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2008 Fall-AWA-TN
AWA-TN at Heritage Academy
by Sam Miller
We are very excited here at Heritage Academy this year. Thanks to help from AWA, we are offering a new vocational program to our students. The program is called “Medical Missionary Pilot Training.” Since this is the first article about this new mission ground for AWA, I thought I’d share some of the providence of this program.
It all started in the fall of 2006. The principal of Heritage Academy, Mr. Doug Baker, was at ASI in Houston, TX, and was asked, “Can Heritage Academy help with the growing need for missionary pilots?” He explained that Heritage didn’t have any of the necessary components to develop such a program, but through Christ anything is possible.
It all started in the fall of 2006. The principal of Heritage Academy, Mr. Doug Baker, was at ASI in Houston, TX, and was asked, “Can Heritage Academy help with the growing need for missionary pilots?” He explained that Heritage didn’t have any of the necessary components to develop such a program, but through Christ anything is possible.
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| Sam & Tonya Miller, along with their three children: Hailey (10), Sarah (5), and Isaac (4) moved to Heritage Academy in the summer of 2006. Sam was hired primarily to teach History and his wife, a journeyman carpenter, teaches construction and assists in the maintenance department. Sam Miller has been a commercial pilot since 1993 and has well over 6500 flight hours. | |
On the second day, I stopped by the Andrews University booth and spoke with Dean Verlyn Benson about their aviation department. I mentioned that we were thinking of creating a program ourselves, but the people I was planning to speak with were not available. He asked, “Have you talked to AWA?”
I answered, “Who’s AWA?”
He said, “Adventist World Aviation.” He then gave me directions to their booth.
The first person I met was Dave Pearson. As I started to share our vision for the program with him, he seemed interested. He then introduced me to Don Starlin. I repeated our vision, and Don also seemed pleased. Don told me a few things I could do to help get the program going and said we would be in their prayers. I left ASI 2007 very encouraged.
When school began again that fall, my schedule seemed fuller than the year before. How would I find time to do any of the things Don had suggested? I was teaching four classes, directing the bakery and assisting in maintenance and construction. Don Starlin called me a couple times during the first semester, and each time I explained I hadn’t had time to do much at all. Little did we know that each time AWA met, they prayed in earnest for us as a school in the development of a program.
Then in December I received a call from one of the other board members of AWA asking if there was anything he could do to help get things going. I told him I was sorry that the entire first semester had gone by and none of the groundwork had been laid. I thanked him for his offer and asked him to stay in touch. When I told my wife that I had received this call out of the blue, she asked me what I thought it meant. I told her, “I think God is going to make this program happen with or without me. I need to get on or get out of the way!”
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| The AWA-TN plane at Heritage Academy. | |
With one week of classes left in the first semester, I had an informal meeting with the president and the principal of Heritage. I asked them if they would be willing to give me just four hours each week to work on laying the groundwork for the program. They quickly agreed, and we rearranged my schedule for the upcoming semester, setting aside four hours each Wednesday morning for the missionary pilot program. Before the first Wednesday of the second semester could come, Don Starlin called to inform us that they had just received a restricted donation for an airplane for Heritage Academy.
We took delivery of N66055 in June 2008 and began training students at the beginning of this school year. We currently have 14 students (1/4 of our enrollment) attending the private pilot ground school and have handed out 10 applications for the flight portion of the training. In the next issue I will explain our vision for this program.
It is amazing what God can do when we offer our lives to him. So many times I find myself getting wrapped up in the details, overwhelmed with the workload, and forget that through Christ all things are possible. He has agents working in every corner of the world for our benefit. All we need to do is commit our ways and offer our services, and He works the miracles.
We took delivery of N66055 in June 2008 and began training students at the beginning of this school year. We currently have 14 students (1/4 of our enrollment) attending the private pilot ground school and have handed out 10 applications for the flight portion of the training. In the next issue I will explain our vision for this program.
It is amazing what God can do when we offer our lives to him. So many times I find myself getting wrapped up in the details, overwhelmed with the workload, and forget that through Christ all things are possible. He has agents working in every corner of the world for our benefit. All we need to do is commit our ways and offer our services, and He works the miracles.
