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Taking to the air to deliver God’s Word
AUSTRALIA — For those who have never been there, it is almost impossible to appreciate just how vast Western Australia and Northern Territory really are. Travelling by road between their hundreds of small scattered communities is time-consuming, exhausting and, at times, dangerous because of the extreme terrain and weather conditions. During the wet season, the roads can be completely impassable and communities can be cut off for weeks at a time.
Back in the 1960s, one man’s concern
that the indigenous people living in these remote outback communities
were being denied access to the Scriptures led to the establishment
of a ministry known as the ‘Flying Bibleman’. Travelling in
a rented light aircraft, the most suitable form of transport for this
region, Trevor Booth began to visit them. Their response was so positive
that that he was encouraged to purchase an aircraft and make the ministry
a more permanent feature of Bible Society work here. Since Mr Booth’s pioneering efforts, there have been several ‘Flying Biblemen’. The current one is Phillip Zamagias, Director of the Bible Society in Australia (Northern Territory), who took on the role in February 2002.
Originally an aircraft engineer, Mr Zamagias
graduated to flying a range of different aircraft and at one time was
a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Now, with flying experience
of almost 5,000 hours, his travels in his Cessna 206 with the call sign
VH-BXT (Bibles across the Top) take him across almost three million
square kilometres of land – 40 per cent of Australia – stretching
from Broome in the west to Alice Springs in southern Northern Territory
and north to the Torres Strait.
PopularWherever his travels take him, Mr Zamagias tries to inform local people about his plans in advance. This means that they can let him know if there are any supplies they urgently need. He is always happy to load these onto his aircraft along with the items he regularly carries with him, which include Bibles in various formats, films and children’s publications. He finds that large-print Scriptures are particularly popular among indigenous people, many of whom find reading difficult because they live in poorly lit homes and cannot visit an optician. After the people have seen what he has brought with him, he sometimes preaches, sometimes leads Bible studies, sometimes shows them a film or sometimes simply talks to them to encourage them in their faith. Some information taken from AOPA, Australia’s general aviation magazine, Sep 2004. (WR 393/7 - 06.05) [8 photos] |
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