Disaster relief

I must say that I have done a bit of flying in the last few days. On, Thursday, January 14th, I flew out to a small grass strip to pick up a Cessna 401 (twin engine,7 passenger airplane) then swung north to pick up my passengers. The group I was picking up were a group of disaster relief experts that were to organize the relief efforts in Haiti.

I arrived at 10am and the amount of cargo they had was surprising. Were they expecting a military transport? How was I going to fit all this gear in the plane and become airborne? After much figuring and head scratching by my co-pilot Paul, we were ready to depart. We received our clearance and we took off into the bright blue Florida sky.

As we neared our refueling stop of Exuma, the chatter on the frequency was that no flights were being allowed into Port Au Prince. We informed the passengers and they asked "how close can you get us?" "Can you get us to Las Americas? So off to to the south of the Dominican Republic went. After another refueling stop in Proveceales, we took off into the setting sun which then gave way to night. Flying at night in the Caribbean is especially dark. It was so dark that for all intents and purposes I could have been on board the international space station. The only way we knew we were moving was because the instruments said so.

When we arrived in Las Americas it was clear that the staging for a massive influx of aid from all over the world was being staged. I saw aircraft from Russia, China, Italy, and Japan. Here I was in my little Cessna 401. Our passengers got off and they proceeded to rent an SUV and drove the rest of the way to Port Au Prince. I hope they made it.

On Monday I hopped in an Aztec (small twin) to act as a shuttle between Santiago and Port Au Prince. On Tuesday we woke and off we went, or so we thought. The Dominican flight plan office had not filed our flight plan, and now we were not going to make our 8am slot time in Port Au Prince; I was furious! I had flown five and a half hours on Monday, and made it to the airport three hours early to make sure all went smoothly and for all of that to be undone by a bureaucrat! I spoke with his supervisor [editor's note: good thing he speaks Spanish!!] and explained that that I had to make my slot time. We got out an hour late start and praying that by some miracle we would make it into Port. We climbed up over the 10,000' mountains and all along the way I was expecting someone to tell us to turn back, but that call never came.
When we arrived in Port Au Prince The frequency was a buzz with military traffic. There were all sorts of aircraft flying around,helicopters,big transports,and small aircraft were all coming and going smoothly. Praise God!

We off loaded our 800 pounds of medical supplies and saw them whisked away by one of the missionaries that we serve in a caged truck. As thy drove away, I started to see the scope of the quake. There were tents on the airport and pallet and pallets of supplies of stuff that wasn't moving. Why is all this stuff her, I wondered? [Editor's note, again... I think they were the impounded stuff that Mark talked about on Facebook or in an email. The stuff didn't have the right paperwork.] All the missionaries that Agape had in Port were now a perfect distribution network, and our supplies were getting out right away as fast as we could unload them. As we readiedgot ready to deport, I met other pilots that I had flown with in the past. It was as though we had all come together to fight against a common foe. That enemy was death, and it felt glorious; I had never been a part of something so big. Thank you God for using me!

We continued with our supply runs, two slots a day, and side runs to surrounding areas as was needed. We carried mostly food and water. We had the opportunity to pick up and drop off doctors and other folks. We carried four guys from Barahona [Dominican Republic] that were there to set up a massive tent as a MASH unit. All in all, it was quite the adventure.

Makes you wish you were a missionary, huh? I'm loving it! [Editor's note: Stay tuned for some amazing stories! This was his "logistics" post. Next will be a sights and sounds post!]

Haiti as of 1/20/2010

It's Kristin again...

What a crazy weekend! We spent at least 12 hours at the hangar on Saturday and another long day on Sunday. Mark flew a tiny Aztec to the Dominican Republic on Monday. He is supposed to be there for a few days. He says he is coming home on Friday, we shall see...

This morning he felt the aftershock, but didn't say much more about it.

Anyway, the PAP airport is working on a reservation system. So he had one drop off yesterday and another today. Today he is bringing water - about 700 lbs of it! The King Air is bringing 2500lbs of beans and rice. That will feed a ton of people - but my question is how do they cook if the water is needed for drinking? But I imagine they have that figured out.

Mark also mentioned that customs is a huge hassle. If you don't have the exact paperwork, you are out of luck and Haitian customs confiscates your cargo. The Dominican Republic is also becoming an issue because they are probably tired of being a staging area. There has always been hostility between the countries and so seeing all this help go to Haiti when they have poverty too is probably difficult.

There are still 17 Agape families unaccounted for. Please pray for them and their families back home.

On the home front, the boys miss Mark and ask where he is frequently. But we are having our own fun and our own adventures. This is a busy week, so that helps us from "getting into trouble" and keeping the boys off my nerves. Getting the kids to school was the smoothest it's ever been! How great is that... Thank you for caring, reading, and praying! God is doing mighty huge works right now (well, when doesn't He?) and it is exciting to be on the front lines. Thank you for helping! I'll add some pictures tonight when I'm at home.

