Never have I seen so many people at one place in my life, I thought, as I set the plane down and came to a stop on the dirt airstrip. Literally thousands of people encircled the runway and airplane, all trying to get a glimpse of what and who was arriving and departing. This was just one of the flights we’ve completed recently where an entire village has come out to the airstrip to see the action.

Above photo and this one: Delivering the body of a tribal chief for a funeral in Kasonga Lunda in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. All photos by Nick Frey.

This has partly been because of the VIPs on board. Sometimes it’s top government officials or country-wide church leaders or tribal chiefs. Even just to say that you saw “so and so” get off the airplane will help your status in the small village context.

These have been very important flights that play a vital role in the physical and spiritual development of the Congolese people.

Yet, as I sat in the airplane waiting for the myriad of people to vacate the runway so I could takeoff, I couldn’t help but think of how much need was here and how little I could do. What difference did this small flight make in the grand scheme of things?

At the remote village of Bosobe, people anxiously await goods coming from the city.

Jesus said, upon looking at the crowds, that he saw them as sheep without a shepherd and as a grand harvest that needed workers. His words are so true. Recently they have become all the more real for me.

May the work that I do point others to the great Shepherd, because Jesus is the most important VIP; knowing Him can change one’s status with God and with man forever. And may the Lord send more workers to join in the harvest.