January, 2001 newsletter

What is it like to fly a mercy mission?

By Jim McConnell, President, Pilots for Christ International

Now that we have given you some information about mercy missions, you might be wondering just what it is like to fly one. To start off, there are no two alike. Why? Because we are serving a Risen Lord and He is a super-natural God. It is His mission, not ours and we will never know His agenda until it is revealed to us. Are their similarities in missions? Yes, lots of prayer and seeking of the Lords will. Let me describe a recent mission flown by the Virginia Chapter. 

We got a call from a nurse in Somerville, S.C. that she had a patient who had MS and cancer. She was terminal, but wanted one last evaluation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. She was too weak to travel by car and the airlines would not take her. Her husband had died a few years earlier of the same cancer leaving her with young children to care for. This evaluation was her last hope. Her doctors released her for the trip accompanied by her nurse. 

Jim Guynn and I flew his Piper Seneca to Somerville, S.C. to pick her up. It was clear that our patient was both weak and in pain. We prayed with her for a comfortable trip and for the Lord's healing in her body. When I told her that our chapter was praying for her as well, she said, "Why would they pray for me?" "They don't even know me." We explained that Jesus knew her and He loved her and wanted good health for her and we loved her as well. We flew her to Baltimore and arranged to pick her up after her evaluation the next day. The next morning, our patient called us to excitedly tell us, "I feel like someone has given my life back to me, The evaluation shows that I have mild and treatable cancer!" "The doctors in Somerville misdiagnosed by cancer!". 

A different woman flew back to Somerville with us...a woman who was full of questions about this man Jesus. 

Flying Mercy Missions gives us a chance to share the Good News of the Gospel, and it is not just with patients. Even the FAA controllers treat us differently because they are impacted by the Lord.

Next article: News flash

January 2001 Contents