Asas de Socorro (Wings of Help) has been working in Brazil for more than 40 years, first as a part of Mission Aviation Fellowship, and for the past fifteen years as a wholly Brazilian organization. This change was important in gaining the trust of the Brazilian government and people.
Asas' agile and versatile light aircraft have carried the gospel to many thousands of Indians and river dwellers hidden in the jungle or in isolated communities. Asas also promotes multi-faceted health clinics in indigent communities which attend to the people's medical, dental, and social needs.
At its home base, Anápolis, in the State of Goiás, Brazil, Asas de Socorro operates a certified school to train mission pilot/mechanics, and to maintain the airplanes.
Asas owns ten aircraft, and also operates a Cessna 206 float plane from Manaus, at the head of the massive Amazon River, for eight years. This plane belongs to a church there. In 2001, Asas acquired a powerful new 10-seat Cessna Caravan. With it we can reach more places, more distant regions, and people whom we have never been able to reach before. Because it is a larger airplane and can land and take off on land or water, it enables us to offer many more resources to our missionaries and professionals in medical, dental, and social ministries.
The Manaus base is expanding now that the new Caravan has arrived. More pilots and mechanics are being sent here. The existence of this plane is basic to the assistance of the Amazon dwellers, fostering conditions of good health, education, and social development. The outreach potential from Manaus is tremendous.
