Latest / Mission SONlight CHATT / Mission SONlight Chatt Ep.6 with Andrew Hosford

Transcript

Mission SONlight Chatt Ep.6 with Andrew Hosford · Mission SONlight CHATT

• 0:00
  Music
• 0:23
  Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
• 0:27
  Once again, we're not in our world headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but we are here
• 0:32
  at ASI in Kansas City, Missouri in the United States of America, and we are thrilled to
• 0:37
  be at ASI.
• 0:38
  We're hearing all types of testimonies and words of encouragement from the various ministries
• 0:42
  and the institutional ministries that are represented here.
• 0:47
  ASI is a convention of the laity, and very often ministers, pastors, workers from the
• 0:54
  church also are here as friends of the lay ministries around the world of the Seventh
• 0:59
  Day Adventist Church, and we are thrilled to be part of ASI as well.
• 1:04
  My name is Christopher Beeson, and our Director of Production and Engineering today is Jordan
• 1:08
  Wagner.
• 1:09
  Jordan, I noticed that I've been looking over when I mention you, you don't go to the wide
• 1:13
  shot of you on the camera there, so everybody needs to know where you are, plus they can
• 1:18
  see us here in the booth space and really see what all the noise is about.
• 1:22
  I hear popping balloons, Andrew, we'll get to you in just a minute, but I hear noise
• 1:25
  overhead.
• 1:26
  Pretty soon we'll hear somebody on the speaker, it's almost inevitable.
• 1:29
  But anyway, we love being in this live setting here at ASI.
• 1:33
  Mission Sunlight Chat is a non-profit organization.
• 1:36
  You can visit missionsunlight.org, that's mission, S-O-N, light.org, and if you want
• 1:41
  to give, you can click donate there.
• 1:43
  We certainly appreciate your prayers, we're very grateful for you.
• 1:47
  One more thing before we continue, we need to grow.
• 1:50
  We want to touch more lives for Jesus, we want to share the story of Jesus, we want
• 1:54
  to spread the truth as it is in Jesus.
• 1:56
  So please, if you can't give your time, you can't give your prayers or your monies, would
• 2:00
  you consider sharing this link?
• 2:02
  Give this link to a friend or even an enemy.
• 2:05
  Post it on your social media, text it to a friend right now, and snail mail it if you
• 2:08
  want.
• 2:09
  Share Mission Sunlight Chat today.
• 2:11
  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
• 2:14
  As I said, we're here at ASI enjoying fellowship with the ministries of ASI.
• 2:20
  PAMAS is a ministry of ASI, and Andrew Hosford, you are a pilot with PAMAS.
• 2:27
  So tell us, what is PAMAS?
• 2:30
  PAMAS is a, the acronym stands for the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services, and we're
• 2:37
  based in the Philippines.
• 2:38
  We do a lot of medevac flights to the, to enter island areas, and also up into the mountains
• 2:45
  where there's very limited access to the outside world and especially medical care.
• 2:52
  Very good.
• 2:53
  Andrew, before we talk much more about PAMAS, I'd just like to have you share with the audience
• 2:57
  a little bit more about who you are.
• 2:59
  I've known you since you were a teenager, which wasn't that long ago, but it's been
• 3:02
  a few years.
• 3:03
  We met on a farm mission field.
• 3:06
  I think we were in Thailand or Cambodia or Laos.
• 3:10
  I don't remember where the first place, I think it must've been Cambodia.
• 3:12
  I think it was Cambodia, yeah.
• 3:14
  Yeah, but tell us a little bit about your upbringing and your experience.
• 3:18
  What led you to be a pilot?
• 3:20
  Sure.
• 3:21
  So my family raised me Seventh-day Adventist as we navigated our early years.
• 3:27
  We were introduced to more mission stories in different contexts and different stories
• 3:36
  stood out to me more than others.
• 3:38
  Specifically, the story of Nate Saint.
• 3:40
  He was a missionary in Ecuador and his influence really helped a whole bunch of tribes be reached
• 3:49
  with the gospel.
• 3:50
  And he ultimately gave his life along with his friends that were fellow missionaries.
• 3:56
  And the experience of doing that opened the floodgates for Western religion to come into
• 4:05
  the very remote tribes.
• 4:10
  And that really touched my heart because I wanted to...
• 4:16
  Growing up, I didn't really know what I wanted to do in life.
• 4:18
  My parents were pilots.
• 4:22
  My interest was in digital media.
• 4:24
  And so I pursued that for a number of years.
