Latest / Community Spotlight / Faith in Flight
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:02.850 <v 0>The Light FM presents Community Spotlight,</v> 2 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.810 a program designed to focus on what's important to you in your community. 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.170 Now here's Braxton with Today's Community Spotlight. 4 00:00:11.070 --> 00:00:15.450 <v 1>So glad that you've made a part of your day to hang out with us on the Light fm</v> 5 00:00:15.450 --> 00:00:16.440 and today's guest. 6 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:21.390 Excited to welcome to the podcast Wally Hartman and Dr. Rich 7 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:23.250 guys, thanks for being here. 8 00:00:23.580 --> 00:00:25.170 <v 2>Good to be here. Thank for having, for inviting.</v> 9 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:28.020 <v 1>Us, having, we're going to spotlight North Carolina,</v> 10 00:00:28.290 --> 00:00:30.750 but also Western North Carolina and Asheville, 11 00:00:30.750 --> 00:00:35.430 which is where you guys are based. It's pilots for North Carolina. 12 00:00:35.610 --> 00:00:39.690 Let's start with this. Take me back and tell the story of there's a need. 13 00:00:40.350 --> 00:00:41.730 I see a need here, 14 00:00:41.730 --> 00:00:45.390 and you can talk more about some of the reasons why and what you guys do, 15 00:00:45.400 --> 00:00:48.720 but you wanted to meet a need that you saw. 16 00:00:48.870 --> 00:00:50.640 And so tell me how that kind of happened. 17 00:00:50.940 --> 00:00:54.330 <v 2>Back. Oh, must've been 2014,</v> 18 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.090 I had a friend tell me about Pils for Christ, 19 00:00:57.120 --> 00:01:02.100 and I immediately went to the website for international and saw some of the 20 00:01:02.110 --> 00:01:06.960 photographs of people that were being helped via aircraft. And being a pilot, 21 00:01:07.770 --> 00:01:12.120 I naturally wanted to find out if we could form a chapter. 22 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:15.060 I found out there was one that used to be in Shelby. 23 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:20.460 It had collapsed for lack of activity by other pilots and things. 24 00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:26.040 And I was willing to start another chapter and I was told it would 25 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:30.330 be hard. And I said, well, if the Lord wants it to happen, 26 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:33.540 it will happen. And that's the beginning. 27 00:01:34.440 --> 00:01:38.130 And I started reaching out to people like Dr. Rich to join, 28 00:01:38.460 --> 00:01:41.160 told him about the organization, and he was on board. 29 00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:44.970 And same thing happened to nine other people. 30 00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:46.433 We had a chapter. 31 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:51.060 <v 1>So share the need. What are some of the things that people might call you for?</v> 32 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:53.850 <v 2>Well, when I read my Bible,</v> 33 00:01:54.030 --> 00:01:58.410 we're taught as Christians what we do for the least of these 34 00:01:59.070 --> 00:02:01.740 is the way Jesus will treat us. 35 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.830 How dare we say no to anybody? 36 00:02:05.970 --> 00:02:07.830 So we need to know there is a need. 37 00:02:08.790 --> 00:02:13.260 And one of the very first missions I ever went on, 38 00:02:14.100 --> 00:02:18.390 I was invited by the Alabama chapter to come down there and go on a mission with 39 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.740 them. The woman had a little boy who was born without an anus. 40 00:02:23.070 --> 00:02:26.430 He had had multiple surgeries over the years, 41 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:28.140 and he needed to go to Columbus, 42 00:02:29.730 --> 00:02:34.620 Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio. And they were going to take him there. 43 00:02:34.920 --> 00:02:39.390 And I told them they were going to kind of deliver them to Asheville, 44 00:02:39.390 --> 00:02:43.380 that I'd fly them the rest of the way, the more I thought about it, I cried, 45 00:02:44.310 --> 00:02:48.720 how am I going to fly this child and his mother? I'll be sitting there sobbing. 