The first thing you see at Mission Aviation Fellowship is Nate Saint’s airplane,  recovered after he and his teammates were killed serving in Ecuador. Serving God in the outer regions of the world is not for the faint of heart, but you will also experience a closeness to God that you only find when you must be completely dependent on Him. This adventure is best told through the words of my amazing husband,  who  served as a float plane pilot/mechanic on some of the most challenging terrain in the world. “While trying to troubleshoot what looked like a faulty fuel injector, the engine went violently rough, started banging, and I lost almost full engine power. I got to use those three little words no pilot ever wants to hear or say: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! There were no safe places to land, just my choice of trees. My training kicked in and my brain and hands went into automatic mode as I set the airplane up for best glide configuration and headed toward the lowest point I could find, hoping to buy myself time to get the engine going again. Time seemed to slow a bit as I contemplated what waited for me at the bottom of the valley and the treetops the airplane would come to rest in. I thought about Robyn (we had just found out we were expecting our second child the day before), I thought about Samantha (she was one) and how she would grow up without her daddy. I thought to myself, ‘If this is it, I have no regrets. My King called me to serve Him here and if it ends like this, crashing into the treetops, I have been faithful. I don’t regret answering His call.’” That is the amazing man I am married to! That day while my husband was flying was different than most. Usually manning the radio was one of his Indonesian teammates, godly men called to minister to their people, who work incredibly hard and provide invaluable insight into the needs of their people, but they are not pilots or mechanics. This particular morning, Jason’s base manager and fellow pilot/mechanic was behind the radio. When Jason made his call, his manager suggested something that didn’t make any sense at the time, but Jason figured he literally had nothing to lose. Jason wrote, “The sound of that Continental engine roaring back to life was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard! Only 100 seconds passed from when the engine went rough to things being smooth, but it felt like an hour.” Jason flew to the nearest dock that he knew really well, Tumbang Naan, a village so high in the mountains that they don’t have roads, electricity or running water. When Jason landed, the pastor, who is also the airstrip agent, came down to meet him. Jason explained what had happened and this amazing Indonesian man, who has devoted his life and career to this village full of hardship and darkness and who had recently survived an attempt on his and his family’s life, told Jason that someday in Heaven they would laugh about all this! This man’s amazing attitude helped us keep perspective on this adventure. The hardest part for me was the next day that Jason flew, sending him back to what God had called him to do, with a fresh reminder of the dangers of his job and how dependent we are on God’s grace.

Psalm 51:11-12 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.