Thursday, January 14th, 2010
“There are foreign countries closer to my Mama!”
There’s a new kind of plane flying to the unreached peoples now. The Kodiak holds more passengers than previous small missions planes. It can take off or land on a much shorter landing strip. And it uses less expensive fuel than most current small planes.
I have a special interest in the Kodiak. My niece and her husband moved way up to Sandpoint, Idaho, soon after their marriage, so Brenton could work for Quest Aircraft Company helping design the Kodiak. Sunny wrote me recently:
I have to remind myself why we are here (because God called us to this place, this company, this mission). I especially need to be reminded around holidays. I know you will understand when I say, there are foreign countries I could live in and still be closer to my Mama! Not everybody understands what that is like, to leave your whole family behind because God called you to a place. And not everybody would see it as such a big deal because after all, we are still in the States.
Well, here’s the big deal. MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) received their first Kodiak in March 2009. JAARS (the aviation arm of Wycliffe/SIL) dedicated their first Kodiak in September, for use in Papua New Guinea. New Tribes Mission has ordered 14 Kodiaks and took possession of their first just last week.
And those are only three of the agencies who will be using Kodiaks. We can pray that they are just the beginning of God’s use of the Kodiak for getting to some of the hardest-to-reach places of the world.
So I say to Sunny: You and Brenton are indeed part of spreading the fame of Jesus’ name where it hasn’t been known. As hard as it can be sometimes, there’s no better place to be than where God wants you to be. I loved you already and I love you even more now.
6 Responses to ““There are foreign countries closer to my Mama!””
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Cool!! What a blessing !!
I think my sister-in-law, Mel, just rode in one of these planes! The Wycliffe community in PNG is pretty excited about this new plane. Thank the Lord for the wisdom, creativity and talent he gives people to design and build such cool aircraft!
We have been praying for those planes, and in a way, for your niece and husband! I have a friend whose son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren are in PNG and we were following along in the Fall, praying about and for the Kodiak ministry!
I am a “Kodiak grandparent”, thanks to Sunny Henry Ellis, daughter of my son Travie, and her Kodiak husband, Brenton Ellis, in Sand Point, Idaho. I have been prayerfully following this winged wonder from its concept to its creation and I rejoice at each new birth from aluminum to airborne. For many months I have been especially praying over New Tribes’ and Wycliffe’s communications and aspirations. A retired Air Force pilot in choir also rejoices over every photo and news piece I share.
[...] January 20th, 2010Kodiak flying to HaitiAs I mentioned earlier, my nephew has been part of the design team for the Kodiak 100, a new sort of missionary airplane. [...]
Im 20 years old from Sandpoint, and Ive been helping build the kodiak for almost 2 years now :) What a wonderful blessing it is to hear of so many people who are praying for the ministry. Every time we give missionary organizations a plane, I am brought to tears and reminded of the beautiful work He is doing evryday. Thank you for Praying!!! God Bless :)