A Strength-Sapped Cessna

In Cameroon, home to 270 languages, several thousand people separated by hundreds of miles still have no Scripture in their language.

For translators Greg and Tracy McLean, who lived in the mountains of Northwest Cameroon, reaching the villages where they worked took two days by 4WD vehicle. Roads were impassible for six months every year during rainy season. Even during the dry season in this mountainous terrain road travel could be brutal. A flight via a Cessna 206 airplane took just half a day.

Dr. Jim and Ina Smith work at a Cameroon Baptist Convention mission hospital in Banyo. According to Dan Snow, a mechanic who once worked on the Cessna 206, “Jim and Ina couldn’t work in Cameroon without the airplane to take them to the capital city from their work in the town of Banyo.”

This Cessna 206, at almost 50 years old, transports precious cargo like this family above.

This Cessna 206 is no longer young. Built in 1972, it has logged more than 14,000 flight hours and has spent about 25% of its time grounded for maintenance. To ensure continued airworthiness, mechanics must do more-frequent heavy maintenance. Every 2,000 hours the mechanics must remove the wings to check for cracks and corrosion.

To better serve the 270 language groups in Cameroon, JAARS plans on replacing the aging Cessna with a newer one with fewer hours.

Dan reminds us that “we’re all one small component in the big picture of Bible translation.”

You also have the opportunity to be part of the big picture of Bible translation by giving to our Transportation Solutions so that safe, reliable air service is available when needed.

Learn more about the needs that are met by Aviation Solutions here.

Dan reminds us that “we’re all one small component in the big picture of Bible translation.”