THE SMOKE OF HER BURNING

As events unfolded before my eyes through the television screen on 11^th September I was reminded of words that bore a chilling similarity to the scenes of destruction and devastation in New York and Washington. It was as though I was standing from a far watching the smoke of a burning city (Rev 18:17). I am not a sea captain though air transport is the modern equivalent, and New York is not Babylon though it may be regarded as a type of Babylon, as are many other of the great cities and nations of the world where trade and commerce has become a by word for their existence. There is nothing wrong with wealth and luxury as such but when it becomes the driving force of ones life, particularly at the expense of others, then something is seriously wrong. The events of that dreadful September morning serve as a reminder that all that we hold dear, including life itself, is frighteningly fragile.

Somehow with natural disasters we can accept that what must be, must be, even if we cannot understand why. In our searching for an answer and in frustration and anger many of us blame God or question his very existence. With terrorism it is somehow different, here is man running amok, it no longer becomes a question of why does God allow it but why does man do it? It forces us back into the arms of the Almighty, the Rock; everything else is shifting sand.

Three areas that we, as Christians, can address in the present time of terror, loss and uncertainty can be summed up in the words revenge, forgiveness and salvation.

Revenge is a very human activity, you need look no further than Northern Ireland or Israel to see the ever-deepening spiral of terror and despair that such action brings. The last thing we need at this time is for there to be revenge attacks, whether by military might or by the man in the street against innocent bystanders. Ethnic vilification will achieve nothing, any more than will a sustained military campaign. God tells us that it is His to avenge (Ro.12:9) and that we are not to fret when men do evil things (Ps.37:1). To minimize the risk of such acts of terrorism ever happening again may mean military action is required to take out the prime perpetrators. Revenge however will only serve to escalate the conflict. Let us leave that to the Judge of all the earth.

Forgiveness is the root of the Christian faith; you cannot be a Christian unless you have received forgiveness. Somehow we have to find it in our hearts to offer forgiveness to others. That is not to sweep the matter under the carpet, the scars and the memories will be just as painful for years to come; but forgiveness will sweep away the canker of bitterness. Our inhumanity was borne by Jesus and carried in His wounds onto the Cross; He still bears those scars, yet love, forgiveness, and healing are what we have received in return. Only God can do that, and it is at times like this when we need an even deeper understanding of His grace and to pray that He will fill us with His Spirit that we may share His grace with others, even our enemies.

Salvation is received through Jesus, it is what God desires for all (2Pe3:9), therefore if we are serious in our praying ‘Thy will be done’, then it should be our desire as well. Similarities have been drawn with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour that brought America into the 2^nd World War. It should be remembered that the commander of that attack, Admiral Fuchida came to Christ after the war and spent much time ministering in America. Osama bin Laden needs Christ as much as Fuchida, are we prepared to pray to the One for whom all things are possible?

Muslims are god-fearing and many do good and pray; God moves towards people like that. The Bible gives an account of such a man, his name was Cornelius and God used him to open up the way of salvation to all gentiles (Acts 10). Let us pray that the true knowledge of Jesus Christ will be made known in the Muslim world that salvation may come to the sons of Ishmael and Esau.

For those who have lost loved ones, or who now face an uncertain future, particularly in aviation where the spectre of cut backs and redundancy is quickly becoming a reality we can offer comfort and hope in Jesus through the gift of love.

A disaster occurred in Jesus day when the tower of Siloam fell killing many; He told His disciples that it was not a judgement but a reminder that unless you repent then you too will perish (Luke 13:5). False religion and the obsession with indulgent living are the twin objects of God’s judgement to come. For both conditions the Bible uses the term Babylon (Rev. Ch. 17&18) and God’s urgent call is to ‘Come out of her, My people’ (Rev.18:4). Will that be our commitment as well as our call?