Haiti Earthquake

Wow, has it really been since November that Mark has updated his blog. I guess nothing exciting has happened in our family or with Agape?? Just kidding, this is Kristin taking time out from writing my blog 2corinth1-4mom.blogspot.com to update his.

Mark is currently returning from the Dominican Republic. He was flying one of King's Wings airplanes. He flew a group of doctor's. They wanted to get to Haiti, but since the airspace was closed yesterday, they did the next best thing and landed in Santo Domingo. The doctors chose to rent a car and drive to Haiti. They should have waited 12 hours and they would have been delivered directly to Port au Prince. Here's hoping the doctors are safe on their journey - definitely not one that I would take!

Anyway, Agape is coming up with their "game plan" and working tirelessly to help with the relief efforts. I am amazed by the help that is pouring in and the servant-like attitude of everyone! From what I can gather they will continue working through the weekend.

www.agapeflights.com has so much more information - head over and pray for, by name, the people mentioned!

Too close to call

Hi,

I know that I haven't blogged in a while; but I have something interesting worth blogging. I came across this story that was originally written March 8,1986. Its an interesting story that gives you an idea of what we some times have to deal with.

It had not been week for the faint-hearted. First the Duvalier government had laid on a state of siege, with troops everywhere. Tensions were running high as country people as well as city people alike waited for some one to make the first move in the showdown between the people and the government of Haiti. Stores were mostly closed either in protest of the government of Duvalier or in fear of the mob attack by those who were trying to force the downfall of the Duvalier regime. In Cap Haitian there was one grocery store that opened for a couple of hours each morning to serve the needs of desperate shoppers. The store itself was like a mad house as people pushed and shoved to get what groceries they could before they would all be gone.

Then on Friday Haitian National Television announced what everyone was waiting to hear... Duvalier had fled the country. People everywhere erupted with wild shouts of joy, and joyful dancing in the streets. Then the downtrodden turned on the oppressors and the search began for those Tonton Macoutes that had caused so much suffering in Haiti during the Duvalier Regime. the common people became angry mobs of vigilanties, seeking out and beating or killing any Tonton Macoutes they could find.

The new government of Haiti, the Council of Five, attempted to restore order by closing the country's borders, roads, airports, and seaports, and imposing long curfews. That Saturday morning Agaps flights was hurling down the airways to Haiti when Miami center boomed over the pilots headset and told the pilot to turn back to the States; Haiti was closed up tight-no flights allowed.

Tune in next week for the rest of the story!

Loose lips...get me mad.

Wednesday the 25th I was flying for God. When I landed for the day I thought I would check out my wife's blog . Only to read that Some one At the fountain had made a nasty comment to one of my kids teachers.
If it bothered this person soooo much why didn't she confront my wife? or me, I was there.
Its so easy to to make assumptions when you don't have all the facts. "Miss perfect parent " probably doesn't know that my kids are special needs, and when they don't listen one must get stern sometimes. Miss "perfect parent" probably would not be able to handle my kids; since she lives in a "Disney" reality where here kids are perfect automatons and doesn't have to go through the emotional ups and downs that we do because of people like her and her comments.
By the way; My wife is the best mom to my kids, she is attentive, caring, loving, and she has patience that amazes me,(the ex-corrections deputy).

Engines,Mail bags and such...

Boy! Has it been a month since I last published? Well let me catch you up!

The king Air was finally flown out of Eluthra with a rental engine, and tweaked here at Venice. The nice folks at King's Wings were very kind in letting us use their Cessna 401 while all the fixing was going on with the King Air. When bad things happen... You meet some really nice people.

Agape got some bad news about the engine that blew; it would cost more to fix than to by another used and in better condition. So after spending alot of money we have a new engine, and again King's Wings is letting us use their Cessna 401.

Here's an interesting story. King's Wings was in a bind and asked if one of Agape's pilots could fly a team over to the D.R. in there Cessna 401, no problem. I fly over to N. Palm Beach airport to meet the team, only to find Ruffin Stepp from Venice Presbyterian! What a small world. Ruffin got to be my co-pilot for the wonder flight to Eluthra. I love how God puts people in our lives.

Here we go again.

A lot has been going on here at Agape... But one thing is clear: God is in control. We all have this grand illusion that we are in control, nothing could be further from the truth.

Last week when the King Air was out on its weekly run, the right engine blew shortly after taking off. Our boys had to make a 180 turn and go back to Eluthra. With everyone safe, the forces of the Holy Spirit, and of the most high God kicked in!

Dave Spagler who is based in Eluthra put his airplane in to help us out. Boxes for the missionaries we transferred to Dave's plane and on they went to Haiti, and the next day on to the D.R. the supply line continued!

We could flip-out and say "What are we gonna do now?!" But no, it's in God's hands. The plane will be fixed, and in the process we will all have grown a little bit and experienced blessings that other wise we would have missed. It's all good... God always has our best interest in mind, I know its hard to believe sometimes, but its true.