Since 1960, planes and pilots have been a vital component of the outreach of the United Methodist Church in Africa. The long distances and poor infrastructure found in the Congo make air travel an essential part of getting church workers, evangelists, medical staff, construction teams, agricultural advisers, and other outreach staffs to the places where they need to minister. The United Methodist Church in the Congo is blessed with a dynamic team of Congolese pilots who today provide the same level of quality air service as their Western missionary pilot predecessors did in decades past. However, what they lack is the wealth of technical, logistical, and financial support that used to be available to the American and European missionary pilots. The Aviation Assistance Program helps to fill that void by providing the UM pilots and aviation programs with flight refresher training, safety supplies, maintenance equipment, training courses, and promotional activities. With this support, the aviation programs have been able to continue to provide the transportation and technical support of the ministries of the United Methodist Church in the Congo.