• 4:28
  And then in 2018, I felt the Lord called me to missions very clearly and very specifically.
• 4:35
  And then he followed that call up two weeks later with a specific call to mission aviation.
• 4:40
  And so acting on that call, I went to the School of Missionary Aviation Technology.
• 4:45
  They offer a one-year mechanics training program and a one-year flight program that I graduated
• 4:49
  from.
• 4:50
  And since then, the Lord has really been blessing.
• 4:54
  And out of that, I joined a missionary networking organization called Angel One.
• 5:01
  They're kind of a logistical and support branch to numerous different ministries that are
• 5:07
  involved in aviation all over the world.
• 5:11
  And as a result of that, I was launched to first off Nicaragua.
• 5:16
  And then later, about a year and a half ago, I went to the Philippines as a full-time missionary
• 5:21
  pilot.
• 5:22
  Amen.
• 5:23
  Wow.
• 5:24
  So quite a journey for you there.
• 5:27
  Was there ever a period of time where you experienced doubt or questions about God or
• 5:33
  about your faith?
• 5:34
  Or did you always just feel strong all the way through?
• 5:36
  There was times where it was a weaker impression of Christianity, more doing the motions, doing
• 5:44
  the actions, and not really feeling it.
• 5:46
  I will admit that that was a portion of my life.
• 5:51
  In 2012, I was baptized, gave my heart to Jesus.
• 5:56
  And from there, it was one mission trip after another continuing to inspire me to continue
• 6:03
  on that path of steady Christian life.
• 6:07
  And I can't say it's been perfect, but the Lord has been guiding all the way through.
• 6:13
  Wow.
• 6:14
  So I want you to talk a little bit about your work at PAMAS, but we're going to take a break
• 6:19
  here and then we'll come back and you can share some of that.
• 6:22
  Just a reminder, missionsunlight.org is a place where you can learn more and you can
• 6:26
  give there.
• 6:27
  Please share the link to today's program or the entire show podcast platform with a friend
• 6:31
  by text, social media, or even by email.
• 6:34
  Take a moment right now during the break and share it with someone.
• 6:37
  We'll be back with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 7:07
  Welcome back to Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 7:27
  Our guest today here at ASI, PAMAS pilot, Andrew Hosford.
• 7:34
  You are here in Kansas City, Missouri for ASI, but that's not really where you live.
• 7:40
  Yes.
• 7:41
  I live in the Philippines, specifically the island of Palawan.
• 7:45
  And as Christopher mentioned, I'm a professional pilot that's dedicated my entire career and
• 7:54
  life to mission service.
• 7:57
  And right now I'm serving as a medevac pilot in the Philippines.
• 8:00
  Okay, tell us about PAMAS as a ministry.
• 8:04
  So PAMAS again stands for the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services.
• 8:09
  And we operate a fleet of, right now it's five different aircraft.
• 8:13
  We're looking at expanding our fleet to bigger and better aircraft that have more capacity.
• 8:20
  But a lot of our flights involve patient transfers and medevac services.
• 8:26
  And for the past 17 years, PAMAS has been reaching the people in the Philippines through,
• 8:34
  first we started in Palawan with a small little helicopter, a two seat helicopter.
• 8:41
  And from there we started another base up in Luzon.
• 8:45
  And we've grown, that project now has a 182.
• 8:50
  That's a plane.
• 8:51
  That's an airplane.
• 8:53
  And then we had another base start up in Mindanao near Mountain View College.
• 9:02
  And then the last, latest base is starting up just south of Manila in Tui Batangas.
• 9:08
  So between the four bases we're reaching a lot of the areas that need our services in
• 9:14
  the Philippines.
• 9:15
  So you have four bases of operation.
• 9:18
  And from my memory, that's mostly central Philippines.
• 9:26
  Where do you think you might go next?
• 9:28
  So there's a big open chunk in Visayas.
• 9:31
  And then also we want to put a special emphasis on Mindoro.
• 9:38
  Both of those islands don't have a lot of our services offered at this time.
• 9:43
  So we're looking to put a helicopter in Mindoro in conjunction with Avanis World Radio.
• 9:48
  And then we're praying about the rest.
• 9:52
  Just curious, do you run into other Christian missionary pilots while you're over there?
• 9:57
  There's a number of different organizations in the area.
• 10:02
  Specifically some of those are up in Luzon.
• 10:06
  So while I was working in Luzon before transitioning to Palawan, there was a number of different
• 10:13
  organizations that I was connected with.
• 10:15
  Is there a chance to rub shoulders with them or is it just in passing?
