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From North to South, all in a Bolivian days work!
It’s been almost a month since I left the states for another year in Bolivia. Time at home went by too quickly. I was not sure of my return to Bolivia, but the Lord provided the funds and the transportation. After communicating with David, we worked out a plan to fly the Twin Comanche loaded with much needed supplies for the TV station and other projects along the way. Accompanying me would be Jesse Walker, an ER doctor with a heart for the mission field.
After driving down from Michigan to Collegedale TN, we picked up the cargo and headed to Peachtree Georgia, where the Twin Comanche was being worked on. We departed late in the evening with a fuel stop in Florida and an all night flight to Puerto Rico. Again fueling and we continued on to Georgetown Guyana, while making a drop-off in Grenada. We spent the weekend with DJ and Jodi Knott in Guyana. Long time friends and missionary partners in Bolivia, it was good to see what they were up to in this strange country. I had the opportunity to visit Bethany Missionary College and saw the work being done to complete a hanger and house that sits next to the runway.
After saying goodbye in Guyana, we departed later that night for the longest leg of the trip. 1100 miles and 8.5 hours of flying over Brazil in order to make daybreak in Guayaramerien Bolivia, the small border town near our school. Once in Bolivia I started to feel right at home. A short 3.5 hour flight and we were in Santa Cruz, thankful to have the long journey behind us and hopefully get some much needed rest.
But, as a missionary pilot in Bolivia you are soon called into action. There had been no airplane in country for over two months, so I found myself making multiple flights. The roads up north are nearly impassible with all the rain, making flying the only way to get students and teachers to the schools. I soon fell right back into the rythem of things. God has been good. No serious issues with the airplane and descent weather for this time of year.
In other news, we were able to move the C-182 Turbo from El Trompillo airport, where we were paying for hanger space, to a nearby air strip where we have our other two airplanes. The Lord had blessed us with friends that allow us to keep our airplanes next to their’s free of charge. With the help of Steve Wilson, who is newly married, and some elbow grease from David Gates, we were able to get the airplane back to flying status. Now all it needs is permission to fly. By the way, this was the airplane that had the propeller stolen off it. The Lord has been good, and we learned a valuable lesson after that ordeal.
Construction continues on the grounds of the TV station. Three houses are in different stages of construction. Water lines are being put in place for future buildings and a TV antenna is going up later this month to continue the transmission of the TV channel here in Santa Cruz. As you can see there is progress everywhere. David Gates is now dedicating more time to Bolivia projects and well as the aviation side of things. We all hope to see these airplanes doing the work God intended them to do very soon. We have some very anxious pilots awaiting to help me with the flying load around here.
With all this positive news you sometimes also get some bad news. Last Friday I made an emergency flight for a missionary who has worked at the school in Guyara for many years. She was 5 months pregnant and having complications. She and her husband requested to be flown down to Santa Cruz to get better medical attention. Unfortunately by the time they got here it was too late and they lost the baby. Even though it was a hit close to home, we continue forward doing our best to help those in need, including our own.
This week I continue to makes flight to the school. I have a trip to Brazil early next week and a flight back to the states in two weeks, where I will load the airplane and make another journey south full of supplies. I feel blessed to be using my talents in the Lords work. Please remember Bolivia in your prayers. I will try to update you more frequently as some friends have told me that I don’t write often enough. Until next time.
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Flying for God, round 2!
It has been several months since I last wrote, thus I feel the need to update what great things God has been doing in Bolivia. After a short break in the states I returned in July to continue my work as a missionary pilot. The weather was much cooler and very windy as the season had changed to winter. A very different kind of cold was in the air. Not the Michigan cold that I was used to, but a dry cold that made you want to run to keep warm. Even though it was only in the mid 50’s, my body was not ready for the change after months of mid 90’s.
Never the less, I set myself to work making blocks for construction projects in the near future. We have a machine here that allows us to form block after one mixes the right amount of cement, rock, and sand. One of the projects is the house for Steve Wilson, a pilot who has been here in Bolivia before my time and is getting married almost as I write this. He will be returning to Bolivia in January and hopefully to a house.
After making enough block, we set out on building Steve’s house. I had never laid a foundation before, but with the help of others who had built houses before we laid the foundation in late October. Then it was off to transport hundreds of blocks to the work site. After a month of hard work, we had laid most of the block and we have what actually looks like a nice house. Praise the Lord! Now we need to put a roof on it and some windows, doors and it will be almost livable.
