Congratulations. Such an intentional guy and just really helped pave the way for us to to join. So
11:52 That's awesome. That's cool. How about yourself, Ryan?
11:55 Yeah. I think very similar. So Moody Aviation is unique in that it's very niche. It's very tailored towards Mission Aviation. And so folks going to Moody Aviation, I I think go in with a very good understanding
12:07 that, hey, this this is a program tailor made to to send pilots to join an organization like MAF or JARS or Ethnos 3 60. And so from day 1, there's tons of exposure meeting different mission
12:19 organizations. And so I really appreciated that huge emphasis on learning, hey, what's out there or who's out there and what what is the work being done? What's the heartbeat of organizations? And so, yeah. I was
12:30 working a lot with, Will White as my mobilizer Yeah. Kinda kinda getting prepped up to come in here. And, the Kramer's as well. Aaron and Sarah Kramer are up in Northern Idaho, and so they're an awesome family. And it
12:42 was cool because this was this has been a process that's been over the course of several years. And there's a program that, just to started with m a f, great plug. I mean, Waypoints and it's a it's a huge I
12:52 was about to ask you guys.
12:53 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So here he is.
12:55 Great segue. Great segue.
12:56 Yeah. Yeah.
12:56 And so that was really helpful because I love the the heartbeat behind waypoints is this aspect of, how do we, you know, creating disciples that that are first and foremost drawing closer to the Lord. And and then also
13:07 with this this aspect of, you know, with with MAF, like, how do we channel and and kind of be reaching out for who who's the next folks looking to be able to come and
13:19 fulfill some of the work that MAF is doing globally. And so it was really neat because in in all of that there was never a process of, you know, MAF, like, I'm gonna pour into you as long as you come to MAF. No. It's
13:30 it's very like, we just wanna pour into you so that you become more like Jesus and, are fulfilling whatever God has enabled and created you to do. But in that interaction, with the Kramers,
13:42 that was really cool and several workshops that were conducted over the course of the last couple years was very formative in me understanding more about MAF. And I think over the last year and a
13:54 half, that combined with an internship as well with MAF to Lesotho a year ago actually. We were in Lesotho a year ago, to this day, kind of really getting a feel for what that's like. I think that was
14:06 all very formative to taking that step to say, okay, Lord. I believe that you're directing towards MAF, just resonate hugely with with our heartbeat. So Well,
14:15 Ryan, I wanted to ask you about about that internship
14:19 Yeah.
14:20 To Lesotho.
14:20 Yeah.
14:21 If you could talk about that because because I that was through waypoints. Right? Waypoints?
14:24 Yes.
14:25 Yeah.
14:25 So tell us tell us about that.
14:26 Yeah. You bet. And to be to be very candid, it was actually very challenging for me. There there was a combination, I mean, of of ups and downs and encouragements and discouragements
14:38 and joys and frustrations and everything in between. And I went into that with this aspect of knowing, okay, I'm gonna be graduating soon. Lord, I believe that you're preparing the way for me to step into missions
14:50 aviation. There's so many unknowns. I'm scared about a ton of stuff. As someone who's fundamentally a planner and I wanna have everything laid out in front of me, that was that was quite, I mean, emissions aviation,
15:01 there's, like, there's question marks everywhere, and you're just like, yeah. You know, for for the planning people, I just wanna know, how it's all gonna work. And the Lord is is saying, no. No. No. That's my job.
15:13 You're gonna you can trust me in that. And so it's been really cool because I went into Lesotho with the idea of, okay. What does it mean to be in a cross cultural context long term? And, Lord, is this where you're
15:24 directing me to? And is this a useful, or is this a good use of time stepping into a whole another culture and needing to learn another language, like, taking the gospel and just wrestling with questions like, well,
15:36 isn't there a need here and now in the United States? I mean, why would I go around the world to do this? This seems silly to me. And so it was it was very challenging, but very good. And so I think the big thing that I
15:48 that made it challenging was this this idea of how I define success, as far as or or how do I how do I define successful living with the Lord. I'm very I think it's easy to be like, well,
16:00 success in living a God honoring life means you're gonna have, you you know, 1000 converts, or you're gonna see this fruit in this amount of time. And I was challenged by that, and and
16:12 instead, kind of defining success. I feel like the Lord was pressing on my heart of of, hey, I'll worry about the transformation in the heart. Mhmm. What I'm most interested in is your obedience. And so defining success
16:24 by obedience, not necessarily, you know, this tangible fruit product. And so just wrestling a lot but it was very good. So I I have to be honest. I mean hopefully I'm always honest but
16:35 but like it was a challenging time but it was very good. I mean and and I'm sitting here now and it's like that's crazy and a year ago I don't know if I where where I was gonna be sitting in a year. And so it's been
16:45 really cool to see how God Yeah. Is working.