Christopher Cowel

JIREH AIR SERVICES

Recently I have heard several people talk about an airline for God and of others longing to start one. I have been pursuing the idea for over six years, whilst for the last four years I have been joined by two other Christians in the New Forest and Bournemouth areas to actively work on such a project. We have formed a limited company entitled Jireh Air Services, and with bags of enthusiasm we are ready to start operations – well, almost! We would like some aircraft and £3 million pounds; but the plan is in place!

Who are we? Keith Lake is a Captain with British Regional Airways at Southampton, back under the BA umbrella after starting with BEA before becoming a Missionary pilot in Africa. Stephen Arkell is a Christian Accountant with his own business and is a Board member of Moorlands Bible College. Geoff Stafford has 30 years experience in Flight Operations at LHR, from BEA through BOAC, BA and into Qantas, and is the instigator of good ideas!!! We can call upon several aviation people, even some pilots, to help us dream but more importantly, pray. We have a Business Plan demonstrating the scheme will work and have spent hours talking, praying, writing letters, having meetings, etc. Now we are praying for the breakthrough to provide money, aircraft and God’s guidance – not necessarily in that order.

What is the plan? To operate from an air taxi service form Bournemouth Hurn, initially covering the whole of Europe and N. Africa. A Beech King Air 200, a 5/6 seater aeroplane and possibly a Twin Squirrel helicopter would be ideal in giving flexibility in range, numbers of people carried, and the ability to use grass runways close to required destinations. As far as is possible we envisage a door-to-door service thus saving considerable journey time. Fares charged would be competitive with existing rates, with no seasonal or holiday time variations. Profits will not disappear into airline coffers but be ploughed back into growing God’s work.

Who would use it? There is already a large market throughout Europe of Christians travelling in God’s service. Whether it is Missionary activity, aid, church planting, Christian teaching and training, Bible distribution, general freight or just inter-church meetings and conferences, Jireh will aim to serve. We envisage providing air ambulance operations in support of relief agencies at major disasters. Hopefully one bonus will be that denominational unity and understanding will grow through Christians travelling together.

Where will the money come from? God of course. If He wants this project to take off, then we very much believe God will show us, in His perfect timing where the money is to come. At present the only humanly sensible way it will work is spelt out in the Business Plan, and after six years of thought and prayer nothing better has been shown to us. It is based on a benefactor providing the money or aircraft; he/she would retain the title to the aircraft, whilst allowing Jireh to operate them. Fairly new second hand King Airs and Twin Squirrels actually appreciate in value and so the benefactor will thus have security of investment. Initially as a professionally run business we will charter 25% of the available flying time to corporate business at the full market rate subsidising the remaining 75% Christian use. After 2/3 years we would anticipate seeing the secular side diminish as the Christian work multiplies.

Why is this necessary? A 10 to 12 hour multisector journey to a remote location in Eastern Europe is exhausting and time consuming. A direct flight will enable much more to be achieved in a much shorter timescale. Considering many people undertake Christian work voluntarily yet have families and churches who need their love, support and energy, not to mention their time, you begin to see that efficient, fast travel is a huge bonus. If big business can have its own aircraft operation for its executives, so can ‘Christianity plc’.

A Christian Airline? This is another desire that has been communicated to us and is something that could develop from Jireh or run alongside as a different operation, obviously with bigger aircraft. It is useful to know that at Hurn there are B737’s and Airbuses even some ageing Super 1-11’s to lease with full engineering and maintenance facilities. I have been told there is enough demand to fill two B757’s a week into an African hub – say Nairobi or Entebbe! Now there’s a thought. And there is any amount of Christian activity into and within India. What a witness it will be to the world and especially to the Aviation world – to see Jesus lifted high!

Where do we go from here? Lately we have been taking stock of events (a euphemism for nothing much is happening at all) and considering our next move. We wish to hear of anybody whose private aircraft is under-utilised. We know there is somebody using his Aztec for furthering God’s ministry and we wish to talk with him, and we need to speak with a Christian Trust that might be interested in the project. We also know of several Christian pilots who are tired of Airline flying and would join us as soon as operations begin. We very much look to the AAACF to back us in prayer and we welcome messages of support, encouragement, and advice (constructive, please). One day, I am certain there will be God’s Airline/Air Service in existence. It is our mission to bring that day forward, as soon as possible.

