For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? Romans 10:13-15.
According to Joshua Projects, there are approximately 7.4 billion people in the world today, of that, 3.1 billion is still unreached. To put it another way, there are approximately 16 900 people groups in the world of which about 7000 are still unreached. Who are the unreached? They are people groups of whom there are less than 2% evangelical Christians and because Christians are not living among them and there are no church planting programs in place, they have little to no chance of ever hearing the gospel. If these people do not hear the good news about what Jesus has done for them, they will never be able to call on the name of the Lord and be saved.
What has this got to do with us, the family of Dunns? Well, we as a family feel that God has called us into the mission field, to go and take the gospel to these unreached people. We believe that God has given each and every believer passions and gifts to be used for this purpose. In our family, besides having a passion for preaching the good news, John has a passion for flying and he wants to use this as a tool to help reach the unreached with the gospel and to help those in need.
How can aviation be used to help those in need and to spread the gospel?
Many of the people groups that are unreached also stay in isolated areas where there is little to no access to the civilised world. Which means that getting missionaries to them is very difficult, and also getting physical help such as medical attention is next to impossible. However, with the aid of the aeroplane, access to the outside world becomes far easier. Airplanes can bring in missionaries and Bible translators as well as continually provide resources and aid for the missionaries. But the help does not end with the missionaries; aid such as medicine, doctors, food, building material, is also brought to the villages so that not only are their spiritual needs seen to, but also their physical needs. In some of these villages it could take up to a 6-day walk to get to the nearest medical clinic, but with an airplane, it will take less than an hour, which could be the difference between life and death.
Here is a video from Mission Aviation Fellowship showing how a boy, named Mika’s life was saved thanks to an aeroplane:
Ethnos360 Aviation
We feel strongly that the Lord is leading us to serve with a Mission Aviation organisation called Ethnos360 Aviation. Ethnos360, formerly known as NTM (New Tribes Mission) is focused on church planting to ensure that there is a thriving church for every people. Ethnos360 Aviation is focused on supporting missionaries/church planters by bringing in materials, food, supplies, Bible translators and even medical evacuations for the missionaries as well as for the people of the tribe.
Here is a video showing the great need to missionary aviation:
Moody Aviation
John got his Private Pilot’s Licence in 2012, but he needs to get his Commercial Pilot’s Licence in order to join Ethnos360 Aviation. Because of the dangerous areas that these missionary pilots operate in, special training that is mission aviation focused needs to be completed. However, great flying skills are not the only skills that are needed to be a missionary pilot. In order to fly with most mission aviation organisations, John would need a qualification in biblical studies as well as in air maintenance. One of the best and most recognised institutions for this training is Moody Aviation based in Spokane, Washington State, USA. Moody Aviation offers the opportunity to not only study flying, but also theology, and air maintenance which will enable John to be equipped with the best tools and skills in order to be most effective in the mission field.
John started his training at Moody Aviation in January 2020.
Here is a video that shows how Moody Aviation offers the best training available.
How Can You Help?
Here are three ways that you can help us:
- The number one thing we need help with is prayer. The task before us is big, but we serve a BIG God with whom nothing is impossible. We need the Lord to give us wisdom and to help us to constantly depend on and trust in Him. Please pray for this.
- The second thing you can do to help us is by encouraging us. We would love to hear from you via email, mail and text messages or however else you would like to chat with us. We would also love to be an encouragement to you, so please let us know how we can help you.
- The third thing that we need help with is financial assistance in order for John to complete his training. It will take 5 years full-time to get his degree in Mission Aviation Technology. We, therefore, need financial assistance on a monthly basis for living expenses as well as once-off and monthly payments towards tuition. To see what we need please go to our Partner With Us page.
- Fourthly, share our story and share our Facebook page with as many people that you think will be interested in partnering with us as possible.
The Urgency
There is a declining number of pilots available to do this important work, so your aid to us will be benefiting the lost and isolated for generations to come.
Should you wish to get more information and if you wish to partner with us in prayer and/or financial aid please contact us at admin@thefamilyofdunns.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Grace and peace,
John & Tanya