"I can hear the buzz of cast saws, the wailing of scared infants, and the quiet murmur of doctors and patients talking in the rooms beyond where I sit and type this letter. Antiseptic, hospital smells fill my nostrils making me glad that God has given me a different calling, but one that is none the less usable for His kingdom. What a privilege to play the small part that I do in the whole process"

Nothing in this life, except maybe death, is as heart wrenching as seeing a child who is afflicted with a severe, debilitating birth defect, disease, or injury which they had no part in bringing upon themselves. Hydrocephalus, Cleft Palate, Club Foot, Spina Bifida, Scoliosis, and skin trauma due to severe burns, are all examples of conditions which can severely damage the life of a young child. Not only does the physical impediment make life extremely difficult for the child and family, but scorn, ridicule, and shame add emotional and spiritual trauma as well. Seeing a life that has been stunted in its youth which has never known the simple joys of running, walking, kicking a ball, or smiling is heart breaking for me personally. That's why I am so supportive of the ministry of Cure International.

Cure International operates a handful of hospitals around the world which specifically focus on treating children suffering from orthopedic conditions like those mentioned above and at the same time providing Christian spiritual counseling to heal the deep wounds that many patients and parents suffer from. More specifically, Cure has a hospital at Kijabe, Kenya and this week I was with a team from that hospital on one of my absolute favorite "safari" flights. Although I get very little flight time during our three day trip, the results of using the airplane to facilitate this ministry are as rewarding as anything I could do for AIM AIR. The team is comprised of orthopedic doctors, technicians, and spiritual counselors who will see about 400 patients in the course of the three days we are together. Qualified orthopedic doctors are extremely scarce in Kenya and almost non-existent in the areas where I fly this team. Parents will bring their children from hours away to get an opportunity to receive the help and hope this team has to offer.

Today I had had the opportunity to sit in on several patient exams, almost all of which brought tears to my eyes. The tears were at first of compassion and empathy, but more so they became tears of joy to know that God was reaching out to these young lives through hands and hearts dedicated to bringing the hope of Christ. Hope that starts with reconstructed bodies and overflows into reborn spirits.

–Andy Keller

This is what a typical clinic looks like:



About half of the team are comprised of technicians who deal with casts, braces, and molds for making orthopedic devices.


Ethiopian doctor Tewodros Zerfu and American surgeon Tim Mead examine the children for possible treatment or follow-up on previous procedures. Patients are referred to the Kijabe hospital for surgery.

by John McNeely



1900 Miles in 36 hours… The long days are oh, so worth it!

I recently made a trip to a remote village in southwestern Sudan (just south of Darfur) called Nyamlell, to bring a media team from Focus on the Family. Their purpose was to visit an orphanage started by a Sudanese “lost boy” named James Lual and to hear first-hand stories about the human trafficking that has gone on for years in the region and still exists today.

Flying over I couldn’t help but notice that the swollen river that normally trickles past on the outskirts had flooded half of the village. What difficulties these people seem to suffer! First drought and famine, then flooding and rampant disease! Such are the cycles of life and death throughout Sudan and much of East Africa.

Upon landing on the short, rough, and muddy airstrip, we were greeted by James and several others from the orphanage as well as the director of Make Way Partners, one of the Christian NGOs that supports James’s work in Nyamlell. AIM AIR, over the last couple of weeks, had been delivering hundreds of new water filters and shoes—yes, new shoes—for all the children in the orphanage as well as the workers that help there.

What a site to see as we entered the orphanage compound. Over 450 children of all ages were tooling about…. all with new shoes. Some were carrying them around and I was told that this was because they had never worn shoes before. Some had played so hard in them the first day that they had rubbed blisters on their feet. Nevertheless, the shoes were displayed proudly either on the feet or in the hands of every child there.

Since we traveled 9 hours in the airplane to get there, I would need to stay overnight, which afforded me the opportunity to attend an annual celebration that James puts on for the children at Nyamlell. The children he works with are all orphans of the long war in Sudan— a war that also claimed the lives of most of James’s family members. You see, as a child, James himself had fled, walking over 500 miles to escape the horrors of the war, only to see death at every turn from starvation, violence, or by wild animals.

Upon finding his freedom and education in Kenya, James gave up an opportunity to move to the United States, and instead went back to his home village to help his people know the love of Christ. Today James, along with his new wife, runs the orphanage as well as a primary school. James knows there is no future for the children without education.

So this day was all about the children. There were two slaughtered bulls, over a thousand loaves of bread, and cold sodas for every child (did I mention there were over 450) as well as all the community leaders who would come out for the celebration. Most importantly, against every grain of African culture, James insisted that no adult would have even a bite of food until every child’s stomach was full. I must admit I was moved to see the dedication of not only James, but the community leaders. Without hesitation, they came forward and served the children until they were “filled to the fullest”! I was privileged to be able to stand alongside James and hand out food in the 110° heat.

Before the meal we heard testimonies from many community leaders. They told of how James had come to the area completely destitute, and under the very tree where we sat, how he vowed to every orphan he saw that he would love and care for them. At the time the community elders largely ignored James. But as James, under that tree, began teaching them about Jesus, their interest slowly grew into what has become the largest orphanage in South Sudan. Christ is front-and-center in all that happens here with New Life Ministries—which is the name that James so aptly gave the orphanage.

