TonyArcher.com Updates

Home, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 6:47:53 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:47:53 GMT

Tony Archer and Sheea Archer's life and ministry

mail, by tarcher @ 12/14/2009 4:37:04 PM

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:37:04 GMT

Pray, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 10:37:32 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:37:32 GMT

Prayer requests for Tony and Sheea Archer

status, by tarcher @ 4/20/2009 11:49:57 AM

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:49:57 GMT

DonationsOverview, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 8:30:47 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:30:47 GMT

ContactUs, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 11:04:35 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:04:35 GMT

Contact Tony and Sheea Archer

Kids, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 11:02:41 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:02:41 GMT

Newsletters, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 10:58:56 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:58:56 GMT

Post, by tarcher @ 12/10/2008 6:47:54 AM

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:47:54 GMT

Blog, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 11:00:00 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

PayPalOneTime, by tarcher @ 12/9/2008 9:48:17 AM

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:48:17 GMT

PayPalRecur, by tarcher @ 12/9/2008 9:39:56 AM

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:39:56 GMT

DonateCheck, by tarcher @ 12/7/2008 9:17:56 PM

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:17:56 GMT

Pictures, by tarcher @ 12/22/2008 9:24:09 AM

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:24:09 GMT

Pictures from Tony and Sheea

solo_xc, by tarcher @ 3/4/2009 10:13:39 AM

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:13:39 GMT

Pictures from the life and ministry of Tony and Sheea Archer.

Post Surgery & Certification

Tony Archer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:25:36 GMT

Hello once again! What a whirlwind month and a half this has been!

Update on Sheea

Sheea has been recovering well and has weaned herself down to one pain pill every other day or so, depending on whether it is a good day or she is in pain.

Thank you so much to all of you who have provided meals for our family. Who knew there were so many great cooks in one area?!

I am now having to fight to have Sheea not do things around the house, which is good in the sense that she feels well enough to attempt them, but the kids and I are trying to make sure she doesn't over exert herself.

Sheea has a post-op doctor appointment on Thursday where they will hopefully give her a clean bill of health.

Flight Training

After many attempts at explaining the actual progress toward our training goals I put together the graphic below so it will be easier to visualize our progress.

The orange line represents the point at which I would qualify to be able to take the Commercial certification exam.

Kids (Shane)

Shane had his second soccer game Sunday evening and scored the only goal the team had and the crowd went wild! Even in his playing I am thrilled to see his personality shine through. If someone fell down (on his team or the opposition) Shane would go over and help them up. Shane was played almost the entire hour as his tenaciousness was evident to all. Up the field, down the field and right back again. I don't know where he stores all the energy, but he stayed on the ball the whole time. He even used the reverse kick he learned in the one skills class he had taken to great effect several times!

Kids (Becca)

We recently asked Becca what she wanted to do for her eighth birthday. In a matter of fact way she stated, "climb a mountain." Because that's the kind of girl she is. She loves exercise (didn't get it from me) and the outdoors and wants to explore and see the animals.

She then asked Sheea if she could try to find gold in a river too. Sheea asked, "You want to pan for gold?"

"Yes, pan for gold. Well, do they let you keep the gold you find?"

"Well, I think so."

"Then, yes. I want to pan for gold."

So we'll see what she actually settles on (especially once it's made clear that we would probably not find any gold.)

Prayer Requests

Praise: Sheea is recovering well!
Praise: Tony passed the instrument certification!
Sheea's continued recuperation Sheea will be taking more Bible courses through Moody next semester, so pray that she do well and learn much that can be applied practically rather than just being an academic experience.
Debt repayment from the training so that Tony can continue to build hours toward our goal.

Update on Sheea

Tony Archer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:41:06 GMT

The surgery went well but Sheea has been in a lot of pain. In addition to that she was throwing up a lot yesterday.

They just took Sheea off the morphine she was on so that is progress.

Please continue to pray that she is able to recover quickly and that the pain would dissipate quickly to a more manageable level.

Instrument Certified!

Tony Archer — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:47:24 GMT

Lots of good news to report in regard to training progress.

Training

First of all, training went well, challenging, but I have been learned a lot. I passed my Instrument Certification exam yesterday morning! (July 12th) This is a large step forward and it will allow me a lot more flexibility for planning flights and building hours. Thank you so much for your prayers during this time.

Expenses

I have negotiated a better fuel rate with with the Fixed Base Operator where the plane I fly is based. They were willing to do this because of the goals of my training. And I am very grateful they made the exception for me as fuel prices continue to rise.

