Central America Consult Trip - Part II

As advertised, here is Part II of our Central America trip recap.  If you missed Part I, CLICK HERE.

As you recall, the purpose of our visit was to meet our Missionary Air Group colleagues in Guatemala and Honduras, and to learn about the work they are pouring themselves into.  With this experience Alace and I can serve them better- Alace as member care and myself as the chief pilot.

As you know, Alace and I have been so privileged to be part of mission aviation work in Central Africa, having spent the better part of the last decade based there.  It's such an honor to get to expand our work and serve other mission aviation bases with the MAG team.

Leaving Guatemala in our Cessna 206, we overflew Belize and the
Carribean Sea before arriving at the La Ceiba international airport
on the North coast of Honduras, where we did our immigration formalities.

After adding on fuel (yes! they had AvGas at the airport!!!), we blasted off, headed for the
very remote "La Mosquitia"- the largest wilderness area of Central America and
home to the Moskito people who face many obstacles in receiving medical care
and educational opportunities.  The MAG program provides a lifeline for this region.
There is no other program like MAG currently providing services like this.  Due to
drug trafficking, the Telegraph called Honduras the most dangerous country on the planet
in 2013.   

The MAG base is called "Rus Rus".  The "L" shaped building is a hospital that
MAG is temporarily operating (anyone want to run a hospital?!?), the runway
is a grass strip, and the MAG staff is living in the two larger structures to the
left of the runway.

Our MAG team (Wes & Denise and Hannah & David) were there to give us a warm welcome.

We were also greeted by some local authorities who registered our visit.
Rus Rus is very close to the Nicaragua border and there is illegal activity
that these soldiers help to mitigate.  They were very kind and helpful.

David (right) is a new teammate at Rus Rus and spent some time
with our veteran Guatemala pilot, Paul, as part of his field orientation.
They spent some time doing ground training as well as 4 hours of
flight time which included familiarization to other area runways.

All our meals were taken care of at Wes & Denise's home while our lodging needs
were taken care of by David & Hannah at their duplex house.  As we visited, it
became clear that our teammates have a passion to see the people of this region
have access to health care that is brought to them with the message of the Gospel.
The Wiles have been serving this part of the world for almost 2 decades!

Here is the Mora family- David, Hannah, and baby Nicholas, who was born
in Honduras earlier this year!  The Mora's are ready for the next phase of
flight training and cross-cultural training in the US.  We had good times
chatting about these transitions and how we can work together.

The weather was great for most all of our time in Central America.  It was great to
see both of our programs and learn what God is doing through the local believers and
how our MAG teammates are joining in.  Here are some scenes from
the Rus Rus village...

Wes gave us a tour of the hospital- an out-patient clinic that does
its best work when visiting, short term teams (mainly from the US)
come to staff the facility.  

(a photo on the wall of the hospital)
Back in the 1980's, the hospital had a lot of activity.
This region of the world was going through a time of
turmoil and the need for medical care was much higher.

Wes pointed out that, with the airplane and the new 4x4 Kia truck,
there is great potential for Rus Rus to impact the villages of the region.
When there is enough staff and teammates, they are able to conduct
mobile medical clinics.  Please pray for more staff!
If you or anyone you know are interested, please have them contact
MAG at info@missionaryairgroup.org

(Paul, left, pilots us out of the jungle back toward Guatemala with CEO Sean as co-pilot)
Please pray for the MAG activities in Central America.  Just like the work in Gabon,
the team senses a strong desire to see people meet Jesus as they bring medical care
and other community transformation activities through the use of aircraft.

Stay tuned for Part III of our Central American trip!