A dream waiting to be realized
“For missionaries in the Acre region of West Brazil, lack of aviation service means that any trip into the jungle could be their last,” writes Phil Koop, NTMA executive director.
And he has a point.
Without an airplane, getting into the jungle is hard. You have to navigate rivers, hike through thick jungle trails, and spend nights along the riverbank or in the jungle with your family. And because there are no stores in remote jungle villages — no grocery stores, no hardware stores, and no pharmacies — whatever supplies you need must be carried with you. Yet, this trip is exactly what a new missionary couple with three young children was contemplating.
But if getting into the jungle is hard, so is getting out.
Let’s say you begin feeling poorly and running high fevers. Some days you’re delirious, coming in and out of a fog. In your lucid moments, you realize that the pesky mosquito buzzing around you a few weeks back, that one that bit you, that he left a nasty something behind. You’re pretty sure you have malaria. But confirmation of that fact, along with the remedy, is several days’ hike and a river trip away. Not an encouraging scenario, is it?
Veteran missionary Sheryl Rich understands the risk. “[If we] have a health emergency, there is no way out except by trail. And you know that to walk several days if you are so sick … would be out of the question.”
Yet for years now, many missionaries have willingly faced these conditions. They have sacrificed physically so that isolated people groups can learn of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. A flight program could change all that. This has been a dream that NTM Brazil has been working on for six years. A dream that is close to fruition.
After years of legal snags, progress is being made and the momentum is finally building.
- In April of this year, a meeting was held in Brazil between NTMA and two other evangelical aviation missions. Asas de Socorro and SIL agreed to lend pilots to help fly NTMA’s Cessna 206 when it arrives in Brazil.
- On May 14, pilots Larry Dye and Ace Glidewell flew the Cessna 206 from Arizona to Ohio where skilled technicians would install the specialty HF radio. The radio is essential for clear communications as the pilots fly over the dense Brazilian rain forest.
- On May 16, NTMA pilot on location in Brazil, Charlie Patton, received his Brazilian pilot’s license after nearly four years of satisfying legal and technical requirements.
“There have been obstacles all along the way, and yet we have seen God faithfully knock every one of those over … one by one,” writes Jason Miller, NTMA’s director of personnel.
This building momentum offers the hope of relief to missionaries that have long been laboring under less-than-ideal circumstances. The obstacles are being surmounted and the dream is within reach. But your prayers are still needed for:
- the right team of experienced pilots to fly the plane to Brazil, and for smooth passage through importation and taxes.
- the advance preparations on location to receive the plane.
- more NTM pilots to serve in Brazil.
- the finances still needed to make this dream of an aviation program in Brazil a reality.
The momentum has begun. Will you pray the momentum forward?
Your gifts to sponsor missionary flights help establish churches among remote people groups around the world, including Brazil. Find out how you can help sponsor flights.