Bless you all. Geoff Stafford

Tel/Fax:- 01590 883589 Email: Stafford@talk21.com

EARTHQUAKE

I want to share with you some testimonies my wife and I heard first hand whilst on holiday recently in Gujarat,India.
We had to cancel our planned holiday with my sister-in-law Florence and her husband Prassan in January as Prassan had been taken to hospital diagnosed with cancer of the spine. He was allowed home for a few days at the end of January and while he was there the earthquake hit them! They had to camp in the street for 10 nights after the quake as there was a risk of after shocks. They just ran indoors to answer the phone or to have a double-quick bath! A few days later Prassan went back into hospital with severe back pain and only 17 days after his diagnosis he quietly passed away. Prassan was a wonderful Spirit-filled Christian so we are at peace knowing that he is with the Lord. We re-scheduled our holiday to March and the first hand testimonies we heard were thrilling.

Prassan had been a member of a prayer group in Maninagar, the Christian area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The group meets 5 times a week for intercession, and have seen some wonderful conversions. People come in from the non-Christian areas with severe spiritual problems and many have been completely delivered and come to know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour.
On December 19^th one of their members, Daniel, was praying and fasting when the Lord told him that soon there was to be a major earthquake and to warn His people. Daniel went straight away to the Government offices and told them that there was going to be a major earthquake. They dismissed him out of hand; after all, there had not been an earthquake in the area for 200 years! He then had a number of posters made, warning that a huge earthquake was coming, and distributed them to all the churches in the area and around Ahmedabad. He was laughed at; even many of the Christian folk didn't believe him. Today He has people from the Hindu and Muslim communities knocking on his door asking about Jesus.

Two of the other members of the prayer group, Mr. Christy and Mr. Asvin, go up to the area around Bhuj (the epicentre of the earthquake) once a month to encourage the Christian community there, as they have planted several churches and fellowships in that area over the last 12 years. These two brothers were attending a Christian conference on the third floor of a hotel near Bhuj on that morning of 26th January. They had started with a time of praise and worship early in the morning, and then went downstairs to ask the hotel staff if they could all come down to breakfast. The hotel staff said that they had heard them singing and that they should go back and continue, they would bring the breakfast up to them. As they were serving breakfast the earthquake struck. The hotel first swayed violently from side to side and then up and down, finally it collapsed downwards two stories!! All the Christians were calling on the Name of the Lord saying, "Jesus we praise you, Lord Jesus save us!" The earthquake stopped and all 29 Christians and the hotel staff who were serving them got out of the window, which was now on ground level, totally unscathed!! The Hindu hotel owner exclaimed. “I have seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears!"

  Reports came in from all over Gujarat, that a whole Christian village had remained standing whilst the next village was flattened.    A young Christian boy of about 12 years of age sat down with his back to a wall that was about 3'6" high as the quake started. The building opposite him collapsed and a huge pillar fell down on top of the wall, forming a shelter at about a 45 degree angle, the rubble falling on top of the pillar. When the quake stopped he walked out unscratched.
  A number of children were killed as buildings fell, however in one instance the only survivors were a young Christian girl and the two Hindu school friends that she was holding hands with!   In another incident a Christian nursing sister had been called out to do a night duty. After handing over to the incoming sister that morning she had walked only a few yards home when the quake started and the whole hospital collapsed behind her. There were stories after stories of the Lord's people being miraculously saved from the earthquake, to such a degree that the news media picked up on it with reports going all over India saying that they were being punished for the persecution of the Christians. Bhuj is the unofficial HQ for the persecution of Christians in Gujarat.     The Christian communities however told the people that the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Jesus, who died for them and that the Lord was protecting those who had given their lives to Him. They have opened their church buildings to those made homeless and are sending food and blankets to the victims.    Many reports are still coming in and we praise the Lord as the spiritual climate has changed with many coming into the Kingdom.
   After coming home we were in our church on the Sunday evening retelling these testimonies when an elderly lady, who is a retired missionary, joined us. She said, “I can confirm this, two of my former missionary friends were attending a conference near the city of Bhuj and they were on the third story of a hotel..........." and continued to tell the identical story to the one told us by Mr. Christy and Mr.Asvin!! Can you imagine the organization that the Lord does sometimes to confirm His actions. Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

  There are now 103 million believers in India. Many are coming to the Lord every day and a new church is being birthed among the Hindu population in India
every 7 MINUTES!!!
                                                Gwylim Hitchcock.

