This Tuesday, we took a field trip down to Waxhaw, NC, to visit the JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Relay Services) Base and Alphabet Museum to learn about their history and mission in spreading God’s word to other countries. 

For over 50 years, JAARS has worked to bring God’s written word, missionaries, translators, and supplies to remote places of the “rainforest climates” around the equator, using “Special-purpose aircraft, boats, and off-road vehicles”. The translators whom they transport, receive their training from the Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) which works to translate the Bible into minority languages and teach them. JAARS transports people working at SIL to remote places that have yet to read the Bible in their own language. 

The tour began in the JAARS Cardenas Building to give us an overview of the history of the organization. JAARS was founded by Cameron Townsend, who made it his mission to translate the Bible for those who speak minority languages so that they could learn about God. Our tour guide explained to us that the establishment of the organization was a response to the realization by the founder that he needed a way to transport missionaries and translators to the remote rainforest areas where the mission was being carried out. Townsend saw planes and helicopters as the mechanism to achieve this. JAARS began working with academics on the means necessary to carry their Bible translating work into the field. Using technologies such as transistor radios and special computers. 

We continued touring the numerous operations buildings of JAARS. We were led through the buildings housing motorcycles, off-road vehicles, carpentry workshops, and machine shops alongside their airstrip. Our walk of the grounds led us to our last stop, the main center of the action, where we saw volunteers working on various aircraft for JAARS. The tour guide explained to us the different aircraft’s uses and capacities for passengers and cargo.

Finally, we walked back across the street from the JAARS Base to visit the Alphabet Museum, where we were guided on a tour of the history of the alphabet. Since the development of Egyptian Cuneiform, the alphabet has undergone many changes, and many regions have their own alphabets and symbols for writing. The museum demonstrates the need and important work of SIL. 

The trip to JAARS and the Alphabet Museum gave us insight into how one organization is working to teach those who live in hard-to-reach regions about God and provide them with His word. Learning how planes, boats, vehicles, and helicopters are being used to continue this mission left us enlightened and inspired!