Who We Are | Flight Training for Missionaries

Affection Connection

MISSIONS

using the

Tool of Flight

Affection Above Aviation, established in January 2020, is a flight school that provides mission aviation flight training to missionaries and full-time Christian workers of like faith. Getting the light in to the darkness with the gospel of Jesus Christ is the reason we exist. Every lost person should have the opportunity to hear the truth of Jesus Christ that they might be saved.

There are missionaries going to areas around the world that can only reach these people-groups by using the tool of flight. Due to these natural barriers, aviation has proven to be a reliable source of transportation to reach the unreached.

Once a missionary has been properly trained as a pilot, they can use an airplane to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to remote areas of the world, including:

planting churches
training nationals
distributing Bibles
bringing life-saving emergency transportation
delivering doctors & nurses to these areas

If you believe God is calling you to be a mission pilot and would like to explore if Affection Above Aviation is a fit for you, please click TRAINING for more information.

Director

While living in the beautiful hills of Smyrna, Tennessee a friend invited Ray to a Baptist church where he heard the first clear presentation of the gospel. That morning he called upon Jesus Christ for salvation. God put several faithful men in Ray's life to disciple him.

After faithfully seeking the Lord, He led Ray to Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and graduated May 2011 with his B.A. degree. At the end of his senior year, he continued his flight training earning his instrument, commercial, and his CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) certificates. He became a full-time flight instructor for about 2 years and then flew jets for 5 years in a Citation Sovereign, XL, XLS, and Citation VII.

God brought Alicia and Ray together during his college years and married and gave them a little girl. Together, they serve the Lord at Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK.

Ray Painter, CFI CFII

Ray had the privilege of serving on the Mission Committee at Southwest Baptist Church for several years. During this time, God worked on his heart to take a missions trip to Papua New Guinea August, 2016. The Lord used this experience to show Ray the natural barriers that isolates missionaries from people-groups around the world unless they have a plane. He now uses his skills to train the next generation of mission pilots.