• 10:18
  A lot of it's just in passing unfortunately.
• 10:20
  I'd like to learn more from these other organizations.
• 10:23
  But I usually do that stateside.
• 10:26
  So you're flying an airplane.
• 10:28
  It just doesn't sound like there's a whole lot of chance to show your faith.
• 10:31
  Yeah, that's how I wondered how it would be.
• 10:35
  The Philippines is a considered reached project on joshuaproject.net.
• 10:39
  If you go look at the Philippines, it's a green country.
• 10:43
  It shows that it's been reached with Christianity.
• 10:48
  But once I got there, I went there and I was like, all right, how am I going to really
• 10:53
  be effective as a missionary?
• 10:54
  I'm just going to get experience and then I'll go to some closed country and be a real
• 11:00
  witness.
• 11:01
  But when I got to the Philippines, I realized that there's a lot of people that need a sympathetic
• 11:08
  shoulder, a helping hand, and somebody to share Jesus with them.
• 11:14
  Even if they're Christian already, they need that.
• 11:18
  Specifically, the island of Palawan where I'm working, just south of us, is a majority
• 11:26
  of animists up in the mountains.
• 11:29
  There's a lot of animism and then it's actually statistically 8% Muslim.
• 11:35
  So we're actually dealing with a lot of inter-island flights, transporting Muslims back and forth.
• 11:43
  They're very accepting of our services.
• 11:51
  It's really cool because they let us pray with the people on the flight before we take
• 11:56
  off and it's a huge blessing to them.
• 11:58
  I remember once I was in, I think Mende now, I think that's Caldwell Academy maybe there,
• 12:07
  and was speaking and someone told me that many of the students there are Muslim at the
• 12:14
  school and the reason they like the Adventist school is because they don't have to worry
• 12:19
  about the diet for their children in the cafeteria.
• 12:23
  We respect their religious, the uniqueness of their faith as well.
• 12:33
  That was one of the first places where I began to understand how we could find common ground
• 12:41
  with the Muslim faith.
• 12:42
  There's a lot of common ground if you dig deeper.
• 12:43
  There's a lot of common ground with Muslims.
• 12:47
  So you're a mission pilot.
• 12:51
  Got to be a good story in there.
• 12:52
  You got anything to share with us?
• 12:54
  I've got several.
• 12:55
  A specific medevac flight that I was a part of, I was working with the flight nurse, General
• 13:01
  Alder.
• 13:02
  Some of you may recognize the name.
• 13:03
  She was involved in a helicopter crash in March of this year.
• 13:09
  But a story before she went down in the helicopter crash, it was actually the first medevac that
• 13:16
  I was the pilot and she was the nurse.
• 13:18
  We were working together on that flight.
• 13:20
  It was a Sabbath afternoon and we were kind of winding down for the day.
• 13:24
  The sun was getting lower in the sky and we get this urgent call.
• 13:30
  There's a pregnancy complication patient in the island of Cuyo.
• 13:37
  So immediately we started getting into action and we're waiting for the green light to go.
• 13:45
  And by the way, what do you fly?
• 13:46
  I fly a Cessna 206.
• 13:49
  We have a door, it's a bifold door and you can slide a nice size stretcher into the back
• 13:56
  of it.
• 13:58
  So it's perfect for medevacs in that scenario.
• 14:02
  So anyway, we got the green light, we took off, we got to the island and the patient,
• 14:08
  her water had broken and everything.
• 14:12
  She was well on the way through the delivery process but it had stopped progressing.
• 14:16
  So she was in a very dangerous position as a mother.
• 14:20
  There's high risk involved in that.
• 14:24
  And so we loaded her up as efficiently as we could and by that time we were chasing
• 14:30
  sunset.
• 14:32
  And for our little airplanes that can't get up to the flight levels that the Boeings and
• 14:39
  the Airbus get up to, we're not able to fly on an instrument flight plan at all.
• 14:47
  So basically we're limited to daytime operations only.
• 14:52
  And so basically what that means for us is we have to land before dark.
• 14:59
  We're chasing sunset and we're praying the whole way that the Lord would give us a little
• 15:04
  bit more tailwind and I could see the flight counter, the GPS, it was counting down and
• 15:12
  we were just within minutes of sunset and we were able to land on the island and the
• 15:19
  ambulance was able to pick them up and transfer them.
• 15:23
  And it was such a blessing.
• 15:24
  I got the text the next day that the family was so grateful for our service that they
• 15:30
  named the baby.
• 15:31
  It was a little boy, they named him Andrew after me.