I also worked on a small house that David Gates is building nearby on the property. The construction methods for his house are very different then Steve’s house as he will be building his house out of ceramic block which is much cheaper and easily available in Bolivia. As I speak, his house walls are about half way up. Just a few more days and it will look and almost ready to move in. God has been good, I’ve getting plenty of exercise on the days that I don’t fly. Who needs a gym!
Now to the airplanes, a few weeks passed and soon Jeff was back with the Aerostar which meant that it was time to start flying again. I made several trips for the schools up north and was glad once again to be flying my favorite airplane. Even though our other airplanes did not have permission to fly, the Aerostar allowed for the work to continue. Hauling cargo and missionaries has become a normal part of my work here. Every flight is a loaded flight, making the most use of the airplane.
In September I was told that I would be flying a group of people for the “Caravan of Hope”. It consisted of Robert Costas, speaker for “it is written” in Spanish and Bolivian mission pastors and treasurer, in addition to a recording artist and a camera guy. Even our own TV director for RedAdvenir would accompany us on some of the flights. All of them would need to be flown to various venues around Bolivia to close out the month long seminars in the various cities and at the same time have mass baptisms.
The flights were very demanding with tight schedules and difficult legs which required a lot of planning. One of the legs consisted of a flight over 10,000 ft. mountains and with the full load it meant several trips to get all the passengers out safely. On other flights, the skies were filled with smoke from jungle being burned by farmers, which made some approaches tricky. But the Lord protected and guided and the caravan had high success in all of the venues. I was able to witness firsthand how hundreds of people would come forward seeking baptisms. Never before had I felt better used for His service than when I saw the results of me flying these pastors and staff. God had truly blessed and he was using one of GMI’s aircraft to help grow the church. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have been a part of this great opportunity.
With good news there always seems to be some bad. In August, the propeller and brakes along with several small items were stolen off the Turbo 182. We spent some serious time getting to the bottom of the theft, but after lots of headaches, we had to buy a new one. But God is good and in the process we were lead to Hanger where we could store our airplanes in safety. The plane now has the new propeller installed and soon will be flying again. Jeff called me the other day and gave me some very positive news. I don’t expect to see these airplanes grounded very much longer. Let’s keep praying!
In late September, some of the buildings at the school in Guyarra caught fire. All of them were burned to the ground in a matter of minutes after a trash fire blew onto the thatch roofs. Even though many belonging were lost, no one was hurt. Many of the students, who lost things, received new replacements and additional funds were collected to make new building out of brick. Construction has begun on new class rooms and by the beginning of next school year, things will look a lot more promising.
I also made several flights outside the country in the past few months. The Aerostar and Twin Comanche both receive 30 day permissions to fly in country. The only way to renew is to fly them out and back in. I made flights into Brazil and Argentina to fulfill this silly requirement. On one of the flights, late at night over the jungle, I was flying the Aerostar to Brazil. As I neared closer to my destination, no one was replying to my calls. Knowing full well that many airports in the area do not have runway lights, I started to feel very uneasy about the situation. The nearest alternate was more than one hour away and I did not have the fuel to make it. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head, should I climb higher and try to make a mayday call? What about landing on that road? Or maybe I’ll just head for the airport and feel my way down with GPS? I called a nearby airport that I knew was closed in an attempt to raise anybody on the radio. I didn’t’ even know if they had runway lights!
After a couple calls, to my surprise somebody replied! I told him the situation and after discovering he had lights and I only 20 minutes of fuel, I headed straight for airport. I landed and taxied to the ramp where I was greeted by the tower guy and a civil aviation inspector. The tower guy told me how he was out of the tower and was headed back to shut down the radio when he heard my calls. Can you believe that? I was stunned! With nowhere to go, the Lord provided a way out. I can’t wait to get to heaven and hear my guardian angel tell me the whole story!
As I lay in my bed that night, I thought of all the times He has seen me trough the most difficult flying I’ve had to do in my short career. With great faith I can testify that he has protected and guided me these may months in Bolivia. His work is being carried out, and Satan is angry and will try whatever he can to try and make it fail. Ever since I gave myself to the Lords service, I have felt his mighty hand in my flying. The Lord has given me wisdom to fly His airplanes and he has delivered me every time I needed it. As His pilot flying His airplanes I have nothing to fear.
