New page: July 21, 2006

Comments on Missionary Aviation

Frequently, I get requests for information from people wanting to know how best to pursue a career in missionary aviation. I appreciate your interest, and I hope my comments will be of some help. I believe God has a plan for every life, and I am confident that God will open doors for you according to His will.

First, I should say that I am not an expert on this subject. There are many pilots with far more experience in missionary aviation than I have. However, here in Papua New Guinea, there is much work to be done with small airplanes, and nationals could be trained to do much of it. No other ministry is seeking to fill a void of opening the skies to the average citizens of this country. There is lots of interest among PNG young people, and this has become an important avenue of ministry for us.

A little about myself, so you’ll understanding where I’m coming from. I am a teacher at heart. I had twenty years of experience in Christian education, and had given about 3500 hours of flight instruction before I became a foreign missionary shortly before my 47^th birthday. I had been involved in sort of "home mission" work in West Virginia for 25 years. Preaching, singing as a family, teaching, and flying!

I was approved by Evangelical Bible Mission, in 1993, to come take the place of their other pilot who had started a ministry in this country called Wings of Love. However, that program had incurred some debts, and just as we were about to leave the US in October ’93, they decided to sell their remaining airplane, a Cessna 180. So we did not come at that time.

Later, I was asked if I would consider coming to serve as the official coordinator of the schools in this country which use the ACE program. We arrived here on the last day of 1995. Although that position was later dropped, we continue to provide Educational Leadership Training, including ACE staff training.

Our own aviation ministry here is growing and has generated much interest across the country, but it is limited by the fact that we don’t have an airplane in this country. PNG people are very dependant on handouts, foreign aid, and their "wantok system" so productivity is not a high priority, and to many people it is not even remote concept. Yet, there are a lot of resources, and abundant cash flow. We are seeking to teach them that they can achieve great things – such as flying, purchasing airplanes, organizing flight schools – by becoming productive, working together, overcoming tribal prejudices, and regional favoritism. This is a slow process, but we are making significant progress, especially through our new aviation oriented high school.

Back home in West Virginia, I am a flight instructor, but during the past ten years we have been in PNG most of the time. Unfortunately, I do not have a dedicated Christian partner to carry on the work in the US, when we are here in Papua New Guinea. We do have a very competent teacher, and some other committed partners, here to oversee things when we are in the US.

Many people have written to me about the opportunity for employment, and some people look at missionary work that way. Actually, our small ministry and WV flight instruction business can not promise employment, but for the right person, I could provide a good opportunity to employ yourself. When I am there, I do generate quite a bit of business for a rural area, in West Virginia. I have good reputation as an instructor, but many are not willing to work on the basis which I always have. That is create your own business, and fly all you want!

Many people would love to fly if they can make $50,000 per year. I have never had a very high income, by some people’s standards, but I have had a great time, and have flown 5000 hours. The joy of it is worth more to me than a high income would be. That is a matter of priorities.

The same is true in the missionary work. Even though most missionary organizations do not promise a large salary, the joy of doing the will of God truly surpasses whatever pleasure one could obtain from larger sums of money.

My experience has been that even in a sparsely populated area, an enthusiastic instructor can generate enough business to keep himself busy – sometimes too busy. With some organized side-lines such as ground school, video rentals, sales of books and pilot accessories, one can make a respectable living doing what he loves to do. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a partner who is that dedicated to the same views and priorities.

Most missionary organizations, including the one we are with, Evangelical Bible Mission, require each missionary or couple to raise their own support. Through the years several of our supporters have died, or otherwise grown older and unable to give, so our support has dropped off. Still, the Lord has been faithful, and we have been able to be fruitful.

We would be glad to have aviation partners either here or in West Virginia, but they would have to be people with such a love for the Lord, love for people, and love for flying, that they are willing to pioneer, sacrifice, work hard, and persevere to see their dreams come true, as well as the work of God to go forward. Most great works of God went through a period of time where the promoters absolutely gave that work the top priority over everything else – except their personal relationship with Christ, and with their spouse.

Sometimes that’s what missionary work is like.

There are several other missionary aviation ministries at work in Papua New Guinea:

New Tribes Mission is a very effective organization here.

