Moving Forward

Have you ever faced a “daunting task”?  A couple of years ago, that’s just how missionary trainees Greg and Kadie Reid viewed planting a church in an otherwise overlooked group of people.  “It seems impossible, but with God all things are possible,”  they observed. 

Now, living in Asia Pacific, with two years of national language study completed, Greg and Kadie wanted to explore a possible ministry location.  But they’d heard about the trip they’d need to take. Talk about daunting! 

If they traveled by boat on the ocean, the venture would take three days one way, followed by a ten-kilometer hike. Their hearts sank. They remembered their national co-worker’s stories of drifting for a whole night in a broken boat … and another time when his boat trip took six days instead of three.

What would you do?  Would you want to take a pregnant wife and two young children on such a journey? Greg made his decision.  He would go alone, hoping to see with Kadie’s eyes too. 

Then he wondered.  Would the Kodiak airplane be an option? For a family of four, the cost would be upwards of $3,000, even if the flight was shared with four other passengers. That sounded too costly, especially after already spending thousands for paperwork, passage, and setup in this new country.

But wait! What if generous NTM Aviation partners like you joined forces to sponsor the flight? Thanks to you and many others, such subsidies were in place, and the price for the whole Ried family dropped to $686. Even the Rieds’ national co-workers could afford seats, so four of them signed up too.  They all agreed — an hour and a half in the Kodiak sure beats three days in a boat!

“Can ministry happen without Kodiaks?” asks Greg. “Sure, God has been working long before planes were invented. Does much more ministry happen with them? Do they help advance the gospel? Do we find them invaluable tools? Absolutely!”

The Rieds and their co-workers eagerly look forward to a sustainable ministry, knowing the Kodiak is available to keep them supplied.   “Daunting” becomes do-able with reliable aviation support.