CONTAINERISED CHRISTIANITY

When Jesus was about to ascend into heaven where He is now exalted, He promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples that they may be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts1:8). In fact it took major persecution to scatter the disciples to begin the process that will see the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy. (Acts 8:1). Ask the average person in the street what their minds eye picture of a church is and they will probably tell you something resembling a grey, stone built structure housing a grey and increasingly irrelevant people. Little wonder a prominent bishop recently suggested that Christianity in the British Isles is nearly vanquished. Yet such a suggestion flies in the face of Scripture and the One who wears the victor’s crown. Persecution will never be a reality to much of the church whilst it persists in maintaining a status quo within four grey walls. One of the defining marks of the New Testament church was that it developed a community radically different from the prevalent culture. The church lived and moved as a dynamic body, impacting peoples lives on a daily basis rather than just the Sunday hour of worship. It was out of this witness to the neighbourhood that folk came to hear the Word preached.

Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. That was not a defensive statement, just the opposite. It was not that hell would press against four grey walls but that the church, without walls or boundaries would come against hell with consequences appropriate to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Ezekiel saw a vision of water flowing out from the temple and into a river that ultimately was too deep to cross but which gave life to that which was dead, and the leaves of the trees growing on its banks gave healing for the nations (Ez. 47:1-12). It is out of the place of worship, our hearts within our bodily temples and the congregations of likeminded people that God flows as an unstoppable flood.

By all means let us hold our meetings, it is right that we should do so. It is right that corporately we should seek more of God, to be filled with the Spirit; but to expect our times of worship to be attractive to unbelievers is not what the Bible teaches (1 Cor.14:21-23). The call to us is to get out of our container and be a prophetic people whereby the unbeliever becomes convinced of God’s truth (1 Cor.14:24-25) and to be outward looking as we seek to make disciples by teaching them all things. It is then that Jesus will be with us(Matt 28:20). Christopher Cowell

ANDY MILLIKEN

We remember with gratitude Andy Milliken who went to be with the Lord in May of this year.

Andy was deputy chairman of the AAACF during the time that Ted Johnson was Chairman, and was instrumental in arranging for the Crossway magazine to be professionally typeset in a full colour format.

Andy’s testimony was most remarkable; during the 2^nd World War he was captured by the Japanese and sent to work on the notorious Burma railway depicted, albeit inaccurately, by the film ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’. At the time Andy was not a Christian but his mother had ensured that a pocket New Testament belonging to his father had been included in his kit bag.

One day as he was reading St. Luke’s gospel he came to chapter 4 and verse 25 where he read ‘…the heaven was shut up for three years and six months…’(KJV). The phrase struck him most forcefully and he noted the date years hence wondering if that would be the day of his release.

Life became increasingly difficult in the labour camp, especially when the prisoners were moved adjacent to the Japanese ammunition dumps as human shields. At first the allies were reluctant to bomb too closely to the dumps but it became apparent that without destroying the Japanese supplies the conflict was being unduly prolonged. The decision was taken to bomb the ammunition in spite of the human shield. The RAF was allocated the task instead of the Americans who up to then had been responsible for the majority of the air raids on the railway. The prisoners soon realised that the allied tactics were such that their lives were in jeopardy, yet miraculously none were killed. Soon after the new bombing strategy had been implemented and to the very day that Andy had noted years previously the prisoners learnt that the Japanese had surrendered and that they were to be freed. Later whilst convalescing in a military hospital in Rangoon, a young Christian woman called Agnes nursed Andy and led him to the Lord. On his return to England Andy and Agnes were married.

