Terry Thompson’s Blog

Another friendship that I gained at the Oshkosh Author’s Corner was Dane Skelton, pastor of Faith Community Church, South Boston, Virginia, and author of a new book about JAARS mission aviators.  JAARS is the acronym for Jungle Aviation and Radio Service.  It is one of the largest mission aviation organizations.  The book, titled Jungle Flight, relates the gritty reality and harrowing adventures of JAARS pilots and technicians living and working on the edge of the civilized world.  In his research for the book, Dane traveled to the jungles of Southeast Asia and interviewed countless aviators who took him into the cockpit and into harms way which is the everyday experience of mission flying.  He writes several short stories of deep-jungle rescue missions, medical evacuations, supply runs, terrorist attacks, and other breath-taking assignments that are part of the job for those who commit their lives to this calling of God.

Whether you are considering mission aviation as a career, know someone that is, or just like to read aviation adventure books, you will love Dane’s book.  You can Google Jungle Flight to learn more about it or purchase it.  Every aviator should understand, appreciate, and pray for mission aviators.

Okay, that title probably got your attention.  It sure got the attention of many browsers through the Author’s Corner at Oshkosh AirVenture 2009.  A truly remarkable gentleman sat next to me at the Author’s Corner table for a week.  By the week’s end, we had become good friends.  On day one, news journalists were leaning over my area of the table to get video shots and interviews with Joe Balzer.  By Wednesday, he had been invited to dinner at the Flying Magazine building and did a private interview with the Chicago Tribune.  Since then, he has appeared on CNN.  Joe Balzer is the author of a new book, Flying Drunk. 

The book is a true story of a Northwest Airlines Flight in 1990 flown by three drunk pilots and one of the pilot’s (Joe) fight for redemption.  Joe was an alcoholic who had faked his way through the aviation career system to land a dream job with Northwest Airlines.  After being finally busted for flying while intoxicated, along with his fellow cockpit crewmen, he spent a year in prison, and several years in poverty with minimum wage jobs.  His renewed faith in God and a very supportive wife helped him reclaim his life.  Ultimately, an absolute miracle happened as he was hired by American Airlines where he presently flies the regular routes.  This is an intriguing and touching story that would capture the heart of every pilot, especially those who share his faith.

You can learn more and buy his book by going to www.flyingdrunk.com.  Don’t be offended by the title.  It draws people to the story.

My next few blogs will be sharing some experiences I had at Oshkosh Airventure 2009.  As I mentioned previously, I was back there this year for the third time consecutively.  My third invitation to participate in the Author’s Corner with my book, The Aviator’s Devotional, proved to be even more successful than the years prior.  However, my greatest experience was working with the mission aviation authors.

One of the authors was Gracia Burnham.  Depending on your age, you may or may not remember her and her husband Martin’s ordeal in the Philippines in 2001.  Martin was a missionary pilot for New Tribes Mission, and Gracia was his missionary assistant.  They were both captured by Muslim terrorists and held in the deep jungles for over a year.  During that time, they endured sickness, injury, attempted rescues with bullets flying everywhere, and starvation.  The terrorists held out for ransom from the U.S., which never materialized.  After just over a year, the Philippine army, responding to frustration and embarrassment, attacked the terrorist camp with overwhelming firepower.  In the crossfire, Martin was fatally shot, and Gracia was seriously injured by bullets.  She was rescued, placed on a medivac helicopter, and flown to the hospital having to leave her dead husband in the jungle. 

Gracia now oversees a foundation for mission projects and accepts a limited number of speaking engagements.  She wrote two books chronicling her experience and her recovery.  The first and most popular is, In the Presence of My Enemies.  It is a breathtaking account her day-by-day captivity.  I highly recommend it for youth and adults.  You can Google the title and get numerous sources for purchase.  Her second book, To Fly Again, is a most inspirational read, also.

More to come on Oshkosh Airventure 2009.

What a week!  Seven days at Oshkosh Airventure 2009 began with a fellowship meeting with the mission aviation folks from all over the world.  Being a part of the planning group for the Fly4Life theme at Oshkosh this year, I was aware of what to expect regarding the presence of missionaries who fly and the exhibits of aircraft and displays.  However, actually walking among the planes that have seen thousands of landing in jungle clearings and mountain tops and hearing the testimonies of their pilots was a true awakening for me.  Steve Saint was there with his “Maverick” flying car to be deployed soon to the mission field.  Gracia Burnham’s story in book form and public presentations about her captivity by terrorists were chilling, but uplifting.  The spirit that the missionary authors brought to the Author’s Corner permeated the entire room all week. 

Area churches organized by the Mission Aviation Support Association supported over 400 missionary fliers with food, housing, and transportation.  It was a tremendous outpouring of ministry by God’s people.

 God was clearly at work throughout the week as hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts were influenced by the first class representation of mission aviation.  For many, this was the first time they had ever thought about how flying contributes to the Great Commission.  Pray that those half-million people who got a glimpse of missionaries who fly will be drawn into a closer relationship with the Lord and will be part of an increased level of support for that ministry. 

If you have been considering mission aviation as a personal calling or an opportunity for personal support, please respond to this post.  I would be glad to refer you to the right person or organization.   

