Many moons ago in a country far, far away, I approached a pilot in a heavily laden cessna 206 that was chock full of people and chickens and wicker and...whatever could be put in there. I didn't know the gear could be spread so wide and that the aircraf could squat so much, but it did.
I was curious about his show, and wanted to talk for just a moment. I asked him what the organization required to fly for them. He looked me up and down, and simply replied, "We don't take people of your, um, theological affiliation."
I wasn't wearing any religious artifact, garb, collar, dress, whatever, and wasn't sure what exactly he meant. I said, "I thought you were a Christian organization."
He replied, "We hate catholics too, but we'll fly them if they pay us enough."
That was enough for me. I went the other direction and headed back to Lae.
In that particular land, the people had been beat up and controlled by one invading culture after another. Various occupations had taken place, numerous attrocities, but the worst that had happened to them as a people was the invasion of Christian Missionaries...ones who tried to bend the culture to their own ways.
Nothing against Christianity...I have strong Christian affiliation myself...but I don't know that I'd be too quick to encourage a young guy to go plonk down his savings to press the likes of "we hate catholics but we'll fly them if they pay us enough."
A lot of service organizations out there do a lot of good, and a lot of these missionary flying outfits certainly fit that description...don't discount the opportunity if it's what you believe and it's what floats your boat. But also don't see it for what it's not.
You also need to realize and remember that the peruvian cessna 185 shootdown that made the papers here a few years ago was not an isolated event, but one of many, and it's back on again. Don't make your decision to go based on that, but use common sense, follow your instinct, and your heart.
I also wouldn't go calling it a PFT operation. By their very nature, most all missionary programs are self-sponsored. A lot of them do a lot of humanitarian good. If you want to be a part of that, there's nothing wrong with dedicating yourself, your labor, and even your money to a cause in which you believe. The organization can afford to pay you very little if anything, and your reward won't be your paycheck. It may be nothing more than a deep satisfaction that you've accomplished something at the end of the day. You may not go home rich, but a lot of folks making a lot of money can't go home at the end of the day with that feeling, and they can't buy it.
Many of these organizations can't afford to train pilots. They rely on donations from many sources. Christian missionaries have a strong tradition of going into the world "without script nor purse," without expecting big wages or gaurantees. Of providing for themselves as they go...the situation described isn't any different.
Nobody makes you go. One might even say that fronting the money is a way of weeding out those who aren't really dedicated. It's not for everybody. Only you know if you feel compelled to do that kind of work, and in the same vein, only you will know if the terms and conditions of the opportunity to serve are right for you. Don't drag into that a discussion of corporate and airline pilots paying for their jobs in an economic tug of war, because mission flying is far and apart from all of that. If you have to ask what you get out of the deal, then it's definitely not right for you.
