HERO - The $20 face - John Flynn
Thomas and Rosetta Flynn were godly parents to John and his older brother and sister, raising them in a Christian environment, where Jesus was Lord. Suddenly tragedy struck. John was only two years of age when his mother passed away. Difficult times followed and John was mostly raised by relatives. In his teens he made a decision to become a follower of Jesus. Little did John know what great plans God had for his life.
In 1901 the year of Federation;
“Dear Dad,” he wrote, “I’ll be 21 in a fortnight, and have been thinking that I should give you my thoughts concerning the future - the more I think and the more I see the grandeur and beauty of Christianity and the hollowness of human life considered as complete in itself . . ”, and he mulled over that proposition, and then continued, “if Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Son of Almighty God; if He was in reality ‘God with us’ showing us the Father; if it is a fact that we only sojourn on this earth for a while, and then appear before the Creator of the universe.. What more honourable calling can a man follow than getting his fellows to realise this fact, and act upon it?”
Such was his beginnings and today in recognition of his founding of the largest and most comprehensive aero-medical health care service in the world, The Royal Flying Doctor Service, his face looks out from the Australian Twenty Dollar note.
His calling was to minister to those white settlers and the indigenous Aborigines living in the remote parts of outback Australia. The first “medical home” was established at Oodnadatta in 1912 due to a very generous gift from a friend.
This was opened by Rev Robert Mitchell with the words, “In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth the Great Healer and Redeemer of men, I trust that every person entering this medical home will go out cured of infirmity and blessed in soul as well as body.” Then down came the rain, a rare occurrence on this opening day. A blessing. A seal. The rain water tanks were full. Many Christian nurses heeded the call and joined, as it was then known, the Australian Inland Mission.
John Flynn’s undoubted motivation was to show the love of Jesus to everyone he met.
During the First World War a young Victoria medical student with an interest in aviation sent John an inspiring letter suggesting that planes might be more suitable to reach the remote areas. Sadly this young man was only 19 years of age when he was shot down and died over France, never to see the seed he had sown take root and grow.
John campaigned for ten years to get his first plane. Due to a large bequest from a long-time supporter, and his friendship with Hudson Fysh, a founder of QANTAS, he was able to hire a plane at “mates rates”.
John was confronted with the problem of how to make contact with the people living in the outback, who would benefit from this service. (Remembering this was pre telephone times.) Alfred Traeger an engineer was employed by John to investigate the possibility of a communication system, whereby someone in urgent need of medical attention, could contact the flying medical service.
Alfred eventually invented the first foot pedal radio in the world. The sets had to be cheap, durable, small and easy to operate. Using bicycle pedals to drive the generator, he found that a person could comfortably achieve 20 watts, enough to send out a message of need. Now every home in the remotest part of Australia could have access to the Flying Doctor Service by the pedal bush radio.
History was made and Flynn's vision became a reality on 17 May 1928 when Dr St Vincent Welch, along with pilot Affleck at the controls of Victory, answered the first call received by the A.I.M. Aerial Medical Service.
The Lord had bought these two men of God, John Flynn and Alfred Traeger together, to effectively minister to those who lived in the remotest parts of this great nation and to show the love of Jesus to each person by ministering to their physical infirmities and spiritual needs.
By the 1950’s the former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies acknowledged Flynn’s efforts as “perhaps the single greatest contribution to the effective settlement of the far distant country we have witnessed in our time”.
Each time look at that face on the Australian twenty dollar note remember the goodness of God and his great concern for the lost, in the city or in the remotest parts of Australia and the world.
This article was written by Graham McDonald
National Children’s Advocate for Religious Education in Schools
Children of the World a Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ Australia
www.children.org.au
