Saturday, February 21, 2015

Diversity & Change


As I think back to our years in mission aviation, I realize that diversity and change have been our life. I joined Garry’s journey when we got married in Venezuela where he was serving on loan to Mission Aviation Fellowship. Kevin joined us during our mission training in Ontario, and Kaleb joined the family just before we moved to Panama.  We began working in a large, centrally located flight program then worked alone in a couple of programs. In the Philippines our main job was training in a flight program that was a collection of 3 very small flight centers, an interesting combination of both a large and small programs.

From Latin America to Asia to New Tribes Mission’s Aviation headquarters in Arizona, we have been privileged to serve in very different parts of the world. The flight programs we've served in have varied from extremely traditional to slightly traditional. We have served locations that were extremely primitive in what was available, and places that had larger staff and more amenities. We've served missionaries from all over the world, from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We’ve served with people almost our parents age and people who are only slightly older than our kids. 

As the journey has unfolded, changing again and again, we have often wondered where we would end up. We’re not at an ending point yet, but this is a new place where all the places we’ve been and things we’ve experienced are valuable. Garry is working in Aviation Safety, setting up a Safety Management System for Moody which we are hoping will also be useful for other mission aviation organizations.

2 comments:

Jolyn said...

Reading your thoughts on the faithfulness of God. They are blessing me today. Especially: "If the circle we’ve journeyed has taught us anything, it is that God is faithful and that investing in what He’s doing and the people He brings into our lives is always worthwhile!" Thank you my friends!

Garry and Cynthia Barkman said...

thanks, Jolyn! We are so blessed by the journey God has us on, and also by the journey he has His Body on!