Mississippi to North Carolina (JAARS)

"Rise and shine, rise and shine". Today was a great day to wake up early in the morning and have an oatmeal breakfast at 6:30am to get ready to soar the skies once again. We got airborne from Hattiesburg, Mississippi around 7:50am local time and noticed that today's cloud base was at a low altitude. Once we started passing beneath those clouds, we saw the bright blue sky looking down on us as it was asking and ready for us to climb into it. With the joy of formation flying as a flight of three we were able to head to our first destination which was Thomaston, Georigia.In Thomaston, Georgia some of us could hear our bellies growling as we ambushed the vending machines to fill ourselves with food and drinks. One of the nice things about this part of the leg was that as we flew north, we noticed that it got warmer and more sunnier which made it an even more exciting day. After our stop in Georgia it was time to file the flight plans and get ready to fly to our destination... JAARS Townsend airfield, in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Flying along, the weather started improving more and more as the skies just got clearer and clearer. We started closing in on the airfield and then once we landed, we stepped outside and were greeted by quite a few of the JAARS staff.Incase you were wonderging, JAARS stands for: Jungle Aviation and Radio Services. This organization specializes in the delivery of missionaries, Bibles' and translators, and medical relief. What happens at JAARS in Waxhaw is that those interested in being missionary pilot's will go through an intense training program as described by Roger Krezin. Additionally, Roger was a former JAARS pilot and today he gave us a tour of their training base where we got to see the hangar and some of their fleet. One of the exciting things about the tour was when Roger gave us an in-depth tour of the Helio-Courier aircraft.After that exciting tour, Roger took us to our lodging which is where we would be spending the night. About half an hour later it was dinner time and tonight's dinner would be spent at Roger's house on base. Tonight's menu which his wife prepared for us was a delicious meal of taco soup (yum yum yum)! Another guest at dinner was Burt Loewen who is one of the board members at Providence College who coincidentally happened to be at JAARS that day. Roger fascinated us as he shared his stories, experiences, and his passion for mission aviation. To end off the night we we're driven home by Roger where we we're able to fit quite a few people in his truck for a fun ride to our lodging. All in all today was an excellent day and a great taste of what mission aviation is all about!


And it will be said in that day:
Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the LORD;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
Isaiah 25:9