Helicopter Funds Begin!
We’re back again after 3 months of traveling, seeing family, and sharing in churches etc. Dwayne spent 3 intense weeks doing flight training and now he has his flight instructor rating for both multi and single engine airplanes. This will help him keep other missionary pilots current and enable him to give them some advanced training. We had a great time, especially with family, but it’s nice to be “home”! (Actually we were only home (in north Luzon) for a week and now we’re in Palawan doing the annual inspections on both airplanes).
Helicopter Funds Begin!
We can hardly wait to tell you that your faithful prayers for a helicopter are being answered! A donor has offered $150K towards a helicopter, provided we can come up with the matching funds towards the rest. Another friend has also pledged at least $40K so we are finally on our way for the much needed helicopter! We’re looking for a used, 4-seater Robinson R44, which runs for around $300K.
As we’re here in Palawan now, we are reminded of the needs even more again for a helicopter. Just hearing the stories from the AFM and other missionaries here gives us new urgency for this to become a reality soon!
Laboring Woman loses Baby
Just one of many stories is of a Palawano friend of ours who was giving birth the other day in the mountains and the missionary nurse found that the umbilical cord was coming out first (a dangerous situation)! She gently pushed it back in and they carried the lady out on the 3 hour, slippery trail, and drove her to the hospital. Not surprisingly, the baby did not make it on the long journey, but thankfully, the mom survived. This unnecessary death (and trial for all involved) might have been spared had we been able to evacuate her in a 10- minute flight from door-to-door. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story, as these types of emergencies happen on a regular basis.
Bible Workers Anxious to Reach the Unreached
One of our older (late 70’s) Bible workers here has been anxious for a long time to go deeper into the mountains to reach those who have never heard the Good News, but no one has time to help him go. We always tell him to keep praying for a helicopter so we can reach these people with the limited time and workers that we have.
In fact, one year ago he and I and another missionary hiked up a mountain, crossing a flooded stream multiple times to reach a village because they were requesting us to come and teach them about God. The villagers came from far and wide to the little hut on the mountain and they just soaked up the Bible stories and health lectures we gave them. They were so thankful for our visit and asked when we would come again. It broke my heart to tell them honestly I didn't know when it would be (knowing that our Bible workers already have so many requests for Bible studies that they can't keep up with the ones they've already started). I told them to pray for more missionaries and for a helicopter so we could come regularly to teach them. They were disappointed but they seemed to understand. No one has visited them since. I hope to visit them while I’m here.
Our other Bible workers are also anxious to reach into more remote villages, but that would mean leaving their other Bible studies unattended for several days or more every time they would go for a visit.
In the News
Welcome Baby Seth!
Wendy had the privilege of being here just in time to help Pris and Sean with their new baby boy who was born last Friday. They drove to Puerto in record time and Pris gave birth 4 hours later in the Adventist Hospital of Palawan! The bumpy road helped speed things along, no doubt! Praise God for the gift of a healthy baby and normal delivery! Sean continues to stay busy with multiple med-evac flights each week for the remote, Muslim island of Mapun (except right now while Dwayne is working on the planes)
Goodbye to long-term Missionaries
Recently we had to say goodbye to our faithful missionaries of the last 5 years! Andriy, Tanya and kids have returned to the Ukraine and they will stay there indefinitely until we get a helicopter for him to fly. We will miss them greatly and we pray it will not be long before God provides a helicopter and they will be back again.
Missionaries back again
We praise God for bringing Briane and joy (and 2 girls) who will watch over things now at the Luzon project, especially whenever we’re gone. We are so happy to have them back again with their passion for missions, talents in soul-winning and music, and their language abilities (both Ilocano and Tagalog since they grew up in this area).
Briane and Joy stayed in our house while we were gone and have been a big blessing in continuing the children’s ministries (of Tanya, Andriy, and Anzhela) at our nearby Banuar SDA church. They have now divided the youth from the younger kids, which we see is helping to keep the youth engaged and more consistent. It’s amazing how this church stays full with kids 3 days a week, but only a handful of adults attend. The kids have learned so much that they often know more then the church members themselves! We’ll tell you more next time about all the exciting things going on there. We're also still praying for a helicopter for this large, unreached area of north Luzon as well.
If you'd like to help, please click the "Donate" button on the top of this website, or contact us by clicking on the "contact us" button. To help with the helicopter, simply specify your donation for "Helicopter fund."
Thank you!
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