God's answer arrives -- just in time
Last week in Papua New Guinea, 20 minutes into an hour-and-a-half flight, missionary pilot Dave Douglas received an urgent request to medevac a snake-bite victim.
A young tribal girl, Julien, was bitten the night before by a venomous snake and the poison was beginning to spread through her body.
Dave was not far from the girl's village and was able to land the plane, offload his passengers and fly Julien and her father to a waiting ambulance.
Upon returning to the village to pick up his passengers, Dave heard that the tribal people had been praying all day for an airplane to come for the girl. They had thought about trying to get Julien out by dugout canoe -- a long trip that she might not survive.
The people decided to pray one last time before putting Julien in the canoe. As they finished praying, they heard the plane fly overhead. They praised God that the plane arrived in time.
"What a thrill to be able to stand around the airplane together afterwards and praise the Lord for His intervention in this desperate situation," wrote Dave.
At the hospital Julien received an anti-venom injection -- a serum that is not often available -- and is now recovering from her ordeal.
Praise God for missionary aviation and continue to pray for NTM's pilots who deal with schedule changes and flying over dangerous terrain.