Just Answer 'Yes'

Villagers gather at the plane, relieved that help has arrived for their friend. 

“Are you working already?!” asked Jamin Peck’s wife.

It was early morning on a Friday, and Jamin was already in his pilot’s uniform.

“Medevac!” came Jamin’s reply.

He had checked his phone first thing in the morning, but instead of the usual messages from the other side of the world, there were a series of messages from the Downings, a family serving in a remote village in Asia-Pacific.

2:34 AM “We might need a medevac flight today. There is a woman who started labor, but there have been complications.

4:24 AM “It’s looking more likely we will need the medevac. Call when you can.”

After a quick phone call at 6, the flight team was in full motion: the pilots preparing flight plans, the office administrators getting flight approvals from the local airport authority and coordinating with the hospital for an ambulance, and the ground crew fueling the plane and installing the stretcher.

Pilot Jamin Peck loads the patient.

An hour and a half after takeoff, the pilots landed and were met by a large crowd that had gathered at the airstrip, including the midwife who had never flown in a plane.
The hour and half flight back to town seemed to drag on and on for the pilots as the ocean crept by slowly below the Kodiak airplane. The midwife indicated that the mother was ok, but still no progress. The team on the ground made sure the ambulance was ready. Tensions were high.

Pilot Jared Kresge places the patient into the hand of emergency personnel.

The small red and white plane landed and taxied up to the hangar, shutting down as the ground crew jumped into action, helping to transfer the patient to the ambulance. The race against time was handed off to the hospital staff, who were soon performing a life-saving C-section. Then, the news arrived: a healthy 4 kg [8 lbs. 13 oz.] baby girl.

During the week of recovery before Ethnos360 Aviation was able to fly them all home, some retired missionaries hosted the midwife, sharing stories of the Lord’s faithfulness in their own medical incidents while serving with remote tribes. The whole experience was a testament to the love and generosity of the Lord’s people.

(Left to right):  Pilots Jamin Peck and Jared Kresge, the happy patient and baby, a friend, and the midwife.

Pilot Jamin Peck says, “I’m so glad we could help this family, not having to worry about this flight being a burden to the missionaries or this young family. When the call came, we could just answer ‘yes’ and get to work because of the medevac fund.” [Credit goes to Jamin himself for writing this story.]

To those who made the medevac possible, the baby’s mother and father expressed their gratefulness: “Our family praises God because God worked through [the missionaries] to send us to the hospital where we were made well.” And to those who funded the medevac, they had specific thanks: “Father God worked in your hearts such that we were blessed through God’s power which is above all. … This difficulty has turned into good because of Father God’s power that has freely loved us … . We give much thanks to the triune God. … Thank you, Father God.”