A Higher Standard

The Vin Fiz takes off from Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, New York on September 17, 1911.

In 1911 a man by the name of Cal Rodgers set out on the first transcontinental flight from NY to CA.  Aviation was a brand new technology and the potential for its use only beginning to be realized.  The journey lasted 49 days and required a support crew who followed by train with enough equipment to fill 3 train cars.  Along the way he made around 70 landings, many of them crash landings.  The only parts not replaced by the end of the trip were a rudder, a couple wing struts and the engine oil pan. 
 

Our aviation ministry, Asas de Socorro (Wings of Help), was born out of the dream of a few WWII pilots who during the war saw aviation's potential in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Missionary Aviation Fellowship was begun shortly after the war and Asas is the remnants of that organization here in Brazil.  A lot has changed in aviation since those early days.  Today air travel is incredibly safe and dependable.  To maintain that high level of safety, mechanics must be vigilant and pursue the highest level of professionalism.  Cutting corners can cost thousands of dollars of damage, or worse yet, a life.

Our Cessna Caravan visits a remote village in the Amazon.

Working on the wings of a Cessna 206 (seen in background).

As I work on airplanes, it’s easy to remember this “higher calling” of safety.  In life I seem to forget much easier the motivation for what I do.  I’m reminded of Paul’s encouragement of “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).  In the same way that safety is always on my mind as I go about my work as a mechanic, so should the name of Jesus be my motivation for every action or word that I utter.  

That’s a pretty high standard.  But one that I want to live up to as a mechanic, a husband and a father.