Prayer Letter Update Post-Grad

Well hello all prayer partners,

This is the first message I am sending out to those who are interested in hearing about and praying for wherever the Lord leads me in MAF and missions. Coming out of college I have been blessed with no debt and acceptance to Mission Aviation Fellowship's candidacy program. My heart has been centered on missions most of my college career. I have had the privilege to volunteer in Russia, Afghanistan, France, and Ecuador. In 2004 while I was in Afghanistan, I realized just how desperate people were for the good new the Jesus brings. The people were sick of Islam and were desperately in search of freedom. They wanted to know why rich Americans who had everything in the world would want to come to Kabul to volunteer. Questions like those open doors. I decided then to major in something that would be useful in closed nations. I ended up returning to LeTourneau University as an aircraft mechanic major. When I returned to school, however, the Lord had other plans for me and I ended up with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering Technology.

So I was certain the Lord opened the door to head up to Mission Aviation Fellowship. I graduated from LeTourneau University and I hung around Longview for three weeks to make some cash for moving. At the end of the three weeks, I was packed and ready to move. I had asked a professor of mine, Mr. Shields, if I could borrow his truck. He said he needed to take it to the shop, so I helped him. At the end of my three weeks, the truck was not out of the shop. So I waited patiently. I kept checking every day to see if it was done. A week went by and not a whole lot had happened. I had planned to be in Idaho Monday, the 8th of June.

It was Thursday night, the 4^th, and I got an email saying I was expected to be up in Nampa by 8 AM Monday morning. I found a cheap plane ticket at11 PM for a flight leaving 7:30 PM the next day. My roommate Ben said he was already going out to Dallas, so he said he would give me a ride to the airport. It seems like someone didn't want me to go out to Nampa. I had planned to borrow my prof’s big turbo diesel to pull my dad's jag and all my stuff out to Grandma's then return and drive my truck out to Nampa, but that didn't happen.

The morning of the 5th we headed out to eat lunch with Ben's uncle and then drop me off at the airport. We took his car and about 45 minutes into the drive the car started to choke. My roommate Ben happened to have a few extra injectors in his car, so we switched his injectors out and got back on the road. Changing the injectors didn't solve any problems. So we turned around and barely made it home. The only really road-worthy car we had available was my roommate's Porsche 914 that was basically a race car. It had a massive turbo and a methanol injection system on it. So we loaded that up and headed out again. We left his uncle's place really late (5:30) and had to drive an hour to the airport through Dallas. Of course we got stuck in traffic, and an air-cooled car in traffic on a hot Texas day is never good. So we made it into DFW at about 6:20 amazingly and I made it to Nampa, ID. For the preceding month I was feeling like something was keeping me from getting to Idaho.

In Idaho I had a great time and caught up with my old friends, the Dyks, and other MAFers. I was really worried about if I would be accepted since I had such a hard time getting up there. I felt like maybe the Lord was trying to tell me that maybe I shouldn't be there. So I prayed about it every day I was there. I finished my technical evaluation and on June 14th I was told I was accepted and to be up in Nampa the 8th of July. I was all smiles and enjoyed the rest of my stay up in Idaho. One thing I forgot to do before I came up to Idaho was to get a physical and an X-Ray. A letter requesting a physical was sent to my grandmother and forgotten. I had an appointment made with a local doctor for the morning of the 19th, which was also the day of my friends Elliot and Alison's wedding in Boise. The doctor’s appointment went okay and I had a great time at the wedding.

I got a call from my friend and fellow LeTourneau Automotive Society member Tim saying that my prof's truck was out of the shop. We worked out a deal in which I was to drive my stuff out to Ohio and then meet up with him at Creation Festival in Pennsylvania and he would tow his truck back down. I got back to Texas on Saturday and on Sunday I was completely packed. So I left Monday morning with all my junk, towing my dad's old Jaguar on the trailer behind. The ride up was definitely slow. The truck was an old 2WD F-350 crew cab diesel truck with a manual transmission. I dropped all my stuff off in Ohio with no incident.