I haven't yet tallied the damage in terms of all the fuel, etc but last month donations far exceeded the minimum payment we needed to make on the training account! Thank you to all who have been helping financially! It is what is allowing me to move forward with all the training. Because of the financial accountability through the church we have no easy way of knowing who donated what but we are extremely grateful to you all.

Next Steps

The first step is to once again pay down the training account so that there is room to build flight hours.

I currently have about 150 hours (I need to build 400 hours minimum). Other than the hours I just need to complete a Commercial Rating next which should require a lot less training than the instrument rating.

At some point I would love to build up hours by flying around the country to visit as many of you as possible. If I did that I would probably have to go alone as long hours in a plane aren't exactly kid-friendly.

Nepal

MAF has had to withdraw from opening their base in Nepal because of government hassles along the lines of requiring three million dollars be deposited in their banks for the privilege of doing non-profit work there!

We are clearly very disappointed with this outcome but I told my Nepali friends that even if we weren't able to fly in Nepal God used this to introduce us and allow us to befriend each other.

While our own prayer would be that God would somehow change the outcome and allow MAF to operate in Nepal, our larger prayer would be that God would prepare us for wherever in the world he would have us serve.

Prayer Requests

As I write this, Sheea is in the scheduled surgery I had previously alluded to. Please pray for her rapid recovery and that she stick to the doctors orders of not lifting even a gallon of milk till six weeks later. For those of you who know my wonderful but stubborn, stubborn wife.you know why I say this. :)

Good News

Tony Archer — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:56:02 GMT

Dear friends and family,

We have two great pieces of news!

First, what we thought might be cancer for Sheea is NOT! This is clearly a huge relief to us. The doctor said that she will still need surgery (a hysterectomy) but he described the procedures they use these days as the equivalent of a "minor" surgery. It is obviously not minor in consequences, and mentally but it is good to know that the physical recovery should be relatively easy.

The surgery is scheduled for July 15th.

Second, after studying 8 hours a day for 3 days, Tony took the FAA Instrument Written Test and passed with flying colors! (You have to take the written before you can take the practical test.) Now, the remainder of the training schedule (listed here) will continue as planned.

Prayer Requests:

Flight training: That God would meet our training finances through lesson sponsors or other means.

Flight training: That Tony would be able to absorb, retain, and perfect what he learns.

Surgery: That all would go well and that Sheea with God's help is able to "stand up under" the major change.

As always, we are ready and willing to talk on the phone with you if you'd like more details about any of this!

Namaste! (“Hello,” in Nepali)

Tony Archer — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:36:06 GMT

It has been way too long since our last update.so much has happened. As you all know we are interested in working with MAF in Nepal.

I (Tony) actually met two Nepali men (Rabin & Sabin) who are in the US as students and are working in our home town! As soon as Rabin learned that we were planning on moving to Nepal some day he was very friendly and out-going.

After months of talking a little here and there I offered to take Rabin & Sabin on a night flight over downtown Dallas. What fun it was to be able to share aviation with the two cousins.

Tony & Sabin

Tony & Rabin

Since then they have taken us out to eat at a Nepali restaurant in Irving. We had "momo" (mow-mow) which are kind of like a meat-filled dumplings, various curries, and a couple kinds of Nepali desserts. It was a great experience.

Momo

At the Nepali restaurant

Traditional Nepali Meal

We have all been praying for the men since we started developing our friendship. Becca and Shane have been praying for them faithfully all these months.

On Easter we invited the young men over to celebrate with us. They attended our Easter service, the first time they had ever set foot in a church, and while it was all new and a little overwhelming, they seemed to enjoy it. We then returned home and, along with Mom & Dad and my sister, Tiffany, had our Easter meal, played games and the kids did their Easter egg hunt.

Becca & Shane

Rabin & Sabin looking on as the kids hunt for eggs

(left to right) Shane, Tiffany, Becca, Marcy, Larry

Since then we invited them over for supper and they asked if their other room-mate, Karma (also a Nepali student) could come as well. We said, "of course!" So we had the three of them over as well as Mom & Dad.

Becca was very excited to show them the "resurrection eggs" she had made. Resurrection eggs are basically plastic Easter eggs with little trinkets in them which each tell a part of the Easter story. (We had run out of time on Easter for her to share them.)

Afterwards they invited us all over to their apartment for supper.

So the next week we went over to their apartment where they cooked for us and showed us all how to make momo.

