The missionary pilot of a Samaritan’s Purse aircraft which was hijacked over South Sudan has recounted the moment he shared the gospel with a man hijacking his plane.
Jim Streit was delivering medicines with staff member Ben in December, when a masked man appeared from the back of the aircraft during the flight.
The armed stowaway demanded to be taken to Chad, although the plane would not have had enough fuel to reach a runway there.
Streit described the moment to On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse: “He lifts up a gun, shows me the magazine is full of 13 rounds of nine millimetre ammunition, puts it into the gun, cocks the gun, ratchets a round into the chamber with the hammer back, his finger on the trigger and holds the gun up and points it right at my face.”
The hijacker became extremely agitated in the cockpit, threatening to kill himself, Streit and Ben.
That was when Streit “felt that God needed to be brought into the situation,” he told podcast host Kristy Graham.
He asked the hijacker where his family was, who responded that they were all dead. Taking off his mask, the hijacker began to cry and Streit shared John 3:16 with him.
“I'm reminded from Scripture that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, and we're told that the Holy Spirit will be given to us to bring things to remembrance. And I believe that's what God was doing for me, bringing things to remembrance that God had already told me in His Word. And one of those things is, remember it's not just flesh and blood. So, I thought there's something spiritual going on and the only thing I can do to battle the spiritual is to bring Jesus' Name into this.”
Matt Olson, director of Mission Aviation Services Africa at the charity, took the call that the plane was hijacked, setting up a mobile command centre on his kitchen table.
Streit eventually landed the aircraft in Wau, around 400 miles (660 kilometers) away from the intended destination of Maiwut.
Samaritan’s Purse, led by Franklin Graham, deploys Christian healthcare professionals in more than 30 countries as part of its World Medical Mission.