Three year African mission to bring love and hope

I'm heading off to Africa this summer to become a missionary '“ but not in the traditional way you might expect.

I will be leading the flight ministry for a Christian organisation called Africa Inland Mission.

For the next three years I’ll be based in Nairobi in Kenya, helping up to 40 staff, including pilots and engineers, to keep planes in the air and ferrying people and supplies from place to place.

I’ll be supporting other missionaries who will be bringing the gospel to people in more than 20 African nations.

My work will help others to do church planting, community development, emergency relief, education, Bible translation and much more.

AIM exists to reach those who are isolated. AIM Air supports AIM’s work by flying missionaries, pastors and cargo over some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain, to bring love and hope.

They have three main bases, two in Kenya and one in Uganda.

I went to Tanzania in 2003 with Mission Aviation Fellowship and that had a profound effect on me.

Last September, I went out to Nairobi to see the AIM Air set-up for myself.

They have six small planes, 12 pilots and various engineers there and in their other two bases.

I’ll be there for a minimum of two years and won’t come back home in that time.

It means leaving behind family and friends and the church community in Bishop’s Waltham.

But they all understand and have been very supportive.

I’m looking forward to being part of a new culture, the personal challenge, and also the sense that God is giving me a chance to be of service.

I need to raise £20,000 to pay for the challenge and would love people to support me through prayer and financially.

I’ve organised some fundraising events, including a coffee morning at St Peter’s Church, at 10am on May 6 and an African evening at St Peter’s church hall at 7pm on June 9.

They’ll also be a commissioning service at St Peter’s on June 26. You’re welcome to come to any of these events.

To find out more about the challenge please visit aimint.org or aimair.org.

To support me please contact me on [email protected].

ST PETER’S CHURCH, St Peter’s Street, Bishop’s Waltham

Website: www.stpetersbishopswaltham.org.uk