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At The River

I took some of the kids to the river on Friday afternoon. Ellyn took them on Thursday. I used to do it more often when I was teaching our first year here. I think that was because I used to look for reasons not to sit in the classroom after school and grade papers and make lesson plans. Now I like my job so much that it's hard to tear myself away even when I know I should. For example, I haven't ridden my bike after work for a month now. I just stopped after my ride to Arajuno. I should get back into it, and just make myself leave the hangar at 4:55 or 5:00 PM. That way there be time for a ride several times a week. Anyway, we had a good time swimming and hanging out. Most of the kids like jumping off the bridge. We took a rope and measured it, and it's a 24 foot drop into the water from the deck, or 27 feet if you jump from the railing. I've done it twice, a couple years ago, and never since. I just wanted to be able to say I did it. I didn't like it the first time, so I got right back up and jumped in again to see if maybe it was better the second time. Nope. That was enough for me.

End Of The Week

I meant to get something in here yesterday, but it never happened. If I don't do this now, it won't happen again today.

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time working on an old computer to give to our flight scheduler to use at home. Dan had originally brought one of his old ones in for me to use. But when I ran in to problems with that, I put his hard drive into one of my old machines and it's running. You'll laugh when you hear this: 3GB hard drive, 48MB RAM, 150MHz Pentium 1. Oh, and I'm giving him a 14.4K modem to use. State of the art, isn't it!? But it will work great for him to be able to receive e-mailed flight requests in the evenings and on weekends. Besides, he'll think it's great! I had a faster modem to put in it, an internal modem. I went down to Puyo and bought it yesterday afternoon. Turned out it won't work in that machine, as it's needs an MMX processor. Oh well. There's an MAF teacher up in Quito who is needing to purchase one. Maybe it will work for her.

I'm almost done setting up my new Red Hat 9 server to run the CommuniGate Pro e-mail server. I'm planning to make the switch this coming Tuesday.

We've had quite a few flights to the jungle the past couple days with short term mission teams. About three yesterday, and working on the second or third today. Thankfully we've had some good weather for it. It always makes quite an impression on people when they spend some time with the people in the rainforest.

I also spent some time working with Glen Turner on e-mail and computer problems the past couple days. He is one of the missionaries who lives in Makuma. He's working on the OT translation in Shuar. He first came to Ecuador fifty years ago, and actually flew with Nate Saint.

Dan brought his plane back with just a little mud on it this afternoon.

Here's a shot of Bruce and Curtis visiting with some guys from the work team as they eat lunch and work.

Ron's Remodel

There's a work team in Shell from the Holland's church. They are helping Ron work on a house MAF recently purchased. They're putting in a tile ceiling, which really helps with the mess the termites make as they chew through the original plywood ceiling. They're painting all the walls, and Ron also moved a wall. He's also working on doing some rewiring and is moving the electrical panel in to the hall closet. It's been a really big help to him to have this work team here. For the past five years Ron and his wife have lived in the apartment above the Nate Saint School. Margie was a teacher there. This coming school year she will not be teaching, so they need to move. They need to move by mid-July, because the new MAF teacher will be arriving then and will need to move into that apartment.

On The Road Again

Taylor and I were on our way back from Mangayacu this afternoon. We had been out there to get water. We had to slow down just as we entered Shell. There was an animal on the road. Not your usual rainforest animal, don't you think?

Monday Mountains

It was a beautiful afternoon. I saw it coming at lunch time. Blue sky and sunshine. We don't get enough of that around here. It was still that way after work, and the boys and I batted a baseball around in the big yard on the MAF base. I could hardly keep my eyes off the snow of Sangay. Three years here and no skiing. I miss the smell of ponderosa pines, the sound of the breeze rustling the live oak leaves. My fingers long for the smooth granite of Yosemite cliffs. It's beautiful here, but I long for the Sierra Nevada.