Time is flying by really fast now. I have a few more weeks of flying before I return to the states. I plan to return to Bolivia early next year, even though I do not know how as the funds are not in yet. But I have built up my faith here in the mission field, and I have no doubt that he will provide the money. One thing I’ve learned about being a missionary is this, sometimes you think you are going to the mission field to help others, but it the end its you that has been most benefited and your life changed. I feel so blessed to have been sent here to serve and I pray that anyone who has a desire to do the Lord’s work, to come and experience it. It’s not easy sometimes, but in the end you will see what I’m talking about and you will only understand after experiencing it!
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Medivac, flight to the states, and new beginnings!
It feels great to sleep in my own bed! I have been on the move for the past 3 weeks, flying in the country and out; sleeping in different beds and sometimes no bed at all. There is so much to say, so I’ll start at the beginning as I try and give you an idea of the great things God has done with mission aviation here in Bolivia, and the plans of expanding His work.
Following my last blog concerning the flights in the Aerostar, I continued the flying to the many remote areas of Bolivia. Many of the flights involved moving teachers to the school in the jungle. A total of 10 teachers came from different parts of the world to continue the work of educating the youth of Bolivia. I transported other volunteers and also patients that had recovered in Santa Cruz after receiving medical attention. I also made a flight with David Gates and a telecommunications specialist to repair a TV tower that had been blown down in a wind storm. The tower was put back into service and it’s now broadcasting Adventist programming in the region.
While all this was going on, I received an emergency call to do exactly what mission aviation is primarily here for. I was spending Sabbath at the school in the jungle when I received word that three children had been severely burned and needed to be transported to the children’s hospital in Santa Cruz. I was showing an ER doctor the rounds in Bolivia at the time. We both jumped on the back of a motorcycle and headed into town where the airplane was and quickly made preparations to make the one and one half hour flight to pick up the kids.
The weather was terrible at the destination, but we managed to get in. The ambulances were waiting for us as we pulled off the runway. I told Jesse the doctor to get the kids in the airplane while I ran to the tower to file my flight plan. When I got back to the airplane I got to see for the first time what we were dealing with. One of the little girls was wrapped in bandages with only a small part of her back not burned. It was a terrible sight and one that I will not forget. The other two kids had legs and arms burned but were in a more stable condition. The little girl cried and moaned as she was held in her mother’s arms. All I could do was concentrate on flying the airplane and making it safely to Santa Cruz.
We arrived at the international airport three hours later. We fought headwinds the whole way, arriving after dark. The ambulances where ready as we pulled up to the main gate, making it quite the sight to see the number of people that were waiting for us. The kids were unloaded and placed in ambulances and rushed to the hospital. As the night un-winded and I settled down, it finally hit me. God had used me and his airplane to provide a service for those who had no other way. They were days from any medical care and the severity of the situation made it unlikely that the child would survive. My decision for coming to Bolivia was confirmed! I was needed here and God just proved his point. Even though I was uncomfortable and sad, I was thankful that I could do what I had been called to do.
To see video on the emergency flight, click on the following link:
A few days later after that tragic event, I was to fly to the States with David Gates. We left Bolivia in the evening and made several fuel stops before reaching French Guiana. After spending a night there, we continued on to the island of Martinique. David had some speaking appointments and a baptism, so we ended up staying the weekend. We continued on towards Puerto Rico, Miami, and finally after 27 hours of flight and over 4,000 miles, we reached Collegedale TN. With all that ocean behind us, it was now time to give the airplane some much needed love. After changing the oil on it, I took it to a shop in Atlanta where the autopilot, among other things was serviced. It had failed coming out of Bolivia and would not hold altitude.
We ended up having to hand-fly the airplane the whole way, which made it a whole lot more tiring. We were both thankful for each other.
Twelve days later it was loaded and ready to make the flight south. We would be taking solar panels for the school and hard to get items for the TV station in Santa Cruz. Jeff Sutton and I would make the same trek down with as little delay as possible. We left late Saturday night and made Puerto Rico a little after sun rise. After catching a couple hours of sleep, we continued on to Georgetown Guyana , making it in that evening. This is the English speaking Guyana. We refueled, rode a crazy little bus into town to meet with a pilot that is stationed there and also works with us. After a dinner we road another crazy little bus out to the airport. I say crazy because the driver was driving fast, at night, in the rain with the rap music on loud. It was an experience to say the least!
We were both very tired at this point, so we made the decision to sleep a few hours on some luggage cars that were near the airplane before heading out. We slept a couple more hours until we couldn’t take the mosquitoes anymore. We flew all night and made a stop in Manaus Brazil where the Rio Negro (black river) meets the Amazon River. What an awesome sight as we departed early in the morning! After landing at the school in the late morning, we unloaded 15 solar panels. After re-arranging the airplane, the last part of our leg was before us and we could not wait to be home!
