Participants:
Series Code: OTG
Program Code: OTG200720S
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00:50 Welcome to the presidential update.
00:54 It seems we're still on lockdown 00:56 throughout most of the world, 00:58 yet we here at Adventist World Aviation 01:00 are doing our best to help the local indigenous peoples 01:02 around the world 01:04 as well as those in the United States 01:07 that we can bring some relief to. 01:12 Throughout the world, we are offering comfort care. 01:15 However, we are challenged 01:17 with the fact that our missionaries 01:19 are locked down in many cases as well. 01:23 Not to mention the shortage that we have of resourcing. 01:28 Resourcing means everything in times like these. 01:32 And, well, we have 01:36 many opportunities to help. 01:38 We have limited resources in order to do such. 01:52 When you live your life 01:56 in a country 01:59 that has very few modern conveniences 02:03 that we take in the United States 02:05 for granted, things like food, 02:09 clean food, clean water. 02:13 How do you survive? 02:17 The reality is many of them don't, 02:19 the attrition rate of children 02:20 in some of these regions is so great 02:25 that they don't even name their babies. 02:28 And until they reach, 02:33 when they're school aged that they get a name, 02:36 they'll nickname their kids in the meantime. 02:40 I guess it's a way so they don't become attached 02:45 but, you know, 02:47 you love the baby the day it's born. 02:50 Children die all the time. 02:53 So many of them can be prevented, 02:55 when we go into an area 02:56 the attrition rate goes way down. 02:59 And we're able to save by medevacing these kids out 03:04 when they're ill right away. 03:07 The pandemic that's been sweeping the world is, 03:11 it got us all on lockdown. 03:13 We're doing the best we can. 03:17 Right now, we need help more than ever. 03:20 Life in the jungle 03:23 isn't always exciting. 03:27 You know, we think of movies 03:28 like Indiana Jones and Incision. 03:33 But life isn't like that, reality is harsh. 03:36 Death is real. 03:38 The needs 03:41 for food, water, 03:45 clothing, something as simple as clothing. 03:48 A lot of people want to send us clothes. 03:51 We don't need you to send clothes, 03:52 we could buy clothes locally. 03:54 In fact, it costs probably four or five times as much. 03:57 We don't know what to do sometimes 03:59 because people will send the items 04:00 and really it costs sometimes four or five times 04:03 as much to ship those items as it would be 04:05 if we would just have the resources, 04:07 the financial resources 04:09 to be able to purchase the items locally. 04:14 Yeah, sometimes they're a little inferior, 04:16 but we can usually purchase them 04:18 much at a much lower cost than we could 04:22 if we were to ship the stuff 04:23 from the United States or from Canada 04:25 or from somewhere, 04:27 make it part of your monthly program. 04:30 A dollar a day saves a life. 04:32 It really takes about 365 bucks per flight 04:34 that we take on average, you know, some is less, 04:37 some are little bit more, 04:38 but $365 can definitely take 04:42 a flight out of the jungles 04:46 into a city 04:49 where a hospital physicians 04:54 or maybe life support such as clean food. 04:59 We bring into them rice and beans and things 05:02 that they can make that's clean to eat. 05:06 I can't tell you how many times 05:08 we've seen people eat vermin just to stay alive. 05:11 You know, it's part of their natural diet and, 05:13 of course, with the events 05:17 that have happened in the world and, 05:19 of course eating vermin. 05:21 Supposedly this virus came from bats. 05:24 I don't know if it was that's what happened. 05:27 But you know, it's potential and those things do happen. 05:31 People get diseases 05:32 from eating these unclean things 05:36 that nowhere in the Bible does it say that 05:39 we should eat these things and, but yet we do 05:42 and then the world faces a pandemic. 05:48 Help us help them. 05:50 Most of the world faces challenges 05:52 that we in the United States 05:53 or North America don't understand. 05:57 With such challenges 05:59 come unique solutions and certainly 06:02 one of the unique solutions is aviation. 06:04 And that's what we bring to the table to be 06:06 able to reach into areas that are unreachable. 