Katherine, the kids and I were on a completely different island attending meetings when we got a call. The message was that one of our missionaries had a ten-year-old daughter who was sick with possibly either malaria or dengue fever. She needed to be flown out of the tribe for immediate medical treatment.
I was able to change my flight, (just mine, not Katherine’s and the kids’) to return home the next day and fly the medivac. My commercial flight made it only half way due to bad weather at our destination. My only option for getting there quickly was to take an all-night, twelve-hour bus ride, arriving home at 4 am the next day.
After arriving, I got a little sleep before going in to preflight the helicopter. The weather was bad all day, but later in the afternoon it improved slightly. I decided to depart in the helicopter with minimal optimism of getting all the way there and back in the same day.
About half way to the tribe I hit a wall of rain and fog that was impenetrable. So I retreated to better weather and landed on a river gravel bar to wait it out and see if conditions would improve. In about 20 minutes the rain lessened so I decided to give it another try. This time a hole opened up and I was able to climb through it, and then fly between cloud layers safely to the tribe.
Yeee ha! (I think those were pretty much my words as I caught sight of the village). So I was able to load up the girl with her family then proceed home the same way I came.
They admitted her to the hospital where she got worse before she got better, but improved within 4 days and is now doing fine. That’s worth praising the Lord about!!
I consider most of what we do here as important. Otherwise we wouldn’t stay. However, it is ESPECIALLY satisfying to help your friends out when they most need it. The helicopter has proven to be a versatile and life-saving tool this year.
I thank the Lord for so many times He has kept us safe in the air. It is amazing that He allows us to be involved here in the Philippines, bringing the Gospel to these folks who still haven’t had the chance to hear.