In Remembrance

"An airplane just went down in Kibera."

It's Saturday, August 8. I have just returned from Sudan with two
AIM-AIR pilots, Denny and Jim. The hangar is closed on Saturday,
except for Frank and Ryan, a pilot and mechanic who were about to
embark on a flight taking a film crew over the Kibera slum. I joked
around with Ryan and talked with frank Frank. Ryan and I were becoming
good friends, working about as much as we talked and joked around at
the hangar. Frank greeted me with his trademark smile as we shake
hands. They hop in the airplane and I watch them taxi off...

For some unknown reason, that plane went down on the edge of Kibera.
Frank did not survive the crash, and went home to be with his Father.
Ryan sustained the next most serious injuries, with extensive burns
and broken bones. Rob and Dan, the two photographers, sustained cuts,
some burns, and one broken collar bone. This accident has shaken
AIM-AIR throuroughly, and a whole family, a community has sprung into
action.

Ryan was flown last week to Johannesburg, South Africa for treatment
of his extensive second and third degree burns. We thought he was to
recover, and were so grateful that he was spared.

As we were working this Friday, we were totally blown over. We were
told in a meeting that Ryan succumbed to his injuries, and went home
to be with his Father and Frank.

Frank and Ryan both leave behind wives, Tiffany and Dawn, and four
children each. As everyone here grieves, keep their families
especially in your prayers.

We heard a speaker a few weeks ago that was working at the Pentagon on
September 11 when an airliner exploded in front of him and below him.
The window he was standing in front of was the only in his whole floor
that did not explode. The story of his living through the attack was
so astounding. What stopped him in his tracks was his son. His son
asked him that crazy night in September, "God saved your life today,
what are you going to do with the rest of your life?"

I've always told myself that, "at the end of my life, I want to be
able to say I fought hard." Frank and Ryan may have left this world
too early, but their time here was so, so well spent. They leveraged
their lives and skills to help reach forgotten people in East Africa,
fixing and flying airplanes. Delivering food, people, and Hope. They
spent weekends with friends, invested in orphanages and people, and
both always wore a smile. They may not have the rest of their life
left, but their time here was well worth it. Well worth it. Well done,
good and faithful servants.

God saved your life today, and all the days before that.

What are you going to do with the rest of your life?