At the Michigan Conference Camp Meeting, more than 250 primary and junior campers hiked down to the Great Lakes Adventist Academy airstrip to meet “mystery missionaries.” They spread out in six groups in front of the hangar for story time.

Chet Damron (a.k.a. Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Dan) shared mission aviation stories from Indonesia. Noel Wilton recounted war rescue stories from South Africa. Michael Nickless, Michigan Conference communication director, took up his position under the wing of N1352V, the Cessna 172 Hawk XPII. In the welcome shade of that wing, he briefed listeners on how missionary work started in Alaska with God giving dreams to two Eskimo brothers from the villages of Aleknagik and Togiak. The kids were thrilled to hear how that very wing they were sitting under will soon be flying to those villages to retell the story of Jesus.

Don Starlin related stories from the Philippines, while Marcio Costa covered Guyana, telling the story of the Davis Indians and the White man with the black book. Allan Payne flew in to share stories from Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. The groups rotated every 15 minutes so each child was able to hear several stories of ways God has reached out to save mankind.

During the course of the week, the young people earned kindness coins, underwritten by adult sponsors. At the end of the week, the coins were cashed and the proceeds went to support various mission projects, including Adventist World Aviation–Alaska.

Adventist World Aviation news release