Today, according to Africa Inland Mission, it’s hard to find a single copy of the Zande Bible throughout the area. The ones that can be found are well-loved and falling apart. The majority of Zandes in CAR and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are internally-displaced people or refugees. Many lost their Bibles when fleeing attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a militant movement with cult overtones.

After a long “famine for the word of God” (Amos 8:11), 10,000 Bibles were printed in Korea for the LRA-affected regions of CAR and the DRC. The container arrived in Bunia, Congo last month. Delivery is complicated and painstaking. Details have been kept under wraps because of security concerns.

Most will be flown to northern Congo for believers, no small process in and of itself. The delivery process starts with the Bibles being transported inland to Isiro and Bunia in the DRC by boat and by truck; then transported by truck and flown by plane to distribution centers in CAR and DRC, both of which have been in the news recently due to threats of war and ongoing rebel activity.

The remaining 3000 were reserved for the CAR. Please pray that the Bibles reach their destinations and that they will be read, understood, and allowed to bring transformation to the hearts of many Zandes.

Since 1994, AIM and Wycliffe Bible Translators have
partnered together to provide training and equipment to their mission pilots.
Through Wycliffe's aviation program, JAARS, pilots have been provided with "intensive
pre-field evaluations and orientations," according to AIM's Web site.

The training they receive in Waxhaw, North Carolina teaches
them how to supply air support in many remote locations around the world.

However, only one Cessna 206 remains in North Carolina, and
several of AIM's pilot applications have had to be postponed.

Both ministries are expanding, and the equipment they have
will not serve both their needs.

"With their own training needs increasing, it's possible
that JAARS will have to discontinue its services to AIM AIR altogether," AIM's Web site stated.

Thus, "JAARS has proposed that AIM AIR and a couple other
missionary aviation organizations come together and contribute toward the
purchase of another aircraft to fill this need," the Web site explained. "The availability
of another aircraft would ensure, and even expand, AIM AIR's ability to get our
pilot applicants tested, trained, and to the field without delays that can
amount up to several years."

In addition to mission aviation, Wycliffe and AIM both seek
to build God's Kingdom and prepares its workers. Through the purchase of this
plane, AIM said, they can ensure this vision is met.

By February 2010, AIM hopes to raise the $110,000 needed to
purchase the aircraft.

To partner with AIM in this effort, visit aimint.org.