Tuesday night I received a call from Gene at MAF and a call from the doctors in Idaho. They said that the X-ray ‘found something.’ It was a 1.5 cm ‘nodule’ on my left lung. At the time I was sick and feeling poorly with some respiratory problems. I asked if it was related, but they said I needed to get a CAT-scan to check it out. The doctors suggested I go somewhere and stay there so that the ‘nodule’ could be monitored and the any actions that needed to be taken could be taken. This was fairly disheartening news. What made things worse was that I was on LeTourneau's health insurance and it was ending August 13th. Even worse was that I could not Cobra it because the plan itself was to be entirely dissolved because the school was switching companies. It definitely seemed like the world was against me, so I said to myself, “Lord, you don't need to kill me if you want me to do something else!”

On Wednesday I headed out to Pennsylvania early in the morning. South of Pittsburgh I exited the freeway to get some cash for the tollbooths. Unfortunately, when I stopped at the stoplight at the end of the off ramp, the truck’s clutch would not disengage and it would not go into gear, so the cops came and I was towed a block to an auto parts store. The store happened to be next to a Wal-Mart and a Lowe’s. I crawled under the truck and observed that the clutch slave cylinder was badly rusted and there was fluid all over it. I bled that and tried to put it in gear with the engine running. That didn't work because the engine didn't start. I ate some food and bought some tools at Lowe’s to put a new slave cylinder in. I put a new one in and bled that one and it started but still didn't work. At this point I didn't have enough cash to try any other fixes, so I called Tim and begged him to come and help me. Overall, it was a bad day. I was sick with a fever, hot, sweaty, and in a broken down truck that had to be moved before the store closed. So I prayed a lot because that was all I could do.

I try to be self-sufficient and fix all my own problems, but man, the Lord has been teaching me to rely on others and ask for help. For hardheaded people like me it meant getting to the point of desperation. I wasn't going anywhere and if I didn't ask for help, who knows what would have happened. I trusted that the Lord would provide; I just have a hard time asking others. Self-sufficiency can be called ‘individualism,’ but it's pride and a weakness any way the pie is sliced. God doesn't call us to live by faith alone (by yourself), but with others. The Bible has quite an emphasis on helping others and sharing your life with others. Following Paul's more specific emphasis of building each other up in Romans 14 and 15, Paul summarizes, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6). There are so many other Godly people out there and I believe its part of Satan's haze to make us believe we are alone and no one will help.

So Tim showed up with his brother and knew a few tricks with big diesel trucks. Apparently there is a clutch engage switch on clutch pedal assembly. Tim started it in gear and floated the gears all the way to Creation Festival in central Pennsylvania. We arrived very late and we all went to bed. Next morning we pulled the truck into the barn there. We replaced the master cylinder and it still didn't work. We may have bought another one. I don't even remember how long we were there. I just remember being sick and not a whole lot of rejoicing for being in a better situation.

Our next stop was in Lancaster, PA. Tim's wife Christy's family lived there. They were super nice and gave us the opportunity to take a shower and sleep in something besides the truck. After spending most of a day there, we went down to this awesome Mennonite guy's place where Tim's truck was stored. Tim and I deduced that the pilot bearing must have seized or something. There we spent a good 7 hours pulling the transmission in this Mennonite guy's barn. The aftermarket Bank's turbo, and the exhaust all had to come off to even separate the transmission. Once we separated the tranny from the engine, springs and metal just dropped out. A spring in the clutch plate was broken off. There weren't even supposed to be springs there! The flywheel was a dual mass and Tim wanted to take it off also. I advised against it, but I'm glad he did. When we pulled it off, it came apart. There were just chunks of springs and carriers everywhere. A replacement clutch and flywheel was $1500. Whoever put in the last clutch put in the wrong one. Neither of us had that much money. We found a conversion kit for a normal clutch and flywheel, but it would have taken a few days by mail. We checked AutoZone and a nearby store in Lancaster just happened to have one in stock. These things are not normally stocked anywhere. So praise God! We called our prof and he ordered it over the phone. Sunday night we spent a good 5 or 6 hours putting it in and as soon as it was together we left. We left at 2 or 2:30 AM after working on the truck all afternoon and night. That probably wasn't a super great idea, but Christy needed to be back at work ASAP. So after a 26-hour drive and a small detour through Richmond, VA (my fault) we made it back to Longview, Texas. I was amazed at how many people who I didn't know helped us on our trip. There was really nothing I could do, other than trust the Lord and place myself in others’ hands. It's just more of a testament of how the Lord wants us let down our pride and ask Him for help and his followers.

