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, Bob fell in love with the
Cessna 182. Two such aircraft were purchased.
As some of my previous emails have mentioned, there have been many
challenges which threatened to close the program. But in every case,
God protected and multiplied the impact of that small airplane
piloted by a man who loved to save lives and share God’s love. At
home, Neiba carried heavy loads of helping with communication and
coordinating all the small details and finances. Their loving service
earned the respect and love of the Amerindians throughout the entire
Southeast region of Venezuela, known as the state of Bolivar.
On Monday, February 16, a rainy overcast day, Bob loaded the
airplane with his wife Neiba and ex-school principal, Gladys. He left
the city of Santa Elena de Uairen and headed North for scheduled
maintenance on the plane and to take care of business. As frequently
happens, after takeoff he was advised by HF radio of some patients to
be transported from the village of Karum. After landing he took off
headed for Bethel, a second village further North. In between the two
villages is a mountain range. Going around to the East was flatter,
while the river wound around to the West, but was bordered by some
gorges.
The plane never arrived. Some villagers state hearing the plane in
the distance but then hearing nothing more. Intensive searches have
involved the government and especially the Governor’s helicopter.
Several groups of Amerindians have been scouring the jungles on foot
throughout that area.
The governor’s office has been very kind to provide for the
costs of the helicopter, while the government has helped with fuel
for aircraft willing to participate in the search. However, the food
and supplies for the ground teams has not been met so Gospel
Ministries International has sent funds to cover this and will
continue doing so.
There is also a group of persons who are raising funds to have
extremely high resolution satellite photos taken of the entire region
so that they can scan them for any sign of wreckage. To assist with
this project, contact Bob Edwards at bob.edwards {at} ge(.)com
The efforts from all parties show the level of love and
appreciation that has existed for Bob, Neiba and Gladys.
Trying to comprehend what has happened is difficult as it has not
been resolved yet. There are still questions, such as why weren’t
there any Emergency Locator Transmissions from the radio which is
carried by every plane? Did the plane actually go down in the
jungles, or might it have gone down in the river? Did it have an
engine failure or was bad visibility a factor while flying around the
mountains? Some still hold out hope as there have planes that have
gone down in the past and indigenous tribes have rescued and cared
for them for long periods of time before releasing them.
At present, from all human evidences, there is nothing that would
provide any hope of finding them alive. However, we do know one
thing. God is in the process of advancing His work, not moving it
backward. This painful experience will someday prove to be just the
event needed to move God’s work forward throughout Venezuela. It
will honor God and His people by drawing attention of the world to
His work and will prove an impulse to everyone to serve God will all
our heart, mind and soul.
I am in almost daily contact with those directing the search
parties, which have included up to 160 indigenous volunteers. Having
just finished several days in Venezuela assisting in the development
of a single, organized task team, I am thankful for this Godly team
which is determined to find the plane at all cost. Everyone is also
thankful for the many offers of overseas friends to join the search
down in Venezuela. Search administrators are asking that, due to the
current political climate, the assistance be in the form of support
for local searchers. Funds coming in to GMI for the Bob Norton
account will be used in coordination with Bob’s mother and sister,
to support continuing the search work, to support present AMA staff
and to complete repair of the second Cessna 182.
I want to thank everyone who has financially supported the search
efforts and ask everyone to please continue praying for the search
parties, for the finding of the plane and especially for the families
and loved ones who wait anxiously for any news, that God will
strengthen and protect them. We do know that God is using these
events to focus the world on His work and message. It will advance
His work in Venezuela.
David Gates