Family Sunday

We try to make Sunday a family day. After we listened to our church tape, we started a game of Monopoly. We ate lunch while we did that, and after a while we decided to take a break. Soon after that Taylor and I went down to the creek with our machetes. We started at the old Nate Saint water wheel and worked our way back up the ditch towards the dam. I think it was almost a hundred meters upstream before we found the dam. The dam was maybe four five feet high, but now it's lying on its side in the stream. All in all, I think it was an impressive engineering task by a very ingenious man. If you haven't already, you should read the book about him, Jungle Pilot.

On a slightly different note, I was looking at the statistics for our site this afternoon. There is a set of pages on our site that are the most popular. They are pages I haven't linked to the main pages of our site, 'cause they are about the go-kart we built. At any rate, it's fun to know there are a steady stream of people visiting the site. Some want to learn more about MAF, Shell, and mission life. Others want to know how to build a go-kart.

Hoffman Family Update

Summer is in full swing here. Well, you wouldn't know it's supposed to be summer unless you're from North America. We have two seasons here--wet and wetter! The boys have been out of school for over a month now, and that means it's summer. Summer in North America means Vacation Bible School. There will be a couple of those in Shell in the next month. One is in Spanish for the children at the church in town, and it's being organized by one of the missionary mothers. The other VBS will be in English for the MKs, and it's being run by some visiting college students.

We are still in need of two more teachers at the Nate Saint Memorial School. Time is running short, and this is a matter of much thought and prayer for those of us here in Shell. We are praying for a kindergarten teacher and a grade 5/6 teacher. At this time we have one interested candidate, but still nothing confirmed.

Not being a pilot, I can't relate very well to you the things that go on during their daily flying. Bruce Wied has agreed to let me share parts of a recent letter with you.

"The MAF presence here daily makes a big difference. We are able to help many with life saving emergency medical flights and many villages are able to welcome national missionary teams that teach and encourage them to believe and follow Jesus Christ. Just last night, while eating dinner with another MAF family, a (missionary) doctor who was also dining with us was called in to the mission hospital. A woman who I had brought out (of the jungle) that afternoon on an emergency flight was in immediate need of his services. She was suffering complications at the end of her first trimester of pregnancy. Thankfully she was in a place to receive proper medical care. Yesterday's flying also involved flying more than one hundred miles deep into the jungle to bring out a prematurely birthed baby who was struggling for life. I was also involved in moving some national and indigenous Christian workers to and from several villages where they were ministering.

"Although it would have been great to have YOU on board so that you could get a first hand feel for the work you are partnering with, I was able to take with me a young man who is considering becoming a missionary pilot. Dan received a real life taste of the important role the airplane plays in ministering here in the jungle. He also was impressed with the need to operate with precision on the short, wet, and slippery airstrips. With most of our takeoffs yesterday we were operating at the maximum weight allowed for the airstrip's condition. There was also a lot of rain-shower activity in the area causing us to fly in instrument conditions and divert to an alternate (airstrip) to wait for improved conditions. I so appreciate your continued prayers for safe operations as we fly in these conditions."

I may not be a pilot, but I am the Information Technology technician for the MAF missionaries in Ecuador. Because I'm here to maintain computers and the e-mail system, the pilots, mechanics, and avionics technician can concentrate on their jobs. You may not be a pilot or a computer technician, but you are part of the team, making it possible for our family to be here.

Serving together in His love,
David, Ellyn, Dustin, and Taylor

"How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 36:7

Oil Article

I don't know how long this article will be at this location, but at any rate, it gives a good overview of what is going on with Ecuador oil.

Thursday Morning

Dan needed a couple photos of himself for a newsletter. Here he is pre-flighting his plane earlier this morning. While I was out there, I took this shot of one of the 'flying eggs' the military uses around here. They are a Israeli made plane and very utilitarian. Great for hauling lots of people and equipment to jungle locations. The back of the fuselage opens up to allow the entry of very large items. A bit later Fred gave a hangar tour to a group of young people from Sweden. It's always a highlight of the tours for people to see one of the actual baskets that Nate Saint used to lower gifts to the Auca indians as part of his Operation Auca.

