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by Sam Miller
In the last issue* I shared with you the foundation of Heritage Academy’s pilot training program. I’d like to continue introducing our program by describing the facets of this training. In creating a missionary pilot course, we had to decide what our main objective would be. Was it to train pilots first and missionaries second, or missionaries first and pilots second? We chose the latter of the two. From this concept, our training program grew. It is, and will be, a work in progress for many years, evolving and expanding in every way as God leads.
We determined that if we were to train missionaries first and pilots second, then medical training should be a key part of our program. There are many examples from Christ’s ministry to support this.
The idea of training missionaries first actually matches perfectly with Heritage Academy’s mission. A little over two years ago we revised our mission statement to simply state, “Encouraging young people to learn, experience, live and share Christ.” Along with changing some of our curriculum, we are focusing more on experiencing mission work. All of Heritage Academy’s students and staff are trained and certified in first aid and CPR. They are also fully certified through Homeland Security’s “CERT” training, which is a disaster response program. Many are also certified trainers and travel around the country training others in this program. Our students are also given “hands on” opportunities to hone their knowledge and skills. One example of this is our working relationship with Mr. David Canther’s “ACTS” disaster relief ministry. In the near future, we hope to establish working relationships with some of health institutions where we can send our pilots for specialized training in diet and nutrition.
. . . we had to decide what our main objective would be. Was it to train pilots first and issionaries second, or missionaries first and pilots second?
The next area of training we have incorporated into our program is evangelism. This has always been a strong focus of Heritage Academy’s educational experience. We believe a good missionary pilot is multifaceted and useful in every area encountered in the mission field. Our curriculum already includes many evangelism requirements. In addition to these, we will have our pilots assist local churches in evangelistic meetings, do Bible work and open up various other opportunities to develop the skills that will be needed in the mission field.
The last portion of our program is the actual aviation part. We are offering a course that will allow a student to gain all the basic requirements to enter the mission field at the age of 18. Why is this important? We believe it is exponentially more difficult for a young person to make it to the mission field after college than before, due to the responsibilities that are accumulated, both financial and social, during the first few years post high school. We also believe that a 21-year-old freshman with 2 years of missionary experience would be invaluable to any university or mission organization. His or her
maturity, knowledge and testimonies would be infectious. Also, when someone experiences mission work as a young person, he or she is more likely to have a lifelong mission orientation. Again, this perfectly matches Heritage Academy’s mission statement.
Aerial view of Heritage Academy
Our course is designed so that a 16-year-old sophomore can start training and by graduation acquire not only the medical and evangelistic training, but also a commercial pilot’s license, instrument rating, at least 300 hours of flight time and, if they choose, real experience in the mission field during the summer as a missionary intern. We understand that not everyone will be able to complete such a large course as this, so as space allows, we are also offering abbreviated training such as private pilots’ licenses and instrument ratings with the hope that the student will continue training elsewhere upon graduation and eventually make it to the mission field.
With God’s continued grace, your prayers, Adventist World Aviation’s assistance and the help from friends and volunteers, this program of study will soon begin supplying the mission field with young, fully-trained missionary pilots, ready to serve the Lord in whatever task He lays before them.
*If you didn’t get a chance to read the last Flight Log go on our website, www.flyawa.org, choose the “Publications” on the left menu and scroll down, and click on the 2008 Fall edition.