As explained in my last post, I am coordinating the participation of five other authors at next week’s Oshkosh AirVenture 2009.  Since mission aviation is a main theme at the show this year, EAA invited mission aviation authors to a special table in the Author’s Corner.  These authors and their book titles are as follows:

Gracia Burnham: In the Presence of My Enemies

Ruth Scheltema: In the Air for Him

Dietrich Buss: Flying High, the Story of Betty Greene

Dane Skelton: Jungle Flight: The History of JAARS

Steve Saint: The End of the Spear

Of Course, I will be there again with my book: The Aviator’s Devotional

If you are at Oshkosh next week, come by the Author’s Corner and meet these talented writers and discuss their books.  If you can’t make Oshkosh, Google these books and see which ones you need to read.  They make for a super learning experience about the brave people who fly for the Kingdom in the mountains and jungles.

I leave Saturday on the annual trek to the aviator’s closest thing to heaven on earth.  This year’s AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin will be especially interesting with mission aviation being a major theme.  Missionary pilots from all over the world will descend on this biggest airshow and exhibition in the country for a full week.  Every aircraft type flown in the mountains and jungles of the mission fields will be on display.  A large tent full of exhibits by numerous mission aviation groups will be sponsored by the International Association of Mission Aviation (IAMA). 

This will by my third year to be invited to the EAA Author’s Corner at Oshkosh with my book, The Aviator’s Devotional.  However, this year, I was asked to coordinate the inclusion of specially invited mission aviation authors in the Author’s Corner.  I will provide more information in tomorrow’s post about these authors and their books.  If you are going to Oshkosh, please come by the Wearhouse next to Aeroshell Square and meet these authors.  I hope to see you there.

 If any of you planning to go don’t have a place to stay yet, the family my wife, Linda, and I stay with has an extra bedroom and bath that they rent for $85 a day.  That’s a real bargain at Oshkosh during AirVenture.  And it is only 5 miles from the action.  Shoot me an email to: terry@bountypublishers.comif you have any questions about AirVenture, Author’s Corner, or the accommodations.  Hope to see you there.

Along with millions of other Americans yesterday, I watched the the non-stop replays of the first man on the moon as we celebrated the 40 year anniversary of the amazing feat.  Perhaps the pinnacle of mankind’s pursuit of flight, this mission was followed by the shuttle mission, and the scientific breakthroughs from it all has been truly a blessing from God.

The Creator has revealed Himself to man in the last generations like never before in human history.  Some might view this as man attempting to get into God’s realm.  I view it as God allowing a broader view of Himself and His power.  Parallel revelations of fulfilling prophesy relative to the end times is also playing out before our eyes as we observe international events and geo-physical phenomenons.  I believe God is showing us that the time is drawing near for the second coming of His Son, and is also giving us accelerated insight into His greatness.  Perhaps the mind-boggling experiences and knowledge from our space exploration are giving us a last chance to see and acknowledge Him in ways that were never imagined by our ancestors.  He must be saying to us, “Look at the order of My creation and the awesome things I have made for your pleasure.”

Paul wrote that unbelievers would be without excuse because of the nature of their surroundings.  They certainly should find every reason to believe after considering today’s space age.  I find myself without excuse just flying my little suborbital Bonanza.    

Our human nature, at the core, is to be rebellious against God.  Even though the light beckons us, we are tempted to live in the darkness.  John 3:19 says that we love darkness rather than light.  However, God instills in us a need for His light.   Again, this truth is evident in the realm of light.  We need light.  If a night emergency required an immediate landing, we would desperately scan for the lights of the nearest city, hopefully picking up a rotating beacon there. One of the worst emergencies associated with night flying is loss of instrument lighting.  We carry a flashlight, readily accessible, to counter that potential loss.  Lights on the ground confirm most way points and destinations.  Red flashing lights warn us of dangerous obstructions, parallel rows of lights align us with the runway, and our landing lights illuminate the welcoming landing zone.  Without light, the aviator is lost and helpless in a dark world.  We depend on the light to get us through the darkness that envelops our flight environment, and we depend on THE LIGHT to get us through dark times of our lives.

Do you know that, when you take off on a night flight, that vast sky of darkness does not exist?  Darkness does not exist!  It is just a name we have given to the absence of light.  Scientifically, darkness has no energy–no essence–it only results from the lack of light energy.  Think about it.  You can’t turn off the darkness, but you can turn on the light.  You can’t turn on the darkness, but you can turn off the light.

The darkness of Satan’s realm of evil engulfs us only when we choose to shut out the light of Jesus Christ.  The only way out of that darkness is to turn on His light.  What a simple, but enlightening illustration of God’s Kingdom.

I will be at Oshkosh AirVenture 2009 again in just a couple of weeks.  If you are there, drop by the Author’s Corner and let’s chat.  I’ll be signing my books all week.

You know, our lives are lived in two elements: light and darkness.  God’s nature is revealed in our interface with the presence and absence of light.  He has always been made known through light. The Bible’s account of the creation relates that there was total darkness until God spoke “light” into existence.  Psalm 56:13 says that He gives us the light of life. When Jesus came to earth, He described Himself as the Light of the World. He said if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  First John 1 explains that if we live in the light, Jesus purifies us from all sin. 

Given the choice, I think all of us would prefer to fly during the day rather than at night.  We should prefer, no insist, on living in the light where everything is visible, beautiful, and safe.