Participants: Narrator: Chet Damron
Series Code: OTG
Program Code: OTG000031A
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00:01 In the early 90s,
00:02 mission aviation within the Adventist Church 00:04 was on the decline. 00:06 Adventist training facilities were closing 00:10 and mission pilots were retiring, 00:12 with no one to take their place in the mission field. 00:16 The need for mission pilots in remote parts of the world 00:19 was still very great. 00:21 But fewer and fewer pilots stepped up to answer the call. 00:26 Yes, mission aviation within the church 00:29 was in big trouble. 00:31 But God had a plan. 01:23 A big problem we faced was for legal reasons, 01:27 Adventist schools and academies 01:30 were being forced to close their aviation programs. 01:34 Without these programs, 01:35 very few new pilots were being trained 01:37 for mission service. 01:39 All the while, 01:41 more and more requests for mission aircraft 01:43 and pilots were pouring in. 01:46 There was a great imbalance 01:48 and many opportunities to spread the gospel 01:50 were not being met. 01:52 There are statistics out there that are really interesting. 01:55 Missiologists had studied what's going on in the world 01:59 and if you take the amount of people 02:01 that are in the world, 02:02 there's somewhere between 6.5, maybe 7 billion people 02:05 that live on planet earth. 02:06 What's interesting 02:08 to 7 billion people, 02:10 is that 2 billion of them have never heard of Jesus, 02:14 have never heard of the gospel before. 02:16 And so, the desire to reach those 2 billion 02:21 because we all know that Jesus says this Word 02:23 must be preached into all the world 02:24 and then the end will come. 02:26 Well, if we can't get the Word out, 02:27 how can Jesus come? 02:28 People need to make that decision. 02:31 And so, Adventist World Aviation 02:33 plays a role into reaching those 2 billion. 02:36 Now there, of about 2 billion 02:37 there's about 800 million of them 02:40 that can only be reached by means of aviation. 02:43 Even in our day without aircraft 02:45 and well-trained pilots, 02:47 thousands of people will not hear 02:49 the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 02:52 So in the early 90s, 02:53 church leaders got together 02:56 and under God's guidance devised the plan 02:58 to reach precious souls 03:00 in the remote corners of the world. 03:04 The solution 03:05 was the establishment of Adventist World Aviation. 03:08 We were developed back in about 1993. 03:14 And to describe what we do 03:16 requires a little bit of history. 03:19 Our church was heavily involved in Mission Aviation for years, 03:23 supporting the infrastructure of third world countries, 03:26 educational centers, pastoral ministry and such. 03:31 However, with the onset idea 03:34 that money could be made up of lawsuits, 03:37 the concern was that aviation somehow 03:40 was a dangerous institution. 03:43 And it required additional insuring, 03:46 so support began to diminish. 03:49 Our GC president at the time 03:51 became aware of that concern 03:54 and was watching institution after institution 03:56 closed their doors. 03:58 It was a very troublesome time in our churches, 04:00 as far as aviation was concerned. 04:03 As these institutions begin to close, 04:05 we knew that the feeding source 04:08 for mission pilots was also drying up. 04:10 And sooner or later the aviation missionaries 04:13 able to reach villages and people in need 04:16 that would under normal circumstances 04:18 not be able to reach. 04:20 As that dried up, 04:23 the realization for re-stabilizing 04:26 and re-establishing Adventist Mission Aviation 04:30 in our institutions. 04:31 And it was that need that drove me 04:34 after thinking about it for some time 04:36 while at the General Conference to say, 04:38 "Let me bring people together who have been involved 04:40 at the General Conference side with aviation initiatives." 04:44 They had done it in other parts of the world. 04:46 Now they're in Washington, 04:48 and brought those people together as well as others 04:50 who were involved in aviation here in the first world 04:53 and said, "What can we do?" 04:55 And that's where the concept 04:56 of Adventist World Aviation was born. 04:59 Elder Folkenburg was wise. 05:00 He's an evangelist at heart 05:01 and he saw the losing of lives 05:05 both physically and for eternity. 