R66 Flies First Service Flights in Cameroon
Praise the Lord! The R66 helicopter is operational and ready to support Bible translation and humanitarian service in northwest Cameroon!
Once it cleared customs, the aircraft was reassembled and flying six days later. After making final adjustments and some test and training flights, Mark, our pilot in Cameroon, and instructor pilots Mark and Jeff flew the R66 from Yaounde to the helicopter’s base in the mountains of northwest Cameroon for more flight training—and the first service flights.
The first flight carried a high-risk, expectant mother from her home in a remote village to the Mbingo hospital “maternity village.” The village provides women with high-risk pregnancies a place to live near the hospital while waiting to give birth. This lady had previously lost three babies born in her village home so being near the hospital allows this child a better chance of survival. Please pray for peace and continued faith for her and her husband during this time, and for the delivery of a healthy baby.
After more flight training, they picked up another patient—a two-year-old boy with his mother who had traveled earlier to Mbingo for the boy to have a CT scan. Mother and son needed to return to Banso (home base for the helicopter) to consult with a visiting neurosurgeon at the hospital there. It had been a long, tiring day so it was a blessing to be able to take a 15-minute helicopter flight instead of riding four hours in a crowded taxi over bumpy roads with a sick child.
The next day, the R66 transported Greg, a translator, out to an isolated village for a 10-day working visit with mother-tongue translators.
These flights are the first few of many that this aircraft will fly in support of language development and translation efforts in northwest Cameroon while making it possible for hospitals and clinics to serve the most remote people groups.
Thank you for coming alongside JAARS with your prayers and gifts to make this possible!
