An aviation ministry out of Texas is set to become the world’s first Christian airline. The airline – Judah 1 – has announced that the FAA had accepted their application to switch from a private operator to “becoming the first and only Christian Airline”.
The airline will charge regular ticket prices, but is not available for just the general public – you have to be part of a mission team.
The website explains that it serves Christians of all denominations traveling to the mission fields of the world. Their planes have also delivered hundreds of missionaries and transported thousands of pounds of cargo.
“Judah 1 will have the freedom to transport as many different churches and mission organisations as we can. This is a huge honour and privilege and we give God all the glory! We will be posting more information as we are able. Thank you so much Judah 1 partners and friends for making this possible!”
“By the end of next year, we would like to have three to four large planes,” Judah 1 President and CEO Everett Aaron told the Christian Post. “We now have being added to our fleet a Boeing 767-200ER. It seats 238 people and can go anywhere in the world with one-stop. It carries 30 tons of cargo.”
“The advantage is that there’s no luggage fees. Absolutely none. All your cargo travels with you as well. So that’s the biggest thing,” Aaron said.
He pointed to research that shows how frequently Christians traveling on mission trips tend to lose their cargo and said it’s one of the burdens of missionaries traveling with secular airlines that Judah 1 hopes to eliminate.
The ministry is based in the southern US state of Louisiana Judah 1 is in possession of five aircraft.
“It is very rewarding to know how many Judah 1 and our partners have helped,” their website reads. “This includes the thousands who have been seen in medical clinics, and the thousands who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. It is our passion to help you reach the estimated two and a half billion people who do not know Jesus and it only takes YOUR HANDS, GOD’S LOVE, OUR WINGS.”
Judah 1 will operate different from regular airlines – it won’t function on a normal schedule and is not limited to taking pre-approved routes, as is the case for the well-known commercial airlines. “That means we can go where we want when we want, unlike most airlines … that have to have certain schedules that they fly, have to have certain routes,” Everett added to CP. “We don’t have to do that.”
Judah 1 has had to implement increased hygiene measures in order to mitigate the risk of Covid transmission amongst passengers and crew – as such, the aircraft are fully sterilised after each flight.
The inspiration behind the name and the mission of Judah 1 came when founder Everett Aaron noticed a group of airline aircraft lined up and ready to be sent into the mission field.
“They were full of food, medical supplies, Bibles..” he said. “The engines were fired up and they were ready to go. There were people lined up in front of these planes ready to get on them, but they wouldn’t get on the planes. I asked God ‘why won’t these people get on the planes do they can go out into the mission field’?
“And God said, ‘they can’t get go into the mission field until you get the aeroplanes…this is what I’m calling you to do.”
Everett said the idea for Judah 1 was solidified through “the Lord showing me the need for mission aviation”.
Judah 1 has already partnered with several humanitarian relief organisations including Samaritan’s Purse and ‘Operation Blessing’ – a humanitarian relief charity associated with the Christian Broadcasting Network.
The airline hopes to reach two and a half billion people who do not yet know Jesus. “It’s not just about the preaching of the gospel,” Everett added. “We want to see the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit in action.”
(Picture Courtesy: Judah 1 website)
