When the Roads are Missing

By Bruce Wolff

Did you ever wonder how the gospel came to America? Common sense tells us that somebody had to bring it here. Jesus communicated the Good News to his disciples and the curious crowds in Israel, but what happened after that?

Following his miraculous conversion, the apostle Paul wrote half of the books in our New Testament, and through his preaching, traveling and writing he personally brought the gospel to the non-Jewish world. Notice that God in His omniscience perfectly timed the arrival of Paul on the scene to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ around the Mediterranean only AFTER the Roman Empire had built the most sophisticated and extensive paved road system the 

world had ever seen. Have you ever imagined what life would be like if you lived in a place where there were no paved roads? In the USA, we take paved roads for granted, with over 2.65 million miles of them.  Here’s what one of those roadless places in Sudan looks today  like after a hard rain.  

But what about using an airplane as the crucial link to these roadless communities?  Brigade Air Mission Aviation Adventure Camps www.brigadeair.org is an organization that exists to inspire, mentor, and challenge Christian young people, ages 14-18 toward serving in mission aviation.

We are either former missions pilots ourselves and have experienced the shortage of personnel abroad, or US aviators with a biblical worldview and awareness of the ongoing need. The airplane is the multiplier in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and his love to those who do not have access to it – because they live where there are no roads.  It is an early recruitment tool for mission aviation and affords an opportunity to come along side young people and encourage their growth in Christ. 

In one of Paul’s letters, he wrote, 
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” (Romans 10: 14, 15).  Paul had a road system under his feet. Tsunamis. Earthquakes. War. Poverty. How does the gospel, medical supplies and things for basic living get through when the roads are missing? Missionary Aviation. Help us challenge teens today to prepare as mission aviators tomorrow. 

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Bruce Wolff, Founder and Executive Director of Brigade Air, Inc. is the son of missionaries to Africa. He is a commercial pilot, aircraft mechanic, and certified flight instructor. Bruce, a graduate of Moody Aviation in Tennessee and The King’s College in New York, served as a missionary pilot and mechanic for six years assisting evangelical church-planting missionaries in the Sierra Madres Mountains of Mexico. Bruce is the author of the Brigade Air curriculum written in 2000, and established the Brigade Air summer flight camp program in 2001. Brigade Air camps have been conducted in over 20 states, Canada, and four foreign countries. Former Brigade Air campers are now in pilot training, and others now serve on the foreign mission field. 

Brigade Air, Inc. is a Missio Nexus member. Member organizations can provide content to the Missio Nexus website. See how by clicking here.