Tim Bowden, in his book One Crowded Hour, tells about an incident that happened during the confrontation between Malaysia and Indonesia in 1964

A group of Gurkhas from Nepal were asked if they would be willing to jump from transport planes into combat against the Indonesians if the need arose. The Gurkhas had the right to turn down the request because they had never been trained as paratroopers.  Bowden quotes an account of the story:

"Now the Gurkhas usually agreed to anything, but on this occasion they provisionally rejected the plan.  But the next day one of their NCOs sought out the British officer who made the request and said they had discussed the matter further and would be prepared to jump under certain conditions.

"What are they?" asked the British Officer.

"The Gurkhas told him they would jump if the land was marshy or reasonably soft with no rocky outcrops, because they were inexperienced in falling. The British officer considered this, and said that the dropping areas would almost certainly be over jungle, and there would not be rocky outcrops, so that seemed all right.  Was there anything else?

"Yes, said the Gurkhas. They wanted the plane to fly as slowly as possible and no more than one hundred feet high.  The British officer pointed out the planes always did fly as slowly as possible when dropping troops,  but to jump from 100 feet was impossible, because the parachutes would not open in time from that height.

"Oh," said the Gurkhas, "that's all right, then.  We'll jump with parachutes anywhere.  You didn't mention parachutes before!"

Any church could use such Gurkha-like commitment and courage.

A SHORTER VERSION 

In his book One Crowded Hour, Tim Bowden describes an incident in Borneo in 1964. Nepalese fighters known as Gurkhas were asked if they would be willing to jump from airplanes into combat against the Indonesians. The Gurkhas didn't clearly understand what was involved, but they bravely said they would do it, asking only that the plane fly slowly over a swampy area and no higher than 100 feet. When they were told that the parachutes would not have time to open at that height, the Gurkhas replied, "Oh, you didn't mention parachutes before!"