• 15:36
  That really touched my heart.
• 15:37
  That's pretty special.
• 15:38
  That was really cool.
• 15:41
  Wow.
• 15:42
  All right.
• 15:43
  You got another one for us?
• 15:45
  Another one.
• 15:46
  Wait.
• 15:47
  You got another one.
• 15:48
  I do.
• 15:49
  Okay, hold on.
• 15:50
  We're going to take a break and come back with it.
• 15:51
  We certainly hope you're being encouraged and blessed by listening to the program today.
• 15:53
  We have more to come, of course, from Andrew.
• 15:55
  We need to take a break.
• 15:56
  So remember, you can give at missionsunlight.org and you can share this program with anyone
• 16:01
  right now.
• 16:02
  Thanks for doing both or either.
• 16:03
  We'll be back with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 16:15
  Our salvation is a day-to-day matter, isn't it?
• 16:20
  The real principle of the Sabbath is reconnecting ourselves with the Creator.
• 16:29
  We must learn to abide in Jesus' map.
• 16:33
  We move ahead with our mission objectives, recognizing that we are serving together the
• 16:38
  Most High God.
• 16:53
  Welcome back to Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 16:54
  We are at ASI enjoying the sounds of ministry all around us as people share coming and going
• 17:00
  down our aisle.
• 17:01
  Jordan, that camera shot again.
• 17:02
  I want everybody to get a chance to see folks mingling around ministry to ministry.
• 17:07
  And of course, they get to see Jordan.
• 17:08
  Thanks so much for your work producing today, Jordan.
• 17:11
  And Andrew, thanks so much for joining us also.
• 17:14
  You are with PAMAS.
• 17:17
  How can people get in touch if they find what you're sharing interesting and they'd like
• 17:21
  to get involved in your ministry?
• 17:22
  How can they do that?
• 17:23
  Yeah, for sure.
• 17:24
  You can find me on the website, pamasmission.org, and that'll direct you to different newsletters
• 17:30
  and stories.
• 17:31
  You can find me best on Facebook under my name, Andrew Hosford, or my ministry page,
• 17:39
  Airways of Hope, Andrew Hosford.
• 17:42
  Several different ways to get in touch with me, but airwaysofhope.com is my personal website,
• 17:47
  and you can find all that information there.
• 17:50
  And it was pamasmission.org.
• 17:53
  That's correct.
• 17:54
  So they can learn more.
• 17:55
  Andrew, you were about to share a story before we close, so go ahead.
• 18:00
  Yeah, so sorry for the cliffhanger, but here it is.
• 18:03
  So one of the most touching missions that I've ever been a part of is an elderly gentleman
• 18:08
  that I had flown a couple days before.
• 18:13
  This is a little bit of the preface to the story.
• 18:16
  I flew him from the island of Maupun to the hospital in Brooks Point where we're based.
• 18:23
  And his family was very touched by our services.
• 18:30
  And unfortunately, he was suffering from acute appendicitis, and I think it had already ruptured
• 18:37
  by the time he was transported.
• 18:40
  His tummy was very tough, and I just felt really sad for the family specifically.
• 18:48
  And so as time went on, about three days later, I got another call saying that he needed to
• 18:55
  go back to the island.
• 18:56
  He was basically...they couldn't do anything more as health professionals to help him.
• 19:04
  And that really touched me because I had built a friendship with him as I connected with
• 19:10
  him and flew him and his family members.
• 19:13
  And so we got the airplane already.
• 19:16
  The stretcher was already in the airplane.
• 19:22
  We had some complications getting him released from the hospital.
• 19:26
  So anyway, I went into town to kind of be a little bit of a mediator there.
• 19:31
  And we got all the details figured out, and they loaded him into the ambulance.
• 19:38
  And I took off on my motorcycle to try to beat them to the Pommas base.
• 19:43
  And I look in my mirrors, and the ambulance is coming up faster and faster behind me.
• 19:48
  And they quickly passed me.
• 19:50
  And I'm going as fast as my little bike will go to keep up with this ambulance because
• 19:55
  they're serious about getting them to the airplane fast.
• 20:03
  So anyway, it's a nice paved highway.
• 20:05
  They're going as fast as their sirens will let them.
• 20:08
  And people are clearing out left and right, and it's just going as fast as we can.
• 20:14
  And as we get closer to the gravel portion before we get to our base, they had to slow
• 20:21
  down for the more rough terrain.
• 20:25
  And I was able to kind of pass them at that point and prepare the airplane adequately
• 20:30
  before they arrived.
