Where has January Gone?
O Donesky
Short Version:
January is already history, February is well under way, where are they going? A week of Bible Worker training, a week of visiting villages on the Amazon, a few miscellaneous flights and the annual inspection of the Cessna 182. Tomorrow we leave for another week of both civic and mission flying out of Iquitos 3 hours north of our base. It has been a blessing to see how God has used a few hours of strategic civic flights to allow us to do considerable mission work with no direct cost to the program. FYI, Andrew has posted a second group of pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17499&l=81f16&id=1171340696 for your enjoyment.
Long Version:
We started January with the preparation in full swing for a week of training for the Bible Workers that work with Peru Projects. As I mentioned in my last update, the cultural differences are great between the villages where we work and Pucallpa where we live. These cultural differences make it difficult for you and me as citizens of a first world culture to minister to those living in the villages. Over time this has lead to most of the direct Bible work being done by our local Peruvians. Many of these Peruvians come form village life, giving them much better qualifications to understand and minister to the people in the villages. Our Bible workers leave their homes and families for two months at a time, to travel, live and work in the interior. After two months, they get a visit home for two weeks before starting the cycle all over again. The second week of January found us in a training setting talking with the Bible Workers about what works and what doesn’t and trying to help supply more education and background for these dedicated men to pull from as they minister. It was a blessing to get to know each of the Bible Workers a little better and hear how God is working through them.
Iquitos is a major center 300 miles north of our airbase near where several rivers come together to make the Amazon. Recently the float plane population in Iquitos has dwindled due to mishaps on the water (one is being rebuilt, one replacement is almost ready). This has left a significant vacuum in the local air transportation in the area where much of the flying is done off of the water. We have two Bible Workers on the Amazon who we do not see often due to the high cost of travel (3 to 5 hours of flying each way). Since our arrival in Peru we have been making plans to visit the Amazon region to encourage the churches and allow me to become familiar with the villages along that stretch of river. Two weeks ago we received an urgent request for us to do a civic flight between Iquitos and a village near the Brazilian border for the following day. This meant that our costs to and from Iquitos were also cover. What a blessing. And they were also willing to allow us to use their fuel supply to support our mission flying. See in Peru, you cannot just by airplane gas at any airport. In fact all of the avgas outside of Lima is owned by private operators for their own use. So a trip that requires refueling is a major logistics challenge. What a blessing it was to visit seven villages with one of our Bible Workers encouraging each group as we went. On the way home we were also able to stop by a second river where we are planning to send our medical launch this spring. We were looking for permission from some of the villages to come visit, do medical work and share Jesus. With both missions accomplished successfully we returned home tired but happy.
Then it was time for the annual inspection of our Cessna 182. An annual inspection of an airplane in the US is an ordeal, but nothing like what is required here. After the standard US physical inspection process, a DGAC (Peruvian equivalent of the FAA) inspector comes out to review your work. The preparation is published in a book that is some 100 pages long, put together to the specifications of the DGAC. This book covers every aspect of the airplane, equipment lists, service hours, inspection history, STC’s, Service Bulletins, AD’s, etc., etc. We had been warned that the inspector that was coming was very detailed, and he was. However, Odil and Beto’s careful preparation paid off with a good passing score. At the end of the inspection the inspector said, “Now that we are done with the inspection, I want to know about your program, and what you believe. I grew up in the ____________ church but I don’t believe that any more. I believe in God, what do you believe?” What a blessing. We pray that he will be as detailed in his study of the Bible that he took home with him as he was in his inspection.
We work in an area some 500 miles long and 200 miles wide. There are hundreds of villages, with some 100 that have an Adventist presence. It is also encouraging to see God using other religious groups in the area. Most of our congregations will only get visited 2 or 3 times each year by a Bible Worker for support and encouragement. It is our goal to introduce them to a God of love and entrust them to the Holy Spirit to guide them in their Christian growth. Only as we each continue to study the Good Book for ourselves, then share what we learn with others, do we truly walk more closely with the God of Heaven.
Many of you have asked for specific needs of our program. Currently we are short of funding to support our Bible Workers. We would also love to expand the number of Bible Workers we currently have on staff. Please prayerfully consider if you would like to be directly involved in supporting Bible Workers in the jungles of eastern Peru. Please email me if you would like more information or you can visit our web site at WWW.peruprojects.com.
Tomorrow we are off to Iquitos again to finish the visits on the Amazon. Yes, God has paid for the trip again. We should be gone for most of the week. For your viewing pleasure Andrew has posted another round of pictures. Check them out at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17499&l=81f16&id=1171340696.
Orville and Odil
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