This week I am in Soldotna, Alaska visiting Mission Aviation Repair Center, or MARC. (www.marcalaska.org) Yes, we are still headed to Ecuador in June, but the opportunity arose to accompany a friend I met in North Carolina (Mickey Duyck) to visit the mission in Alaska. Mickey is looking to possibly join them and in talking with him, I realized that MARC is conducting a portion of their operations the same way that Alas de Socorro – Ecuador is planning on doing things in the near future.
ADSE plans on expanding their operations to add a maintenance repair station to what they are currently doing. The goal is to work on airplanes owned by others and generate additional income to subsidize the mission flights that are now being conducted. MARC has been doing just that for many years now, and I felt that I could benefit from their experience by paying them a visit and learning all I could from them. After getting the blessing from the leadership in Ecuador, I have travelled up and have been very warmly received by the staff at MARC. They have also kept us very busy as their hangar is full of airplanes needing maintenance, so I am glad to be of use to them as well.
I have been here for about 5 days now and will be returning to Florida on Friday, the 12th. It is interesting to discover that even having visited southern Peru, I am currently the farthest distance that I have ever travelled from Florida and still, technically in the U.S.!
I have been able to gather a lot of information that will be very useful to take to the Ecuador program when we arrive in June. God has blessed this visit and it will be very nice having the people here at MARC to talk to and relate to as we grow into the new form in Ecuador. One of the very interesting things that I have learned, outside of the nuts and bolts of operating a mission/commercial aviation program, is the impact that aviation has on a community that is so cut off from the outside world.
Alaska was the choice to visit because of its similarities to Ecuador. There is a sparse population totally cut off from cities because of terrain and rivers. Airplanes are the only practical way in and out and people in both countries depend on them. Aviation is very expensive regardless where in the world it is, and the population of both Ecuador and Alaska are economically challenged. Because of that, aviation seems to be very exclusive and difficult to attain. But through various ministries that are incorporating flight instruction into their outreach programs, villages that have been closed to the gospel are now opening up and allowing the Bible teachers into their homes! It is very exciting to see this in action and further drives my desire to use aviation and training directly in our ministry.
We’ll be travelling to Idaho on February 19th to start the standardization training with MAF for both pilot and mechanic roles. The older kids are looking forward to playing in the snow! They will both have to enroll in new schools in Nampa, so please pray for them as they, once again, have to change schools in the middle of the year. They both have a good attitude, so that makes it easier on us.
The training in Idaho will last until April 15th, and we will return to Tampa on the 16th. Praise God that all our expenses for the trip have been taken care of and we have been provided for!
If you didn’t get the news before, the “new” airplane has been released from Customs in Ecuador and is now in Shell. Before it can fly, it still needs an Airworthiness Certificate which is supposed to take about a month. This airplane is special because it is only just a little bit smaller than the Cessna 206s that are being used in Ecuador and can use both Avgas and auto fuel. This is important because of the unreliable source of Avgas in Ecuador. Even just this week I was told that the latest shipment of Avgas was only half of what it is supposed to be. Please pray for God’s provision in that.
We commit everything we do to God,
David, Maggy, Joni Karina, Joshua, Jonathan, Jennifer
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