Just a Piece in the Puzzle

By Rachel Greco

Daniel Jezowski serves the Lord in a different way than he expected. He thought he would be a pilot. God had other plans.

In late middle school, Daniel felt God leading him into full-time Christian service. He wondered if God was leading him to become a pastor, Christian school teacher, or missionary.

His first mission trip with AWANA to the Navajo in the summer of 1995 was one of the first pieces of the puzzle. Raising support to go on the trip helped prepare him to raise support as a full-time adult mission worker. He also recalls how he formed relationships with the Navajo children as he and the others led VBS for them in three different villages. “One of my sharpest memories was when one kid asked me if he would see me again. It was hard to say goodbye,” Daniel remembers.

Daniel and a Kodiak aircraft in the Papua New Guinea fleet

Another piece of the puzzle: Daniel learned about missionary aviation from reading missionary stories for classes at his Christian school. Then in high school God used others to help Daniel analyze his talents, which directed him toward missionary aviation.

“I thought I was going to be a pilot,” Daniel remarks. He attended the aviation program at Moody Bible Institute. He got his private pilot’s license—barely. He encountered another obstacle when he began instrument training and couldn’t keep his grades up.

But by God’s grace, Daniel didn’t give up on his desire to serve the Lord full-time in mission aviation. Because he had always loved radio, he decided to become an avionics technician—a specialist who works on the radios and other software in the aircraft.

With that part of the puzzle solved, he wondered with whom and where he would serve.

Every year, recruiters from different mission organizations, including JAARS, came to Moody and interacted with the students. Daniel contacted these mission organizations, one of which was JAARS. After communicating with its field partners, JAARS suggested, “Why don’t you go to Papua New Guinea (PNG) with a Discovery Trip through Wycliffe Bible Translators?”

When Daniel arrived in PNG in 2003 for his several-month-long trip, he fell in love with the people and PNG’s World War II history.

Daniel checking the maintenance manual

At first, Daniel felt like one of the ‘elites’ since there aren’t many avionics technicians around, especially serving overseas. But after interacting with people in PNG, Daniel saw how huge the Bible translation team was. “This helped me see that I was just part of the puzzle.” Another piece clicked into place.  

After the discovery trip, Daniel knew he wanted to be involved in a mission that supports Bible translation. Wycliffe sent him to JAARS, who trained and prepared him to return to service in Papua New Guinea. He has served for about 11 years, ensuring that mission aircraft can safely and reliably soar vital cargo back and forth across this mountainous region.

Daniel teaching inspection skills to pre-field orientees

Although Daniel may be just one piece of the puzzle of Bible translation, he’s an integral, important piece, without which the puzzle wouldn’t be complete.

What’s your piece in the puzzle of Bible translation? Check out this list of options to see where you could fit in!