Skids On The Ground In Port Au Prince

On Thursday Jan 21 we launched the helicopters headed for Haiti. We sent a Bell 206 Long Ranger and Robinson R44. Simon Tanner, the Director of Heli-mission, Travis Parker, Mark Palmieri flew the Bell and the Pilots of the R44 were Martin Schroder and Zach Keller.

The skids touched down in Port au Prince Haiti this afternoon Jan. 22 at about 2:00pm and hit the ground flying. Plans to transport patients to the ship comfort were hampered by communication issues. The small cell towers are unable to facilitate the amount of users who have arrived to help the small island of haiti. Tomorrow they will begin the tasks of moving food, water, medicine, doctors. Doing medevac flights and whatever will fit in side the helicopter that needs to be moved.

I talked to Brian Parker this morning, Jan. 23, he said they are getting ready to launch one of the helicopters to Cape Haitian transporting a doctor and medicine. Along with the doctor is a father going to pick up his adopted child to bring home to the US..

As details come in from down there we will be posting them to the blog daily so keep checking back with us for new updates.

We are so thankful for your prayers and support.

Wheels Up

After much planning and prayer, Brian left for Haiti. The jet was wheels up from Ft. Pierce at 0900. The crew and supplies made it safely to Port-Au-Prince. One small delay in Provo allowed us to see the generosity of that small town. Jesse from Mother's Pizza donated pizza for the plane. The two people Sandra and Dayana delivered the pizzas. They were so excited to help out, doing what they could with what they had to help their neighbors.

The goal is to secure a safe location for the helicopters and crew and if all goes well two helicopters will leave out on Thursday.

There are three companies that made this trip possible. The owners and pilots of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs racing donated the use of their jets and Palm Beach County Heath Care District Trauma Hawk Division approved Brian's request for an extended leave so that he can coordinate operations from Haiti.

It is inspiring to see everyone doing their part to bring hope to the people of Haiti.

Please pray for all the volunteers helping in Haiti, the safety of the aircraft and crews and for God's name to be glorified as we demonstrate the hands and feet of Jesus.

Haiti Earthquake 7.0

Dear Friends, Thank you to those of you who have been calling and wondering what you can do to help. Samaritan Air is working closely with our contacts in Haiti.
The information is coming in slowly but we do know the orphanage and ministry center where we stayed on our last mission has been leveled. The children have been moved to the chicken coups and the staff is staying in the only small building that remains standing on the property.
While we wait to confirm the ability to obtain fuel for the helicopter, clearance to enter the country and other technical details, we are coordinating with various ministries both here and in Haiti to determine exactly what will bring the most relief to the devastating situation.
Please pray for the team as they work on logistics. There are SO many needs and we want to make the best possible decision for the resources that become available.
With heavy hearts and yet hopeful hearts - we reopen the blog http://www.samaritanairhaiti.blogspot.com/ .
We are thankful for the network we already have in place there but also saddened because we now personally know them and the extreme hardship they face today and in the months to come.
We hope in some small way we can bring relief. Again, thank you for your prayers for our friends in Haiti and the Samaritan Air team. As updates become avaialble we will email the link to you.

We have been busy...

The past few weeks have been full and rich with experiences none of those involved will soon forget. There are many of you who were unable to personally go to Haiti but were there feeding the poor and ministering to the sick through your prayers and support. We hope you will get a glimpse of all that God has done and continues to do through you.



Hunter is back with all the information that we need and also the skill to update the blog.

We have a video for those who like the visual interpretation, the numbers for those who prefer the bottom line and the story to fill in the blanks.


Just the facts…

The helicopter has delivered the following supplies to remote unreachable areas
9,350 lbs of rice
4,750 lbs of beans
2,225 lbs of oil
150 lbs of soap

Medical Flight from remote areas to the hospital
1 child’s life was saved with a quick transport to the hospital

The stories just keep coming as we debrief with the pilots and other short-term missionaries that were apart of this relief effort in Haiti. One common thread to all of them is the sovereign hand of God that directed every step of every day.