05:08 And so, 05:09 basically an emergency meeting was correlated. 05:12 Well, what they came up with 05:15 was development of Adventist World Aviation. 05:18 And as they developed Adventist World Aviation, 05:20 a separate Board of Directors was set up. 05:22 Now, Adventist World Aviation wasn't set up to be 05:24 an independent ministry. 05:26 It was set up to mirror conference policy 05:29 in terms of its infrastructure, it's a ministry outlook. 05:35 It doesn't have independent theology, 05:38 but it's there to support the church, 05:39 but it's also there to reach out 05:41 into the communities as well, 05:43 both medically and physically and educationally. 05:47 That preservation of that institution 05:50 was an absolute necessity. 05:52 And so, as they started selecting Board of Directors, 05:56 they selected a president, 05:58 Don Starlin was selected to be president 05:59 for Adventist World Aviation. 06:01 And it was an exciting day for the aviation industry 06:05 because inside the church that is, 06:08 because it seemed that there was concern 06:12 inside the leadership of the church 06:14 to preserve this tremendous mission outreach 06:18 to be able to save lives 06:20 under normal circumstances we just couldn't do. 06:23 So Adventist World Aviation was established 06:25 and it's been operating now, here it is in 2015, 06:30 it took several years to establish it, 06:31 but in 1995 06:33 we were incorporated and established 06:35 as an official ministry 06:36 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 06:38 or as independent ministry 06:40 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church I should say. 06:42 And we were able to eventually recover 06:47 some of the mission projects that we had already lost 06:49 because we were losing them by the dozens and by, you know, 06:52 countless hundreds that we were just losing them 06:55 here and there by attrition, by pilots ageing and retiring. 07:00 Our school's shutting down 07:02 with the inability to have a feeder 07:05 to our Mission Aviation Organization. 07:08 They were sending us so it was a new day, 07:10 we were very excited about that. 07:11 It breathed new life into mission aviation 07:14 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 07:16 By creating a self-supporting ministry, 07:20 Mission Aviation could continue to grow and thrive, 07:24 reaching remote areas around the world. 07:27 Adventist World Aviation was now ready 07:29 to make a great impact on mission outreach ministry. 07:33 The first location leaders look to establish 07:35 a mission outpost was in the Philippines. 07:39 Within a few short years, 07:41 AWA leaders commissioned Clifton Brooks 07:45 to establish a mission based on the island of Palawan. 07:50 This island is centrally located 07:52 within the Philippines 07:54 and can easily reach some of the smaller islands 07:56 with a small aircraft. 07:58 Their first mission project that was launched 08:01 was for the Philippines and Clifton Brooks was, 08:05 you know, spearheading that. 08:07 We were able to get an aircraft over there. 08:09 We had a specially outfitted 182. 08:11 The primary focus of the Philippines project 08:14 is ministry based. 08:17 The Brooks devoted their efforts 08:19 to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 08:22 This included flying pastors and evangelists 08:26 to remote areas and holding meetings 08:29 for many unreached souls. 08:33 As a result over the years, 08:34 many have given their lives to Jesus Christ. 08:39 There are 7,000 islands in the Philippines. 08:41 Some of them just cannot be reached by, 08:43 you know, by boat during some of the periods 08:45 of the season, 08:47 when the monsoon season or hurricane season, 08:50 whatever you want to call it, 08:51 when the bad weather season will roll in, 08:53 there's no way to get there by boat 08:54 and so the only way to get in is by aviation. 08:57 We needed especially outfitted aircraft 08:59 to be able to reach some of these islands 09:01 because the runways were very short. 09:03 We had a 182 that was donated. 