Many years later Andy was able to meet the Japanese commander who had led the raid on Pearl Harbour triggering the American involvement in the war. Admiral Fuchida by then had become a Christian and Andy was able to greet him without animosity but in a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. Andy wrote a book, now sadly out of print, entitled ‘From the Kwai to the Kingdom’ about his experiences.(If anyone has a copy that they could donate to the office we would be delighted to have it.)

Andy and Agnes were a great Christian witness together throughout 55 years of marriage and of great encouragement to us in the AAACF, he will be sadly missed but we rejoice with Agnes that he is in the best place with the Lord.

FOOD OR THOUGHT

The summer season is nearly over; barbeques will soon be stored at the back of the garage until next year. Barbeques and meals have been a recent feature of AAACF activity. The Day of Prayer included a wholesome lunch buffet; a new fellowship at Stansted was launched with a 3-course dinner; Christian pilots based at Southampton gathered for a barbeque at the invitation of a colleague; at the British Airways Waterside HQ the Fellowship there held a barbeque on one of the hottest days in July in the parkland behind the complex, followed by a time of praise, prayer and worship in the building itself. There is something special about sharing a meal together, the phenomenal success of the Alpha course is attributed in part to the time taken for participants to have a simple meal together; many of the defining moments in the Bible are centred around a meal, Jesus often used the meal time to share some of his deepest thoughts, indeed one could say that the establishing of the church was founded at the supper table.

Of course it is not just when food is available that Christians gather; the Waterside fellowship mentioned earlier became established soon after the Waterside complex was opened; at the Compass Centre, home to British Airways Operations, one or two people started meeting together once a quarter to pray; in a short space of time there were around 150 on the contact list and meetings are now held monthly. A similar process is happening in the equivalent building at Gatwick, Jubilee House. One person booked a conference room on a monthly basis. At times she has sat there alone but slowly people have come in; news of the meeting has spread to the CAA headquarters and members of the Aviation House Fellowship have come over to Jubilee House to express their support. Contact has been established also with a prayer group at Virgin Atlantic. Elsewhere we see signs of Christian activity springing up where for long there has been none. There is a nucleus of people in Inverness and Shetland; the Edinburgh City Mission has a Chaplain working in the freight terminal at Edinburgh Airport. We hear reports of evangelical activity at both Luton and East

Midlands airports.

There is a move of God; the Holy Spirit is stirring His people and new shoots appearing. That’s not something to be proud of; it is a measure of His grace and mercy. It is so easy to become stuck in a rut, hemmed in on all sides by the pressures of work and all the stresses and strains of an increasingly high-speed world. The exhortation to ‘Be still and know that I am God’ is so often set aside in the hurly burly of ever-tighter schedules, cost restraints and raised expectations of those who buy airline tickets. We cannot pay lip service to Him, God will not be mocked nor will He allow His grace to be cheapened in any way; but He is our Father who understands what it is to be human and to live in trying and difficult circumstances. He cannot be compartmentalized to an hour and a half slot on a Sunday morning especially when half your Sundays are taken on duty or in some far flung destination where His Lordship seems distinctly remote.

God is ‘Our Father’; thus the relationship we have with Him is both personal and corporate, to choose to be a Christian in isolation is not an option any more than to choose with which Christians to associate although how we worship may determine with whom we worship. No one has ever chosen his or her parents, neither have they chosen their siblings, why should it be any different in the family of God?

Paul writing to the church at Ephesus is unceasingly thankful that their faith is in the Lord Jesus and their love is for all the saints. (Eph. 1:15-16) whilst the writer to the Jewish Christians urges them to hold fast to their faith and to spur one another on to love and good works lest they give up meeting together. (Heb. 10:23-26).

As Christians we are a community and the Lord commands a blessing when we dwell together as such (Ps. 133). May the Lord bless you as you continue to find or create opportunity to gather together, and what better opportunity than in the works canteen, with sandwiches round a conference table or a barbeque in your back garden? Christopher Cowell

ADDRESS CHANGE?

