First Gene’s Heart
PRAISE the Lord with us. Gene had an appointment with his cardiologists, Dr Alagadan and Dr Rocha (cardiac surgeon) earlier this month. He had had an echo-cardiogram done shortly after his heart attack in May last year. It showed three areas of weakness as a result of the heart attack. Dr Rocha wanted a new echo-cardiogram done to see if the heart has healed. It has!
Physically his heart is now normal for a man his age. Electrically, his heart beat is still mostly irregular from atrial fibrillation – the same as it has been for over 25 years! But, since the last adjustment of the pacemaker which was installed a year ago the rate of his heart beat has gone from too fast to normal. The pacemaker is keeping it from going too slowly which was the cause of his heart attack.
So, both cardiologists were very happy that the heart has healed physically and that the pacemaker is doing it’s job. Instead of seeing the cardiologists every 3 months, he now doesn’t need to see them again for 6 months or more.
Please keep PRAYING about the jet-lag like spells Gene still experiences as the result of his stroke last year. Real continual progress has been made since the stroke, but there hasn’t been anymore improvement for the past month or so.
We have read that in the U.S. where an ambulance is only minutes away, of the people who have a heart attack while not already hospitalized only 7 percent survive – in New York City only 1 to 2 percent. When Gene had his heart attack we were in our remote village. It lasted 9 hours and it was 12 hours before daylight was due and the mission plane could come and get us. It was 4 days before he could see the lady who was his cardiologist at that time as she was out of town.
And for strokes, many people have paralysis or are blinded or can’t talk. We PRAISE the Lord that Gene is able to function, and we are able to carry on our ministry here with the Manubu’ people. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all who have prayed for us and encouraged us.
Now for the helicopter
Years ago we had two airstrips built by logging companies in different places we were living in the jungle . They just charged us for the fuel for their bulldozers and for the wages of the operators and helpers. Quick and simple.
A few years ago when we needed to have a longer airstrip built to meet the current standards it was a different story. No more logging companies. And we had to negotiate with a number of people who claimed the only land we could find suitable for a longer airstrip. We also had to apply for permits from two different government offices.
We were readily granted the permit from one office, but after months of effort were not able to get the final signature from the other office. That is why for the past few years we have been using an abandoned logging company airstrip 5 miles away across a river. Three times we have had to pay different people who have claimed ownership of the land that airstrip is on.
So, building an airstrip here these days is nearly impossible. Consequently, New Tribes Mission Aviation (NTMA) is switching from airplanes to helicopters which require just a small piece of land for a landing pad. NTMA has purchased a used, small helicopter for use on our island and have been rebuilding it at their training center in the States.
One of our pilots has been in the States for the past few months learning to fly a helicopter. It is hoped that it can be here in the Philippines near the end of this year and in service next year. Please PRAY that when it arrives here in this country it won’t be held up for months in customs and that licensing of it will go quickly and smoothly.
It is planned that this small helicopter will be temporary – perhaps for a couple of years until a bigger and more practical helicopter can be purchased. You can go to the following link to find out more about the helicopter plans and to contribute to the cost of the bigger helicopter if you wish to do so. https://usa.ntm.org/projects/philippines-helicopter
What a blessing a helicopter will be to us. At our present airstrip we have no communication with the pilot so it can sometimes mean hours of waiting because of bad weather where the plane is coming from. We don’t even know if the plane will be able to come at all so we just wait through the day. We can’t tell the pilot if the weather has closed in on our end.
A helicopter will be able to land right near our village – perhaps only a couple hundred feet from our house! And we will be able to communicate with the pilot from our house.
Vote to Provide $10,000 Toward the Helicopter
Once again NTM has been chosen by Lightspeed Aviation Foundation as a contender for a grant of up to $10,000. In 2014 NTM came in second place and received $8000 that went toward a Kodiak aircraft for Papua New Guinea. This year any funds will go towards the helicopter for here in the Philippines.
Please go to the following link http://go.ntm.org/vote-grant-2015 and vote for NTM. As far as we know, husband and wife, for example, can each vote.
There are many encouraging things going on among the Manubu’ believers including more reaching out to other Manubu’ villages with the gospel. We’ll tell you about those in the next update.