We invite you to join us in this year’s Whatever It Takes: 2023 Campaign. For six weeks, throughout the months of August and September, we will be highlighting stories of people who serve here at JAARS and around the world: doing whatever it takes to share the gospel by reducing barriers, easing burdens, and delivering God’s Word.
We are especially excited for what is on the horizon! Because believers like you have engaged in Great Commission efforts with JAARS, we are now uniquely positioned to open new fields in the rainforests of central Africa and the islands of Melanesia. We have identified scores of currently unreachable language groups who need the Bible in their own language.
But because these are new fields, in new places, we will need dozens of newly trained people, new equipment for them, such as aircraft, boats, and rough terrain vehicles, and the ability to sustain them on the field.
I used to let them talk. I get a little impatient now. And after I’ve listened long enough, I say, “Well now, I’ve heard you. But we’ve got a job to do! And whatever it takes to do the job, that’s what our needs are going to be.”
—William Cameron Townsend, founder of JAARS, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and SIL International
Pursuing the Great Commission
The Green Band
Many of the unreached people groups that have yet to receive God’s Word are located in this green band in remote and hard-to-access areas.
The JAARS Base
We maintain a fleet of 6 airplanes and 1 helicopter used for training pilots and mechanics who serve all over the world.
Aviation Partners
We support our aviation partners by providing them with aircraft, as well as personnel, training, funding subsidies, and more. There are 32 aircraft located across these 8 bases.
Other Projects
JAARS also assists Bible translation partners who need other kinds of transportation support—such as rough terrain vehicles, motorcycles, or boats—and the training to operate them safely.
New Fields
There are still many language groups that are unreached because of their remote locations. JAARS is currently working toward creating access to 3 areas within central Africa and Melanesia.
Faces of the Campaign
Each week of the campaign we will highlight individuals and share their stories about how God is using them to further the work of Bible translation. Don’t miss out! Click here to receive these stories and videos in your inbox!
William Cameron Townsend
The founder of JAARS, “Uncle Cam” persevered through adversity and opposition to do whatever it took to reach people with the Word of God. He refused to be daunted by limited resources and budgets. As he said, “Nothing is impossible for our God. And He expects us to be courageous; He expects us to take Him at His Word.”
Lenny Yarita
This Papua New Guinean grew up at the SIL Papua New Guinea operations center in Ukarumpa and has been working in their hangar as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. He recently took the JAARS Pre-Field Orientation course. He says, “With the training I am getting, I am excited to continue serving God with my skills and abilities in maintaining airplanes in an airworthy manner to fly missionaries and their supplies into their village locations so their work of translating the gospel may continue.”
Bernie May
Bernie May joined JAARS as a pilot-mechanic in 1954, becoming our eleventh pilot. He flew in Peru and Ecuador, learning how to operate different kinds of aircraft so people in South America could have God’s Word in their own language. “The airplane was there to serve the people. And we did. We served a lot of people, saved a lot of lives.”
Ndonam Caleb
The director of ATALTRAB, a local Bible translation organization in Chad, Africa, often travels with his team over rough and dangerous roads to check translations in villages and to raise awareness for their Bible translation projects. He and other members of ATALTRAB recently took a JAARS motorcycle-4WD course. “The motorcycles have made it possible to easily reach the communities to obtain the information needed to advance the project activities.”
Brendan and Allie Palmer
Brendan, who serves at JAARS as an engineer, and Allie, who serves as a mechanic and avionics technician, have given up more-comfortable, better-paying jobs to focus on reducing barriers, easing burdens, and delivering God’s Word for people in remote places. “It’s really neat to be in an environment where it’s truly like a family because we all love Jesus,” Allie reflected. “We’re all working toward the same goal—getting God’s Word out.”
Gabe Lawrence
Gabe will be serving the people in Papua, Indonesia, as a pilot-mechanic with our aviation partner, YAJASI. He has gone the extra mile to prepare himself for this work by taking our JATO|Flight program and going through our Pre-Field Orientation course. “We’re thankful that JAARS can provide the training for us, the excellence in aviation, and [that we can] work as a team to extend the hope that we have in Jesus and the gospel,” Gabe said.
Will you join us?
Let’s help fulfill God’s Great Commission by reaching further to deliver His Word!