After a very hot, muggy, and mostly sleepless night, I said my goodbyes and loaded up my little Cessna 210 with the return passengers. I had to look around one more time and ask myself “how can one person really make this big a difference in so many lives?’ I don’t really know the answer, but I do know that only Jesus Christ can move a person’s heart to this depth of love. With one last wave and a rock of the wings as I flew over the orphanage for the 1000 mile trip back to Nairobi, I knew that the hundreds of hands I saw waving back up at me were all blessed with a second chance because of one very good Samaritan. I look forward to my next meeting with them and to any opportunity to assist James in his efforts to change the lives of orphans in Southern Sudan.

A new photo set has just been added to the AIM AIR Flickr library. Jon Hildebrant, one of AIM AIR's pilots based in Lokichiggio has sent in a mosaic of our ministry in Sudan... the chaos, the crowds, and the people we serve - view a slideshow here.

AIM Family, Friends and Co-workers in Christ,

Last Saturday on April 28th, one of our planes was involved in an accident during takeoff. While the aircraft was significantly damaged, the pilot and the four passengers came through the accident with what has turned out so far to be minor, physical injuries.

Andy Keller, a long time AIM AIR pilot with two SIM nurses on board, landed at a SIM medical mission station in Sudan to drop off some cargo and pick up two more SIM nurses. He was flying a Cessna Caravan. On takeoff around 12:40 pm, the aircraft lifted off from a wet and somewhat muddy airstrip, but was not able to safely clear the obstacles at the end of the runway. The left wing of the plane struck the trunk of a tree and the plane went into a ditch and flipped onto its back.

Andy and the four nurses, after being stabilized, were airlifted by a UN helicopter to a nearby medical facility for tests and observations. The next day, they were moved to Nairobi on the AIM AIR DC3 under the care of a SIM doctor. We praise God that all occupants of the aircraft seem to be stable and recovering. All have been released from the hospital.

The cause of the accident is being investigated by AIM AIR, along with a mission safety organization which AIM AIR is a member of. The results and conclusions of such will be used as part of a continuing effort to improve the safety of both AIM AIR and mission aviation world-wide.

There is a deeper reality that surrounds the events described above. We minister in Africa in the context of a spiritual war. As partners in ministry, SIM and AIM missionaries share in the risk of ministry. This event is one of many that remind us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of this world. The opposition that we face, which is evident in many ways, is a testimony that God is accomplishing His purposes through His servants. We should not be dismayed that we suffer, knowing that He has already defeated the enemy.

So we praise God! We praise Him no matter what is happening around us. We worship Him because of who He is. The true foundation of praise is GOD, not our circumstances. Praise God that in His mercy he spared the lives of His servants.

Please continue to hold the four SIM nurses up in prayer as they recover from both the emotional and physical trauma of the accident. Please pray the same for Andy. Pilots bear a heavy burden in these situations. Pray also for the ministry of SIM, particularly in the region where this took place in Sudan. SIM has been encountering tremendous, overt, spiritual opposition to their work at this location. Please pray that God would continue to work miraculously to demonstrate His attributes and His Power in and through SIM’s work and personnel in the community surrounding their work in South Sudan. Finally, please pray for AIM AIR, as the organization will be stretched during the time of recovery following this significant event.

In Christ,
Jim Streit
AIM AIR General Manager

Field Report : Napep, Sudan

I want to share with you the incredible experience Tim Carpenter and I had of opening up the Napep airstrip. As many of you know we have been working toward this event for about two years! Napep is located on top of the Didinga Hills, at an elevation of about 6,600 feet. The Didinga people are an unreached people group, with the first church having been planted at Nagashot in 2005. That church has seen much fruit, and the elders of the village of Napep, which is a 5 hour hike from Nagashot, came and requested that some missionaries be sent to tell them about Jesus Christ also. It was decided to send a TIMO team to Napep in the summer of 2008, but first an airstrip must be constructed. There is no road to Napep. The only access is by airplane or road to Nagashot, and then the hike. Myself, John McNeely and Andy Keller each made the hike to give advice to the TIMO planners on how to go forward on the airstrip. Despite having to move the location once, remove a number of very large trees, negotiate with a defiant land owner, and do everything after a long walk to get there, the Lord finally opened the door to see everything finished.

This past weekend Tim and I flew up to Nagashot with a TIMO building team, using both the Caravan and 206. Then we flew over to Napep for the first landing in the 206. The airstrip is on the top of the mountain, with quite a bit of slope going up, and a big dogleg turn in the middle. It had also rained the previous day, and the soil, which had only recently been planted with maize, was quite soft and muddy. But we succeeded in landing, with many of the local people coming to see the first airplane to land on their mountain! Later I was also able to bring over the Caravan for a trial landing, and then move a lot of furniture and supplies from Nagashot to Napep for David and Deborah Miller, the TIMO team leaders.

This is truly a great opportunity that each of us at AIM AIR has had in taking this first step to allowing the Didinga people to hear the gospel! We pray that God will truly use the members of the TIMO team, which will begin in October, to show his love for these people, and that many would respond and join His family.

AIM AIR will play a pivotal role in making this team possible, as most all of their supplies and team movements will have to be by air. So during the next two years as we are supporting this work, I hope that each of you will pray for the Didinga people, that they may be overwhelmed with the grace and mercy of God towards them, and that soon the Didinga Hills would be known as a shining light of Jesus throughout Sudan!

Jon Hildebrandt
Loki Base Manager