46 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:51.810 I've got to be able to talk to the control tower and 47 00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.350 get the plane there safely. So they said, 48 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.330 you need to come down here to Monroeville, 49 00:02:58.170 --> 00:03:01.420 come with us on a mission and it'll be in your heart. 50 00:03:02.170 --> 00:03:06.220 And I told my boss I was taken off. She said, you can't. 51 00:03:06.850 --> 00:03:10.540 And I said, I'm going. This is something I believe in. It's my faith. 52 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:15.040 And I went and they took me on two different missions. 53 00:03:15.940 --> 00:03:17.140 This little boy was, 54 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:20.410 I was in the back of an airplane with him going up there with his mother. 55 00:03:20.410 --> 00:03:24.640 And it just touched me that there's a need out there. 56 00:03:24.970 --> 00:03:28.330 Now, it's not always a little boy that needs a surgery. 57 00:03:29.620 --> 00:03:32.740 It could be somebody with cancer, somebody that has a blood disease. 58 00:03:33.130 --> 00:03:37.000 We took a man from Bryson City, flew him down to Monroeville, 59 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.320 and then from there they flew him over to MD Anderson and they got rid of his 60 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:45.550 bone cancer. The treatments they gave him in medicines healed him. 61 00:03:46.270 --> 00:03:49.000 And I found out just this last year, 62 00:03:49.330 --> 00:03:51.550 his wife told me that he'd passed, 63 00:03:51.970 --> 00:03:56.590 but he had another eight or nine years where he didn't have to worry about the 64 00:03:56.590 --> 00:03:57.423 lung cancer. 65 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.360 <v 1>Wow. So you guys will partner with a lot of other</v> 66 00:04:02.170 --> 00:04:06.820 chapters? Yes. To help transport folks from point A to point B. 67 00:04:06.820 --> 00:04:10.900 You might be point B on point F, whatever, but you'll partner with them. 68 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:11.260 We call. 69 00:04:11.260 --> 00:04:14.020 <v 2>It a pony Express us. Yeah.</v> 70 00:04:14.260 --> 00:04:15.093 <v 1>That's cool.</v> 71 00:04:15.220 --> 00:04:19.360 <v 2>We'll go 200 miles or towards Knoxville. Knox.</v> 72 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.100 <v 1>Don't got to. To fly all the way across the country,</v> 73 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:25.630 you just got to fly to certain points to next leg. Wow. 74 00:04:26.260 --> 00:04:26.950 Okay. 75 00:04:26.950 --> 00:04:31.510 <v 2>And a lot of it happens because the pilots that fly the missions are dedicated.</v> 76 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:33.850 Rick Scott's from Myrtle Beach, 77 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:37.900 and we had a lady that needed to go from Greenville up to Gaithersburg, 78 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.320 Maryland to the National Institute of Health. 79 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:46.660 And in a heartbeat, he said he'd take the girl and her mother. 80 00:04:47.200 --> 00:04:51.100 And I said, well, if I get down to Greenville, can I go with you? And he said, 81 00:04:51.100 --> 00:04:55.450 yes. And this man picked them up, flew them to Gaithersburg, 82 00:04:55.450 --> 00:05:00.430 Maryland and back. And I wanted to share the cost of fuel with him. And he was, 83 00:05:00.820 --> 00:05:04.510 no, no, no, no, it's okay. And I told him, well, it was in our budget. 84 00:05:04.510 --> 00:05:08.050 We had it to help, but he didn't want anything. 85 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:10.450 Most of the pilots don't ever want anything back. 86 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:13.360 They do it from the goodness of their heart. 87 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:15.670 <v 1>I mean, it's got to be,</v> 88 00:05:15.940 --> 00:05:19.900 you say you read scripture and it says you do it for the least of these, 89 00:05:19.900 --> 00:05:24.160 but I mean, it's an undertaking financially your time, 90 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:28.420 your emotional spirit sometimes. I mean, 91 00:05:29.130 --> 00:05:33.760 there's something there with you guys and the team of pilots you 92 00:05:33.770 --> 00:05:37.960 have that are truly on board with the mission. 93 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:42.700 And so what is that? What's the mission and what's the why behind it? 94 00:05:43.030 --> 00:05:46.600 <v 3>Pilots for Christ is a Christ-centered or non-denominational nomination,</v> 95 00:05:46.630 --> 00:05:50.350 nonprofit 5 0 1 C3 Organization of Pilots, 96 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.190 and also non-pilot who provide ground transportation to the airports. 