To Walk or To Fly

All right, then, which will it be? Trudging for days up and down the mountains or muddy hills and through swollen creeks and rivers or taking a one-hour flight via the mission aircraft? Ryan and Chelsea Farran noted that the missionaries living with the Hewa people in Papua New Guinea are many days’ hike from the nearest grocery store, hospital, or school. “This is exactly why Chelsea and I came to live in Papua New Guinea with our family. We are here to fly planes into the jungles, so that missionaries can live in these crazy remote places like Hewa, to share the gospel.”

But You Can’t Walk That Far

“Living so far out in the jungle, my family and I are hugely dependent on those who work with NTM Aviation. We have no stores, no doctors, no anything for hundreds of miles, just jungle. So, we rely on NTM Aviation to bring us everything from toilet paper to malaria meds,” said John and Jessi George, living among the Hewa people in Papua New Guinea.

So Much More Than Flying

“Remote living may sound quaint in theory,” John went on, “but many times it can be really difficult and can get pretty lonely. Not once has a pilot landed here and not greeted us with a smile and/or a hug. And even though we know they are often pressed for time, they try their best to make us feel loved and remind us that we are not forgotten out here.

“Sure, they keep us stocked with the everyday items we need to live here, but how they encourage us each time they show up is of even greater value. Our bodies need the supplies our pilots fly in, but our spirits need the love and encouragement they give even more.” Thank God with us for encouraging missionary pilots. Pray that they too are encouraged daily.