09:05 We outfitted that especially to be able to reach 09:07 some of these islands. 09:09 But we were able to establish flight operations 09:11 in the Philippines. 09:13 And we've had a couple of different missionaries 09:15 that have come and gone out of the Philippines. 09:17 And it's, you know, 09:19 we're excited about that project 09:21 because I believe the Philippines 09:23 has some of the broadest areas 09:29 of expansion. 09:31 Shortly after the Philippines project was up 09:33 and operational, 09:35 leaders started redirecting their attention 09:37 to another remote area in the world, 09:40 which also desperately needed mission aviation, 09:45 Guyana, South America. 09:48 This country is full of lush, 09:50 seemingly impenetrable jungles 09:53 with thousands of Amerindians living in isolation. 09:58 This was an ideal location 10:00 that needed both medical aid 10:02 and the opportunity to receive the gospel. 10:05 Bill and Laura LaBore answered the call 10:09 to launch the new mission outpost 10:11 in Guyana. 10:13 The project in Guyana launched in 2005 10:17 with one family and one airplane, 10:19 and that was the LaBore's. 10:21 And our family the Wickwire's came in shortly after, 10:24 and we've operated there with. 10:26 We lived in a small village in the interior. 10:29 And we just slowly built the relationships, 10:31 found the ways that we could help 10:33 most in the community, 10:35 obviously with the airplane, but also other ways too, 10:37 we were involved in many other areas 10:39 of the community and health and church work, 10:42 of course, and finding 10:44 other church planting opportunities there, 10:49 just serving the needs wherever that was possible. 10:52 We soon became quite busy with the aviation program there 10:56 and serving the small villages. 10:58 The project in Guyana quickly flourished 11:01 and became an intricate part 11:03 of the local Guyanese health system. 11:07 The local medical facilities partnered with AWA, 11:11 depending on them to transport critical care patients 11:15 from remote jungle areas. 11:18 Without these flights provided by AWA, 11:21 patients must take a 24-hour boat ride 11:25 to the nearest road system to get them to Georgetown, 11:30 the capital for needed medical care. 11:34 Now, to make matters worse, 11:35 the boat only comes to the region 11:37 once every two weeks. 11:40 But with aircraft available, 11:42 Adventist World Aviation 11:44 is able to evacuate emergency patients 11:47 within just an hour or two. 11:50 The difference of a few hours can often be the difference 11:53 between life and death for these patients. 11:57 It's a pretty busy aviation program there. 11:59 The communities, the ministry of health, 12:01 the church has come to rely quite heavily on AWA there 12:06 to provide service to the communities. 12:09 And the airplanes fly three to four times a week. 12:13 Usually a couple of emergency medevacs 12:16 and when we have an emergency, 12:17 then we usually try and put some other people 12:20 on that need to go for treatment or bring some, 12:22 you know, Bible workers, church workers in or out, 12:24 health workers 12:26 and return people to their homes. 12:27 That's something very important thing we do 12:29 is return people back to their homes 12:30 after their treatment. 12:32 The project not only focuses on life saving medevac flights, 12:37 but also is heavily concentrated 12:39 on spreading the gospel 12:41 and sharing the love of Jesus with the Amerindians. 12:45 In the compelling stories that resulted from lives 12:49 being saved and souls being baptized, 12:52 you know, you saved their earthly life, 12:55 you know, that's huge, 12:56 but to save their eternal life, it goes beyond measure. 13:02 The next Adventist World Aviation mission 13:04 post launched 13:06 is right in our own United States of America, 13:10 in the far territories of northern Alaska. 13:15 Jim Kincaid, a retired pastor 13:18 and pilot began working with AWA in 1999. 13:23 The dynamics of the project in Alaska 13:26 differ greatly from those in the first two outposts 13:30 in the Philippines and Guyana. 13:33 The central focus of the flights in Alaska 13:36 are mission based, 13:38 delivering the gospel to villages 13:40 that no road systems reach. 