97 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.550 And our mission is to share the gospel by providing flights, 98 00:05:59.090 --> 00:06:01.400 by using Christian pilots and ground transportation. 99 00:06:01.850 --> 00:06:04.610 <v 1>And so how do you pull this off?</v> 100 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:07.940 There's got to be a lot of little dots, boxes. 101 00:06:07.940 --> 00:06:12.650 You got to check from helping someone get on a plane for 102 00:06:12.650 --> 00:06:13.700 whatever reason. 103 00:06:13.850 --> 00:06:17.510 And you were sharing with me that sometimes it can take a little bit of time to 104 00:06:17.520 --> 00:06:18.800 get some of the paperwork done. 105 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.290 So what are some of the behind the scenes of making? 106 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:25.010 Because this seems to me I'm not a pilot. Lord knows I can't, 107 00:06:25.010 --> 00:06:27.770 there's no way I could ever be a pilot. I'm not that detail oriented, 108 00:06:27.770 --> 00:06:31.370 but there's going to be a lot of things behind the scenes that something like 109 00:06:31.380 --> 00:06:33.110 this to me seems like a really big deal. 110 00:06:33.530 --> 00:06:38.390 <v 2>I have found that people like Dr. Rich and myself and our secretary,</v> 111 00:06:38.390 --> 00:06:39.350 Tom Anderson, 112 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:43.850 have made a commitment to Christ to serve the Lord. 113 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:49.460 I've shared with these two men that I've made a commitment to 114 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.040 be the coordinator or share 115 00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:56.060 until I don't have breath in my body anymore, 116 00:06:56.060 --> 00:07:00.770 and I made a covenant with the Lord in the Bible. 117 00:07:01.820 --> 00:07:06.800 It'll tell you don't break a covenant that you have made with the 118 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.620 Lord. And it's not out of fear, 119 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:13.550 but it was something that I just felt had to be done. 120 00:07:13.550 --> 00:07:17.330 Now having said that, when people call, they might be in a panic. 121 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:21.500 I might be able to get them to share with me what their faith is, 122 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:26.390 whether it be Muslim or Hindu or Jewish or agnostic, et cetera. Sure. 123 00:07:27.290 --> 00:07:32.030 To try to calm them down. And most people will usually, if I ask them, 124 00:07:32.030 --> 00:07:35.930 if I can say a prayer for them, we'll say, yes, please do. And I do, 125 00:07:35.940 --> 00:07:40.850 and that gets 'em calmed down. Now I can get to the nitty gritty who needs help, 126 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:41.900 where, 127 00:07:41.900 --> 00:07:46.370 because sometimes the phone calls come in and they're frantic. 128 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.680 So you've got to get people to calm down first and then ask the key questions. 129 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.650 Who needs to go where, why? 130 00:07:55.130 --> 00:07:59.210 And then let them know they have to be healthy enough to get in and out of the 131 00:07:59.210 --> 00:08:01.640 airplane on their own power. We can't lift them. 132 00:08:01.910 --> 00:08:03.380 We can't put 'em in the airplane. 133 00:08:03.380 --> 00:08:08.300 We're not an air ambulance having set all that if they're still 134 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.930 eligible to go. We have forms that have to be signed waivers, 135 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:17.090 and one of them is from their own doctor saying that they're eligible to be able 136 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:19.250 to fly in an airplane at altitude, 137 00:08:19.730 --> 00:08:22.940 which is no greater than a commercial airliner. 138 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:26.090 All commercial airlines pressurized to 8,000 feet. 139 00:08:26.690 --> 00:08:29.000 We fly usually under 10, 140 00:08:29.750 --> 00:08:34.220 but our paperwork says We'll stay under 8,000 feet. That's it basically. 