Creative Flying

 

Ministering in a state where only ten percent of the landmass can be reached by road seems like an impossible task. And it would be if not for flight. Fifteen percent of Alaska’s total population live in areas accessible only by airplane. It is to these villagers who need the gospel that God has called the Houtz family.

Aaron’s burden for aviation ministry began when he was in high school. He planned to pursue that career in Papua, New Guinea, until meeting Mike and Jeannette Clark, missionaries to rural Alaska. During a six week internship with Baptist Mid-Missions, he was asked by a Yupik Alaskan native, “Are you the preacher I have been praying for?” That was when he knew God was calling him and his family to do some creative flying in Alaska.

Aaron and Rachel Houtz were both home-schooled and then attended Bob Jones University. Their sending church is Mount Calvary Baptist of Greenville, South Carolina. The Clarks have been in Alaska for eighteen years and are located in the village of Iliamna. That village is unique because it has two air taxi companies and hunting and fishing lodges which bring people to the area from across the state. Adding another pilot will make it possible for the ministry to expand into many other small villages reaching Alaskan native peoples. Many of them have never heard the gospel.

The Houtz’s plan to live in Iliamna, but also travel out to other villages and stay for several weeks at a time, sharing the good news of Christ. Their goal is to build relationships with the Yupiks in order to effectively evangelize. For more information you are invited to go to houtzestoalaska,com.