Rachel, Bethany, and Joanna visit Elena

It was good to see Abby's cousins Rachel and Bethany along with Elena's second cousin Joanna. We had a great time at the Wings hangar and at the Mexican restaurant. The girls went shopping and had some Burtt time. Come back and see us soon!

Elena and Texas

It has been an adventurous two weeks for the Oshkosh Sanderlin family. I left July 5 giving specific instructions to our unborn baby girl to wait to be born until I returned from the Wings as Eagles trip to Texas. The Wings as Eagles plane took off with four Wyldewood men including myself for Michigan to pick up four men from Sheridan Road Baptist Church. We left Michigan for Amarillo, Texas to erect the steel beams of Central Baptist Church, a growing soulwinning church. However, when I arrived, Abby called to inform me that the midwife found her ready to go into labor anytime. I flew commercially to get home, and arrived three days before our baby girl was born.

Elena Lynn was born at 3:31 am Monday, July 10. She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She has beautiful reddish blonde hair and is a very beautiful baby. Both Elena and Abby are doing well today.

I flew back for Texas the following Wednesday and was able to work for one day on the steel structure. The guys did a great job and were able to start on the roof and siding as well. On Thursday night I was able to spend a long time with Abby's Uncle Bill Gilmore and saw her Aunt Mary as well. The plane had a problem on Friday when we arrived at the airport, and after Terry Rushing located a new part and replaced it, we were able to leave on Saturday. I was able to co-pilot both ways and flew the whole leg from Saginaw, MI to Oshkosh, WI.

The Lord truly blessed us with safety in two round trips to Texas. We are grateful for the blessing of a healthy mom and baby and thank you all for your prayers and support for us as we continue our journey to ultimately get to Africa. We currently have four supporting churches and praying for eleven more before we leave.

Illinois Meetings

My beautiful (and great with child) wife and I just returned from meetings in the wonderful state of Illinois (for those of you from the South or who just don't know your states, you don't pronounce the "s" in Illinois). We had a great Saturday night and Sunday morning with Pastor Farmer and his family in Milledgeville at Community Baptist Church. We had a good time talking with his two boys who are praying about missionary aviation. Then Sunday night we went to my family's home church in Coal Valley, Believers Baptist Church. In both churches we presented the Wings as Eagles ministry and our burden for Africa. We also were able to preach in both churches. It was awesome to be home for a few days and spend time with family.
We stopped at Camp Joy Wednesday night and heard Ron Comfort preach. It was family camp that night so we met several people we knew including Mike Harris from Falls and Pastor Irmler from Springfield, IL. We also hit a deer on the way home...my first. Pray that everything works out in that situation. We were hoping to sell the car soon!
Abby is doing great! She is due July 19 and feeling it more every day. She has done wonderful with our schedule and with all the driving. She is an awesome wife!!
Dad, Mom, Chris, and Emily are doing great. I helped Chris move some of the barn debris and burn alot of it.
Jim was home from Greenville just for a few hours on Sunday. It was great to see him and Jill from Frankfort.
Jessica, Wyatt, and Amelia (Mia) are doing great. We had a fun time with them as usual! Wyatt cried when it was time for them to go.

Wings Trip to Alpena, MI

I recently had the opportunity to go on a Wings as Eagles trip with the college/career group from our home church in Oshkosh. Praise the Lord for the many things we were able to accomplish at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Alpena, Michigan. We flew there Wednesday morning, June 7, and left Saturday morning, June 10. We were able to do a number of projects on the church building and grounds as well as help the pastor reach out to his community through visitation. We had special meetings each night as Bro. Bart Case, director of church relations for Wings as Eagles, preached for each service. We thank the Lord for a safe trip!!

June Ministry

We don't have a lot going on in regards to deputation in June. Please pray that I'm able to schedule some last minute meetings. We had one cancel on the 4th. We'll be visiting churches nearby on service nights trying to meet Wisconsin pastors. The weekend of June 11 we will be in two Illinois churches. Sunday morning will be at Community Baptist Church in Milledgeville. Sunday night will be in Coal Valley at Believers Baptist Church. We have two supporting churches so far and several individuals who have given financially. Thank you to all who have been a help!
I have been staying busy working on Wings as Eagles projects including a DVD that we are trying to create for the ministry. Also, I have been preaching for children's church and nursing home when not on the road. Abby is finishing up her work soon and looking forward to seeing the baby!

First Deputation Meetings

This last week Abby and I were in three churches in the state of Michigan. On Sunday morning, May 21, we were in Napolean, MI where I taught Sunday School at First Baptist Church. Sunday night we presented our survey trip to Ann Arbor Baptist Church, Abby's home church. Wednesday night we presented the Wings ministry and our Survey trip to Faithway Baptist Church in Ypsilanti, MI, where Abby graduated from high school. Abby gave a testimony at both churches, and then I preached the message. We thank the Lord for safety in travel and a great time of fellowship.
Abby also had a baby shower with family and friends while we were in Ann Arbor. There were about 70 ladies. I spent the day with Abby's two little brothers, Philip and David, and we had a blast by ourselves!

First Wonderful Year of Marriage Complete!

We thank the Lord for his blessings throughout our first year of marriage. From ministry to preparing for a baby, the Lord has been good to us! (Ps. 107:1,8)

Abby and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary this last weekend in Chicago. We arrived Thursday afternoon and left Sunday evening after church. We bought a City Pass (CP) and found the following attractions to be A+

Museum of Science and Industry (CP)
Northerly Island Park (good-bye Meigs Field!)
The CTA (Chicago train/subway)
The Chicago Cubs victory at Wrigley Field on Friday pushing Greg Maddux to a 5-0 start (now if only the rest of the pitchers could figure out how to win!)
Rainforest Cafe
John Hancock Observatory (CP)
Cheesecake Factory
Shedd Aquarium (CP)
Adler Planetarium & Galileo's Cafe (CP)

It was a packed weekend and a lot faster paced than our honeymoon out west in Montana. We finished the trip by going to Marquette Manor Baptist Church with Lloyd and Bethany Estep. I taught the young adult/married Sunday School class for Pastor Ramler (Associate Pastor). It was a blessing meeting new people in the church and visiting friends and family.

Sam and Abby Commissioned with Wings as Eagles!

Praise the Lord for a wonderful April 2 commissioning service! Abby and I are now officially serving with Wings as Eagles Mission Air Service. This ministry is based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Wyldewood Baptist Church. The primary purpose for this ministry is that of taking pastors and their people on short term missions trips. This is done with our 8-10 seat Piper Chieftain, a twin-engine piston airplane. We are gaining valuable experience working with veteran missionaries and servants of the Lord! Please see www.wyldewood.org/wae for more complete information on this ministry.
We have been with Wings as Eagles since June of 2005, but we have now officially joined the ministry as representatives. We will be on the road making churches aware of this ministry and raising personal support.
Our final goal is the continent of Africa. Abby and I are called to be missionaries and will be raising support under Wings as Eagles for a survey trip to Africa. Lord willing, we will spend a year in Africa working with several church-planting teams in different countries. We know several missionary pilots who will be teaching us the various aspects of a church-planting aviation ministry.
If your church would like to have us for a meeting please let us know. We would welcome your support of prayers, letters, and financial gifts. We hope you find these updates useful, and we look forward to hearing from you!