Our initial purpose was to deliver food to the desperate people cut off from the food supply due to destroyed roads. It seemed that each day brought with it new opportunities to minister. On a routine visit with a local Pastor we had been helping, the need arose to transport the child to the hospital. Looking back, it was not by chance that we were in that exact place at the exact time that the helicopter would be needed.

The helicopter is not only a necessary tool in the air but also on the ground. There are no other private helicopters in Haiti so when one is flying about delivering food it commands attention. Because of this, one by-product, that we feel will prove to be one of the most instrumental things that happened while we were there, was as Matt said “We helped connect the dots”. We were surprised to find how many of the Christian organizations and churches did not know of each other but they all knew about us. Matt began to network them together and they were able to begin to meet the needs of each other. Once again, the sovereign hand of God moving throughout a country so disconnected by terrain and yet so many people connected in purpose.

With the initial relief effort nearly completed, we now begin the process of assessing the long-term needs of Haiti and how the helicopter can best be used to meet those needs.

Please continue to pray with us as we serve God with our time and resources.

"Wow what a Day"!!

The information from Haiti has slowed down due to Hunter being in Haiti. Hunter is in charge of keeping the blog updated. While in Haiti he has no Internet access to upload the data.

Beau and Hunter will be back on Oct 20th, once they are back they will provide an update on last week's event's.

On October 15th I was able to take a quick trip to Haiti to check on the operation.

Rene Delgado along with his son Daniel accompanied me on the trip. It was exciting to have them along and see firsthand the way God has been using SamaritanAir to fly relief and bring the message of hope to the people of Haiti.

While there we flew to one of the town's we provide helicopter support for. Upon landing at the LZ we were greeted by hundreds of people who had come to the medical clinic which Pastor Roro set up for the day. There we met two young Doctors who volunteer a couple times a year.

As Rene, Matt,Daniel and myself moved through the crowd Pastor Roro came to us with a request. He said the Doctors had a child who required hospitalization. Wow talk about being at the right place at the right time, the helicopter we flew in on surely could transport the sick child to the hospital.

We contacted the Hands and Feet project Administrator Drex, without any hesitation Drex said he would be glad to help in any way he could. So Renee, Pilot Matt, Future Pilot Daniel transported the child to the town of Jacmel where they met Jo who assisted with the hand off.

Thank You Hands and Feet project for making yourselves available.

Great Teamwork!!

Later in the evening we were invited to Franks house for praise and worship and a quick time to share. It was very inspiring to hear Frank speak.

The title of the Blog came from Daniel Delgado as he sat down at the end of the day for dinner Daniel said with a big grin "Wow what a day"

Rescue, Relief and Renewal

The events of the past few days have confirmed what we have always believed, the helicopter was created for rescue, relief, and renewal.

The place they went today was unreachable by any vehicle. The road is destroyed and there are no airstrips for a plane. The helicopter made several trips delivering rice and beans until the weather set in for the afternoon.

"Thank you for coming - I have starving children"

I knew this fact, I had even see pictures of their desperate faces but until a man made his way over to me, hugged me and said those words, I did not comprehend the true depth of their situation. This is why Samaritan Air came to Haiti, this is why we are here.

Hands and Feet Project

Today the helicopter was used to assist the Hands and Feet Project. Check them out at http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/ We are privileged to work along side such a quality organization.

Our base of operation is set up at the Christianville Compound in Greisser. Doug and Amy, have been so gracious. The basketball court has been converted into a heli-pad. The crew left the compound and headed towards Jacmel to view the mudslide area and to asses what could be done to restore and possibly prevent reoccurring. Their next mission was a delivery of "essential kits" to a small town that was unreachable by road. They flew a Pastor with them who shared a message of hope to the people of the town.

Tomorrow they will transport over 3000 lbs. of rice, beans and oil to the people of Seguin who have been cut off from all travel since the last storm.

We hoped we could have actual pictures of the mission but communication has been sparse. Their flight as recorded by our tracking system is pictured here.

Thank you for your prayers and your support.