16:47 And and Waypoints is a is a fairly new and young program. I believe that internship was the first 1 they launched. Right? Of for the for what point?
16:56 I think within that capacity as far as that formal, of a group with that large of a group. Yes.
17:01 Yeah. Yeah. So I heard a story that you guys, like, hiked Yeah. Days to a village or something. Not
17:08 yeah. Not quite days. But so it was really cool to see the value of the airplane. And, you know, that's another plug too of of m e f, and the the value of aviation is really, really amazing. And it's easy to say that.
17:20 But we we took a bus ride more or less about 7 hours out into the bush and then we got on horseback for 3 hours. That was epic. And then, that took us into this this village. So it's like a full day's
17:31 travel and the flight back was only 30 minutes, 35
17:34 minutes. Yeah.
17:35 Yeah. Pretty radical. That's that's wild. Yeah. And that was that was also like during a good season. If it was rainy season or something like that, a lot of those roads would be impassable or or take twice as long.
17:45 Yeah. Yeah.
17:45 I remember there was a when I first came on with m a f as a video producer, there was a video that, the previous videographer made here that was, like, a jungle trek through the the
17:57 jungles of I can't remember which country it was, but the video was about 9 minutes long or 10 minutes long or something like that. And they went like, it was basically just their trek going to a village and, like,
18:09 going through, like, the thick jungles and stuff. And and the course of that trip for them was I think it was a day or 2. 0 my goodness. But the video itself, the duration was, like, 9 or 10 minutes. And then at the end
18:20 of the video, it said, like, by the way, like, the length of this video is about the length of a flight to that village from the and I was like, oh, that's so crazy to to think that that yeah. Like, planes make a huge
18:31 difference in the travel. Yeah. Not to mention, like, you get to put all your cargo into the plane too.
18:37 So Right. Yeah.
18:39 Yeah. So it's incredible. So segueing over to you guys. I know that you guys did, some overseas mission trips before even,
18:51 considering like, going to Moody and everything. Tell us about that. Like, how did that shape you guys and prepare you guys for overseas missions long term?
18:58 Yeah. I think for me, I, got the opportunity in high school to go to Kenya. It was short term, just 2 weeks, and it was kind of a small thing. We just went and helped, install and build playgrounds at 2
19:10 schools. So super kinda random, but it was such a cool opportunity to go and do that. And when I returned, it kinda made me realize that there's opportunities in missions for
19:22 more than just the typical qualities you see in a pastor or church planner. Right? There's a need for for pilots and mechanics, for graphic designers, for photographers, for like, there's a need for all these people to
19:32 work together to fulfill the great commission. It's not just, oh, this is the typical mold. If you're not this mold, don't go. You know? Mhmm.
19:39 And that
19:39 was kind of the learning opportunity I had through that. But
19:42 Yeah. I got to go, my senior year of high school on a a summer's mission trip, just for, I think, for 2 weeks, to Japan. And so that was led actually by my parents. My mom
19:54 is Japanese. And so she got to kinda lead a trip with my church, to, yeah, show us the need in Japan, for the gospel. It's, I think, 1 percent evangelical Christian. So it is considered an
20:06 unreached, nation. And then it was later on in my college years, I think 20 19, I felt the Lord calling me to do a longer, trip overseas to just see really what it was like
20:18 for missionaries to be living overseas. So I got in contact with, a missionary couple that connected me with another missionary couple in Japan. And so, yeah, I
20:31 ended up in Japan for a whole summer living with a missionary couple I'd never met before. And it was great though. It was definitely challenging, and I grew and learned a lot. But I thought it was just really
20:42 valuable to get to see the real work that goes into living overseas and what it takes to even, yeah, start up a church from the ground up and things like that.
20:50 So
20:50 mhmm. That's great.
20:52 Yeah.
20:54 So let's let's fast forward now. You guys presently are here at HQ. Like, tell us tell us what what that's all about.Show more
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