Put the Plane Down Now!

By Audrey Castelbuono

“We need to land this plane NOW!” shouted Danny, my friend and pilot, as he looked frantically out the small Cessna’s rain speckled cockpit.

Three of us college kids had boarded the small aircraft just hours before in southwest Michigan. It had been a cloudless sky with perfect flying conditions as we lifted off and headed south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to attend a workshop. With such great weather, nobody was concerned that our licensed pilot did not have instrument rating.

Suddenly everything changed. In what seemed like seconds, the sky went from blue to gray and not far ahead we saw horrific black clouds and lightning bolts. Our pilot, who had been calm and confident, became panicked as rain pelted the aircraft’s windshield. He knew that without instrument training, flying into that kind of weather situation was a disastrous risk.

Danny threw an aerial map at me and shouted, “Find a place to land!” I looked at the map (which was nothing like a road map) and saw nothing that looked familiar. My stomach went into my throat as I put the map down and looked out the window, eagle-eyed, trying to find something in all the farmland below that might possibly be a small airfield.

Over in the far distance I spotted something yellow—possibly a cone shaped flag flying at the end of what appeared to be a short road. Could it be? Was this a little airstrip at the end of a farmer’s field? I shouted to Danny, “I think I see something over here to my right!” Danny looked and said, “No matter what it is, I need to get this plane down now. We’re going for it.”

All three of us prayed and Danny started to rapidly descend toward that little yellow speck and the little road. As we got closer, we saw to our amazement that it was indeed a runway with just enough length for a small airplane to land safely.

No one was there to greet us. No other planes were around. There was one hangar and one short runway. That’s it.

All three of us believed, and still believe, that we experienced an absolute miracle. At the very moment that we needed to land that little plane amidst a fierce developing storm, we found a little airstrip in the middle of thousands and thousands of acres of farmland.

Not all of us go through scary travel scenarios like this but I believe that God is always at work in our lives, protecting us, guiding us. Let us lift up our voices in gratitude for life, health, and safety! And may we glorify God in all that we do.

Audrey Castelbuono holds a master’s degree in K-12 administration from Michigan State University. She worked as a principal for many years before her current work as an administrator for university philanthropy. This testimony is shared with permission of Time to Get Ready Ministries.

World Church Prayer Requests

November 11 - 17, 2022

• Pray for your government and those in leadership in your region of the world. Pray that God would raise up Daniels and Josephs to stand for truth in these places of influence.
• Pray for special comfort for church members who have recently lost loved ones due to old age, sickness, or natural disasters.
• Pray for strength and courage for our church family facing spiritual persecution in China, Myanmar, Malaysia, and other difficult territories in the Middle East and Asia.
• Pray for growth of church membership as well as the establishment of a church in Eupen, Belgium.
• Pray for the vegan cafe called “Manna Haven” operated by the Byron Bay Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Cooking classes and outreach is taking place, and already some Bible studies have resulted. This is a great example of what God wants to see happen all over the world.

To download this week's testimony and prayer requests, click here!