Letters, stories, and other stuff
24 stories
Jul 26, 2010 · Essay
But sometimes, when the pilot flies sharp and smooth, I look down out the window. And here I see our shadow dip and rise with the contours of an African landscape. I am reminded of the harsh and unforgiving environment in which we fly, and…
Continue readingApr 27, 2010 · Essay
Some seven hours later, after exhausting our search for a chopper, after launching two airplanes and one doctor, after landing a 206 on a bit of dirt road in the desert, after a hundred phone calls, some pretty hard decisions, and all the…
Continue readingAug 12, 2009 · Essay
Frank’s steady hand on the yoke of an airplane was but an extension of his heart. And his steadfast determination to follow his calling is what brought he and his family to AIM AIR. And to the far corners of Africa.
Continue readingAug 8, 2009 · Essay
Time’s arrow points firmly forward, whether we recognize it or not. Our lives are fragile. Our days are numbered. And there is never enough time to do enough good with the days we have. Chances are, our last day will be a day very much…
Continue readingJul 21, 2009 · Essay
From what I saw over the course of our journey, watching 3,800 miles of African wilderness tick by below my wings, and from what I witnessed on the ground in our visits from the cool Didinga hills in South Sudan to the stagnant waters of…
Continue readingMay 1, 2009 · Essay
Andy, in the meanwhile, wove a web of wires connecting our three headsets over a voice activated intercom, and then wired in an iPod and a Grisham “book on tape”. We soared around puffy fair-weather cumulus, and occasionally around a small…
Continue readingJul 20, 2008 · Essay
Moving missions and missionaries over some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain, to bring hope and the Good News to some of the world’s most forgotten peoples.
Continue readingFeb 22, 2008 · Essay
I’ve been here before. Disheartened at this very picture. The calculations say it will be fine. My heart says, “whoa!” You can only account for so much with a cardboard slide-rule from the bottom of your flight bag.
Continue readingDec 8, 2007 · Essay
As I maneuvered around mounds of dirt and spots of soil that looked soft enough to sink into, I hit a little rise with the right wheel and spun around to the left, burying my right wing in the shrubbery. Stuck on a dry airstrip.
Continue readingSep 3, 2007 · Essay
With the throttle pushed wide open, my little Cessna rocketed past the compound and caught the children by surprise. For one second suspended overhead, as the late Pope’s picture rattled on the wall, I rolled the gleaming white wings left…
Continue readingJul 6, 2007 · Essay
My love for flying – from a child day-dreaming through the chain-link fence at the local airport, to a young man commanding a sophisticated machine with skill and a clenched jaw over Africa – has slowly progressed. I have come to…
Continue readingApr 5, 2007 · Essay
Chiseled muscle, balding hair, old folk wrap-around sunglasses, endless energy, a mind for serving God, and a heart for the Dinka people – he wanders the landscape in a white Land Rover with bull horns lashed to the grill.
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