The major days of the Christmas holidays were successfully concluded, and we had all settled in for a quiet morning on December 26th. We had made plans for afternoon visits to friends, and we expected a crowd of coworkers at our home for an evening of snacks and fellowship. The kids were engrossed in copies of Calvin and Hobbes or otherwise engaged with stocking stuffers; wooden tops rattled crazily across the floors and piles of puzzle pieces occupied corners of the rooms. The atmosphere was full of the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas vacation (except that it was 90 degrees outside and not a snowflake in sight).

The call came around 10 a.m. Although the flight team was officially on holiday break for another eight days, emergency flight requests are an exception.* This one came on behalf of a woman in a remote village suspected of having a burst appendix.

The team sprang into action and each headed out their respective doors to the hangar.

Jared and fellow pilot Jamin made the 1 hour 45 minute flight to the village, where the patient and family were awaiting the “air ambulance.” They quickly loaded the sick woman and a few of her family members and transported her to a city about a 45-minute flight from the village, where she would receive care from a competent doctor.

The men returned in the evening, and although our visits to neighbors had to be postponed until another day, we still managed to host a gathering of coworkers and enjoy some “heaven bread” (what our friends here have dubbed Jared’s mom’s delicious recipe for orange croissants).

We heard later that the sick woman had a successful operation to remove her appendix and a cyst. She is now recovering in the city until she is strong enough to return to her home. We are thankful to the Lord for healing her and allowing her to get timely transportation to a doctor with the necessary skill-set.

It was a topsy-turvy afternoon and a reminder of just how uncertain any day can be. One thing of which we are certain, however, is the goodness and love of a God who came down into our messy, out-of-sorts world to set all things right again. May we each bear the truth of His grace into the new year ahead.

*All our medevac flights are made possible by an Emergency Medevac Fund supported by Ethnos360 Aviation donors.