CAPE ATTORNEY PILOTS WINGS OF HOPE IN BELIZE

Local attorney A.J. Seier, a former Navy pilot, has embarked on a new mission: Flying the sick and injured of a poor, remote Central American country to distant medical centers for much-needed health care.

Seier was in Central America from mid-July to mid-August, sometimes flying two missions a day. An avid flyer with instrument and commercial pilot ratings, Seier flew from the nation of Belize for an organization called the Wings of Hope. The St. Louis-based, non-denominational group exists solely for this humanitarian purpose, recruiting experienced pilots for missions of mercy. This they do in Indonesia, Zaire and Bolivia, as well as on some American Indian reservations.

Wings of Hope is under contract to the government of Belize for missions authorized by that nation's ministry of health. Belize has only one hospital and four main roads, making transportation difficult. Many citizens of Belize must travel to Mexico or Honduras for the care they need. Enter Wings of Hope.

The work, in a country lacking both state-of-the-art communications and weather-reporting technology, is dangerous: One pilot was killed while Seier was there.

Cape Girardeau boasts an uncommon number of professionals -- physicians, dentists and others -- who regularly give large blocks of time to charities such as these. Seier's donation of his flying skills is in this fine tradition of ministering, as the 25th chapter of Matthew enjoins us, "to the least of these."