This issue’s interview is part two with Chester and Amy Davis. I’ve known Chester and Amy for 15 years now. They live with their four young children in Lincoln, Nebraska while Chester finishes up a mechanical engineering degree.

Chester and Amy present some ideas here that are challenging and outside of the norm; I was hoping for this when I emailed them about doing this interview. In their own words, they are living intentionally. Their intention: To serve God in the area of missions that uses their gifts and fills a need. They are as dedicated as anyone I’ve personally known in living out this desire. While not everyone will agree with all of their observations or exhortations, the sacrifices they’ve made along the way are something every aspiring missionary needs to seriously consider.

Propel: How long have you been interested in long-term missions? When and how did this interest begin?

Chester: I was brought up in an environment where it was not possible to be completely self-absorbed and where ministry in all forms was encouraged. So it really has never crossed my mind to not be involved in some type of ministry. Going the standard route of fifty-plus hours a week and watching football on weekends has been something that is near repulsive to me. The only specific change I recall is that while in the Military my heart was enlarged towards other nations and cultures.

Amy: When I was young my parents wanted to be missionaries, so I’ve always looked up to missionaries as some sort of celebrity, hoping that someday I would be that cool. With age that has taken different forms; I chose to major in computer science in college so that I could perhaps use that computer skill to work with Wycliffe. During college I was involved with International student ministry, then I wanted to go to India or a Muslim country. After getting married, we learned that JAARS does research and development in the missionary aviation field, and think that this is a good match for the passions and abilities that God has given us.

Propel: You’ve been pursuing missions aviation for a number of years now. How and why is aviation important to missions?

Chester: Aviation remains a key component to world missions because of the lack of transportation infrastructure in the undeveloped portions of the world where missionaries are doing Bible translation and humanitarian oriented ministry. While the need has declined since the advent of radio and satellite communication, some locations simply require access for supplies and personnel that is not feasible by other means. Missions and aviation has always turned my crank, and so when the opportunity to combine these things exists why would I look for anything else?

Propel: You’ve committed to a significant amount of schooling in order to fulfill a specific need in the missions community. How does a person interested in missions weigh the pros and cons of such lengthy preparation in lieu of getting to the field more quickly?

Chester: For me this is an obvious choice in that we see a specific need — engineering in missions aviation — and do not see people jumping at the opportunity. What do you encourage people to do when they see a need that fits with the goal, desires, and direction that God has given a person? In advising others I try to help them understand that the temporal stuff — money, power, junk, the needs to be loved, liked, respected, etc — are insufficient to sustain a person through the difficulties, and usually are not going to result in hearing the “well done good and faithful servant.”  Even if you never have a sign from God to a specific thing being Gods will, it’s wise to move toward that which endures, being willing to change course if God directs. In some regards the real issue to be addressed is that you should always be in the action of giving, of investing yourself for and into people. Regardless of if a person heads to Cambodia or is a checker at (God forbid it) Wal-Mart, the primary issue for all believers is to be faithful with what God has given you right now.

Amy: The balance between pursuing a dream and being flexible is difficult, and we sometimes wonder if we chose well. However, God has used this period of our lives to grow us.

Propel: Does the Church overlook the importance of support roles in missions, and if so what can we do to bring the need for people behind the lines to it’s proper prominence?

Chester: The largest inhibitor toward people becoming involved in ministry or missions is the segregation between self and the sacred. We tend to look at life in such a way as to see spiritual stuff as some type of duty. When we look at the Great Commission we see that the issue is not making converts but making disciples which involves evangelism and training of people. When Paul states that he wants to see the people become complete in Christ he is including mindset, perspective, and not simply limited to normal actions in life. The idea that some Christians are “called” into missions is heretical and we need to treat it as such. There simply are those believers who do something about the eternal destiny of those around them, and those believers who are living in disobedience. God may call a person where, but His call is universal in regards to what. In order to see transformation in the Body we need to help people understand that the only difference between missionaries and laypeople is that missionaries get to share God’s free gift of eternal life all the time, as an occupation.

Amy: In my opinion, most churches seem to judge the value of a missionary by their charisma and inspiring stories. A support missionary may have a harder time with these two, but I think overall to the church a missionary is a missionary — at least on foreign soil. A stateside missionary, I think, has a harder job in the church. It’s seen as working in a reached field and as not really being a missionary. Here, vision casting is almost more important, but also more difficult. 

Propel: What obstacles have you encountered in your pursuit of mission involvement?  How are you overcoming these obstacles?

Chester: Certainly it has been difficult, however, the difficulty for my part comes out of a desire to be liked, praised and respected by men. This is why the foundational elements are key to developing correct perspective. We do not engage as disciples, in whatever capacity God allows, for the praise of men but for the honor of God and, when evaluated, His praise. This is the whole point of James chapter one that basically says that when we respond with correct perspective we will see our faith develop vitality.

When I fail at something, like a midterm, or when I encounter struggles, such as not being able to fix the timing belt on the mini-van, knowing that God has not abandoned me but has a plan for good if I will respond rightly helps me overcome.

Amy I think we expected to do this quickly. It’s going a lot slower than we hoped, probably due to unrealistic expectations and God’s needing to give us time to grow. We have learned that it’s not reasonable to short-circuit our family for our dreams. That’s workaholism, and doesn’t glorify Christ. As a result, our current slower pace allows us to enjoy life and pursue our dreams too.

This article is part of the August 2008 issue. It is filed under Interviews, Missions education, Preparing to go. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Share this post on Facebook.