Aviation

Gary puts fuel in the airplane while curious local people watch.

Our hanger and a passing storm

Children rushing toward the airplane in a remote village.

Thanks to God's provision, our Cessna 172 continues to operate smoothly and safely. We thank God that the hanger project is nearly complete. We do not have a front door, but the hanger has already made a significant difference for our operations during the rainy season. We can work out of the wind, rain, and sun. Loading and unloading the plane in a dry place during a rain is a luxury we did not have before.

Keeping the airplane fueled is in itself a challenge in this country. We have to ship fuel in barrels by truck from the capital. Fuel cost is probably the main ongoing expense for the airplane and that varies depending on the type of work we are doing and how often we fly because of the weather and so on.

Both Gary and I are certified mechanics and are careful to keep the plane in good condition. Thorough inspections and maintenance are important, especially when flying in this environment.

Medical flights have increased as our focus shifts away from construction. Some recent flights between Gary and me include: flying a doctor to another village to see another ill missionary, transporting an unconscious motorcycle accident victim, flying a doctor to Mondou for a surgery, transporting supplies from the capital, dropping food packages to flood victims, tranpsorting hospital personel when the road system has been blocked by flooding, and plenty more.

Housing

The first AAM staff home.

Housing has been a challenge for us as we grow. Melody and I are already in the first staff home, a one-room hut built in 2009. We have built another small home into the security wall and named it the "Jericho house." We have closed off two tiny rooms at the corners of the hanger. These rooms are small, but can be used as bedrooms for short-term volunteers or pilots stopping in for a few days. There are several housing options at the nutrition center.

Security walls

Stage one of our security wall around the aviation base property is completed. This has been a very important project, as it has helped significantly with controlling people, theft problems, and animals in our property. We can actually have some family time in the evenings now, and try to grow a garden without the goats eating it up. No more curious people standing at our windows trying to peer through the curtain to see what the missionaries are doing in their house.

Stage two (plaster and completing taxiway gate) has been postponed due to higher priority projects such as the Nutrition Center. We are currently building another security wall around the Nutrition Center project.

Branch Sabbath-schools

Children listen intently to a Bible story.

Each week we have been traveling south on our motorcycles to the small village of Dabgue to help conduct a little church service for a group of children that meet each week. Our goal here is to lead these children to love God and to show them that He loves them and cares for them. Each week we present a nature story, a Bible story, and a short sermon.

Most of the group that was meeting at Dabgue has moved into the new church structure in Bendele. This has left the Dabgue church almost empty, and we are basically starting over again there. Most weeks somewhere around 5-8 adults and some children attend.

Bible school

To find some reliable, committed, Bible workers and teachers for this country is one of our greatest desires. Please pray for more workers.

More specific plans are in development for our Bible school. We are asking God for wisdom and guidance to know how to design and conduct a successful Bible school here in Chad. We can work all day long really hard and do some good, but training others to multiply the work of the gospel is a more effective plan.

Melody and I are spending some time in DRC at the Congo Frontline Missions. We have been learning how they run their school, and have taught some of the classes. The first mobile sessions of the Chad Bible school will begin in January 2013 shortly after we return there.

Nutrition center

A family who has already benefited from the nutrition center.

Malnutrition is a big problem with many small children here and the nutrition center has the potential to help hundreds of malnourished children.. Everywhere we look we see small children with distended bellies and reddish hair; some have worms and other ailments. Fortunately, many of the problems we see are avoidable. Some are due merely to superstitious beliefs. One such belief is that if a child gets any salt, he will not be able to talk. Or if a child eats egg, he will not learn to crawl. Other problems have simple solutions like washing hands and keeping dishes off of the ground where the pigs run. Some simple education and training could go a long way to help the people here.

The nutrition center is designed to fill just that need. The basic plan is simple. Show the people how to grow various nutritious foods in their gardens, and show them how to prepare the food. Teach and explain the reasons why. If children receive adequate nutrition in their diet they will have more resistance to fight diseases such as malaria that kill so many children every year.

Constrution is mostly finished for now. The center has been open for a number of weeks, now. Due to staff limitations, it is now operating primarily with outpatients, but hopes to begin inpatient care as soon as staff resources permit. Please pray for more workers as the needs are great!