see photos of Phil Tomkins summer HERE.

I am having a pretty amazing summer I wanted to let you all know about.  As some of you have heard, God has led me to Waxhaw,  North Carolina this summer to intern with the engineering department at Jaars.  Jaars is a division of Wycliffe Bible Translators, which provides technical and logistical support for missionaries.  One of the things they focus on the most is providing missionaries with aviation support.  That means flying people, supplies, and Bibles into remote landing strips in the middle of unreachable areas all over the world.

This summer I get to work with a wonderful man named Terry Heffield.  He is the research and development department of Jaars.  We are working on making improvements on the Pilatus PC-6′s that are flying in  Papua New Guinea and other places all over the world.  There are two main projects.

The first is reverse engineering the mud guard accessories.  These work like the mud flaps on your average truck, keep things from getting all over the plane and protect the prop from damage.  Unfortunately they cost as much as a small car when bought from the original manufacturer.  So we figure if we can make them ourselves, it will save us a lot of money.

The second one is the one I am even more excited about.  One of the accessories you can buy for the plane is a set of wing mounted fuel pods.  They look like bombs that hang under the wings and allow for longer flights.  What we heard from those using these planes in the field is that they love the pods, but would like to put stuff in them other than fuel.  Therefore, we are designing storage pods that are the same shape and strength as the fuel pods.  If we do that we don’t need to get them fully certified by the FAA, we only need to have them tested.

Anyway it’s really cool and fun to be doing actual engineering.  I love that this is what God has for me, and that this is where he put me.

I would really appreciate your prayers.  I always need prayer.  The PC-6 needs to be shipped out by the first few weeks in August.  There are still incredible amounts of work to be done and I don’t know how else but by Gods hands it will all get done.  Secondly, please pray for me as I struggle to learn more about engineering than I normally cover in months in the hours between when it is introduced to me and when I have to use it.   On that note I basically had to learn all of solidworks (a computer aided design program) in two days to keep up, which was crazy.   Lastly, as always, I need prayer for wisdom as I go back to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this summer.  I am always in need of help to handle the craziness of school.

Also I have some practical needs. I am a Jaars employee, so I am getting paid a little. The cost of living here and traveling will take up most of what I’m earning.  I am working here as a short-term missionary of Christ Jesus, and considering what God has for my future.  Please pray that he will provide for my needs.

[donate to Phil Tomkins by mailing checks to Terra Nova Church.]

Anyway I am glad that I have a great group of people who love and support me always in so many ways.  I thank you for all the support you have given me over the years and look forword to seeing you all again.

Thanks,

Philip Tompkins