I began to try to find out the other reasons why God brought me to Heritage. It took the rest of the first quarter for the plane’s maintenance to be completed, but the time seemed to pass quickly. Now that I can look back and see how God has led, I can have faith that He will get me through tough times in the future. James chapter 1 says, “the trying of our faith works patience.” Could it be that in trying my patience, the converse of the verse was true, that it actually worked faith? I think so. ![]() The second thing I realized was that God was trying my patience. Airplanes are wonderful tools, but if my purpose for wanting to be a mission pilot is so I can fly an airplane into short airstrips in the jungle, I am hindering God’s work more than I am helping it. I wanted to be a mission pilot, but God wanted me to be a MISSION pilot. In my zeal to want to work for God I had forgotten the importance of character development. First, I realized that God brought me to Heritage for more than airplanes. You are impatient, and you are letting your zeal to work for me get in the way of the purpose of your work.”Īs soon as I gave the situation to God, I had immediate peace. You still need some “ground school” before you fly. “ OK, but it’s not going to be what you want right now. That still small voice was as clear as ever. It was as if God spoke directly to my heart. But after that day, my attitude changed completely. Miller informed me that the 172 was not available because of a prop strike. But just before we were about to leave, Mr. ![]() The local airport had a Cessna 172 for rent, and since the maintenance on our plane was taking so long, we finally decided just to rent the airport plane. I was ecstatic, and I couldn’t wait for classes to be finished for the day. One day my instructor came and asked me if I wanted to go flying. But everyday I sat in the office, flying the simulator, which by this time was thoroughly boring to me. Every day I would go to the flight office and wait for the words I was hoping for, that the plane was ready to fly. I prayed over and over again that I could fly. The first quarter was halfway finished, and I had not even seen the airplane. I couldn’t understand why God had led me to Heritage so I could fly and then not give me a working airplane to fly. I smiled and said something about maintenance taking longer than usual being normal for airplanes, but inside I was trying to hide my frustration. A few more weeks, the instructor told me, and we would be in the air. What was originally just a 100-hour inspection turned into something more major. The time passed, and the airplane still wasn’t ready. After all, the school year is 36 weeks long, plenty of time to get the 40 hours necessary to take my check ride. It was disappointing, of course, but really not a big deal. I was told the plane was down for maintenance but that it would be up and running in less than 2 weeks. ![]() On registration day, I received my flight bag, complete will all the materials I would need for the year. The summer ended all to quickly and my brother and I flew across the ocean to attend school where we only knew one other student, a senior, also from Guam. It has been one of the best decisions of my life. After a lot of prayer I made the decision to go. That’s a long way from Tennessee, 8000 miles to be exact, but to me it was worth the sacrifice to leave home so I could pursue what I feel is God’s calling for my life. I didn’t know much about Heritage until the end of my sophomore year at Guam Adventist Academy. When I found out I could receive my pilot’s license, and possibly an instrument rating by the time I graduated from high school, I jumped at the opportunity. Since then, flying has been a big part of my life. Ever since my first experience in a homebuilt plane, I was hooked on flying. I’ve had dream since I was 7 or 8: a dream to be a mission pilot.
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