Shuar Translation

Here's an update on the progress of the Shuar language translation of the Old Testament. It comes from Glen Turner out in Makuma.

The Shuar translators arrived today for a week of translation checking and we finished the checking of 1 Kings that was left hanging last month. Tomorrow we start with Ezekiel--a difficult book.

We do appreciate your prayers. As we draw near to the final stages of the translation the Enemy is doing his best to block or at least hinder the publication. We have been expecting this as it is the pattern at this stage that Wycliffe and other translation groups have generally faced at this stage, even to the loss of a whole New Testament manuscript (in VietNam) and the death of the translator (in Brazil, I believe it was).

Recently two of the Shuar translators have quit. One more is intermittent. And this time our Translation Director, Juan Wiakach, is absent, hosting a group from Cuenca who are presumably helping finish a church building that other church members in Cusuimi aren't convinced is necessary. We are making progress, however and Daniel Chu, the President of the Shuar Church Association is helping us as he learns the process of translation--a situation of mutual benefit. Norma Hedlund, a key person in the whole translation process is missing this second month's checking session. She is helping her older daughter Katheryn while she recovers from a debilitating disease the doctors can't seem to figure out and control. Just another effort of the Enemy.
In all this, the Spirit is assuring that the work continues and we're convinced it is the prayers of many that are releasing His power in spite of the Enemy's efforts. We have no doubt whatsoever that the Shuar Bible will "soon" (3-5 years) be published.

Perhaps for now, you can pass this on to your friend(s). We appreciate (their) interest and prayers. They are crucial.

Glen

Pilot Licenses

There was a meeting yesterday in Quito with our Quito Base Manager, the MAF lawyer, and several people from DAC (Department of Civil Aviation). As I've mentioned earlier, we've found ourselves in a situation where we're being told we need to have a plan to replace all foreign pilots with Ecuadorian pilots within six months. Apparently this law has been in the books for years, and with control of DAC shifting from military to civilian hands, someone has decided to dig it up and enforce it. Apparently DAC is getting considerable pressure from aviation companies, pilots associations, and a couple of diputados to nationalize aviation. DAC officials say they are applying the aviation laws to all aviation companies, and this pressure has resulted in at least one US company, Aeromaster SA (commercial helicopter company working with the oil companies--and it's not always safe flying helicopters in the jungles near Colombia), to leave. The sub-director of DAC knows who we are, likes who we are and what we're about. But he needs something to give to those who would like to see our program nationalized. Currently we are sponsoring an Ecuadorian pilot who is in training at a flight school in Brazil, and we also employ two Ecuadorian mechanics. DAC indicated yesterday that if we submit a letter outlining how we're training Ecuadorian pilots and mechanics, details of their employment with us, as well as give an update every six months, they'll be happy with that. They indicated they would be signing Steve Dunbar's license immediately!

It would be wonderful to see the MAF operation in Ecuador taken over by the national church. But at this time that doesn't seem to be a feasible option. Neither is it an option to hire four to six Ecuadorian pilots. So here we find ourselves, with an awesome opportunity to minister God's love and His message, and yet hampered by those who would like to see us leave. Please pray!

IT Work(s)

I was able to accomplish a lot today. Went for water this morning, so Ron could concentrate on a house re-modeling he's doing. I also took time to clean up my storage area on the attic, which had become full of cement chips and dusts when some vents were put in the other month. I have some donated items and some old unused items that I need to add to that storage area later this week. I've also had a fun time learning more about my Linux server. I've now got content filtering working and am fine tuning my access controls. That's needed because we don't have enough bandwidth to let folks access the internet from home whenever they want to.

