Missionary pilot in Africa recounts harrowing hijacking experience, visits campus for Liberty’s Global Focus Week

About 10 months ago, missionary pilot Jim Streit was making a routine flight when a hijacker snuck onto the plane and held him and his passenger at gunpoint demanding him to shift course and fly to Chad. Streit tried to render the hijacker unconscious by raising the plane’s altitude (reducing the cabin’s oxygen), but the hijacker became hypoxic and irate, threatening to kill them and himself. In that moment, Streit found strength in his faith and began praying for the hijacker. He told the man about the forgiveness he could find through a relationship with Christ. The man then allowed Streit to land the plane at a local airport, where he was promptly arrested.

Streit told this story to Liberty University students at Friday’s Convocation, where he was welcomed as a special guest for the school’s annual Global Focus Week. As a longtime missions worker, having served overseas for 40 years while frequently flying missions for Samaritan’s Purse, Streit said the hijacking still taught him about God’s mighty power.

“We’ve been singing about the name of Jesus, ‘Holy, holy, holy.’ (But) I suppose up until this part of life, (while) I knew God’s name is holy and has power, I never knew it had this kind of power,” he said. “I said I was going to bring Jesus’ name into this cockpit.”

His confidence in Christ provided him the assurance that regardless how the hijacking situation would end, God was sovereign.

“I came to the conclusion I had two hours of fuel left and it was all going to be over, and it was either going to be a good day or a great day,” he said. “If I end up by some miracle of God being able to land the plane and I’m still alive, it’s going to be a good day. If this guy pulls the trigger, it’s going to be a great day. I felt such peace with that.”

Streit and his passenger later spoke with the hijacker and prayed for him.

He said the situation led him to think about missionary Kevin Rideout, who was being held hostage in Niger at the time after being captured a few months prior. Rideout, whose children currently attend Liberty, was freed in August.

Streit first felt a call to the mission field in high school, but he didn’t officially leave for full-time ministry until several years after graduating with a pilot’s license. He and his wife, Bev, left their comfortable life in the U.S. for the dangers of missions in Africa after receiving a call from his friend about a need for a missionary pilot to join Africa Inland Mission.

Jim Streit encouraged the students to consider full-time mission work, noting that committing to missions doesn’t necessarily close the door on their chosen careers.

“If you say, ‘Yes,’ to missions right now in your career — it doesn’t matter if you’re an accountant, a psychologist, graduating with a business degree, certainly an aviation degree — if you say ‘yes,’ right now to missions, you are not saying ‘no,’ to some of those other blessings God might bless you with,” he said.

Global Focus Week, hosted by the LU Send Office, is designed to raise global awareness in the LU community. Over 150 representatives from 41 missions organizations visited campus during the week, greeting students at tables in the Montview Student Union and sharing the great work they are doing in advancing the Gospel to nations around the world.

“Global Focus Week is a moment for students to understand the world through the Biblical lens of God’s redemptive mission and to discover their vocational place in His work among the nations,” Senior Director of LU Send Steven Gillum said. “We want students to see where God is already at work, know nations and people groups in need of the gospel, and prayerfully consider how He is inviting them to participate. This is at the heart of LU Send: to unite learning, spiritual formation, and missional service to develop Champions for Christ who engage the world with a global vision, not simply as observers of God’s mission but as active participants in it.”

At the start of Wednesday’s Convocation, Liberty’s international students carried flags of their countries onto the Vines Center floor in a Parade of Nations. McLean Bible Church Pastor and former International Mission Board President David Platt then delivered the main message, encouraging them to live their lives on mission. Platt returned for Campus Community that night, where students who felt called to devote their life to full-time mission were invited to come forward and learn about what that may look like for their individual lives.

Global Focus Week also featured “Reach the Nations” breakout sessions where students could hear from missionaries and culture experts spreading Christ’s love across the globe. This year’s sessions included messages on building cross-cultural relationships with Muslim individuals and presentations from Greater Europe Mission.

Throughout the week, “Culture through Cuisine” events provided students the opportunity to sample international foods and learn more about various cultural traditions. The week will conclude with Taste of Nations on Friday evening, where international students prepare authentic dishes from their culture. The event, which will be held in the Vines center from 6-8 p.m., includes music, games, prizes, and more.