Oh no! Sheea is "ruining" the food!

Sheea showing her work

Shane having a go at making momo

About to begin our meal

Karma drew Becca a picture

Aviation Update

I have completed about 112 hours of the 400 required. God has blessed me with a contract which allowed me to pay down some of the training debt and I am now preparing to begin my instrument training.

In addition I have joined the Civil Air Patrol and after undergoing the prerequisite training I will be able to fly in their Cessna 182's and later, their GA8. Both of these planes are considered "high performance" and will allow me to build up my required 50 hours for MAF. I will also be eligible to serve our country on missions!

In other news it looks like it might be possible for my private pilot instructor to train me for my instrument rating! He is a very gifted teacher, demanding precision and knowing how to teach to that precision. He is also a brother in Christ and headed toward missionary aviation himself.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for our Nepali friends, that God would bless them, protect them, and bring them to Himself.

Please pray for Tony as he begins his instrument training, that an inexpensive plane would be available and that his prior instructor would be free to train him.

First Missions Flight!

Tony Archer — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:33:06 GMT

Family

Well, Tony has been nose the grindstone for quite some time. So much has happened since our last post, and there is much to write about regarding ministry work.

First, our son, Shane is now SIX! He is reading and writing and has begun thinking about the future. He has decided he is either going to be a police man . or a spy. Hehe.

Both the children pray nightly, both diligently and earnestly for a Sgt. Landon Jones who is serving in Afghanistan. (They heard about him through Becca's teacher who had met his wife while at an event.) They also pray for Rabin and Sabin, a couple young men from Nepal who are going to school here locally and for the Haitian children. It is truly a blessing to watch them grow and to see a glimpse into their hearts as they pray, thinking of caring things to pray about that I would have never thought about. That the Haitian children would have things to play with, as an example.

Before Christmas Tony took a recorder into Shane's room at bedtime and this is the un-edited, un-prompted result:

Sheea has had a long dental ordeal which resulted ultimately in a root canal (insert your sympathy shudders here). She is doing well now.

Missions Conference

Our church, Grace Bible Church, is going to be having a missions conference in March and as part of his work on the missions committee Tony is working on software for a missions kiosk which will sit in a common area of the church and allow for members to browse through information on missionaries, missions organizations, the countries that the missionaries are working in and will even allow members to send notes of encouragement through the kiosk to the missionaries!

The goal is to increase engagement of church members with what our missionaries are doing around the world and missions in general.

First Missions Flight!

Tony has been asked by Iglesia Cristo Viene (Christ is Coming Church) and the missions committee of Grace Bible Church (our church), to fly a joint delegation of church representatives (of which Tony is a part) to visit with Dr. Al Platt, who was the President of CAM International during the time Tony's parents were missionaries in Central America.

The goal of the trip is to encourage Dr. Platt, who recently lost his wife who was battling cancer,. and show solidarity with him in his time of need. Dr. Plat was very involved with both churches before his retirement and subsequent move to Kansas.

Tony is very excited about the opportunity to use aviation to help others. While the exact schedule isn't settled yet, the flight will take about 2.5 hours both ways and the delegation plans to spend 2-3 hours with Dr. Platt.

Finances

We are currently still carrying debt but a project Tony is wrapping up will all be allocated to the debt at which point instrument training can begin!

Prayer Request

Please pray that funds would continue to arrive so that the debt does not increase again as Tony returns to the skies.

We are considering trying to find a short term missions trip appropriate for our entire family as the children have never left the US before and haven't seen first-hand the needs that exist. Please pray for wisdom and an appropriate opportunity.

Pray that as Tony resumes flight training he is able to absorb and retain everything he is learning and for continued safety in the air.

Merry Christmas & 100 hours!

Tony Archer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:17:59 GMT

Why, yes! Tony is late in getting our Christmas cards out. Not only that but while we are fairly good at getting electronic communications out we don't even have half your addresses.

Please fill out this "self addressed envelope" if you would like to receive a Christmas card from us.

I have been taking folks on tours of downtown Dallas to help build hours! Last Sunday the Archer family all went out and finished up the last 1+ hour that I needed to complete my first 100 hours!

So 100 hours down, 300 to go. Next on my training agenda is my instrument certification.

I look forward to taking as many of you as want to go on a night tour of downtown Dallas!

An Interesting Nepal Video

Tony Archer — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:23:09 GMT

As many of you know, Sheea and I are very interested in Nepal, and it's culture and people. We have met two young Nepali gentlemen here in Little Elm and they have been gradually connecting more and more with us.

