The SMAT Blog
End of Year Letter - 2008
Posted December 19 2008 in President's Blog, School News
Dear Friends of SMAT:
Psalm 30:12 says, “To the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.” We are giving the LORD thanks and are continuously amazed at his faithfulness. As some of you may already know, SMAT is now located at the Ionia County Airport. We started our current class of sixteen students on August 27, 2008. The LORD is truly good.
As we head toward the end of the year and begin to focus on the celebration of Christ’s birthday, we are reminded of the important mission that we have been called to complete. We take to heart our vision to:
“Serve the Lord in missions by providing certified training in flight, aviation maintenance and related technical fields. We are committed to providing a high level of training through academic excellence, quality personnel, and facilities conducive to the real world missionary environment. As servants of Christ, we will accomplish this by providing a learning environment that is Christ centered, caring, compassionate and responsive.”
We are in the process of expanding our facilities to include permanent offices, classrooms, lab areas and a parking lot. We also have airplane projects and are continuing to develop scholarship funding as resources become available. We have been blessed with donors who have seen our vision for the future.
We invite you to be a part of this ministry. You can help by donating financially, praying, volunteering, or supplying materials for any of the above-mentioned projects.
To learn more about any of these projects, or if you would like to learn more about what we are doing, please contact us either by calling the number at the top of this letter or visit our website shown below where you may email us. We look forward to hearing from you soon and may the Lord bless your Christmas and the New Year to come.
Comments
Dave Holmes Posted 12/19/2008
Hey Bill,
Wanted to let you know someone was checking out the blog. Look forward to using this as a communication tool.
I jumped on the site early this morning to see if there was any news about the weather situation. Rachel and I cleared the drive before the Ionia school announced it’s closing. I then cleared it again before noon so I could get to school. Dean left a message on my cell phone (that was setting on the table in the house) that we were closed. Lesson learned - - keep phone in pants pocket! I needed the workout.
These are exciting times for the school. I can only imagine how it might be for you guys that have a historical connections.
Thanks for setting all this up!
Dave
Kelly Posted 12/28/2008
Hello, I’m exploring schools offering A&P certificates. I previously attended another school, had some trouble.
David Dykstra Posted 12/29/2008
A great year-end letter. God is truly blessing all your efforts!
We are looking forward to joining the SMAT family next year through our son. He is very excited to begin his aviation career, and we are excited to see God moving in his life!
Thanks for everything you are doing! God Bless you all in the coming new year!!!
Kelly Posted 01/01/2009
Hey, can I leave my email for a student to get back to me about the program? Would like to get some student input. Thanks, Kelly
Bill Posted 01/13/2009
Hello Dave, David and Kelly,
Sorry it has taken a while for me to respond to your posts. We truly feel blessed that the Lord is faithful. Thanks to each of you for your encouraging feedback. Please feel free to either give us a call or email if we are able to be of service to you. Lord bless you.
Peter Neal Posted 01/20/2009
(Bill, perhaps the website could include a section where past students could give their thoughts about their experience. For now ill just post here)
I’m excited to see the school expand and grow through the Lords blessing! SMAT was an excellent experience for me. I loved my 12 months as an A&P student and my 18 Months as a flight student, the small class sizes and experienced instructors really set SMAT apart from many other aviation maintenance schools. It is an intense year (5 days a week 7am-4pm), but I had a great time in such a fast paced environment.
SMATs Maintenance and flight departments equipped me with the skills and tools that I now use everyday. Thanks to SMAT I’m very proud to say that I am now a flight instructor and full time A&P mechanic. If I had gone to any other 3 or 4 year maintenance school I would probably just be completing my final year. SMATs one year maintenance course put me on the fast track to getting some real experience and preparing me for missions work.
Im Thankful for all the people who work hard to make this program so unique, You are all great!!
Bill Posted 02/02/2009
Pete,
Thank you for your feedback. I think you give a great perspective of the program from the student’s point of view. I thank the Lord that we could be a part of helping you to answer the Lord’s calling on your life.