Rainy Day

It rained almost all day today. A few planes flew out of Rio Amazonas airport, but none of ours. By this afternoon we had a call to transfer a patient to Quito, but our Quito plane couldn't make the flight down. Mike will try tomorrow morning.

Lack Of Licenses

I believe I've mentioned something here about the struggle we've had in recent months with licenses for MAF pilots in Ecuador. Here's the latest from Dave, our program manager.

"The licensing problems with the Department of Civil Aviation (DAC) continue. An aviation law created many years ago states that foreign pilots will receive only 6 month licenses and then only until Ecuadorian replacements can be trained. We argued that since we are neither a commercial company nor contract pilots, as the law specifies, the law does not apply to us. This week DAC rejected our argument. Many within DAC, even in their own legal department, agree with our argument so it has been baffling to continue to be denied licenses. Our lawyer is diligently working on the problem and still maintains it is a problem with educating the new managers that took office when DAC switched from military to civilian control a few months ago. Meanwhile, Steve Dunbar's temporary license has expired and we have 3 more pilots needing license renewals in the next couple of months. Please pray that the new DAC managers will understand who we are as well as the benefit Ecuador receives from our presence. There are many more avenues we can take to help with the problem, but all take significant time away from our purpose and ministry here."

Steve Dunbar has been training and working to be a missionary pilot for many years, probably eight or so. He's been in Ecuador since January, and he still hasn't got his Ecuadorian license. Right now it's hard to understand, but we do know that God is in control and has some purpose in this situation.

A $20 Spear For $120

Recently Ron Grant, our MAF maintenance man in Shell, was talking with Reinaldo Bernal, a missionary from Columbia. Reinaldo works with Lloyd Rogers and Compassion International. His main project is the Waorani Seminary in Damointaro. (The story is old, but take a look at this page anyway.) Reinaldo related this story to Ron, and it reminds us again how God can and does use work teams to minister to all of us.

The team was just five guys from Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, California. They came to help out with construction in whatever way they could. While they were here Ron sent them to visit Damointaro to see what Reinaldo was doing at the Seminary. They came back very excited about Reinaldo's ministry. Paul really wanted to get a 10 foot spear from Reinaldo so he went to visit him at his home in Shell. Paul speaks a little Spanish and Reinaldo speaks a little English. After seeing the spear Paul asked, "How much?" Reinaldo said $20 or $30 dollars. Paul responded with, okay $40. Reinaldo thinking he didn't understand said $40? Paul responded, okay $50. Reinaldo said $30 is enough but Paul insisted he take $50. Paul then pulled out a $100 bill and asked if Reinaldo had change. No one in this country has change for $100! Reinaldo said maybe MAF would have change at the hangar, but Paul would have none of it and said just keep the $100. He also said he wanted to give Reinaldo $20 more for his ministry in Damointaro. So he bought the $30 spear for $120. Now the good part--Reinaldo was selling the spear so he could take a trip to Argentina to try to raise his support. The bus tickets there and back cost $118.

Later when the team returned to San Diego Paul sent Reinaldo $1000 for his ministry. Reinaldo said he will use the money to add solar lights to the seminary so the students can study at night. The rest he will use for a badly needed lawn mower for mowing the airstrip. In farther developments Horizon Christian Fellowship has decided to support the Bernals on a monthly bases. All of us here that know the Bernals applaud Horizon for this support.

This is just another story of how work teams support and encourage all of us here. (Thanks to Ron Grant for this story!)

Strikes

Public school teachers in Ecuador agreed on Thursday to end their strike. The article I read said it was a 4-week strike, but I think it was longer than that. My Spanish tutor is one of those on strike, and It's been since the beginning of May that she hasn't been working. In other strike news, the oil workers continue their strike. The government won't be allowing private firms to drill in the state-run oil fields, which is what they were striking against. But for some reason the strike goes on. I think it's because the government has switched tacks and now is pushing for private investment in the state-run fields. The bottom line is that gas is still hard to get in the city of Quito. Gas stations remain closed unless they get a load of gasoline. Then they sell while they have it, with a limit of $10 per vehicle. Lines are long and so are the wait times. As we drove back to Shell today, most gas stations were closed. Along the way we saw a handful open here and there. The farther we got away from Quito, we found that the stations were open and had gas. As we drove into Shell, we filled up the MAF van at our regular station with no problem.