141 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:35.180 In a nutshell, then it's. 142 00:08:35.180 --> 00:08:35.380 <v 1>A matter of,</v> 143 00:08:35.380 --> 00:08:38.480 so it's easier than you might think or simpler than you might think. 144 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.620 <v 2>Yes and no.</v> 145 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:40.730 <v 1>Just to me,</v> 146 00:08:40.730 --> 00:08:45.050 with the way that airports run nowadays and getting on an airplane is not an 147 00:08:45.050 --> 00:08:45.883 easy task. 148 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:51.290 And so doing something kind of like this away from an airline for 149 00:08:51.830 --> 00:08:55.560 a health need, it just seems like it would be a lot to do. 150 00:08:56.190 --> 00:09:00.870 <v 2>Well, it's actually a little easier because general aviation airports like</v> 151 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:05.640 Hendersonville or Rutherfordton, you don't have all those restrictions. 152 00:09:05.650 --> 00:09:06.483 <v 1>Right.</v> 153 00:09:06.780 --> 00:09:10.350 <v 2>And with even Asheville Airport, we have a badge.</v> 154 00:09:10.890 --> 00:09:14.520 It's a matter of meeting your patient, walking out to the airplane, 155 00:09:14.640 --> 00:09:18.120 getting on the plane and going. There's no hour or two hour wait. 156 00:09:19.680 --> 00:09:20.550 With the airlines, 157 00:09:21.660 --> 00:09:26.040 the thing I find most is I've had people come right out and say, well, 158 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:32.430 what's it going to cost us? Well, it doesn't cost us rich has addressed or will. 159 00:09:33.330 --> 00:09:36.960 There's no cost to the patience. We do this out of the goodness of our heart, 160 00:09:37.470 --> 00:09:41.970 first and foremost, to set an example as to what Christians are supposed to be. 161 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:47.430 And if we go to a fair or an event, when we share our literature with people, 162 00:09:47.430 --> 00:09:51.870 that's what we talk about Christ and coming to the Lord and being 163 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:56.820 saved. We don't beat them with it, but we share what we do. 164 00:09:57.300 --> 00:10:00.360 Hey, we'll get in a plane and fly somebody somewhere 300 miles away, 165 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.000 200 miles away, maybe 800. 166 00:10:03.180 --> 00:10:08.130 We'll have other chapters help get people to where they need 167 00:10:08.130 --> 00:10:09.030 to go. So. 168 00:10:09.660 --> 00:10:11.190 <v 3>When we do what we do,</v> 169 00:10:12.300 --> 00:10:15.540 of course we distribute tracks and Bibles at area shows in the airport, 170 00:10:15.540 --> 00:10:18.750 but the service we provide as far as flying, 171 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:24.060 we do that free of charge. And that's not just to Christians, 172 00:10:24.070 --> 00:10:27.390 it's to any person in need regardless of their race, religion, 173 00:10:27.390 --> 00:10:31.590 or ethnic identity. So we're not just Christians flying Christians, 174 00:10:31.590 --> 00:10:34.410 we're Christians as an outreach to. 175 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:35.640 <v 1>Christians, flying people.</v> 176 00:10:35.650 --> 00:10:37.260 <v 3>People. Thank you very much. Well.</v> 177 00:10:37.270 --> 00:10:41.100 <v 1>Put. Yeah. So if someone is listening and they say, okay,</v> 178 00:10:42.150 --> 00:10:46.620 my family or someone I know may need this service, 179 00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:51.930 what are some things that they should think about or should they just call and 180 00:10:51.930 --> 00:10:53.700 ask or how should they do that? 181 00:10:54.030 --> 00:10:55.470 <v 3>Let me just say, at this point,</v> 182 00:10:56.970 --> 00:11:01.950 we get confused with pilots for Christ International and our website is Pilots 183 00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:05.190 for Christ nc that specifically gets to us. 184 00:11:05.190 --> 00:11:09.510 So it's our email is Pilots for Christ nc@gmail.com. 185 00:11:09.900 --> 00:11:12.510 So your listeners, if they want to get in contact with us, 186 00:11:12.520 --> 00:11:15.030 that's the best place to go because on, there's our phone number, 187 00:11:15.270 --> 00:11:19.620 our physical address, and also there's a Facebook. So they can, 188 00:11:19.950 --> 00:11:23.290 again, get us that pilots for Christ. Make sure you put nc, make. 189 00:11:23.290 --> 00:11:26.170 <v 1>Sure you find the NC or the North Carolina part. Yeah, absolutely.</v> 190 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:29.130 It's pilots for Christ nc.org. Yes. 191 00:11:29.160 --> 00:11:30.960 <v 3>Exactly. Yeah, that's our.