Australia .. here I come

Great news! I finished up all the medical work in Dublin yesterday and I'm now in possession of a Class 1 Australian medical ... Praise the Lord!
And so with visa in hand, tickets purchased, the only thing remaining is to pack my bags and go. The plan is to leave here on Tuesday and begin the new chapter of what God has in store for me. Thanks for all the prayers! Hope to see as many of you as possible before I go.

Final hurdle

Well this Thursday will bring the final challenge before heading off to Australia. I must head back down to Dublin to complete the 2nd part of the Australian medical. All has gone well so far and is a real testimony of your prayers and our powerful God. I hope to be on a plane for Australia within a few days of the medical!

Please continue to pray, for:

• a successful medical outcome on Thursday
• no delay in issuing the medical license
• a police clearance check that is long overdue
• travel details to be confirmed and reasonably priced

So far so good

Well last week held the final interview for MAF. It was done over the phone and was reasonably straightforward. Thanks to all who were praying as it definitely helped. In fact, by the end of it I was told that not only had I passed that final interview, but that I had now completed and passed ALL that MAF UK had for me to do ;-) This is a great relief and now the only hurdle that remains is the 2nd part of the medical on the 18th Sept back down in Dublin. If all goes to plan I hope to be heading towards Australia by the following week ... thats only 2 weeks away!! I'll keep you posted.

Final interview with MAF and tests

Just a quick note about the final interview with MAF. It was scheduled for today but had to be put back to tomorrow morning. This is the final interview and will be done over the phone with one of the flight guys in England. After that, I should have the final word from MAF about whether I am accepted ;-) Please pray for this interview.

Also, on Friday I will have the final day of training for the First Aid course I am doing. This will involved a scenario based exam where we have external people come in and test the things I've been learning over the past 4 weeks. Again I would appreciate your prayers. Thanks :-)

A trip to Dublin

Well yesterday was a long day. It began around 5am (middle of the night in my book) and a trip down to Dublin. Thankfully a friend was going down too so I was able to sponge a lift most of the way there. The aim was the dreaded aviation Class 1 medical for Australia.

I arrived with hours to spare and so had a great opportunity to see some of the sights of Dublin. Here the main GPO (general Post Office) in the centre of Dublin including the bullet holes in the columns from the uprising in the early 1900's.

With so much time to spare I was also able to go to Trinity college (pic below) and see the book of Kells (pic right), one of the 1st ever copies of the Scriptures to be bound like a book that we use today. It is over 1000 years old and probably written sometime in the 9th century.

Anyway, eventually the history lesson was over for the day and it was time to go and be poked and prodded by the doctor. Most medicals are done and dusted that day and if successful you walk away with a temporary medical until the full one arrives in the post. Well the good news is that I did pass everything at the medical but the bad news is that as this is my 1st Australian medical the rules are slightly different. Before I can get my certificate, I need to see a few specialists for eyesight and hearing and this takes time to setup. Unfortunately I didn't find this out until the dust was blown off the medical regulations when i got down there and it seems I will have another day in Dublin in about 2 weeks time. Hmmn, yet another delay.

Thanks to all who where praying during this time, your services will be required once again.