Florida missionary family struggles with adversity to help others

摘要

Ariana, born in Haiti, came to the door of the Cessna Skymaster nicknamedTi Burik and paused; that first step is a big one for any 6-year-old. Joe Hurston, her adoptive father, lifted her from the airplane to the tarmac where she shyly stood. After meeting her 14-year-old brother, Peter, I stooped down and said, "I saw you on TV!" She looked at the ground. Joe Hurston's wife, Cindy, named the 1970 turbocharged Cessna 337 Skymaster after the ground crew in Haiti expressed amazement at how much it carried. "It's a little donkey," she said, and the name stuck. Now, it's painted on the door of the airplane that arrives in Haiti stuffed with supplies 15 to 20 times a year, thanks to donations to Hurston's Air Mobile Ministries. Baby formula, diapers, vitamin pills, water purifier pumps made by Hurston's company, and plastic sacks of powdered food are jammed to the cabin ceiling. Hurston's original dream, after a rough start to life and a rude awakening, was to lead evangelical crusades worldwide. That led to a need for funding, which came from two sources: He taught himself to refill toner cartridges for missionary organizations in Haiti, and met a friend with an idea for portable water purification pumps. With donations, he could provide clean drinking water to victims of disaster worldwide, and especially in Haiti. A toner cartridge contract from a NASA contractor at Kennedy Space Center helped take care of his family.