A Tool For Evil Turned For Good
After World War II, some Christian airforce pilots, who had seen the absolute devastation that aeroplanes can cause during the War, decided to use aeroplanes for good. They started using aeroplanes to reach people who were unreached with the gospel. They formed an organisation that became known as Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).
Instead of dropping bombs and shooting the enemy out of the sky, aeroplanes had a new mission – flying to areas that were so isolated they had never heard the gospel, so isolated that they had no access to medicine and other medical help. In short, these people were born and they died without ever hearing the Good News and also lived lives of fear and poor health until the day they passed into eternity. Thanks to the aeroplane there is now hope; more unreached people are being reached and saved both physically and spiritually.
When Jesus commanded Christians to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18), the nations He was referring to were not nations as we understand them to be today i.e. different countries, instead, Jesus was referring to ethnos/ethnicities or people groups. The tragedy is that there are still thousands of people groups that are unreached. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done and the workers remain few.
Thankfully, many other mission aviation organisations have been established since the end of World War II, and thanks to these organisations countless thousands of lives have been saved both physically and most importantly, spiritually. Praise God for these organisations.
The Physical Need
If you are reading this, it means that you have access to the internet and you have access to either a smartphone or computer or both. The chances are that you have never really known what it is to go without food, water and other basic necessities. You would also never know what it is like to have to walk for days just to get to a doctor even to get basic medical help. Unfortunately, for millions of people around the world, this is what their daily lives look like.
Imagine climbing a tree one day with your friends when suddenly you slip and fall to the ground. When you hit the ground you realise that a branch has pierced your side. The pain is excruciating. This is a serious injury as the branch has pierced deep inside your body and your wound is bleeding profusely. The problem is that it is about 5-6 days walk to the nearest medical clinic. If left untreated, your wound would get infected in a day or two. You are also most likely bleeding internally. Death would come in just a few days. What hope is there for you?
The above scenario is actually based on a true story. A boy name Mika, fell onto a branch that pierced his small body and was in a serious condition. In the village where he lived, it would take several days on foot to get to the nearest clinic. This was time that he did not have. Thankfully, a local missionary was able to call in an aeroplane from MAF. The plane was able to take Mika to the hospital where he received medical attention. They found that the branch had pierced his small intestine and there was internal bleeding. If it was not for the aeroplane, he would most likely have died. Thanks to MAF Mika is alive today.
The Spiritual Need
Even more important than helping these isolated people groups with their physical needs, it is to make sure they hear the gospel. They need to hear that Jesus has died for them, that their sins have been paid for in full, that they need to put their trust in Jesus alone to save them. Most of these isolated people groups are deeply entrenched in ancestral worship and other forms of false worship. Every day thousands of these precious people enter into eternity forever separated from God. Think about that for a moment. Thousands of these people die each day without ever being able to hear the gospel preached, without ever hearing about the Saviour, without ever hearing of an Almighty God who is good, just, righteous, gracious, merciful and all-powerful. A big reason for this is that it is so difficult for missionaries to get to these people.
Mission aviation helps by taking missionaries and Bible translators into these villages where they will hear the gospel for the first time and after a few years of hard work can even get a Bible translated into their own language.
You Can Help!
God is using mission aviation to advance His Kingdom. You can assist as well, by supporting mission aviation pilots and organisations.
If you would like to know how you can help, please contact us at admin@thefamilyofdunns or you can go to our PARTNER page