Volcan Tungurahua

It's news to me, but I read today that Tungurahua is showing fresh signs of eruption. We drive right across its lower slopes as we travel to and from Quito. The volcano has been on Orange alert ever since late 2000.

Oil Workers On Strike

Yesterday I noticed long lines at the gas station across the street from the MAF apartment. I found out later in the afternoon that there was a gas shortage here in Quito. Fighting government plans to expand private investment in the oil sector, employees of Petroecuador, the state oil company, went on strike on Monday. They are demanding that Energy Minister Carlos Arboleda resign and are protesting his plans to let private firms pump for crude in state-run oil fields. By Tuesday afternoon tanks at some gas stations were going dry. Apparently crude output is at normal levels, but the gas isn't getting to the stations in Quito. The strike is affecting the refining of the crude, as well as the transportation of the gas into Quito. I went out looking for some gas today. I found one gas station where they weren't pumping, and there were no lines. Another station wasn't pumping, but cars were lined up waiting. The third station was pumping, and had a line over a half mile long. Things are supposed to be getting better, and hopefully I'll be able to find some this afternoon or tomorrow without waiting in a long line.

MAF Apartment

I'm still fooling around with panoramas. I didn't think this one would turn out since it's such a small place, but I put one together of the MAF apartment here in Quito. It's on the eleventh floor of an apartment building. It's small, but has room enough for our family, and includes a small kitchen. Nothing fancy, but it works. Ellyn is sitting at the table studying, Taylor is watching cartoons in Spanish, and Dustin is playing a game on the laptop.

Boys' Morning Out

I'm fighting a bit of a headache this afternoon. If I don't drink enough at this altitude, that's what happens. A couple Advil and a couple liters of water is usually enough to take care of that. I've been out with the boys this morning, and didn't have enough to drink. But we had a good time anyway. First stop was to the dentist, where Dustin had his braces worked on. A piece of Lego and a breadstick were not kind to his braces since the last visit. We now have things repaired and some more gear added. Second stop was the park. I'm into panorama shots right now, so here are a couple. First the guys rode the BMX track. It's a bit tiring for them at this altitude, so before long we were at the half pipe. Dustin worked on his jumps and Taylor enjoyed cruising around. We also went for a 30 minute ride together on a pedal boat. I had the attendant watch the bikes, and I was a bit nervous about losing them. When we got back from pedaling the boat, the bikes were still there. The guy wanted fifty cents for watching the bikes, which I didn't have change for. But, I did have a dollar, and I gladly tipped him with that. Right now Ellyn is back at the dentist with Taylor so he can have his annual checkup. I'm at the MAF office doing some work on computers.

On The Road

We're up in Quito this afternoon. We need to play a bit, I've got some computer work to do at the office, and Dustin has an orthodontist appointment. We drove up in an MAF van, with the boys' bicycles in the back. There is a BMX track and half-pipe at the Parque Carolina that they like to visit. The drive was mostly uneventful. We did need to stop for about 20 minutes next to the Cascada Pailon del Diablo Devil's Punchbowl waterfall) to wait for a front-end loader and bulldozer to push some dirt and boulders off the road. They are getting ready to start a new tunnel entrance at that location. The boys and I had a great time watching as the huge boulders were pushed over the edge and tumbled hundreds of feet to the river below. We were the first car in line waiting to pass, until a truck with an interesting load of cargo squeezed in front of us. They were carrying boxes of explosives for the construction company. We ended up following them for a couple miles, and I was careful not to run into the back of them!