They have invited us to go to a Nepali restaurant and I have invited them to go flying with me. So when we do either of those I'll add the pictures here.

In doing research on the culture I found this well done video (which is narrated in Korean). It has some incredible scenes and shows one of the trains as it goes by. You can see how travel is severely limited. And the train can only go wherever they happen to have rails, leaving many areas inaccessible. Give it a watch!

Lots of News

Tony Archer — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:48:02 GMT

Well, it has been a long time since writing an update. A busy schedule will do that to you.

Praises

Tony got to fly his dad out to Jefferson, TX for an early Father's day breakfast. The airport there, while long and paved, was surrounded by very tall pine trees and so landing there was the first real time not making the strip would be Very Bad Indeed. But of course, they made the strip just fine :)

Tony has his Complex Endorsement and has begun to use the plane which was generously offered for him to build up flight hours. As of this writing he has a total of 79.4 flight hours (4-500 are needed.)

Tony and Shane needed to go to Lubbock, TX and, with the use of the aforementioned plane were able to do so in about a two and a half hours.

What an adventure it was for 5 year old Shane, who even got to fly the plane!

Tony's start-up company, Arcbit.com has begun to get some work and we have used the funds to pay down debt, both personal and flight training as we cannot carry debt before going overseas. (Some examples of what we've done:)

- graceacademy.com
- comptia.org

We are happy to let you know that our first nephew has arrived and is doing great and, as children do, getting bigger every day!

What's Next

After we pay down the flight training debt, Tony will begin training for his Instrument Rating (IFR) which is what you need to fly through clouds, rain and/or bad visibility.

Children News

Becca graduated kindergarten and will soon be headed to first grade! It sure is amazing to see her absorbing the world around her.

Shane is constantly amazing us with how much he remembers things we say.

He may mull it over for a day or two and then bring it up again and ask further questions.

A week or so after their flight Shane went up to Tony's office and asked, "Who is the best flyer-person in the world?" After realizing Shane meant, "pilot," and deciding whether to go into Chuck Yeager, the Wright brothers, or Nate Saint and deciding rather to go with, "Well, maybe when you grow up *you* can be, Shane," instead; Shane said, "No. YOU are, Papa!" Which of course made Papa's heart melt.

(You will excuse the very long sentence but I have been reading Winnie the Pooh to the kids lately and it seems to have rubbed off a bit.)

I AM A PILOT!

Tony Archer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:33:57 GMT

Sheea brought the kids out to the airport after my test and told them to say "congratulations" to me before they came in. I turned around and saw them and their little faces were beaming and Shane says to me, "Well done!" It was so cool. And, I've never heard him use that phrase before then, so that made it even cooler.

Road Forward

Now that I have 53 hours of flying I am 13% done with my total hours of flight time needed. However, this is a large milestone as now I will be able to carry other people with me while I build up hours.

Complex Aircraft Endorsement: In order to start flying Scott's plane alone I need to undergo an additional 10 hours of training and receive the aforementioned endorsement. I can then begin training for my...

Instrument Rating: This will require an additional 45 cross country hours, 15 hours of instruction and 25 hours practice with a safety pilot (another private pilot who watches outside while I simulate instrument flight)

Additional Ratings/Training: I will also be pursuing mountain flying training, high performance endorsement, commercial pilot, multi-engine, instructor and instrument instructor certifications. After that I will need to finish building up 400-500 hours.

Mechanic Training: After the flight is taken care of or is mostly taken care of, I will begin the mechanic (A&P) training required.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I look forward to the rest of my training and our family looks forward to serving God wherever he would send us!

Last Milestone for Private Pilot!

Tony Archer — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:18:30 GMT

I have finally completed all my Private Pilot training! I now have to take the last exam. The FAA's Practical Exam. This consists of two hours of oral questions and answers followed by two hours of (as the name suggests) practical tests.ie flying.

I my last lesson with the flight school was also an exam of sorts, though not officially counting as a practical. I had scheduled a 4 hour block for that as well but fortunately the flight testing only took 1.1 hours and the oral exam took an hour.

The test is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14th from 1:00 to 5:00. Please pray for me during this time, that I would remember everything I have learned and be able to perform above expectations.

Pictures

I forgot to mention in the last email that I had some pictures up on our site from my long cross country solo.

Unfortunately, given my current work/training/family schedule I will not be able to work on a new video for a while.