06:10 People travel for miles on small trails, 06:14 like you see back here, 06:15 small trails or down creek beds or streams, 06:21 because that's, that's the thoroughfare. 06:24 And so, the needs are met by the jungle basically. 06:30 And so, we come in and we help people survive 06:36 in a hostile environment, 06:38 whether it be the jungle or even in the city. 06:40 We're able to help in unique ways there. 06:53 Turn the program over now 06:55 to our project manager in Brazil, Brad Mills. 07:03 Hi, I'm Brad Mills and I work here 07:05 at the Institute of Missions 07:06 called Northwest Brazil Union Institute of Missions. 07:10 And we're located in the capital city, Manaus, 07:13 of the state of the Amazon in Brazil. 07:17 And the Institute of Missions here, 07:18 we promote mission opportunities 07:21 to do church planting, reaching villages 07:24 where the Seventh-day Adventist Church 07:25 has here to for not entered. 07:28 And I'm actually standing here inside the building 07:31 at the entrance of our school of missions. 07:33 We train here Bible workers 07:35 that come to donate one to two years of their life 07:38 to serve people in the area 07:40 and unreached villages in the Amazon. 07:42 Here they come, 07:44 they live in our schools, in our dorms, 07:47 and they study every day for about three months 07:50 where they're being prepared to be pioneer Bible workers, 07:53 then we place them out into villages to serve 07:56 and live among the people. 07:57 If you look here in the map, 07:59 what we have here is the city of Manaus, 08:01 the capital city of nearly two and a half million people. 08:06 But then they go out and they serve this 08:09 whole vast region living in villages. 08:12 Our Bible workers sometimes 08:13 live only among unreached tribes, 08:16 where we have no Adventist presence 08:18 where they're living with the village people, 08:20 hunting and fishing and planting, 08:23 trying to enter into their lives, 08:25 to make friendships, 08:26 understand their worldview, 08:28 and be able to present the gospel. 08:29 Each little place 08:31 where we have a church here is places 08:33 that we've actually built churches 08:35 through our pioneer workers 08:36 that had been living in villages. 08:38 And you can see here, 08:39 we have every little dot is a place 08:41 where we have Bible workers living with the people. 08:45 So, we have here, actually, 08:47 I'm in front of our School of Missions training school, 08:50 where we train people to go out into villages. 08:52 We run the Luzeiro boats, a ministry that takes people 08:55 out with medical professionals to open up the villages. 08:58 We do short term mission trips 09:00 also as a form of serving the villages. 09:02 And all of this combined a way 09:05 to take the gospel to areas 09:07 that we haven't been able to reach yet. 09:09 Just in our area, we have hundreds of languages 09:14 and people groups that live in isolated areas 09:17 that were able to serve through our boats 09:20 and our pioneer Bible workers. 09:23 So, we want to thank you for what you do 09:25 and combining with us and working with us. 09:27 In one day, we hope to have an airplane 09:30 here to be able to go out, 09:31 sometimes our boats are 8 to 10 days 09:33 out into the jungle 09:34 and be able to service that area 09:36 to take care of our Bible workers, 09:37 taking more medical professionals, 09:39 supplies and continue God's work in this area. 09:43 For you to have an idea, you can leave the capital city 09:46 and you can travel over 30 days 09:48 by boat to come to these farthest reaching cities 09:51 out of the jungle, where we're planning to provide 09:54 the workers this year, 09:56 living with the people and planting new churches 09:59 for the spread of God's kingdom. 10:00 We're thankful that 10:01 you're partnering with us in this. 10:04 And imagine one day we have a plane that 10:06 could travel this whole distance. 10:09 What could take 30 days 10:10 by boat could take one day by plane 10:12 to reach these areas and attend our Bible workers 10:16 and continue growing God's work in this area. 10:19 You guys right might remember the story of the Luzeiro boats 10:22 and what they've done for the history 10:24 of the Adventist Church in this region. 10:26 In fact, Leo and Jesse Halliwell 10:28 in 1931 inaugurated the very first Luzeiro boat, 10:33 they sailed out of Belem Para, 10:36 and they came up the Amazon River 10:38 going into otherwise unreached areas. 