Missionary Aviation Fellowship (Part of MAF Australia)

SIL – Summer Institute of Linguistics – part of Wycliffe Bible Translators

Seventh Day Adventist

ABWE (Baptist)

Sometimes many people assume that such "missionary" flying involves only actual mission and church flying, but in PNG, most of these organizations are involved in some form of air charter work, and one of them has become a major air carrier. Some missionaries have been turned away when there was a more lucrative flight opportunity – such as government transportation needs - awaiting.

I do not know the actual requirements these organizations have for pilots. It is a safe assumption that you would be required to have at least a Commercial Pilot’s Certificate. Some organization require their pilots to be A&P mechanics, but some do not want the same guys working on the planes and flying them. Most probably require, or prefer, a certain amount of Bible college education, and of course their own orientation programs.

Mission organization also usually have pretty consistent rules regarding character, marriage, divorce, etc. All for very good reasons.

Some missions also REQUIRE you to have a certain amount of money pledged for your support before you serve under them. I am not saying that is wrong, but this could become burden in itself. Some people can simply live on less than others (by living simply perhaps). Annals of mission history reveal many examples of those who were turned away from mission boards for lack of education, lack of funds, or other undesirable traits, yet they ventured out on their own, by faith, and were greatly used of God.

To be fair though, we must also face the fact that many such attempts have been unsuccessful, but maybe no more than those who were "highly qualified" and well funded. The bottom line is to be in the will of God. "The will of God will not lead you where the Grace of God can not keep you." And "Where God guides, He provides."

To obtain a Commercial Pilot Certificate, a pilot must have at least 250 hours of flight time, and an instrument rating. Additional ratings and endorsements may be helpful, such as the multiengine rating, tailwheel endorsement, seaplane, etc. Each level of license, or rating, requires a higher level of flight precision as well as additional knowledge tests. Endorsements, such as tailwheel, complex aircraft (retractable landing gear, constant speed propeller, flaps), or high performance (over 200 hp) do not require additional official tests, but they do require certain knowledge and skills to be verified by a qualified instructor.

Remember that the 250 hours is a minimum, and a person with the minimum flight time probably would not be in high demand for a high paying job, or for quick acceptance into a missionary flying environment.

In addition to the legal requirements, each organization will evaluate your skills and knowledge, and of course your attitude – which ultimately determines how high you go, how far you go, and how fast you go.

Some missionary organizations have quite an extensive process before you would be approved for service as one of their missionaries. Of course there is always the option of doing missionary work as an "independent." This can be very complicated since getting approved work permits and visas can be a major obstacle. When countries come out of the stone age, one of the first things they learn is how to set up an ever-growing, self-propagating bureaucracy.

Smaller organizations’ like our own, have the advantage of flexibility, seeing the need, making the decisions locally, not much bureaucratic red tape within the organization.

However, there are disadvantages, too. For instance, it is not uncommon for people to donate airplanes to larger, older, and well established ministries. No matter how important and faithful a newer ministry is, it takes time to reach that point of credibility, but it can be done.

We have received important contributions from several leading aviation businesses, but never an airplane – yet. I would be truly thankful if we did, but more importantly, we are teaching PNG nationals that they can reach their goals through productivity, faithfulness, and quality service.

So, we need partners in this work. Prayer partners are the most important. Missionaries always say that, and they mean it. Missionaries also need financial support for their transportation, families, and projects. This is what makes the work of the Gospel possible throughout the world, and many are coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We also need those who would roll up their sleeves, commit themselves to the challenges, and sing:

"I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord,

O’er mountain, o’er plain, or sea.

I’ll say what you want me to say, Dear Lord,

I’ll be what you want me to be."

I want to encourage you to pursue God’s will for your life. Don’t be detoured by the materialistic priorities of the secular world. I want to assure you that there is great joy and satisfaction in doing the will of God from your heart.

May the Lord bless you, guide, and use you to be a blessing to others.

In the Lord’s Harvest,

David H. Hersman

Certified Flight Instructor

How to pray for missionaries: Click here for a prayer newsletter that will help you understand how your prayer life can be a great blessing to the work of God.