</v> 192 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.400 <v 1>Website. Okay. So if someone has a question, just go and go and reach out.</v> 193 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:37.770 <v 2>And on that website there's a little.</v> 194 00:11:38.370 --> 00:11:39.150 <v 3>Q little.</v> 195 00:11:39.150 --> 00:11:43.740 <v 2>Spot where it says Request transportation so they can put in their</v> 196 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:47.670 name, the condition, et cetera. And there's a phone number that goes through. 197 00:11:47.670 --> 00:11:48.503 <v 3>Google.</v> 198 00:11:48.930 --> 00:11:51.960 <v 2>Which whether we like Google or not, doesn't matter.</v> 199 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:56.290 It comes through on my phone as pilots for Christ. 200 00:11:56.530 --> 00:11:59.020 The minute I see that, I grab it right away. 201 00:11:59.470 --> 00:12:03.940 We ask people to definitely leave a phone number and 202 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.330 that website, did we give them that? 203 00:12:08.020 --> 00:12:10.510 <v 1>Yeah. Pilots for Christ nc.org.</v> 204 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:16.870 You guys are all about meeting the least of these meeting people that need you 205 00:12:16.870 --> 00:12:19.180 guys. What about you? What are some of your needs? 206 00:12:19.180 --> 00:12:22.240 What are some ways that maybe someone listening can be a blessing to you? 207 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:26.230 <v 3>Well, we're grateful to anyone who helps us do the Lord's work.</v> 208 00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:31.900 Among the ways your listeners can make a contribution is to become a member, 209 00:12:33.010 --> 00:12:36.190 which can include volunteering, time, vehicles, aircraft, 210 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.230 all of those services. So if you're not able to become a member, 211 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.410 then donations of any kind, like going to our website, 212 00:12:44.410 --> 00:12:48.070 help to continue the Lord's work and that we're called to do, 213 00:12:48.070 --> 00:12:50.500 we believe we're called to do this as our mission, 214 00:12:50.890 --> 00:12:54.970 and so we encourage non pilots to become members as they help with ground 215 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:56.380 forestation and other activities. 216 00:12:56.380 --> 00:13:00.730 So those are what our needs are as people that will help support 217 00:13:01.090 --> 00:13:03.340 spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. 218 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:06.490 <v 1>And they can just go to that website again or reach out there and say, Hey,</v> 219 00:13:06.640 --> 00:13:08.860 I got something that might be of use. 220 00:13:08.950 --> 00:13:09.783 <v 3>Absolutely.</v> 221 00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:13.660 <v 1>Again, that website is pilots for Christ nc.org.</v> 222 00:13:14.770 --> 00:13:18.040 Their names are Wally Hartman and Dr. Rich. 223 00:13:18.880 --> 00:13:21.370 They're the leadership there at Pilots for Christ of North Carolina. 224 00:13:21.370 --> 00:13:23.350 Excited to have you guys in studio. So thank you. 225 00:13:23.650 --> 00:13:25.630 <v 3>Thank you so much. It's a great opportunity,</v> 226 00:13:25.630 --> 00:13:30.160 and we just ask that God continues to bless us with opportunities like this to 227 00:13:30.160 --> 00:13:31.090 share our message. 228 00:13:31.270 --> 00:13:32.103 <v 1>Of course,</v> 229 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:36.310 previous episodes of Community Spotlight are available anytime on demand on the 230 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.880 Light FM app. Also, I want to say a special thanks to our sponsor, 231 00:13:40.150 --> 00:13:43.300 it's Turner Business Appraisers. There are Matthews, North Carolina. 232 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:45.940 <v 0>We hope you enjoyed today's community spotlight,</v> 233 00:13:45.940 --> 00:13:48.880 covering issues that matter to you in your community. 234 00:13:49.300 --> 00:13:51.790 If you have a suggestion for a future program, 235 00:13:51.790 --> 00:13:55.750 just call 803 3 0 96 48. 236 00:13:55.870 --> 00:13:59.800 That's 803 3 0 9 6 4 8. 237 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:04.330 Be sure to join us next week for another community spotlight with Braxton on the 238 00:14:04.330 --> 00:14:05.170 Light fm.