10:41 Our first Adventist churches were planted 10:44 specifically due to the work of the Luzeiro boats. 10:47 For over 80 years the Adventist Church 10:50 has been maintaining Luzeiro boats 10:52 coming and providing medical care, social work, 10:56 providing help for the people's needs, 11:00 thereby gaining their trust, working with them, 11:03 showing God's love and being able 11:05 then afterwards to plant churches. 11:07 Today, we're still doing the same thing. 11:09 Today we administered the Luzeiro boats, 11:11 where we put volunteers that are willing to come, 11:14 dentists, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, 11:19 and Bible workers. 11:20 And these people live on the boats, 11:22 they come out sometimes for a year at a time 11:24 to live on the boat. 11:26 Will live with the jungle dwellers, 11:28 providing them medical care, visiting in their homes, 11:31 and being able to then make friendships 11:33 and start Bible studies. 11:35 Then after the Luzeiro boats 11:37 have come in and opened up the area, 11:39 we're able to put pioneer Bible workers 11:41 to live in the villages 11:42 and work with the people and help them. 11:45 We want to thank you for partnering with us. 11:47 And imagine what a partnership 11:48 with an airplane with AWA will do. 11:51 When we have a boat that's 14, 15, 16, 17 days out 11:55 into the jungle and we need an emergent 11:57 or urgent care, 11:59 the plane can takeoff right here 12:00 on the river in front of our base 12:02 and land out by the boat, 12:04 bringing in much needed medical supplies, 12:06 Bible supplies, workers, volunteers, food, 12:09 and to be able to continue growing our project 12:12 to be able to serve God's kingdom in this area. 12:14 Thank you for partnering with us. 12:17 Brad Mills has been doing a fabulous job 12:19 of holding things together there 12:21 while we institute a new flying program there. 12:24 Pray the Lord of harvest 12:25 that we find the right pilot for that project. 12:29 We have the plane, we just need the pilot. 12:32 Partner with us. 12:34 Thank you and God bless. 12:36 This is my story 12:39 This is my song 12:42 Praising my Savior 12:45 All the day long 12:48 This is my story 12:51 This is my song 12:54 Praising myself Savior 12:57 All the day long 13:01 Traversing through along narrow path 13:05 along a riverbed is romantic on a camping trip, 13:11 but when you have to come down to a local stream 13:14 on a daily basis to get water, that becomes challenging. 13:19 In Nicaragua, we have met the needs of the people, 13:23 so they don't have to drink river water 13:25 which is okay as long as it's properly processed. 13:28 But they can now drink fresh water 13:30 from living water in Nicaragua. 13:33 Thank you to Enrique and others 13:36 that have gone before him to put a well in place 13:40 and offer living water. 13:44 It becomes challenging to meet the needs of this world 13:49 when times are good. 13:52 Now with the world basically on lockdown, 13:55 it becomes even more challenging. 13:57 However, missionaries like Enrique give us courage. 14:00 The work that he's doing there has been such a blessing 14:04 to the local indigenous people 14:05 as well as the leadership of the community, 14:08 supplying water and supplies and medevacing with the truck. 14:13 We have a missionary that soon to be deployed there. 14:17 We'll make more announcement about that later, 14:19 but we've had an accepted call. 14:21 Up in Alaska Jim Kincade has been flying supply relief 14:25 to our missionaries. 14:28 We're getting loaded for a trip to the village 14:31 of Shungnak and Selawik 14:35 with a load of shelf stable food items. 14:38 Much of it just like you at home. 14:41 We've got two loads here. 14:45 We've got flour, 14:49 you can make bread out of that. 15:01 We've got rice. 15:03 During the COVID-19 pandemic 15:07 many of the villages are in danger 15:10 of running out of food 15:12 so we're trying to restock 15:15 their food banks for them. 15:19 There's a pancake flour. 15:24 Macaroni. 15:29 And we've got buckets full of shelf stable food in them. 15:38 We team up with Adventist community 15:40 services to do this run. 15:46 Food packed kale, that's always good. 15:51 Everyone needs to eat their green beans. 15:56 And we've got sweet corn. 16:04 We've got about 800 pounds of food in here. 16:07 And we're gonna be headed out in a little while 16:12 to help these villages out in this time of distress. 