RICHMOND, Va. — A 14-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan airplane left for eastern Africa Dec. 8 from a Richmond, Va., airport to join a fleet of a dozen aircraft jointly operated by the International Mission Board (IMB) and AIM AIR, a Great Commission missions organization that specializes in logistical and transport support for missionaries in central and eastern Africa.
The single-engine plane will play a crucial role in taking the gospel to remote people groups and ministering to the needs of missionaries living in hard-to-reach places.
A dedication service was held in Richmond, Va., before the plane left on the five-day pilgrimage to its new home in Kenya.
IMB missionary pilot Chad Tilley, accompanied by pilot Mike Delorenzo and mechanic Barry King, are shepherding the single-engine plane on a trans-Atlantic route that will take it from Newfoundland through the Azores, Spain, Crete, Egypt and Sudan before reaching Kenya.
The new plane is a symbol of the IMB’s vision of taking the gospel to all the world’s people groups, no matter how isolated they are, IMB President Jerry Rankin said during the dedication ceremony.
The plane will support the work of 60 evangelical missions organizations in eastern Africa, flying to places that less rugged and less powerful aircraft cannot reach.
Share with others: