Heroes

Everyday heroes of faith don’t wear medals. One meandered up to me today as I worked. He casually asked what I was doing and listened while I explained. He wandered to the other side of the golf cart I sat on and sat beside me. Then we began to talk.

A week ago, I knew only his name from a story that has become somewhat of a legend in the world of mission aviation. His is the story that that budding missionary pilots tell with wild eyes. It is probably second in popularity only to Nate Saint and the “Palm Beach” massacre, and that’s mostly because Life magazine took an interest in that one.

He came and told us his story about how he was lured, trapped, and captured by the guerilla communist army of Colombia. How the Lord sustained his spirit and taught him to minister to his captors. How he made a daring escape in the middle of the night, taking his airplane with him and humiliating the whole rebel army. In the end, it wasn’t the adventure that captured my attention. Crystal said well why we were so moved by his ministry to us.

As we sat on the golf cart today and chatted, I was reminded of what makes a hero. It’s not bravado or pomp. It isn’t even adventure and intrigue. A song came to my mind that expresses the heroism I admire:

Learning to lean,
Learning to lean;
I’m learning to lean on Jesus.
Finding more power than I’d ever dreamed,
I’m learning to lean on Jesus.

When I reach the stage of life that our brother Paul is in, I want to have lived a life like his. Not the adventure, but the leaning. I want to have trusted in my Savior, and I want to still be reaching for more trust. Paul’s story isn’t great because Paul is great; Paul’s story is great because Paul’s God is great. He is the first to remind you of that, and I couldn’t agree with him more. That’s what makes a hero.