My Story

Hi, my name is Luke Arthur. I am a missionary soon to be launching into the Philippines as an EMT, Pilot, and Media Professional. When people ask me when I decided I wanted to become a missionary, I have to stop and think for a moment. There was a point, when I consciously began moving towards the mission field in the Philippines, but really, God has been working much longer than that. To tell the whole story, I'll have to start much earlier on.

I was born on March 7th, 2004, to my Christlike mother and father in the small town of Berrien Springs, Michigan. I was the youngest of four children. For my first four years, I lived here and built a foundation of character that would guide the rest of my childhood.

At four years old, my family moved to Arkansas. My brother entered a boarding school in Amity, and my father took a teaching position at this same school. It was a small Adventist self-supporting institution called Ouachita Hills Academy and College. I lived there with my family for the nine fun filled years. Those years would hold many crucial moments that led me to where I am today.

At Ouachita Hills I made friendships early on, that would mold both my character, and interest in aviation. Several of these friends carried a love for aviation to one degree or another. Perhaps it was the closeness of our friend group that fostered this common interest, more than a true love or calling to it in each of us. For me though, that was not the case. Aviation was a part of me. Looking back, I honestly don't remember when I first decided I wanted to be a pilot.

I remember when I was about four years old, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I proudly answered, "I'm going to be a pirate!" Of course, they were a little shocked, and my mother had to explain that I had mispronounced "pilot."

At the age of eleven, one of my close friends, (a couple years older than me) took his first flight lesson. Suddenly, for me the idea of becoming a pilot took on an actual sense of possibility. I called his flight instructor, and a few weeks later I found myself on my first flight lesson.

I was completely absorbed in everything my instructor told me. from the way the pitot tube worked, right down to how to read the magnetic compass, I was fixated. But when we took to the air, I lost myself in my own world. Becoming overwhelmingly awe-inspired as the ground fell away beneath me.

Up to this point I had never set foot in an airplane, and this experience truly fulfilled my wildest dreams.

In 2017, when I was 14, my family relocated to Berrien Springs, Michigan. Being a university town with its own aviation program, there were not many options for flight training. The available options were expensive, so I decided to postpone my flight training. During this period, I spent a lot of time at the local airport. I mingled with pilots and took advantage of any opportunity to catch free rides here and there.

Around this time, I got a job working at a local Adventist media company. With this new addition to my schedule, once again, the thought of my flight training slipped under the rug. However, this situation wouldn't last long.

At the age of 16, a friend of mine and I were once again talking about career choices. They mentioned an interest in flight nursing on medevac helicopters. This sparked the idea of becoming a helicopter pilot in my mind. Within a week, I had contacted a local helicopter flight school and scheduled my first lesson.

Over the course of the next year, I took a one-hour lesson, then worked for a week to pay for the next lesson. This pattern continued week after week. My weekend flight lessons became the highlights that I eagerly anticipated.

Finally, a little over a year after starting my helicopter training, it was time for my check ride. I had finally earned my long-awaited Private Pilot Certificate (PPL).