• 20:32
  And so we loaded the patient.
• 20:33
  He was very lethargic and probably not very responsive at that point.
• 20:40
  And again, my heart went out to him.
• 20:43
  His eyes were closed.
• 20:44
  He was peaceful, but you could tell he was suffering.
• 20:51
  And they opted to not have us bring a nurse, and the family member would take the position
• 20:58
  of the nurse and try to keep him alive as long as they could.
• 21:03
  So we loaded him.
• 21:04
  We loaded the family members.
• 21:05
  We said a prayer, and we were off.
• 21:08
  And as we got closer to the island, you could tell he wasn't doing very well.
• 21:14
  And we landed.
• 21:15
  He was still alive.
• 21:17
  We unloaded him to the ambulance.
• 21:20
  And of course, there were several people that shared their connection with this elderly
• 21:28
  man, and my heart went out to them.
• 21:31
  I cried with several of them, and I genuinely felt sorry for them.
• 21:37
  And as a result, anyway, the ambulance took off, and some of these people started kind
• 21:46
  of milling out after that.
• 21:49
  And it turned out that I had to stay the night in the island just because it was late enough.
• 21:55
  Anyway, I got a text later that evening that the patient had died about 10 minutes after
• 22:02
  landing in Mapuan.
• 22:03
  And that was a touching moment, because I had touched more than 20 people came up to
• 22:15
  me, roughly 20, came up and expressed how much my help had benefited them.
• 22:22
  And they saw Jesus through that.
• 22:25
  It was a very special time.
• 22:27
  So the work of the mission pilot is more than just flying an airplane.
• 22:31
  That's true.
• 22:32
  Yeah, my son Levi is very interested in aviation, and we're trying to encourage him in the direction
• 22:38
  of mission pilot instead of commercial pilot.
• 22:44
  Amen.
• 22:45
  Way, way greater rewards for the kingdom.
• 22:48
  That's true.
• 22:49
  I've seen it time and time again how rewarding mission aviation actually is.
• 22:53
  So many people's lives are touched.
• 22:56
  Me personally, in the last year and a half of flying in the Philippines, I've flown over
• 23:00
  230 medevacs, and the Lord has really been using me there.
• 23:05
  Amen.
• 23:06
  Andrew, before we close, just do you have an encouraging word you want to share with
• 23:12
  our listeners and viewers?
• 23:15
  I think the biggest thing I can say is be faithful in the little things.
• 23:20
  I didn't start out as a mission pilot.
• 23:22
  I just listened to God's call, and each step of the way, God kept growing my faith.
• 23:28
  First, it started with finances, and then it was any number of things in preparation
• 23:34
  for being a mission pilot.
• 23:36
  There's a lot of skills involved, and just be faithful in the little things.
• 23:43
  They'll add up, but you just have to be patient.
• 23:46
  Thank you.
• 23:47
  Amen.
• 23:48
  Thank you for the encouragement for all of our listeners, but especially our young ones.
• 23:51
  Amen.
• 23:52
  Would you close us with a word of prayer?
• 23:54
  Let's pray.
• 23:55
  Father in heaven, Lord, we've shared stories from the Philippines.
• 23:59
  We've shared about what a mission pilot actually does, and I wish we had more time to share
• 24:04
  more stories, but you have been so great.
• 24:09
  We were so grateful for your presence.
• 24:11
  We're so grateful for your leading and guidance.
• 24:16
  I pray for our listeners today that you would touch their lives in some way, and if some
• 24:21
  were being called to mission service, I pray that you would give them the courage and strength
• 24:26
  to follow through.
• 24:27
  I pray this in your name.
• 24:29
  Amen.
• 24:30
  Amen.
• 24:31
  That is today's program from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
• 24:35
  This has been Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 24:37
  Our guest, Andrew Hosford, his ministry Airways of Hope with PAMAS Mission.
• 24:42
  PAMAS again stands for?
• 24:43
  The Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services.
• 24:47
  And you can find them at pamasmission.org.
• 24:49
  I'm Christopher Beeson, your host and today's engineer, our director of production, Jordan
• 24:55
  Wagner.
• 24:56
  We thank you for joining us.
• 24:57
  Thank you for sharing our program with your friends via text, email, or on your social
• 25:00
  media platforms.
• 25:01
  We also thank you for your gifts and your prayers, especially, especially your prayers.
• 25:06
  That's all for today from our mobile studios here in Kansas City, Missouri at ASI.
• 25:11
  This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
• 25:41
  Thank you.