As we step into this season of gratitude, I find myself reflecting on the incredible ways God has moved through Samaritan Aviation this year and on the role you have played in making it all possible.
Over the past three years, our team has flown more than 500 missions each year, reaching families across the Sepik and the Gulf. That’s more than one patient flown to safety every day, with a third being mothers facing dangerous pregnancy complications. We’ve delivered tens of thousands of pounds of medicine each year. And we made pioneer trips to new villages like Wowobo, where planes have never landed before.
But your partnership doesn’t end on the airstrip. At Boram Hospital, our team meets, prays, and shares the Gospel with patients in need. Hundreds of gifted audio Bibles each year help families hear the hope of Jesus in their own language, often for the very first time.
Keeping three floatplanes in the air across the Sepik River region and the Gulf Province is no small task. Every mission depends on aviation fuel, maintenance, parts, and skilled local staff who keep our operations running safely day after day. As we continue to expand and serve more communities of Papua New Guinea, the costs increase to keep these planes ready to respond at a moment’s notice—whether it’s a mother in distress, a medical team heading upriver, or a village waiting for lifesaving medicine. Every dollar spent means another life reached, another family helped, another story of hope written in the skies over Papua New Guinea.
One story that stands out is our friend Rhonda. When Rhonda was flown to Boram Hospital, five months pregnant and battling tuberculosis, she was weak and struggling to breathe. Thanks to ongoing care, encouragement from our hospital ministry team, and practical support from other mothers, both she and her baby girl (whom she named after our ministry assistant, Michaelyne) are recovering and filled with hope.
These are the moments that remind us why we keep our planes in the air and our ministry strong.
But as we close out this year, the needs are still urgent. Families are waiting. Villages remain isolated. Each flight requires fuel, supplies, and the faithful support of friends like you. That’s why our “Hope Takes Flight” year-end campaign is so critical. And right now, your gift can go twice as far through a special matching opportunity, doubling the impact with both medical care and the hope of the Gospel.
I am deeply thankful for you. Your prayers, generosity, and encouragement sustain this ministry and make it possible for us to continue serving the most remote communities of Papua New Guinea.
Let’s finish this year strong—together—so that even more lives can be saved and more hope shared in 2026.
With gratitude,
Mark Palm
CEO, Samaritan Aviation
