With
skinny dogs and chickens at our feet and a short row of low, humble buildings
behind us, we stood looking over a cyclone fence.
There, on a
pocky tarmac, rested the legendary blue and white twin-engine, The Evangel, and
pilot Ron McIntosh had just smiled and introduced himself to us. (If you missed
last week’s post, click on “I heard a loud rush of air and I realized I’d been holding my breath.”)
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| Our first look at the Evangel |
Our young
family was about to take our first flight on a small plane, and we were headed into
a wild, open, steamy territory.
Budd Davisson wrote that The Evangel was “the brunt of many jokes: ‘looks like it’s
still in its shipping crate,’ or ‘has the grace and lines of a toolbox.’ And
every one of those remarks is true. . . . It was easy to see why it had given
rise to so many snickers. It’s so square it would have looked just right with
gallon paint cans for spinners.”
Budd wrote
of her “outright cubism,” adding that the Evangel “inspires the comic in all of
us.”
But just
like a Proverbs 31 woman, the Evangel’s worth didn’t depend on her charm or
beauty—which, by the way, can be deceitful and vain (Proverbs 31:30). A
Proverbs 31 woman is “a woman of valor. A courageous woman. A woman of strength
and dignity” (Lysa TerKeurst; Proverbs 31:25).
The same
can be said of the Evangel.
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| The Evangel (Howie Bowman photo) |
Like many
a good Proverbs 31 woman who arises before sunrise (verse 15), the Evangel and
her crew at the hangar often got up when it was still dark, getting her ready
to lift off within minutes of sunrise at 6 every morning. (On the equator, the
sun always rises within minutes of 6 a.m. and sets within minutes of 6 p.m.)
And hundreds of times every year, the
Evangel opened her hands (doors) to the poor and reached out to the
needy (verse 20). I wrote this in Please, God, Don’t Make Me Go: A Foot-Dragger’s Memoir:
“Reminiscent
of Indiana Jones, sometimes our legendary pilots got calls from desperate
villagers asking not to find a mystical stone, but young ladies in the jungle
fleeing from guerrillas, or Wen Jones fighting for his life after a snake bite.
“They flew high-ranking elected
officials, military top brass, ambassadors, and illiterate semi-naked native
men and women; new young Bible translators—some excited, others scared nearly
out of their wits; hopeful people, discouraged people, faith-filled people,
broken people; confused people, committed people, exhausted people, tenacious
people.
“They flew happy and sad people, young and
old, sick and healthy, and women about to give birth; dying friends, grieving
friends, and dead friends.” (From Chapter 33, Please, God, Don’t Make Me Go: A Foot-Dragger’s Memoir)
A Proverbs
31 woman is “different than the majority of women in the world,” and the
Evangel, too, was a uniquely designed gal, a most capable lady, a woman of
excellence worth far more than jewels (verse 10). Those who knew her and loved
her arose and called her blessed (verse 28).
A Proverbs
31 woman doesn’t need to be beautiful. Or perfect.
The
Evangel didn’t need to be beautiful or perfect, either.
Both exist
to serve God and help others.
Nothing
could be finer!
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