Pam Smith and the Phantom Church

Date: Monday April 27, 2009

Dean slowed down to a crawl. The GPS was no longer working for some reason (probably the weather), so he was looking for a direction sign. The leaders of the Phantom Church needed to get to Postmark Drive, which should not be that far. And it wasn’t! Dean saw an old wooden sign hanging askew and swinging on one screw that hadn’t made its way out yet

and fallen to the ground yet. The sign read Postmark Drive 11 miles.

“Alright! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” shouted Dean. The others began clapping loudly.

“I’m excited, yet I’m scared,” said Pam.

“So are we,” Dean confirmed. “So are we.”

The van crept onto Postmark Drive, heading to Frontier Flying Service. The wind and snow began blowing like a white tornado. Frontier Flying Service was founded in 1950 and is home-based in Fairbanks, Alaska. Frontier is not affiliated with the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, but is a separate entity in the flying business.

As they stopped and exited the van, a small female dressed in a red and grey jump suit met them.

“High, I’m Elyse Reynolds. I’ll be flying you out today to Bethel.”

Pam made her introductions: “I’m Pam Smith; this is Dean Cisco, aka Cisco Kid; Bobbie Sue Zincfield, sometimes known as Bizz.; this gentleman is James Surprise, knows as Big Sir; this is LaDon Page, aka Page Boy; this is Leon Webb, sometimes called Preacher Man; and this lady is Dedra Rayne Kent, but we call her Rain Drop.

“Nice to meet you. We had better get going. Bishop Nichols is expecting us in about an hour and a half, and we have 400 miles to cover.”

“How old are you?” Dedra inquired.

“I’m 25 years old, but don’t let my age fool you. I’ve been a pilot since I was 18.”

“Wow!”

The group walked passed a small grey metal building. Pam looked inside and her eyes turned big as salad plates.

“Is this what we’re flying in?” Pam saw a small four-passenger 1964 Piper Cherokee 235.

“Be a little cramped in there,” Pam said with a little fear in her voice.

“Walk this way,” said Elyse.

They entered a much larger green metal building. What the disciples saw this time made their jaws drop in surprise. There in the green building was a beautiful red 2005 Augusta Aw139 twelve-passenger helicopter standing by.

“Beautiful,” was all the disciples could muster up.

They group boarded the helicopter, buckled up, and got ready to go.

“Just so you’ll know, Bethel is approximately 150 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The average temperature is -4 degrees Fahrenheit, and the annual snowfall is sixty inches.”

“We’ve done all we can to prepare for this mission; the rest is up to God”, said Pam.

“Good enough, then,” stated Elyse.

“Oh, and by the way, if you like milk, I hope you brought your own”, Elyse said.

“Why is that?” asked Pam.

“Around these parts milk is $10.00 a gallon.”

Elyse turned several knobs, flicked a few switches, and the Augusta’s blades came to life.

Everyone wore headsets to make for easier communication. As the Augusta lifted off, some bellies began turning and giant butterflies showed up in high fashion.

“Whoa!” said Dedra, bringing laughter from the others.

“It’ll get better in a minute”, Elyse promised.

“This baby has all the bells and whistles!”

Elyse began her disquisition:

“This big bad machine has an 8”x10” color Liquid Crystal Display; a dual flight director system; Honeywell GPS with Flight Plan Management System; a Honeywell Primus 701 Weather Radar; we have IFR Soundproofing; extra large baggage compartment; Emergency Float Provisions (the disciples didn’t want to hear that one!); and the best part, wheeled retractable tricycle landing gear.”

“Wow! Very impressive,” Pam said. “Oh, yeah”, they all agreed.
br>

“I didn’t have time to cover everything,” Elyse said with a smile.

The copter made its way toward Bethel, Alaska, the disciples’ final destination.

Elyse Reynolds knew just exactly where to land the Augusta. She and Bishop Thaddeus Nichols had discussed their plan at length just three days ago. She would land right on the Alaska Church of God’s private heli-pad just off Third Avenue; 777 Third Avenue, no less. She would not turn off the engines, nor exit the helicopter. As the disciples would begin exiting, the good Bishop would get an assistant to take a small brief case out to Elyse. The contents of the brief case would be cash; $5,000.00.

The four-hundred-mile journey took less than two hours. As the Augusta began its dissension, the disciples began taking off their headsets, letting out sighs of relief.

“Just leave them in the seats and I’ll move them later,” Elyse told the group.

“Good-bye and God Speed,” they all said. As the disciples waved, the red Augusta lifted off and headed back toward Anchorage, leaving behind dust clouds of pure white snow.

The Bishop’s assistant led Pam and the group toward the entrance to the church, but the group hesitated for a minute to just gaze at the scene. As far as one could see, there was nothing but small buildings in any direction. James thought it resembled a prisoner-of-war camp, only much grander.

“This is some setup,” Dedra stated.

“That’s definitely an understatement,” said Pam.

As the group looked in wonder, the assistant ushered them inside.

“Ah, Sister Pam Smith. So good to finally get to meet you. I trust your trip was a pleasant one.”

Pam smiled and simply said, “Yes, sir.”

“Come, come, I know you must be exhausted. I’ve prepared rooms for each of you. Why don’t you go rest, get cleaned up, and we will discuss our plans over supper. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great to me,” admitted Leon. “Yes,” said the others in unison.

The assistant showed the disciples their respective rooms. All were very nice, complete with a small living room with sofa and chair; separate toilet and shower facilities; and a small bedroom containing a medium-sized bed and a chair, but no television. There would not be any time for TV watching! There would not be a lot of time for relaxing in general for that matter.

As the disciples got settled in, a loud rumbling noise could be heard; no, felt was more like it. Bishop Nichols clicked on the intercom system’s microphone.

“Do not be alarmed! We have been experiencing these noises and slight movements for several days now. Just some settling of the ice.” He wished that was all that was happening, but in his Spirit he knew better. Pam’s Spirit told her the same thing.