Bolivia Mission Aviation: Like riding a bicycle again

Have you ever gone a long time without riding a bicycle and thought to yourself that it may not be possible to do so again? Then the next thing you know you are on the bicycle, peddling away, your mind communicating to your body without thinking and just doing. Something similar happened to me these past few weeks as I began flight instructing again. I had not instructed in a very long time, but I found myself remembering and doing things that I thought I had forgotten long ago.

Lincoln is one of our pilots in training here in Bolivia. He has been working on his Instrument rating and is close to his check-ride. I was asked to give him some instruction in order to cut costs and give him real world experience at the same time. The mission was simple; fly with him as much as possible and get him to a point where he could master flying in the much faster airplane than he was accustomed.

We flew several long flights in and out of the country, while I found myself in the right seat giving orders. At first it was a bit exciting flying from the right seat, trying to stop the airplane with no brakes on my side, and no way to communicate with the tower due to no push to talk button. But after the initial concerns, Lincoln got the hang of it and began doing most of the flying himself. It got to the point where he could handle most of the flying duties with me doing almost no coaching and I just overseeing things.

Besides the fact that I now had a co-pilot, which is very handy in many aspects, I kind of enjoyed doing my old job. It brought back plenty of memories from my teaching days. It also made me realize that sometimes we can help others with talents we don’t normally use. Isn’t helping others what mission work is all about? Being available to help others in ways that you least expect can be just as rewarding in my opinion.

While all the flying keeps one busy, there has come up another duty among GMI missionaries. This duty is prayer. Not the normal prayers we make on a daily basis, but the intercessory type for things that are out of the ordinary. Prayers have been ascending almost hourly for the work to grow here in Bolivia and other GMI projects around the world. There are things happening with donors that are too early to print, but we must keep our faith strong. Satan uses our lack of faith to keep us bound from thinking in ways that could grow ministry and that in turn punishes our ability to trust in Him.

We need your prayers directed to the Lord’s work more than ever before. What we are doing as sons and daughters of Christ, could be many times more effective if we made a complete surrender of our talents, time, energy, and money towards the Lord’s work. How long must we wait for his seconding coming? That depends on how long he is willing to wait on us.

The following I read this morning:

It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But "they could not enter in because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:19. Because of their backsliding and apostasy they perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land. In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed and His people should remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work which He had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out. {GC 458.1}

Herman Gonzalez

Chief Pilot-Bolivian Lowlands

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

gonzh@hotmail.com

011-591-7-738-6139

http://hermanbolivia.blogspot.com

Herman Gonzalez

Gospel Ministries International

Project Name: Bolivia Mission Aviation

874 South McDonald, TN 37353

1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842