Wings for Christ was founded by Keith Hull.  Keith's vision for this ministry is continuing to unfold, even though he went on to be with our Lord.  

    In its early beginnings, the name "Wings For Christ" was simply used to associate aviation to the work that was being performed.  The work focused on mission trips into the interior of Mexico.  Teams would be sent to work on orphanages, or dentists would be flown into remote areas where they would perform much-needed care and other missions of this sort.  WFC also offered flight training.

    The vision has expanded.  This Washington Chapter of Wings For Christ was started after our Washington founder, Lonnie Good, returned from Texas, where he served under Keith Hull. 

    Upon returning to Washington, Mr. Good began gathering skills needed to run an aviation ministry.  As fortune would have it, he landed a job in a "wing shop."  From there he launched his own wing rebuilding company called Concrete Aircraft.  All plans were to begin another chapter of WFC here in Washington State.  After a decade of building wings, Lonnie went to work for the Boeing Company.  When Boeing began cutting their work force, Lonnie was given the option to retrain.  This is where the paralegal branch began.

    After completing the Paralegal Program at Skagit Valley College, Mr. Good set out to establish a paralegal center in Skagit Valley.   Lonnie felt that this service could be a great way to minister to the community.  Wings For Christ has plotted a new course.  This is in addition to flying missions here in Washington State and Canada.     

   One of Keith's favorite passages was this:  "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31 These words bring hope to those who are, at times, not able to soar above life's circumstances.  

    Rebuilding wings is a tedious job, much preparation and building is performed before you see the end result.  This is the way it is with people.  It takes a great deal of investment, preparation, and commitment, but the end result is beautiful.

   Our own brokenness and healing has been an incredible gift that we gladly deposit into the lives of others, who draw hope, strength, and courage--and then they learn to fly.   

LG

Good afternoon, Lonnie,

I thought I would send you a note with a few thoughts I experienced in the past couple of weeks.  I made a trip a couple of weeks ago to San Diego to do some deep sea fishing.  On our way there (we drove), we passed Texas Hill, in Southern Arizona.  Texas Hill was just a "bump" mountain out in the desert and it was surrounded with farms.  The farms ran along the Gila River that had been started by some Texans back during the depression hence, the name "Texas Hill".  The Wings for Christ used to send a preacher out to a small (one room) Baptist church in the Texas Hill area and the church was
located on the dry banks of the Gila River.  The river almost never ran except perhaps a month long period in January when we had some good rains and the river would run.

There was a mountain standing out just SW of Texas Hill called Mohawk Mountain.  It had a large protruding stone "Nose" at the top and we all named it "Keith Hull Hill".   Keith was always naming people in the group, we had "Brother Mud" who was a bricklayer, and "Brother Grease"  who was a machanic who was called to preach.  Keith always laughed about the name of the mountain but he did not like it much.  Keith was a fun loving Christian with a heart of gold.  He would tell us stories about the time he spent in the Air Force and the time he did a sonic boom on Hoover Dam.  That's
another story though.

We used to have Piper Tri-Pacers, and one of the pilots would fly in there on Sunday morning and land on the road next to the church, and conduct services.  One Sunday, Steve Reynolds was the pilot, and I was in the back seat as I remember, and as he landed, the old "johnson bar" brakes refused to work.....Not a real problem except there was a stop-sign by the Church and Steve was trying to get the aircraft to stop.  We "Ran" the stop-sign and other than a truck who saw us and ducked into a ditch, we were ok. 

Steve subsequently moved his wife and kids to the area, got a job and is still there ministering.  I was to come down to help in one of the services and he told me where to park on the south side of the river and he would pick me up.....I did not fully realize what he meant until I saw a row boat angling down the river to get to where I was.  He picked me up and started rowing back, and we had to walk about a half-mile back to the church because of the moving water. 

We had a member named Roy Gene Edge, from Oklahoma, stood about 5ft, 3" and was a powerful preacher.  We all called him Roy Gene, or "Rawhide" and he was powerful in the pulpit.  Roy Gene was going to preach one sunday morning and he was riding in the back seat of the Tri-Pacer, studying his sermon when the back door opened, (the left door on a tri-pacer is the back door) and Roy Gene's sermon notes were sucked out of the aircraft.....He just
looked up and said, "Well there'll be a jackrabbit who'll get a good sermon today".

Roy Gene is still ministering in the state of Arkansas. Hope you are doing well, we're fine here and I will ask you to pray  for my youngest Son, James who is in need of the Savior.

John L. Smith
Product Support Engineer
Primus II and Epic
Honeywell
Business, Regional, and General Aviation
5353 W. Bell Rd.
Glendale, AZ 85308
Mail Stop 2DD80
Tel: 602-436-7314
Fax: 602-436-4040
E-mail: John.l.smith@honeywell.com