MAF Base

I'm working on plans for a wireless network on the MAF base. I took this panorama photo to help in planning and thought it would be fun to post here. I'm sure Andrew and Amanda would like to see a picture of their house.

Bikers In Shell

A little over a week ago I got an e-mail from Jim who, along with Steve, is riding a motorcycle from Washington state to South America. Sixteen countries, twenty-four thousand miles, two motorcycles. They are Bikers Without Borders. Steve and Jim are meeting with missionaries along the way and seeing what kind of
short term teams are needed. They then plan on leading trips to the
various locations in the near future with teams from their churches to aid in God's work. I wrote right back and said we'd be happy to have them visit the MAF base here in Shell. I also forwarded the e-mail to Bruce, one of the pilots here. He's a motorcycle rider too, and I knew he'd enjoy visiting with these guys. Right away Bruce started exchanging e-mail messages with Jim, and started dreaming of riding with them for a few days. Jim and Steve are riding donated Kawasaki 650s and Bruce rides a Honda 650. Friday the guys arrived in Shell. Bruce was out flying, so Curtis showed them around the hangar, and then I took them to the river with about ten of the missionary kids and an MAF mom. I talked for a while with Steve, and it was neat to hear about their trip. When the boys saw their motorcycles later that afternoon, they were enthralled. The bikes are very cool.

Saturday the guys did some spring cleaning on their bikes in the hangar. Bruce finished working on a fender rack for his bike that he'd been busily working every night for a week. I think Jim and Steve were glad to have a place they could spread out and work with all the right tools. I must admit though, they had just about every needed tool with them on their bikes. That evening Steve stopped by after dinner and we chatted for a while. Tay came running upstairs when he heard Steve come in, and asked, "Can I try on your helmet?" Next thing I knew he had on the helmet and jacket and was posing for photos. This morning near the end of our at-home church service, Steve came by and gave the boys a ride. Jim was out on an emergency flight with Fred. There was only room for one of them, and Jim won the coin toss. Fred brought back a lady who was four month pregnant and hemorrhaging.

A little after noon the guys were on their way. The plan was to drive 100 miles to Sucua this afternoon, where we have one plane and two families based. After that they were going to Cuenca and then on to Guyaquil. Bruce will ride with them for a few days, and be back on Wednesday. Our family will continue to follow their progress on the web site. And who knows, maybe some day they'll be back in Shell with a work team.

Water Wheel

Taylor and I were back down in the ravine behind our house again this afternoon. It's become a bit of a Sunday afternoon custom, and a way to spend time together. He loves to go out in the 'jungle' to explore and get dirty. He has his own machete, and since he's only eight years old, I don't keep it very sharp. But he's proud of it anyway! It was over two years ago that I saw Nate Saint's old water wheel down there. The area seemed very open, without a lot of underbrush. That might have been because the junior high boys here at the time had hacked everything to bits down there. Since then, those boys have moved on, and the plants have grown back. Today I had a pretty good idea where the hydro was before we started, and sure enough, we found it. We spent quite a bit of time cleaning up around it. Taylor came up with idea of charging people twenty-five cents to take them on a tour--he's always looking for a way to make an easy buck!

Jungle Airstrips

We're working on updating our MAF airstrip directory for Ecuador. The pilots have been taking digital photos of the airstrips. Chad, who is based down in Sucua, has been using the photos and CorelDraw to create a new directory. The pilots refer to the directory page for a strip each time they get ready to land there. It's got a lot of important information on it. Yesterday I sent him a CD with forty more photos that the Shell pilots had taken. Included were photos of Copataza, Quiwado (here's the directory page for Quiwado), and Saum . Also, here's another view of Shell from the air. This is from the west, looking east. There are only a view paved strips that we land at. Besides Shell and Quito, there are probably four other paved runways that they use. The rest are grass and dirt, almost two hundred of them. Many of them are 400 to 500 meters long. The rain plays a significant factor in flying, not just when it comes to getting from point A to point B. Water puddles on the strips after a heavy rain, and water also make the strips slippery and reduces braking ability. The rain can also cause soft spots on a runway, which is a perfect place for a nosewheel to sink in and a prop to strike the ground. Because a pilot typically makes 10-15 take-offs and landings a day, it can be a stressful environment to fly in.