It’s been quite a ride working for the Lord these past two plus months. He took care of me and made it possible for great things to be accomplished. I am thankful for the many people back home that provide financial support to make these flights a reality. It costs a lot of money to fuel and maintain airplanes. Permission to fly for our other aircraft is very close. As I write this, Jeff is doing the final paperwork for it. God is opening doors for the work to continue here, and He has set up a great team. Both DJ Knott and Steve Wilson are excited to be flying again. I can’t wait to fly into some of these hard to reach villages in our smaller airplanes and do more of the Medivac work that is so desperately needed.
God has great plans for Bolivia. This is what’s been happening to date. The hanger construction for the runways behind the TV station is in the works. Plans have been drawn out and water has been piped in. The FBO/Jeff’s House is almost complete, and the grass on the runway has begun to grow with all the rain. The plan is to make Santa Cruz a base for Adventist Medical Aviation; it’s official name. We want to be able to do all of our aircraft maintenance here while keeping the aircraft protected and ready for the Medivac flights with only a short moment’s notice.
Please keep Bolivia in your prayers. There is a lot of work to be done here. We are always in need of more help. If you have any questions on anything, please send me an email and I will get back to you as soon as I’m back from flying! God Bless!
gonzh@hotmail.com
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Flying in Bolivia
Greetings from Bolivia! It’s the rainy season here and has it been raining! Just the other day I went to church with my rain gear over my church clothes. It’s a process getting to church every Sabbath, involving a couple taxis and one micro bus at least. God is good, and He has always provided a way to get me there and also on time. Sometimes it’s the little things that remind you that God is with you, and every now and again it’s the big ones.
Up until about a week ago, things kept going at about the same pace. I kept diligently working on preparing a house for a missionary family, while patiently waiting for news of the planes being able to fly again. David Gates came from the states with Jeff Sutton and his family in the Aerostar and soon things began tomove much more quickly. Jeff informed me of his plans and the status of the planes ability to fly. It looks like some more paperwork and waiting. The good news is the Aerostar has permission to fly for 30 days while it’s in the country, giving us time to make some urgent flights.
I had no idea that I would be flying the Aerostar. I’d seen it a few times in the states but never dreamed I’d be flying it someday. The Piper Aerostar is a twin engine, seven seat, high performance airplane that will cruise at 190 knots. The airplane is fast, making things happen much quicker. Due to the fact that it was designed for speed, it has some draw backs with slow speed flying. The pilot must stay ahead of the airplane and respect its limits or it will bite him! (To see pictures and video go to http://www.facebook.com/captain17). Jeff checked me out in the airplane and immediately sent me out on my first flight with Steve to northern Bolivia. I was to take a teacher and a family out to the jungle. The flight served to help me not only with the familiarization of the plane, but also with the way flights are done in Bolivia. I quickly picked up most of the aviation Spanish, the harder part was figuring things out on the ground. Before you fly in Bolivia, you must fill out a flight plan and it needs to be stamped by the drug police. If you are taking passengers then things get a little more complicated as you need to fill out a manifest. Getting all the stamps and having your cargo checked by the drug police is a pain, but it needs to be done to maintain integrity.
Flying back from northern Bolivia, I was starting to feel comfortable in the airplane. Since the flight brought us in late into Santa Cruz, I made my first landing at night in the Aerostar. We landed at Viru-Viru International airport, since it’s the only airport with runway lights. The next morning I had to retrieve the plane from the international airport and fly it a few miles to our home airport of El Trompillo. The process got messy when I was being dropped off at the international airport. Bolivian’s love to protest and they do it by blocking the roads. They blocked the road into the international airport so I had to walk around the protesters and into the airport.
A day later I had my next assignment, make two flights single pilot to Rurrenabaque. The airport sits on the edge of the flat jungle lowlands where the mountains begin. The weather was rainy with bad visibility at my destination. I filled IFR and headed out early in the morning with a volunteer, equipment for water, and a generator. The flight would take 2.5 hours and require some fine piloting to find the airport. I asked the Lord that he would open up the skies enough for me to see the airport and the mountains. As I was approaching the airport He did just that. I was able to descend low enough over the jungle to find my way to the airport. In visual condition I spotted the runway and mountains, making a safe landing in the rain.
