Missionary Aviation

RyanShort1 said:
I mean, if I give money to my friends who are missionaries in Mexico, I don't call myself a missionary, neither if I drive a load of medical supplies down, and I wouldn't if I flew it down, either. And yes, I think all Christians are supposed to share the gospel, but I think that the term should be reserved for those who are specifically sent out by a church to share the gospel. I think the aviation support can be helpful, but it's mostly logistics.
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Pilots and mechanics for these organizations have to have, typically, at least one year of Bible schooling or equivalent. That tends to weed out the ones who just want to play with airplanes and don't really see themselves in servant ministry to the disadvantaged people around them. Plenty of them end up teaching some Bible or language or hygiene or auto maintenance, or helping the indigenous folks in technical ways like developing clean water supplies or better housing. There are many facets to mission work. Christ didn't just preach; he fed and healed people numerous times even if they had no further interest in following him.
 
Sac Arrow said:
From where I am standing, that is my assessment as well. The pilots may well have strong religious convictions, but I suspect that they are doing what they do for the excitement, to build time, and to be able to shoot cool videos to post to Youtube rather than out of religious conviction. And I don't have a problem with that at all. They perform a logistical service that might not otherwise be available if they weren't doing it. There are commercial operations in Indonesia that perform the same mission, but I suspect that goodwill flights to remote mountain villages they perform are funded by charity, which is basically the same thing as a missionary flight service.
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The excitement doesn't last that long. Like most occupations, it can and does become hard work. Culture shock is a big factor; much of this work happens in the tropics where the heat is oppressive and diseases like malaria and skin problems and fungus and parasites are endemic, and the people have some strange habits. They want to feed you their favorite bugs, for instance. You can easily offend them without realizing it. Homesickness can be severe. Burnout is common enough among pilots; they have to put up with all the stuff mentioned plus some awesome tropical weather (thunderstorms every day, sometimes) or dust storms, and really hostile terrain. Going down in the jungle after an engine failure might mean the last they see of you. They have better tracking stuff now, but they still need to get to you before the snakes and crocodiles do. SAR isn't close by, mostly.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Pilots and mechanics for these organizations have to have, typically, at least one year of Bible schooling or equivalent. That tends to weed out the ones who just want to play with airplanes and don't really see themselves in servant ministry to the disadvantaged people around them. Plenty of them end up teaching some Bible or language or hygiene or auto maintenance, or helping the indigenous folks in technical ways like developing clean water supplies or better housing. There are many facets to mission work. Christ didn't just preach; he fed and healed people numerous times even if they had no further interest in following him.
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I agree, but in a way they are serving more as "deacons" than anything else!
 
RyanShort1 said:
I mean, if I give money to my friends who are missionaries in Mexico, I don't call myself a missionary, neither if I drive a load of medical supplies down, and I wouldn't if I flew it down, either. And yes, I think all Christians are supposed to share the gospel, but I think that the term should be reserved for those who are specifically sent out by a church to share the gospel. I think the aviation support can be helpful, but it's mostly logistics.
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But what if that were your fulltime occupation, one which you had to make sacrifices for requiring great devotion? Missionaries perform all sorts of roles to help people; medical, farming, education, etc. I see aviation as just one more means of helping and sharing the gospel.

Flying a one-time trip to deliver some supplies? I wouldn't argue your point. Spending your life doing it? To me that's different.
 
RyanShort1 said:
I agree, but in a way they are serving more as "deacons" than anything else!
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1 Corinthians 12 addresses this. There are many gifts (abilities), with various believers having different abilities and interests, yet they're all necessary and the Bible does not elevate any gift above another. The idea that the guy who preaches is the only guy that really matters comes out of human-based philosophies and hierarchies. Man's economy is not God's economy. It takes the whole team to accomplish anything, including the people who give money toward it and the guys at home rebuilding the airplanes or cleaning the shop floor.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=PHILLIPS
 
Dan Thomas said:
1 Corinthians 12 addresses this. There are many gifts (abilities), with various believers having different abilities and interests, yet they're all necessary and the Bible does not elevate any gift above another. The idea that the guy who preaches is the only guy that really matters comes out of human-based philosophies and hierarchies. Man's economy is not God's economy. It takes the whole team to accomplish anything, including the people who give money toward it and the guys at home rebuilding the airplanes or cleaning the shop floor.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=PHILLIPS
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Oh, I totally agree with that, but as I posted above I think the servant/deacon role is more what they are performing. I’ve given a lot of thought because at one point I thought I would go into mission aviation and I’ve got a whole stack of books on my shelf about it and currently have a friend who is well along the path towards entering the field.
I was trying to ask myself why I wanted to do it and what role I would actually be playing. It may be semantics but I actually think a proper understanding of the role can give clarity to what is needed in one’s personality and gifting for the work.
 
Denver Pilot nailed it.

I looked into this 20 years ago and even talked to someone from one ministry at our University's career expo. They had a HARD requirement for the A&P as well as physical fitness, not just ability to obtain an FAA 2nd class but haul heavy/bulky items for long distances not just load it from a cart into the plane (probably why the previously mentioned age limit is in place). They didn't specify any of the other rules/expectations during that time. My lack of A&P and the time/patience for me to obtain it was a nonstarter for that career. I'd highly recommend a young person especially one who has done some mission work pursue it.
 
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