Story

Our Story

(above, Two Cessna 185’s at a mountain village in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.)

Wings of Blessing started to take shape many years ago.  Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU) created a flight program called Regions Wings in the early 70’s to support the Church planting efforts to an unreached area on the island of Irian Jaya, Indonesia.  Irian Jaya, as it was known at the time, is now called Papua which is the western half of the island of New Guinea belonging to the country of Indonesia.  This new ministry initiative was focused on the Mamberamo river region located in north central Irian Jaya.  This is a vast area covered in jungle with many isolated villages.  A network of airstrips were developed across the region enabling access to many of these villages.   RBMU initiated church planting efforts among the different villages and translation projects were started.  All of this made possible with the help of the airplane.

(A village in the Mamberamo region with airstrip in the middle.)

(Packing a 40′ container with two Cessna 185 aircraft.)

Over the years things begin to change.  Regions Wings grew, expanding from a single Cessna 185 to a total of four.  RBMU merged with another mission organization to become known as World Team.  The flight program’s name was changed from Regions Wings to Tariku Aviation and a Papuan board was developed which helped provide oversight of the flight program operations.  In 2010 World Team made the decision to nationalize the program by transferring ownership to the Papuan board.  Due to the difficulty of obtaining aviation gasoline in Indonesia, the Papuan board decided to explore options for aircraft that use jet fuel.  Then the decision was made to discontinue the use of the 185’s.  These airplanes were donated to a new organization called Wings of Blessing.  The airplanes and all spare parts were packed in two 40′ shipping containers and sent back to the United States.  

For more information check out our BLOG and see the rest of the story!

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country located in Central America that has been heavily influenced by the Mayan and Spanish civilizations.  This has created a diverse culture for the Guatemalan people, especially those living in the villages of the mountainous regions of the country. AGAPE, an aviation ministry with a long history of serving the Guatemalan people is reaching out to these isolated areas with the Gospel.  Wings of Blessing is partnering with AGAPE in ministering to these remote Peoples.

The rough mountain terrain and economic conditions have isolated these people from the benefits of the developed world.  The airplane provides a means for medical evacuation by carrying the sick to a location where they can receive health care.  It enables pastors to attend training seminars to better serve their churches.  Teams are brought in to minister to and encourage the local church.  AGAPE buys coffee from local farmers and flies the beans to market where they sell to coffee buyers for a profit providing a boost to the local economy.

AGAPE is in need of personnel and equipment.  They currently have a Cessna T206 and two Cessna 185’s.  Unfortunately, due to maintenance issues the 185’s aren’t flying and they are short-handed personnel wise.  Pray that God would lead us as we explore different ways that we can help serve the people of Guatemala.

Panama

We were invited to Panama to explore opportunities for ministry.  There are several indigenous groups tucked away in remote isolated  areas of the country, making it very difficult to access.  One large mission organization is reaching out to these groups, however, we were told of the difficulty they have when hiking into these remote areas.  The airplane would make it possible to increase ministry by providing easier access to the villages.  They could develop the pastoral training program by bringing pastors to a localized training facility where they could be trained and then returned to their village.  It would open the door for placing missionaries permanently in the area.  Plus, they could start outreach to other areas of the country.  The airplane also brings the benefit of medical evacuation and community development.  We were encouraged by the interest for a flight program and the potential benefit an airplane could have on ministry there.  Please pray with us as we continue to explore how God might use Wings of Blessing to build His Kingdom in Panama.

Our next project is the Cessna 185 in the photo to the right.  This airplane PK-RWB (the Indonesian registration) was affectionately known as “Whiskey Bravo” (WB) and has roughly 12,000 hours of service.  If this airplane could talk, the stories it could tell of the tribal groups and missionaries it served during its 40 years of service in Papua, Indonesia.  We believe God wants to use this airplane to continue building the church.  Our desire is to either place it back in service or sell it and use the funds to purchase a Cessna 206 that would mutually benefit the ministry of our partner in Guatemala, AGAPE and Wings of Blessing.  However, after 40 years of rugged use in Papua it is time for the airplane to receive a major overhaul to bring the aircraft up to date.  

You could be a part of this by donating to the project.  Help put “Whiskey Bravo” back to work building the church in Guatemala.  Navigate here to find out how you can help. 

Whiskey Bravo