I quickly unloaded, turned around and flew back to Santa Cruz. I made it back to El Trompillo airport, refueled, picked up my load and headed back to Rurrenabaque. The visibility improved the second time around and I felt much more comfortable finding the airport and the menacing mountains. I again quickly unloaded and turned around as fast as possible so that I could beat sundown back into El Trompillo where there are no runway lights. I made it back with 10 minutes to spare! In two days I had 16 hours in the Aerostar, half of that was in actual instrument conditions, covering some 2300 nautical miles.
With that introduction, I feel more than ready to take on any flight. Jeff has a few more flights in mind for me in the Aerostar, and hopefully sometime soon the other airplanes will be online. I have seen firsthand what God can do if you remain faithful to Him. Sometimes we grow uneasy when things don’t go immediately our way, and then he all of a sudden answers our prayers. All I wanted to do was fly in Bolivia for Him, and he made sure that happened in bigger ways than I could ever have imagined!
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First two weeks
I’ve been in Bolivia two weeks now. Time really goes by fast, even more so when you don’t have a set schedule of daily activities. I arrived at the international airport in Santa Cruz not knowing what to expect. I knew it was summer in Bolivia and sure enough I was greeted with a blast of hot, humid air as I exited the plane. As I made my way out of customs and entered the airport lobby, I anxiously looked for a familiar face. All of a sudden Steve Wilson stepped out in front of me, accompanied by his friend Helen. I was so grateful to have them both help me with the extra luggage and not have to pay for a taxi.
After running around town getting supplies that I needed, we headed for the outskirts of town were the new REDADVINIR TV station is located. It is one of the Gospel Ministries international projects. The station is nearly complete and I would be staying in a small building behind it. Little did I know of what kind of living arrangements awaited me.
The small building is three rooms behind the station and a good walk away, hidden in some tall grass. Steve told me that I would be able to keep my stuff locked up in one of the rooms, but I would need to sleep outside because high night temperatures make the rooms unbearable to sleep in. So instead I get to sleep in a chicken coup. That’s right, a place built to house chickens. The nice thing is the coup is new and quite airy with a cement floor. It actually does begin to feel like home, except when it pours and all the rain hitting the tin roof wakes you up in the middle of the night. Oh yeah, and I found a snake next to my bed one day, but I’ll save that for another time.
The following day I hit the ground running. My visa was good for 30 days so I needed to start the residency process if I wanted to avoid paying any fees. Steve took me into the city on a Honda 125 motorcycle. It’s a 30 minute ride and quite an adventure. The bike has just enough power for the two of us as we weave in and out of traffic. There does not seem to be many rules, as cars cut in front of one another and run red lights often. The traffic gets so dense at times that the motorcycle is the best way to travel. You can cut in front of a long line of cars by ridding in between cars all the way to the front of the line.
Two weeks later I had all the paper work required to start the residency process. One of the secretaries and accountant that works for the station was such a blessing in helping me gather all the different documents that I would need. It’s quite a process and without her I would have been so lost. I turned in my papers, praying the whole time they would not get rejected. Praise God, they went though without a hitch! It was such a relief to be done, for now.
The rest of the time I have kept myself busy with finishing the construction of the TV Station. It has all the windows put in and even most of the doors. It’s a huge building with two floors, many offices and two large studios. I’ve helped with the tiles and ceiling and moving around construction material. You are probably wondering, what about the flying? Didn’t you go to Bolivia to fly airplanes?
Steve told me that the airplanes have been grounded by the government. We are not allowed to fly until we register the airplanes as Bolivian. Registration costs money, and that money is not here yet. The other problem is that in order for someone to fly a Bolivian plane, they need a Bolivian pilot’s license. Satan tries so hard to discourage and make it impossible for God’s work to proceed, but I have faith that we will get the money soon. Also the whole Bolivian pilot’s license ordeal should not be too difficult. If it’s another private pilot check ride I need to take, it should be pretty easy to pass the second time around.
The way I see it, all of these problems have solutions. If God brought me here to serve him and is bringing others as well, I know that He will make sure things go His way no matter what Satan may try. Constant prayer is what is needed now. Working directly with God as a missionary I will have to face all kinds of trials. But it is that constant relationship with Christ that keeps me going, knowing that God is in control of every situation. Praise God for what is done and what he will do. The evidence of His great power is all around me here at the TV station. If God can raise a TV station from the ground, he can do the same for aviation in Bolivia. No doubt about it!
