While the others were still eating, Alpha told her buddies about the new friends she’d made this year. ‘On a stop I did in the UK, I met a really cool guy called James who’s training to be an MAF pilot. His wife Danielle is training to be a midwife. Once they’ve finished their studies, they’ll both be helping to save lives!’

‘How long do they have to train for?’ asked Foxtrot, the only non-pilot at the table.

‘Danielle has been working in a hospital for the last three years and has nearly completed her training,’ Alpha explained, ‘and James told me he’s had an interest in flying since he was young. He used to get the MAF Youth magazine and kept in touch with the MAF team. So, when he was old enough, he started his training.’

‘So has he done the same exams we did?’ Mike asked Alpha.

‘That’s right,’ Alpha replied. ‘He learned all sorts of things about safe landings and navigation. How all the bits of the aircraft work, and how to fly in different weather conditions.’

Putting down his spoon, Mike said to Foxtrot, ‘It’s a lot to learn, and I remember it well. But if you do it a little bit at a time, and keep practising, it becomes easier.’

‘That’s right,’ agreed Alpha. ‘James said that, because he kept asking God about it and talking with his family, he knew it was the right thing to do.

‘He told me that one of his favourite Bible verses is, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It’s from Jeremiah 29:11. He’s so passionate about flying!’

Foxtrot nodded respectfully, then added, ‘I wonder how many other children are out there, right now, who will be pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers like us when they grow up.’