Weather Window

It's raining again. But what else is new here. Good thing I like the rain. It has a way of growing on you here, and when it doesn't rain for a while, we miss it. On the other hand, it can get in the way of things like bike rides, mowing the lawn, and flying light aircraft into short jungle airstrips. Right now all our planes are on the ground, and from what the radio reports say, the jungle is closed down.

Up until ten days ago, we had a means of accessing satellite images of Ecuador from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration because they were tracking the activity of volcanos such as Reventator, Tungurahua, and Guagua Pichincha. Now they've changed satellites and are displaying images of Anatahan in the Western Pacific. They'll switch back to Ecuador if volcanos in this country reach a higher level of activity again. I did save one of the images the other week though. It was cool, because you could actually see the snowpack on three different volcanos.

Camp Flying

Dan and Bruce were busy yesterday. They were flying kids around the jungle. Once a year Lloyd Rogers, a Plymouth Bretheren missionary, sends kids from the jungle to camp. They earn the priviledge by memorizing scripture verses. It's always a busy time for flying, and we had three planes flying yesterday. The third plane was flown by Steve and Fred. Steve is still working on getting his Ecuadorian license. Anyway, Dan had fifteen landings, and Bruce had nineteen landings.

Tree House

This afternoon we all got in the truck and drove over to the tea plantation a quarter mile from our house. Another missionary had told us we could visit this neat tree house on the other side of the plantation. I had seen it from the air, as it's on the approach to the runway.

We found the place easily enough, and besides the tree house, they have a cage with a young ocelot. Best way to describe an ocelot is that it's like a small jaguar. The tree house was just a short walk from where we parked. There were about eight different levels, and the thing was really tall, the top being somewhere around 60 feet up in the tree! We didn't go up to the very top floor as there is a bees nest up there. Actually two of them, but they didn't seem too bad on the next to last floor. We took a few photos of ourselves before heading down. The rest of the family went down first, but I took a few minutes to enjoy the view, especially the late afternoon clouds.

Pobrecito Panchito

The Ecuadorian staff at the MAF hangar are forever teasing Panchito because he's so short. It's kind of ironic really, because compared to North Americans, most Ecuadorians are short. But Panchito is shorter than most. Apparently yesterday was Dia del NiÒo here in Ecuador, so someone made a decorated cake and they gave it to Panchito today. He's always good natured, and laughs along with the joke.

Cessna Caravan for Papua

It was May 28, during the dedication ceremony for the Cessna Grand Caravan going to
Papua, that the following conversation took place between Denny Hoekstra of MAF Flight Operations and Arnie Cole from the Development Department:

Denny Hoekstra: "Arnie, is this Caravan paid for before it leaves?"
Arnie Cole: "Well, Denny, I don't think so."
Denny Hoekstra: "Aren't you worried about it?"
Arnie Cole: "Why worry? We still have two days before it leaves."

Actually, Arnie really was worried but didn't want to admit it. A short time later an MAF major donor that both Development and MAF President, Gary Bishop, have worked with for years, called to say that he was sending a check to MAF to pay off the balance owed on this aircraft - over $200,000.

We praise the Lord for abundant provision. He truly supplies everything that we lack. Despite the fact that Arnie knew there were still two more days before the plane would leave for Indonesia, he didn't know where the money would come from. The Lord knew.

Here are articles from the San Bernardino Sun and the Redlands Daily Facts about Mission Aviation Fellowship and the Caravan dedication.