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Don Gahagen went to be with the Lord on November 3, 2022. Don was a commercial-rated pilot, flying land and float planes across the jungles in support of missionary work. He and Sue (2018), served in Peru and Bolivia from 1962-1979, founding missionary aviation services under South America Mission in both countries. SAMAIR Peru and SAMAIR Bolivia would not exist without him being obedient to God’s call to South America.
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In the 1960s, as the world was enjoying the so-called Golden Age of flying, things were “taking flight” for South America Mission as well. Missionaries were exclusively flying (gone were the days of setting sail) to South America out of Miami. And within SAM’s fields, airplanes were beginning to be used to transport missionaries and national pastors to hard-to-reach places. In 1962, Don and Sue Gahagen founded Jungle Air in Peru, which would eventually be grafted into SAM as SAMAIR.

Enabling indigenous, gospel movements through aviation transportation service is at the heart of SAMAIR’s vision, a vision whose course began to be charted with Don and Sue Gahagen many years ago.

More than a half century after its founding, SAMAIR continues to “Give Wings to God’s Word”. Air transportation makes Gospel access possible in the jungles of Peru! In fact, SAMAIR underwrites hundreds of hours of flying time each year, enabling the ministries of Peruvian pastors and missionaries.

The Gahagen Flight Fund has been established coinciding with Sue Gahagen’s home going on March 29, 2018, and in honor of the Gahagens’ mission aviation legacy. This fund will help reduce the economic barriers indigenous missionaries face as they travel to remote corners of the Amazon rain forest, carrying the Good News of Jesus Christ.