A family from Ramona is heading to Papua New Guinea to provide hospital flights through Samaritan Aviation. This year the Condon family, members of Grace Community Church, will leave their lives in Ramona for a mission.
Hospital Flights for Papua New Guinea
Matt Condon, a former detective with the San Diego Police Department, will be leaving Ramona soon to venture into a new career and mission – a pilot for Samaritan Aviation. The Ramona Sentinel reported Condon has been training to become a pilot for the last couple of years with the intent to carry out missions on the island just north of Australia.
Condon will work with the non–profit Samaritan Aviation. He will transport people needing immediate medical attention up the 700 – mile Sepik River to Boram Hospital.
It is the only hospital available to the 250,000 residents in the area.
Condon said that he and his wife prayed about this decision to join Samaritan Aviation. He expressed their excitement to be in Papua New Guinea and serve Samaritan Aviation.
Condon and his family have never been to this country. Matt Condon is a Ramona High graduate of 2000 and grew up in this town. In 2002, he joined the Army and provided communication and support for his infantry platoon as a forward observer.
He served until 2006. Instead of returning to the military, he joined the San Diego Police Department as a patrol officer from 2009 to 2014. He retired as a detective in 2019.
He discovered he and his family were exposed to missionary service through the church – Grace Community Church. They visited the Philippines, where he met a missionary pilot.
The exploratory trip took them to an orphanage, a school, and other aspects of missionary service.
Samaritan Aviation
According to Mark Palm, co-founder, and CEO of the Mesa, Ariz – based Samaritan Aviation and a Carlsbad resident, people in Papua New Guinea live in bush houses with no electricity or running water.
They ride on canoes, which takes one to three days before they arrive at the hospital. According to Palm, people are facing real emergencies such as being bitten by poisonous snakes, pregnant women in labor, or patients with tuberculosis or malaria.
According to its webpage, its floatplanes cut a five-to-seven-day trip to the hospital by canoe down to just hours. It helps treat and care for patients physically and spiritually.
Another of its program is the Trauma Healing Training. It empowers rural health workers to serve their communities better. Additionally, Samaritan Aviation offers vaccination clinics and training.
It also addresses the need for medical supplies. Samaritan Aviation delivers these needs to aid posts and health centers. Another of its missions is using a partnership to prevent outbreaks and provide aid through natural disasters.
This Christian non–profit organization demonstrates God’s love through these services in the remote jungle of Papua New Guinea. The organization encourages everyone to help them bring hope to the East of Sepik.
East Sepik is a province in Papua New Guinea and the home of the mighty Sepik River.
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