Veteran pilot changes ministry

June 18, 2009

by Dena McMaster   Missionary pilot Charlie Patton feels like he's going home.   Charlie grew up in Brazil. He and his wife, Ruth, have served with New Tribes Mission in Mexico and Colombia, and are currently in Papua New Guinea. Ruth has taught missionary children in each country where they lived.

"Over the years," wrote Charlie, "we heard occasional news from different ones regarding progress being made toward opening a flight program in Brazil. Each time, our ears perked up, but the possibility of us being used in this pioneering work seemed distant."

But the word Charlie heard more recently seemed promising. He heard that NTM Aviation was searching for a veteran pilot, preferably with a background in the Portuguese culture and language, to open a flight program in Brazil.

Once again, Charlie's heart was pulled toward returning to the country where he grew up, but he and Ruth decided they couldn't let their own desires get in the way of God's plan for their lives. They decided to stay on in Papua New Guinea unless NTM Aviation leaders asked them to transfer to Brazil.

And that's exactly what happened.

NTM Aviation is full of men and women like Charlie and Ruth, who are willing to put their plans second to God's plans.

And men and women like that have also provided 96 percent of the funds needed to outfit NTM's first Kodiak. The people who have given nearly $500,000 toward this phase of the project so far could have found a lot of other things to do with that money, and they chose to invest it in expanding the reach of the Gospel.

Find out how you can help complete the funding for this plane >>