14:03 Twenty years later, 14:05 we can still see God working to expand 14:08 and growing Adventist World Aviation. 14:11 New projects have recently been added 14:13 in the past few years 14:15 including one in Brazil, 14:17 and another project in Nicaragua. 14:20 New missionaries are also soon to be added 14:23 and are currently in training 14:25 to launch into these mission fields. 14:30 Bruce and Monique Wilkerson were deployed to Guyana 14:33 in May of 2015. 14:36 They will be project managers for the growing outpost, 14:40 Vonzell and Gwen Chancy are working hard 14:43 planning to be deployed to Guyana within the next year. 14:47 Vonzell is a pilot and mechanic 14:50 and his wife Gwen is a nurse. 14:55 Cindy Kuligowski is in training and raising funds 14:59 for her deployment to Guyana. 15:02 She is a commercial seamstress 15:04 and is making plans to set up sewing centers 15:08 to help the village ladies 15:10 make clothing for their families, 15:12 and even so for others to provide income. 15:17 Darren and Joanna Lea 15:19 have also been deployed to Guyana. 15:22 They're originally from South Africa 15:25 and have chosen to move to Guyana. 15:28 Darren is a pilot 15:30 and Joanna is a lifestyle educator. 15:35 Dennis and Diana Kaboos 15:38 and family are in process of raising funds 15:41 for their deployment to Nicaragua 15:44 to take over the current project 15:46 Wings Over Nicaragua. 15:50 Norman and Nancy Hansen and family 15:53 are in the process of raising their funds 15:56 for their deployment to Nicaragua. 15:59 So the Hansens and the Kaboos 16:02 will follow the only aviation mission support 16:05 in that region. 16:08 Travis and Michelle Maloney are new team members. 16:12 Travis is a construction contractor 16:14 and will help build hangars 16:16 and missionary housing at our project sites. 16:20 Michelle is a nurse 16:22 and they will continue living in the United States 16:26 and provide logistical support to the international projects. 16:32 Josh and Josida Fix are a young couple, 16:36 newly married 16:37 and are preparing for deployment 16:39 to Thunderbird Adventist Academy 16:41 where AWA's maintenance operations 16:44 are being transferred. 16:46 Josh will be the line manager there. 16:49 AWA has been building experience. 16:53 And the experiences that we've learned in Ghana, 16:54 the experiences in the Philippines 16:56 have uniquely prepared this ministry 17:00 and equipped this ministry 17:02 to be able to step forward boldly. 17:04 And with that experience, 17:07 know that we can take on these new projects 17:09 with confidence that we can look 17:12 for where God is leading and be able to step right in, 17:16 where He prepares the way and just see this ministry grow 17:21 into ways that we've never imagined 17:22 was possible. 17:23 And we're seeing that happening around us 17:25 on a day to day basis now. 17:26 Each of these projects are unique from each other 17:29 and fulfill a specific need 17:32 and purpose in the areas they serve. 17:35 The airplanes are an important God given tool 17:40 that is used to save lives physically and eternally. 17:45 The manner they're used 17:46 differ greatly from project to project. 17:49 Each and every aviation project or mission project 17:53 has a different focus as you go into, 17:56 again, unreached area. 17:58 There's different needs that need to be met and as you, 18:03 we bring the airplane in, we discover what those are. 18:06 Guyana and Nicaragua have very similar, 18:10 actually are very similar projects 18:11 and that the initial need 18:13 is to meet the physical needs of the people 18:15 in remote villages. 18:18 Medevacs are actually the prime need 18:21 that we're meeting. 18:22 And, but through doing that, 18:24 again it's that building trust 18:26 and opening the door to church planting 18:29 and just sharing Jesus' love with those people 18:34 who never heard it before. 18:35 And so it builds out from that. 18:37 When you're doing that medical work, 18:39 it builds a lot of trust with government too, 18:40 with ministry of health 18:42 in both of those countries Nicaragua and Guyana 18:44 that you're really there 18:45 just to serve the needs of the people 18:47 and to help on a government level as well. 18:50 The other projects have different emphasis. 