Twelve Hundred — the number of medical patients MAF flew out of the jungles of the Oriente in 2002.

Three — the number of teachers still needed at the Nate Saint Memorial School for the 2003-04 school year. Specifically, teachers are needed for kindergarten, grades 3-4, and grades 5-6.

Five — the number of organizations using the MAFNet e-mail service in Shell. Those organizations are Gospel Missionary Union, Summer Institute of Linguistics, HCJB World Radio, Christians in Action, and one independent missionary family.

Six — the number of MAF planes in Ecuador. MAF uses the turbocharged Cessna TU-206, to fly over the high peaks of the Andes. All are modified with STOL (short take off and landing) equipment to handle jungle airstrips as short as 400 meters.

Eight — the number of connections made each day by the radio e-mail server at the GMU station in Makuma…if they have

electricity. When the generator is running, or the small hydroelectric plant is operating, mail is exchanged every three hours. But, too much electricity was the problem on February 27, when lightning struck in Makuma and the radio e-mail server was damaged. Not only did David need to replace the power supply and motherboard of the computer, but he also had to track down a problem with the radio system. It turned out that the expensive radio unit was also damaged by the strike. It took three weeks to resolve the problem.

Four — the number of snakes (Mrs. Bolton has one in the jar) that have been found in our neighborhood in the past month. Although no missionary kid in Shell has ever been bitten by a snake, MAF flies snake bite victims out of the jungle on a weekly basis.

Ten — the number of windows in our house. This month they’ve all been replaced, since in half of the frames we only had screens, and no glass. What a difference this makes during windy rainstorms! We’ve had quite a few of those this month. The average rainfall in Shell for the month of March is 17 inches!

David, Ellyn, Dustin, and Taylor