Description
The aviation team is currently seeking personnel for an aviation ministry in Ghana, West Africa where it will use a floatplane to help establish local churches.
History
ABWE was first interested in aviation in 1948 when the Dutch New Guinea field opened (later called Irian Jaya, now Papua). Dr. Harold Commons, mission president, invited Nate Saint to initiate the aviation ministry. However, Nate felt called of God to go to Ecuador. On January 8, 1956, Nate died in Operation Auca.
In 1958, ABWE asked Hank Scheltema to open an aviation ministry in Amazonas, Brazil. He arrived in 1960, using a 1948 Aeronca Sedan equipped with floats. In his second term, Terry Bowers arrived to join the team with a Cessna 185 on floats.
Over the next few years, ABWE expanded its aviation ministry to Colombia and the Philippine Islands. Presently, ABWE aviation is in five countries: Peru, Brazil, Togo, Ghana, and Papua New Guinea.