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed a change in our office address. No, we have not moved but the new address is more appropriate for our location within the administration block of the church premises we occupy. We enjoy very good relations with the Pastor of the church and his team but we hope the change reflects the fact that we are independent of any denominational grouping.

CONFERENCE 2001 Further Links

Bookings are coming in fast for this event with quite a few from overseas. To ensure your place send off your booking form today. We are privileged to have Douglas McBain as our guest speaker as well as John and Victoria Lary who will be conducting the Saturday morning workshop sessions. Victoria is Jewish by birth and once worked for Sudan Airlines as a stewardess. The children will their own programme led by Steve Mitchell who has a special ministry to our young ones. Prayer counselling will be available with Philip Colinese, and Margaret Adams who comes to us with a wealth of experience.

WESTON 2001 Further News

Thank you to those who supported this outreach, you were much appreciated, I value and enjoyed your company, your love and your prayers, particularly for the predicament that Hazel and I were in. Your loving concern in this situation was very much appreciated. Paul is now out of hospital and resting at home with his wife and family.

This year, we decided to separate, some stayed at the tent, others went to the pier, a few to the car parks and I went to the end of the train stop where coaches unloaded their passengers. Collectively we pray the Lord might have a great harvest.

Sometimes we can become discouraged. After such events, people often ask what feedback did we have. In the past it has often been almost nil. They then say, “If there is so little feedback then surely we have been wasting our time?” My reply has always been, “You don’t know your Bible, we are not to look for worldly success or for rewards, but we are commanded to go out and witness. Christ will accomplish that which He so wishes through our outreach. It is not our problem as to what happens.” Sometimes we may lead one or two people to the Lord, or we may lead many to the Lord, at other times Christ may use us to sow seed and it is for someone else to lead them into His Kingdom at a later date. We never waste our time when we speak or publish the Word of God providing it is not watered down.

All of the team wrote, phoned or contacted me to say how much they enjoyed being there and acquainted me with many exciting things, which happened to them.

James Henry wrote, ‘The Polish Air sea rescue squadron at Gydniw who in a previous year were given five English bibles and later requested bibles in Polish for themselves, asked for five similar bibles for other members of their squadron in Poland. So from one contact at Fairford three years ago we have now been able to give, at their request, fifteen Bibles, as well as video tapes supplied by Chris Jones and other Aviation Christian literature.’

A lady standing at the tent wanted to know more about the Christian faith. James was pleased to answer her questions.

The German aircrew received tracts in their own language, also the SASRA tract for those in the armed forces. One German pilot who was sceptical three years ago at Fairford came to the tent and spent 30 minutes or so talking to James about the Lord.

Brenda Richardson gave a paper to a man passing by, the next day he came back and said, “I have read your paper and am very impressed.” After the outreach we also received a phone call from a person in the Netherlands who asked if he might go onto the AAACF mailing list.

The owner of the hotel where Kay Collyer was staying had lost her husband just three weeks before, so she was able to pray and comfort her in her sadness and loss. Kay would also like to thank those who prayed for her dog, which was much better when she arrived home.

May Christ, who blessed His work at Weston, now bless those who served Him so well during this outreach. John Brown

BIBLE PUZZLE

Our friends in Air Zimbabwe sent in this quiz. The first two correct entries to be opened at the conference will win a prize of either a worship CD from Stoneleigh 2000 or the little book ‘The Prayer of Jabesh’, by Bruce Wilkinson; send your solution to the office, indicating your preference of prize.

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Can you find the names of 16 books from the Bible in the paragraph below without the aid of your bible? (One minister found 15 of the books in 20 minutes, but it took him weeks to find the last one.) List the books in the order they appear in the paragraph.

I once made the remark about the hidden books of the

Bible. It was a lulu; kept people looking so hard for facts, and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can
concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph

NEWSLINE

Airline, Aviation, and Aerospace Christian Fellowships

Autumn 2001 Edition in Word