Nearly eight years ago, at the request of 30 village captains and ADRA/Venezuela, my wife Becky and I began praying for a pilot that could replace us in Guyana so we could move to Venezuela to open up the medical aviation work there. When Gary and Wendy Roberts were lead of God to take up the work in Guyana, we made the move across. God provided a beautiful small Cessna 172 and I also carried responsibilities as Associate Director of Communication and ADRA for the Union. We called the program AMA (Aviación Médico Adventista - Adventist Medical Aviation), which means “Love” in Spanish. With the expanding worldwide work, it became rapidly clear that I would be unable to carry the daily load that a medical aviation program required. That is when I ran into Bob Norton in Collegedale airport. I hadn’t seen him for years and discovered that he was finishing his aviation training and had just married a Venezuelan nurse. Suddenly I began to see what God was doing. He had already started putting together a perfect solution for the need in Venezuela. Bob and Neiba accepted the position with somewhat trembling knees as they had not considered leaving everything in order to work as volunteers. Many of their friends counseled against such a move. However, they felt God’s calling and made their choice. It was to leave everything behind and trust God with the future. That choice was to affect the lives of thousands of native Amerindians living in the beautiful but isolated jungles of Southeast Venezuela. Though the Cessna 172 had an upgraded engine put in,...
Venezuela: Search Continues for Missing Medical Missionary Plane BY LIBNA STEVENS, news coordinator, Inter-America Division [ See Original Story ] Pilot Robert Norton with his wife Neiba lead out the Adventist Medical Aviation based in Gran Sabana, Venezuela. [photo: courtesy of AMA] Adventist search teams continue looking for a medical missionary plane which went missing on Monday February 16 in the jungles of La Gran Sabana in southeastern Venezuela. The Cessna 182N plane, piloted by Robert Norton, who volunteers for the Adventist Medical Aviation (AMA) in Venezuela, is believed to have hit turbulent weather after taking off from the community of Carun en route to Bethel. Also in the plane were six passengers: Neiba Norton, wife of the pilot, Gladis Zerpa an Adventist teacher, a woman accompanying a 14-year-old, and a woman traveling with her young son. "Our church is really distraught about the news of this tragedy," said Rodolfo Escobar, communication director for Venezuela-Antilles Union Mission. Escobar said church members in Gran Sabana began searching for the missing plane as soon as they heard the news. The National Civil Aviation Institute and several air rescue and non-government organizations immediately began their search but were forced to stop after 72 hours. The search continued Thursday with contracted rescue organizations. "We are running out of money to pay for the rescue planes but are trusting that God will provide what we need to find our people," Escobar said. Search operations will continue as long as funds are available, he added. The search continues for the Adventist Medical Aviation Cessna 182N plane which went missing Feb. 16, 2009 in the jungles...
Very early on Monday morning, February 16, 2009 the AMA Venezuela plane took off and headed north toward Ciudad Bolivar. Experienced mission pilot Bob Norton has been flying in southeast Venezuela for 8 years. His wife Neiba usually stays at home, but this time she accompanied her husband. The plane landed briefly at the village of Karum, possibly to pick up patients. Bob called the radio operator at his next stop, the village of Bethel to ask about weather conditions and give an ETA (estimated time of arrival). The weather was stormy, but Bob had been flying in stormy weather quite often without any mishaps. But this time the airplane disappeared, possibly somewhere in the dense jungle along the route traced below. During the flight between Karum and Bethel, Bob called the Bethel radio operator. But the message was garbled, and nobody understood what was being said. When the plane did not arrive at Bethel as expected, aviation authorities were notified. Search parties by air and by ground were organized, but many days went by and there was no sign of the plane or its passengers. Gladys Zerpa (left), teacher and administrator of Colgransa Adventist boarding school was in the plane when it disappeared. Also on board was a 14-year-old girl and a newborn baby, each accompanied by a parent. Friends of the Nortons and AMA Venezuela arranged with Google Earth to do a high definition satellite scan of the area, and many volunteers are looking for any possible signs of the missing plane. Thousands of people in Venezuela have been helped by Bob and Neiba's ministry. Many lives...