Finances

I have updated our finance overview so you can get a picture of where we are now. We had several extremely large donations made in February which allowed me to continue my training. We still have quite a ways to go in paying down the training account, but I the pay-down allowed me to complete the Private Pilot rating!

The numbers for April are not yet accurate, I have done a lot of flying which hasn't yet been posted to my account.

Long Cross-Country Completed

Tony Archer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:57:55 GMT

FINALLY! After much.much delay I was able to go on my long cross-country solo. 240 nautical miles of cross-country goodness with landings at three separate airports.

From engine on to engine off it took me 2.9 hours. I didn't want to waste time and money taxiing to the terminal, getting out, re-checking the plane, etc so I just taxied back to the end of the runway, got my papers in order for the next flight and took off again.

Today I have another flight, a local solo, to practice take offs and landings

Solo - Long (150mi) Cross-country - Done
Solo Flight - Done
Instructor Evaluation - Wed 25th
Solo - FAA Practical Prep - Thu 26th
Final Check-airman - Fri 27th
FAA Practical Test - Wed 28th

I took a lot of video on the long solo and will be chopping it up and editing it together so you can see some of what it was like.

Tuesday’s Flight and PayPal

Tony Archer — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:08:45 GMT

Well folks, last night I went down to the flight school and prepped the plane for flight in the dark. We then set out to do some night flying.

Man it was a strange experience! Interesting, yes, fun, yes, but also very strange.

It is very easy to lose your bearings as everything in a big city melts into the "Christmas tree" that is the city at night. Airports are actually quite difficult to spot until you are right on top of them.

Anyway, we did all manner of maneuvers, stalls, turning stalls, a bunch of cross-wind landings in some serious wind including one landing where my instructor turned off all lights, internal and external to simulate a total electrical failure.now that was a bit stressful. Couldn't see the airspeed indicator to make sure I was above stalling speed so you have to rely on experience and "feel".

We also did stalls with no visibility (I have to wear foggles to block the windshield out to simulate no visibility.and MAN are they stylish.) No, I have no idea who the goofball with them on is, just wanted to give you an idea of how truly silly they look.

Oh, and then, the best part for those who enjoy roller coasters is when I have to close my eyes and release the controls and let the instructor move the plane all around, speed up, slow down, go into steep turns, etc and then open my eyes and correct to save and normal flight from whatever unusual attitude he put us in, whether climbing at way too slow of a speed or diving at too fast of a speed. It churns your stomach up.yuck.

PayPal

Last night I finally got PayPal donations set up to flow directly to Bridge Church's Bridge to Missions program so that is now an option for those wishing to donate.

The monthly donation option will automatically bill whatever you set it to once a month without you having to remember to do anything!

These donations are, of course, also tax deductable.

Cross Country to Tyler

Tony Archer — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:39:51 GMT

To clarify (because I have been asked) "cross country" is defined as any flight over 50 nautical miles or 57.5 miles. The flights we do in our training are more like 80nm (92mi).

Today I just finished my first X-C (cross country) out to Tyler and back. My Instructor said he's never been able to make it there and back in as little time as we did, 2.1 hours and that it usually takes close to 2.5. He also said he had never had as much fun on a solo before, so both of those things were really encouraging.

I still have plenty of room for improvement of course, I'm not saying I'm all that, it was just encouraging; and definitely more interesting and motivating to go somewhere rather than just maneuver in the practice area.

Not sure how most people learned to drive, but a lot of people start in a parking lot and practice there before getting to drive somewhere. This felt like I was getting out of the parking lot. :)

Didn't take any photos this time, I wanted to concentrate on the learning curve. Next time I'll probably take have my instructor snap a couple of stills.

Passed Another Check-Airman

Tony Archer — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:34:57 GMT

We had some serious crosswinds today as my check-airman instructor and I headed out to McKinney airport for some soft and short field landings. Fourteen knots of wind in a direct crosswind. Translation, we were landing to the South and the winds were coming at us directly from the West.

The crosswind and the fact that there were some gusting winds also made for a bumpy approach. I can certainly say that these were not my prettiest landings but they were all safe and when all was said and done I completed the flight successfully.

Tomorrow morning I have my first ever Cross-country flight! Then on Tuesday I'm scheduled for some night flying!

Solo Flight

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Returning From the Jungle...Changed.

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Thank you to all of you who have donated to our trip and/or have been praying diligently for Sheea and I. What a time for God to work in our hearts! Every day we got up at around 6:00-6:30 and ended after 9:30 some time.

all things work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to his purpose..."