A famous American evangelist tells a story that on one occasion he was on a flight which had a stop-over and passengers were told that there wasn't much time before take-off again, but if they wished to stretch their legs by taking a brief walk on the airport tarmac while the plane was refuelled then they could do so.

Although many passengers did disembark and take full opportunity for a break, the evangelist thought he would stay onboard the plane and catch up with some important work preparation. A blind gentleman was asking a few people nearby if one of them would be so kind as to take his dog out for a brief walk as it could do with some fresh air and the chance to stretch its legs.

The gentleman in question was finding it difficult to get someone to oblige him with this request and the evangelist was about to offer to take the dog for a walk when the situation took a rather different turn. The pilot happened to be walking through the passenger gangway and the blind gentleman made a special plea to him to take the dog out onto the tarmac for a while. The pilot most willingly obliged and the evangelist took a sly look out of the window of the plane to see the incredulous expressions on the faces of people milling around the airport - after all, it wasn't every day that one saw a pilot of a jumbo jet plane being led down the steps of an aircraft by a guide dog for the blind!

(Written by Hazel A. Speed)