18:52 Philippines for example is more ministry base, 18:56 helping the church itself to grow 18:59 by reaching the outer islands 19:00 that are very difficult to reach by any other means. 19:03 Alaska, of course, has no roads. 19:06 And so aviation is just, 19:08 it's part of everyday life there. 19:12 Being able to provide extra support 19:13 to the missionaries 19:15 that are living in those small villages, 19:17 to the churches that are operating in, 19:18 that are planted in those villages 19:21 where they can't afford the charter cost 19:24 of the commercial aircraft 19:25 and being able to have a mission aircraft there 19:27 to particularly meet their needs 19:29 on a cost effected manner. 19:31 And, again, with growth with ministry, and of variety, 19:35 and particularly social needs there as well, 19:38 social education, 19:39 sort of communities 19:41 with extremely high suicide rates 19:42 and being able to help them address those needs 19:46 in those communities is a very important part 19:48 of Mission Aviation there. 19:49 One of the original reasons 19:51 Adventist World Aviation was established 19:54 was because mission aviation was dying. 19:58 Adventist pilots training facilities 20:00 were being shut down and therefore, 20:02 no more pilots were being trained 20:05 for the mission field. 20:06 Older pilots would retire 20:08 from their mission field experience 20:10 and there was no one to fill their spot. 20:14 And because of this great deficit, 20:16 church leaders saw a great need to find a solution 20:19 to reopen academy aviation training facilities. 20:24 So over the past 20 years, 20:26 AWA has been working hand in hand 20:29 with Adventist High School Academies 20:32 to establish youth training facilities 20:34 across the United States. 20:37 A lot of people that are of my age and older 20:40 learned to fly in high school, 20:42 in a number of academies across Canada and US 20:46 had aviation programs for an high school level, 20:49 and so many young people took advantage of that. 20:52 And they took that and used it in different ways. 20:54 A lot of them went and served in mission fields, 20:57 but they all had that opportunity 20:59 to get their license when they were young. 21:01 And there was a time in the 80s and 90s, 21:04 when most of those programs were canceled 21:07 and the aviation programs in those schools and so. 21:10 Now there's, 21:12 we've kind of missed a generation, 21:13 we have a lot of our younger generation 21:15 that there's fewer of them that fly 21:18 and we want to be able to bring that opportunity back, 21:20 bring aviation back into the high schools 21:22 at a level where it can be as affordable 21:24 as we can possibly make it. 21:26 And we are now partner 21:28 with three different schools to do that. 21:30 We are partnered with Heritage Academy, 21:32 Blue Mountain Academy, and Thunderbird Academy. 21:34 And Thunderbird Academy 21:35 is of particularly valuable partnership to us 21:37 as we also are setting up our maintenance 21:41 and training facility 21:43 not just for the students 21:44 but also for our mission pilots, 21:46 and for the overhaul and servicing of AWA aircraft 21:49 that will now be done in the Scottsdale Airport 21:52 out of in partnership with Thunderbird Academy. 22:10 What a God blessed ministry 22:13 Adventist World Aviation 22:14 has been over the past 20 years. 22:17 The current projects are flourishing 22:19 and new projects are dotting the globe. 22:23 And the leadership 22:25 of Adventist World Aviation dreams of still more. 22:30 Their goals for Adventist World Aviation future 22:34 are grand. 22:35 These dreams will become reality 22:38 when God touches the hearts of His people, 22:42 and they give generously to this most worthy cause. 22:46 Adventist world aviation is not as well-known 22:49 as we'd like it to be. 22:50 And my own experience is an example of that. 22:55 We were introduced to AWA, obviously not by accident, 22:59 God orchestrated in amazing, 23:01 almost intervention in our lives 23:02 to get us involved with Adventist World Aviation 23:05 and put us in a place 23:08 where the invitation was so clear 23:10 that we couldn't say no, 23:12 and I'm just a Canadian Bush pilot, 23:15 I didn't really, I didn't know 23:16 that I could go and serve as a mission pilot. 