16:17 So, God bless and thank you 16:19 for your support 16:21 that keeps our airplanes operating 16:23 and keeps us going up here on the frontlines. 16:27 Thank you very much. 16:29 As I travel along, 16:33 I wonder how others survive. 16:38 We like watching television shows like Survival. 16:42 And we look out at wilderness much like you see here. 16:47 And we say, wow, that's really something 16:50 to be able to survive in an environment like this. 16:54 But people live like this, they're not surviving. 16:56 They live like this on a daily basis, 16:58 it's not a reality show, it's reality. 17:12 In the Philippines, our team, our local team, 17:15 as well as our foreign missionaries, 17:18 the Wilkerson's have been working very hard 17:20 working with everyone there, 17:21 making sure that encouragement is kept high. 17:25 Meeting the needs of the locals there is challenging 17:28 because they too are on lockdown, 17:30 but they're doing it. 17:35 I'm Bruce Wilkerson. 17:37 I'm the Executive Vice President 17:38 for Adventist World Aviation. 17:39 As I said, from the airplane over here, 17:41 we taken in the last couple months, 17:43 we put this airplane together, 17:45 it's up and running, that's great. 17:46 But now the big problem is 17:48 getting this 2000-foot airstrip finished. 17:51 Well, from the end of the airstrip 17:54 is the village of Sapangan 17:56 and down there just forward a bit about 50-100 meters 17:59 is where the airstrip starts, 18:01 and it goes about 2000 feet 18:03 all the way down in this direction. 18:05 And at the end there with, 18:06 right before the jungles where it stopped. 18:08 So, we have lots of jungle 18:10 that surrounds this end of the airstrip. 18:13 And there's fencing around the whole 74 acre property. 18:16 And in the 74 acres we have, 18:19 we have lots of weeds and vines down fencing 18:23 and part of the Civil Aviation Authorities requirements 18:25 is for us to clear 18:27 and make sure we have a secure perimeter to prevent. 18:30 But not just working on this base 18:32 where we're restricted to. 18:33 We've taken opportunities 18:35 to continue our worship practices 18:36 here with our team. 18:38 The Espinosas they come across, 18:40 we worship on Wednesdays and Sabbath. 18:42 And hopefully we're building 18:44 more relationships with these people 18:45 that when we start flying here, 18:47 we can start making additional physical difference 18:50 in their lives but more importantly, 18:51 we can introduce them 18:53 to the loving relationship with Jesus. 18:54 That's why we're here folks is to introduce people 18:57 to a loving relationship with God 18:59 and His Son, Jesus Christ. 21:01 Back home here in the United States, 21:05 our maintenance department 21:07 is working diligently preparing aircraft for the field. 21:10 We have been blessed 21:12 to have the Stevenson Family join our team. 21:16 Kyle is turned out to be more than just a mechanic. 21:19 He's quite an engineer, 21:21 he's been able to create solutions out of areas 21:26 that we thought we would never be able to solve. 21:31 We now turn to Guyana and Monique Wilkerson. 21:36 Our Guyana project needs your help. 21:38 With the COVID-19 travel restrictions worldwide, 21:41 our mechanics, our inspectors 21:43 and our missionaries are unable to travel 21:46 to conduct those inspections 21:48 and continue the work that we have in Guyana. 21:52 And so, in God's perfect timing, 21:54 our missionaries would like to return to Guyana 21:57 to conduct the work there. 21:59 And so, we ask for your prayers. 22:02 We ask for your continued support 22:05 and Guyana need help. 22:09 In Canada, Ray Young and his wife Julie 22:12 are working very hard to make sure that 22:14 our global operations are running smoothly. 22:18 He's also been working with the Ontario project 22:20 making sure that 22:21 our aircraft is going to be ready 22:24 just as soon as possible. 22:26 We've had some issues there that we need to take care of, 22:29 unexpected issues, 22:31 seems that the cylinders are out of service, 22:34 they can't be used anymore. 22:36 That's going to cost several thousand dollars, 22:38 probably in the neighborhood of $7,000 to $10,000 22:41 to replace those cylinders 22:43 before we can fly 22:45 to the first indigenous nations there 22:49 To look out in Ontario, Canada 22:52 is another one of our bases of operations. 