Ecuador program pilots Daniel Soría (left) and Chad Irwin during the ferry flight from Nampa, ID to Shell, Ecuador. Photo courtesy of Chad Irwin.
Each of us pilots has our own secret gulp moment. A time when, despite training, diligence, and confidence, a voice in the back of our head brays, “Are you sure […]
Ready for takeoff and a different view of the airstrip and valley.
This simple principle is life saving for bush pilots. I love how easily this translates into a spiritual application as well. One that says, in order to produce fruit in our lives, marriages, families, and communities, we must follow a strict code. […]
We transport a fair amount of bodies in Congo. I would have said passengers, but after someone passes on from this life we call them a body and don’t count their number on the flight manifest.
It occurred to me today, as we transported this body in a casket, with many other items for the funeral […]
I was MAF’s Ecuador Program Manager stationed in the Andean mountain city of Quito when a mission director asked for a special flight. Two days earlier he sent a large team down into Ecuador’s costal jungle to minister in a small town. “But,” he explained, “a government official summoned us to a critical meeting tomorrow […]
Praying before a flight to Kikwit, west DRC, with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
The beauty of serving with MAF is the ability to go anywhere. You’re probably thinking, “Well, yes, that’s why you have small airplanes,” but that’s not exactly what I mean.
As pilots of MAF aircraft in a developing country we gain […]
I loved flying Ecuadorian jungle kids. They reveled in life, not yet acquiring their elders’ stoicism. At the village airstrips, girls moved in tight, giggling knots. Boys ganged, separated, then ganged again at each new wonder. They spoke whisper soft, peering, pointing, touching tentatively, watching me for any sign. In the midst of adult conversations, […]