I was very sick on the trip and when I got back I went to a doctor to get some medicine and see about a CAT-scan. I was advised to go someplace and stay put awhile. I packed up whatever was left and drove up to my grandma's house in Xenia, Ohio. Candidacy was coming up and there was no way I could get all the tests done before it. I had some morbid thoughts and decided it was best to call off candidacy in favor of treating my unknown health problem near my family. MAF candidacy happens two times a year: once in the summer, once in the winter. My Aunt Pat lives in Columbus and she helped me get all the appointments and all the stuff I had no idea about. I thank the Lord she was so willing to help me. I went to a bunch of different doctors before I had a CAT-scan. It was probably a good three weeks before I had a CAT-scan.

The day after the CAT-scan, I was called back and told that besides the ‘nodule’ there was also a ‘spot’ on my liver. I did receive good news that the 'nodule' was too well formed to be cancerous, but still no one knew what it was. A week later I had an appointment with a pulmonary specialist in Columbus. I went to my appointment not knowing what to think. In the office he asked me if I had lived in Ohio. I said not long. It turns out that in Ohio, North Dakota and southern California there is a type of airborne fungus that can be found near rivers. What was in my lung was scar tissue that surrounded either a fungus or a past ‌infection. The ‘spot’ on my liver turned out to be a big abscess or something. Both of these, he said, are so common that they are usually overlooked. He said that I had a 99% chance that it was nothing. To make sure, however, I have to get a CAT-scan every 6 months for the next 2 years. SO PRAISE GOD! I had hoped it was nothing, but that was just a cover for fear. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it was scar tissue. God’s timing is so perfect. Why have I explained all these things in detail? If I would have driven up to Idaho or not broken down, I may have had my tests done in Idaho where ‘nodules’ are less common and the doctors may have not known what it was. It was really God's provision that I end up here in Ohio with the doctors and family who know what they are doing.

An old college friend and Autosociety member happens to live in Cincinnati. When I went up to my grandma's house I was going to try to see him. I got a hold of him but he is a busy guy, so it took three weeks to meet up with him. I told him I was looking for a job. Still I was learning to just trust the Lord and not to rely on just myself. I cruised the classifieds but couldn't find any good jobs that didn't require experience. I was trying to figure out if I should just push MAF back a year so that I could get and hold a job. Apparently, now is a bad time to graduate. Anyways, Andy provided me with some great acquaintances and even got me a job interview at his work. Just Friday I got the call that I would start on Monday and that I was expected until January, when MAF holds their next candidacy. Praise God! So things have been lining up to return to Idaho. Still I am learning to not rely on myself but on the Lord’s provision and I am learning to let others help me. I think the message is staring to get through my thick skull.

In the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out if the Lord is leading me away from MAF or, as my uncle said, testing me to see if I am committed. I've been praying over these things and it looks as if things have been lining up for me to return. Unless something happens, I plan to return in January to MAF.

Something that you can pray about:
- Praise God for being alive and healthy!
- Pray for guidance in the next few months. I have been troubled by these circumstances of late and wondering what it all means. I have learned to just be still, patient, and take one day at a time.

- Pray for my return to MAF, that it will go as the Lord plans.

Also, read past letters at gmarthe3rd.blogspot.com. Feel free to reply.

In Christ,

Micah Chasteen

1 Corinthians 1:27-30