23:18 And I think there's others out there 23:20 that don't know that we have that opportunity. 23:22 And we want to make sure that our pilots 23:25 and those that are interested in aviation that are young, 23:28 know that mission aviation 23:30 is still a very, very important part of missions 23:32 and that being able to go 23:35 and serve and using skills 23:37 that you don't necessarily think of 23:39 as missionary skills and in our, for myself, 23:41 especially the experience that I had as a pilot 23:44 that I could take that and use those skills 23:48 to serve the Lord 23:49 and really do amazing things that are way beyond 23:51 what I was personally capable of. 23:55 And we want to make sure we share that 23:56 and give that opportunity 23:58 to as many people as we possibly can. 23:59 We need pilots, we need missionaries 24:00 to go and serve, need mechanics. 24:03 Over the last 20 years God has grown and expanded 24:06 AWA's projects tremendously. 24:10 It all started with one airplane 24:12 and one mission team. 24:15 Now, praise God, 24:17 AWA has 15 airplanes and 31 families 24:22 serving God's children 24:24 in difficult to reach areas around the world. 24:28 So God is accomplishing great miracles 24:31 through the work of Adventist World Aviation. 24:35 We praise God for these blessings. 24:39 And, you know, 24:40 we believe God still has many miracles planned 24:44 for Adventist World Aviation in the future. 24:48 As He continues to grow this ministry, 24:51 we see new projects, 24:53 new missionaries, 24:55 and new remote outposts 24:58 on God's soon horizon. 25:03 It's a new day, Adventist World Aviation, 25:06 as it is today, 20 years later as we fast forward in time. 25:10 I think that, in fact, 25:12 I know I've talked out to Elder Folkenburg 25:14 on many occasions. 25:15 He's very proud of what we've accomplished. 25:18 You know, and it was his idea. 25:22 But with that idea, 25:23 it's taken the labor and the resources of hundreds 25:26 and I would even say thousands of people. 25:29 We can't do this. 25:31 We can't do this alone. 25:32 Frankly, I'm thrilled. 25:34 I'm thrilled to see the current leadership 25:37 and the view and the vision that's being communicated. 25:39 It really is, it is inspiring, 25:41 it's the dream come true 25:43 that was born back in the early to mid-90s. 25:47 So to see it happening now, 25:49 and the initiatives with the Thunderbird Academy 25:51 and what's going on over in the Philippines, 25:54 you know, who knows how many other places. 25:56 So, we're on the right track. 25:58 So what's happened in 20 years? 26:00 Well from a concept as a supporting ministry 26:03 which was entirely new at the time. 26:07 AWA, we started in the Philippines 26:08 was the very first project, soon after in Guyana. 26:12 AWA aircraft have now served 26:14 thousands and thousands of people, 26:16 saved thousands of lives, 26:18 impacted communities in immeasurable ways 26:22 in demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ 26:25 to so many people. 26:26 And that growth is continuing and if anything, 26:29 it's accelerating at an amazing pace. 26:31 God has been providing it in amazing ways. 26:35 And it seems as if the larger steps of faith 26:38 that we take, 26:39 the greater God rewards. 26:42 The work of AWA and aircraft are being deployed, 26:47 being prepared to go out to new projects. 26:50 We have so many now new missionaries coming on, 26:53 missionaries in training, 26:54 we have more missionaries in training now 26:56 that we've ever had before. 26:58 And more projects in development 26:59 than we've ever had before. 27:00 More airplanes now than ever before being, 27:03 and God is providing the means 27:05 for those airplanes to be prepared 27:07 to go into service 27:09 and these people to be prepared to go into service. 27:11 God's work will be accomplished through His people 27:14 and that is our missionaries. 27:16 It's all of our volunteers, it's our supporters. 27:18 It's everyone that plays a role 27:20 in sending out missionaries 27:23 and the airplanes to serve people 27:25 and spread the word of Jesus Christ 27:28 to many places as possible. |
Revised 2020-06-25