While Nard was still being formed in his mother's womb, God was calling an 18-year-old young man from Iowa into missions. That young man, Dick Roe, got his linguistic training, traveled to San Fransisco, and took a ship to the Philippines. After a month's ship ride, another week traveling up a river by canoe, and an 8-hour hike, that missionary reached a tiny village where the Isnag people lived. In that village, he met Nard.
The missionary made his best effort to tell the people that he was there to learn their language. They didn't trust him at first, and kept asking him why he had come to their village. Eventually, he knew enough of their words that he was able to communicate that he had come to learn their language and tell them about God. They asked if the missionary's God was powerful, more powerful than the witch doctors and spirits. He told them that God is more powerful.
Eventually, Nard Pugyao received his very first copy of the Gospel of Mark in his heart language. He read the book as quickly as his 13-year-old eyes could scan across the page. When he got to the part about Jesus being betrayed, mocked, and crucified, he wondered what Jesus had done to deserve that kind of punishment. He threw the book on the ground in anger at God.
"Why should I ever believe in You," Nard yelled upwards as he shook his fist in the air, "if you can't even protect Your own Son?"
Nard walked away in disgust, but as he did, God struck his heart with the realization that He did it because He loved Nard so much, and for the first time Nard understood grace. God gave His very Son, His perfect Son, to die in Nard's place, taking Nard's punishment. Jesus hadn't done anything to deserve His death, but He died as a substitution for those who believe in Him for eternal life. Nard was made new that day. And then he read further about the power of the resurrection.
Eventually the missionary said he had to go, which disappointed Nard tremendously. But he told Nard that if he came along and continued to help the missionary with the rest of the translation work, he would pay for Nard's school. Nard did go to school, and later went on to Moody Aviation to become a missionary pilot. He joined Wycliffe bible translators after graduating, and in the mid-1980's, he flew in the first 500 New Testaments to his very own Isnag tribe in the Philippines. Thanks to Dick Roe's willingness to go as a missionary, Nard and others from his tribe believe in Jesus for eternal life.
What if Dick said “No”?
My Recent Events
Flying a Cessna 185!
Currently I'm studying to become a missionary pilot/mechanic, like Nard Pugyao, at Moody Aviation. Last year I finished my Airframe and Powerplant certification in mid-June, which allows me to be an aircraft mechanic. After three weeks of summer break, I started flight school and advanced aircraft maintenance training at Moody. I received my Private Pilot's certificate in January.
Not only do we fly, but we also learn how to fix the aircraft. Here, I'm fixing a fuel leak on a Cessna 185.
Most missionary aviation organizations require that their missionary pilot/mechanics have their 1) Airframe and Powerplant certificate, 2) Commercial Pilot's certificate with Instrument Rating, 3) at least one year of Biblical training, and 4) at least 300-500 flight hours (depending on the organization). Moody trains us for the first three, and we graduate with over 225 of those flight hours as well. Right now I'm in my fourth year of this five-year degree, and I'm very excited that God has brought me this far!
You might be wondering, “why missionary aviation?” There are several reasons, so I'll divide them into 1) why missions?, and 2) why aviation?
First, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I want to become a missionary because I've been struck with the command that He gave to His first disciples. He commanded them to make more disciples of all nations. “....All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Additionally, I want to do intercultural/international missions because Jesus said something very peculiar while He talked about the end times in Mark 13:10: “The gospel must first be preached to all nations.” From the people waiting to hear about real hope in our own cities to a tiny village in Isnag territory in the Philippines, and to the 2,200 people groups left in the world without the gospel in their heart language, there is work to do. I believe that the gospel can be preached to all nations in our lifetime, if God's people are willing to carry that out.
Second, I want to become a missionary pilot in particular because many of those people groups live in incredibly difficult-to-reach places across the globe. Many of those 2,200 people groups haven't heard the gospel because they're in villages like Nard's, where it takes a week by canoe and 8 hours by hiking to even get there, let alone carry anything with you. In Nard's village, that same week-long trek takes 55 minutes by missionary airplane. That can mean the difference between life and death for someone needing medical attention.
Please Pray!
Please pray to the all-powerful God for me as I continue my training. In particular:
1) That God continues to provide financially for me, so I can reach my goal of graduating from Moody Aviation debt-free.
2) That He brings people into my life to minister to, and share the hope that can only come through the gospel.
