Adventure in an Airplane...

Many of you are aware of the work that Samaritan's Purse has been involved in up in South Sudan.  They have been in the country for years, working with national people on a variety of different levels, but most importantly helping to take the Gospel to the people who need to hear about Jesus Christ.  They have been doing water projects, church reconstructions, medical projects, and most recently, food projects.

You see, the people of South Sudan are being severely harassed by the North Sudanese military.  They are being chased from their homes, bombed, killed, and otherwise greatly mistreated.  There is a large group of people that have been chased from their homes in the Nuba Mountains, which is right along the border of North and South Sudan.  They are fleeing towards the south and into a place called Unity State, which is a large land area like a US state or Canadian territory, though smaller.

These people,  numbering in the thousands, are seeking refuge in a swampy area with squalid living conditions.  They have no clean water, no food, no place to stay, nothing.  They have been eating things like grass and other plants for over a week now, simply because they have nothing else to eat.  Pregnant women have walked for miles to get there, only to find no source of nutrition for themselves and their unborn babies.

It was to this backdrop that we here at AIM Air in Nairobi readied ourselves the end of this past week.  We readied the Samaritan's Purse DC-3 on Friday and Saturday and went out for a day of practice on how to perform air drops into a remote location.  Then we went home, readied ourselves, and said goodbye to our families.  Early Sunday morning, we departed Nairobi and flew all the way up to the Unity State area and loaded up the airplane with bags of sorghum, beans, lentils, and a corn/soy protein mix.  Each load was 66 bags, each weighing 50kgs (a little over 100lbs).  We then proceeded to the drop zone and sent our load tumbling out the door of the DC-3 and into an area about 100 meters by 50 meters.

So began the week.  We continued over the next 5 days to drop food, tarps, and other non-food items to the people on the ground.  It was hard work, but rewarding, because we knew that people on the ground who hadn't eaten in who knows how long were getting a meal that night.  As we flew over each day, we could see more and more of the blue SP tarps being put up, and heard reports that over 95% of the food that we dropped was successfully recovered.  Going to and from the drop zone, we sat in the back of the plane and watched South Sudan stream past our door, in awe of the vastness of such a country.

We ended our days hot, sweaty, and sticky from thousands of pounds of sorghum, with bruised backs and legs, and aching fingertips.  But we fell into our beds each night knowing that what we were doing each day was allowing more and more people to survive another day.  Each day we rose, not knowing what the day held, but knowing that God works everything out for His good purpose, and we were happy to be right in the midst of some of that good work.

To see some pictures and video of some of what we did, you can go to these links:

"Aid for Refugees"

"South Sudan Airdrop"

Both are very well done, and give you a glimpse into what we were able to accomplish while there on the ground (well, in the air really).  Please continue to pray for the people of South Sudan as they seek to build up their new country and pray that organizations like Samaritan's Purse can continue to help reach people with food for their soul as well as food for their belly.