Turning 60

We served breakfast to about 300 people from the community, partnering churches, and ministries, followed by a program.

60 years is pretty old in NGO-years.  I'm not sure if it is quite like dog-years, but it's got to be up there. It seems like there are trendy NGOs that pop up all the time, they are much more vogue with their "buy our product and we'll give one away to the needy" model, but I'll be impressed when you've been doing it for a few decades, or a half dozen if you can imagine.  A friend of mine who works for a large NGO once told me these young up and comers are called boutique charities, a cute name for a cute movement.

I'm only kidding of course (apologies if you work for one of these new NGOs, I am being facetious and clearly the age of the organization has nothing to do with its effectiveness).  It just so happens that our mission organization, Asas de Socorro (Wings of Rescue) is celebrating 60 years since the first missionaries came to Brazil from Missionary Aviation Fellowship and started a chapter here.  Asas de Socorro has since grown to include a medical and dental ministry which serves in the remote communities of the Amazon.  

As the vision and mission of Asas de Socorro has grown over the years, we still have our identity rooted in Aviation, and specifically using it as a tool to further the reach of the Gospel.  Aviation has become more and more expensive in recent years, forcing many missionary aviation organizations around the world to close their doors or find creative ways to make ends meet.  I truly don't know what our organization will look like in another 60 years.  But I hope and pray that its main focus remains on helping the Gospel be heard by those who have no way of hearing on their own.