22:54 We'll be deploying this summer a float plane 22:57 to get to remote villages 22:59 and people that are hard to reach 23:00 or impossible to reach by road. 23:03 As we have learned, no matter 23:04 which country we're operating in, 23:06 the indigenous people seem to be the people 23:09 of that country that are suffering 23:11 and are in need the most. 23:12 At AWA, we try to bring medical supplies, 23:16 dental clinics, medical clinics, 23:19 save injured people, 23:21 help them to get to hospitals. 23:24 But because of their remoteness, 23:26 the only way generally to get to them 23:28 is with the use of an aircraft. 23:31 To look out we'll soon have 23:32 a beautiful red and white Cessna 185 23:36 and fin float plane. 23:38 This aircraft can land on land runways and on water. 23:43 Our newly established project up there in Ontario. 23:48 Elder Mansfield Edwards 23:50 has joined our board of directors 23:52 and is proving to be a tremendous resource. 23:58 In Africa, we have a new project manager 24:01 that we're interviewing. 24:02 His name is Pastor Livingston, 24:03 he's been there living for quite some time, 24:06 working with our local leadership there. 24:09 We hope to be making 24:11 some very exciting news announcements 24:12 about our Uganda project here very soon. 24:17 Here in the United States, 24:18 we are working with local hospitals, 24:21 perhaps they have needs 24:22 of flying test materials or tests themselves 24:25 to the testing locations to get them back. 24:28 Our Angel Flight program has slowed down, 24:30 which is heartbreaking 24:33 because I know that there are people 24:34 that are needing their cancer treatments 24:36 or whatever treatments that they need, 24:39 but they're putting it off because of the fear 24:42 of what's happening around the world. 24:44 Pray for them. I ask that you pray for us. 24:47 I ask that you pray 24:48 that our missionaries will remain safe and healthy. 24:52 I ask that you pray that God will supply 24:54 the necessary resources 24:57 so that we can accomplish the work. 25:00 The work is very challenging. 25:03 But we can't do it without you. 25:06 Without your help and without your support, 25:07 without your prayers, nothing gets done. 25:11 Think about setting up a monthly regular donation. 25:16 While we appreciate the one-time gifts, 25:20 those are so needed. 25:22 It's the monthly donations that help us understand 25:25 what we can do on a daily, 25:28 weekly and yes, monthly basis. 25:32 They ask why do you do this? 25:34 And our answer is simple. 25:38 Because we believe in a God, we believe in a higher power. 25:42 They've been led to believe 25:46 all sorts of superstitious things. 25:49 Few of them know about Jesus, 25:52 few of them know about the kindness 25:55 that's in the heart of God. 25:59 And so, with that we meet their physical needs. 26:03 We meet their spiritual needs 26:05 as best we can by praying for them. 26:09 They make a decision sometimes to follow Jesus. 26:12 Some do and some don't. 26:16 We don't force anyone. 26:18 We simply show them the kindness, 26:21 the kindness that Jesus left us with, 26:24 in His example of healing the sick, 26:27 feeding the hungry and helping the poor. 26:30 And so, by doing just that, they are touched. 26:36 Now, we need you to help us get that job done. 27:25 In closing, I want to thank you for being friends and partners 27:30 with Adventist World Aviation. 27:33 These past 25 years 27:36 have been made possible by you. 27:43 We work very hard to make sure that 27:45 we're doing the right thing always. 27:49 It is important for us to get it right the first time. 27:53 Aviation can afford no mistakes. 27:56 Doing God's work can afford no mistakes either. 28:00 We try to get it right. 28:03 Continue to pray for us, 28:05 continue to support that which we do. 28:08 We will do our best to be responsible, 28:11 both fiduciary and spiritually as well. 28:14 Words alone don't express our heartfelt appreciation 28:19 for all that you've done, all that you do. 28:23 But most importantly, 28:24 it's what you're about to do 28:27 that we need more than anything else. 28:30 And I pray that the Holy Spirit 28:32 will impress upon you to help now, 28:35 like never before. 28:37 If there ever was a time 28:39 that AWA needed your support, it's now. 28:44 Thank you. God bless you. 28:48 And we'll see you next month. |
Revised 2020-09-04