stories

30 knots…50 knots…70 knots… The Cessna Caravan’s Air Speed Indicator kept climbing as she sped down the runway, gathering speed for takeoff. At the controls, AIM AIR pilot Ken pulled back on the yoke and the plane lifted off into the cold morning air.

AIM AIR pilot Joe Batchelder glanced at the GPS display on the dashboard in the cockpit of his Cessna 208 Caravan. Nearly three-quarters of an hour into the flight from Nairobi, the screen showed that he was around forty miles from his destination- a region in Eastern Kenya.

Checklist: Clothes for a week, shoes, socks, water filter(in case they don’t have clean water), laptop, memory cards, cameras, lenses, batteries, battery banks(in case they don’t have power), hammock, tent, sleeping bag, toiletries… check. All packed to go and capture content.

Recently Sudan tumbled headlong into chaos. Violence and political instability escalated rapidly, driving organizations to evacuate their people. Compelled by the love of neighbor and the sake of the gospel, these are people who have chosen to go to a place that is already quite difficult, even without a violent civil war erupting overnight.

“Where can my guys get discipled or mentored?” The question, posed by my friend in the arid northern Kenya county of Marsabit, resonated with me. As an aviation ministry, we often feel like we have one foot planted in the bustling, busy, and blooming city of Nairobi. Our other foot is in the heat, dust, and scarcity of northern or eastern Kenya, and beyond.