The four had heard of a young woman, Sister Michael Therese Ryan, who was the pilot of a small, fabric-covered Piper PA-18 Super Cub in the Turkana region of Kenya.

After the founders raised the necessary capital for a new Cessna U206, legendary aviator Max Conrad piloted the plane across the Atlantic from St. Louis to Nairobi.

From this initial effort of four men on a mission to help those in need, Wings of Hope has grown into a global aviation nonprofit working in 48 countries since its birth in 1963.

[3] Wings of Hope partners with local organizations in ten countries outside of the U.S., using aviation to help them deliver health care resources to isolated communities.

As of 2021, Wings of Hope operated in Belize, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tanzania, and Zambia.