Yesterday was December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day. Having served in the military and stationed in Hawaii, it is hard for me not to remember December 7, 1941. More than 300 airplanes were used in the attack that catapulted the United States into war that day.
On December 1st, World AIDS day Lesotho, we were reminded that we are caught up in a fight of our own. We had a packed schedule of public health workers traveling to several remote clinics for the day and returning in the afternoon. Our challenge was moving so many people out and back in the same day.
Our three Cessna 206’s are a far cry from the more than 300 used in 1941, but I know we are going to make a difference. Instead of bullets, we are delivering test equipment so people know their status. Instead of bombs, people who care. Instead of torpedo’s dropped from airplanes, we leave hope in our wake.
So, as you reflect on Pearl Harbor Day, be strong and courageous. And fight the good fight today and every day.
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And surely you must know we did so, here, in Tucson, Justin. The ship’s bell of the destroyer, ‘USS Arizona’, still lying in Pearl Harbor leaking oil, is ‘rung’ every December 7th. Installed there at the steeple-top of the Student’s Union here on the campus of the University of Arizona in the remembrance of the loss of our own brave soldiers on that horrific day, it rings its peal.
You, your family and loved ones at MAF, wherever you may be around this globe, should know we send our regular prayers upwards on your behalf from this million+ population high-desert city in the southwestern US. We absolutely believe in what you’re doing(!), and ask God’s blessings on your every effort – from carb-ice on foggy, lousy, up-hill landing strips with failed landing-gear; tough bible translations from local teachers to indigent children in remote villages; IT failures in cmx’s; missing and expensive Av-fuel; short food supplies, avionics and throw-ups in your airplane cabins to missing hymn-books. We try to wrap our minds all around it for you kids! We MAF supporters rely on hearing from you in the ‘jungles’ (arctic, desert, whatever) of this tiny globe to tell us what you need – and how to pray for you ‘specifically.’ Our God loves the details! Why?… Because He’s ‘in them.’ And don’t forget to pray for your global supporters as well. Prayer works both ways in God’s Community. But, we think you already know that?
~Bob ‘n Sandie Shank
Tucson, AZ – a million miles and a heart-beat away.