NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Our planned route is in a large 7,000 mile loop

On January 18th we leave to take a road trip around the US visiting with friends who we haven’t seen in a long time. We are really looking forward to visiting with folks and we’re praying that wherever we go we will be an encouragement as we share what God has been accomplishing in the Philippines. Please pray for us as we travel for a little less than a month in a big 7,000 mile circle.

Please pray for safety as well since much of our driving will be in snow country. Pray also for the car to run well and for the kids (and us) to really enjoy the adventure of it. Thankfully, we have been able to break the trip up into fairly small chunks so it shouldn’t be as bad as it sounds. However, we are aware that it could be a disaster with a 3 year-old, a 1 1/2 year-old and Bailey 6 1/2 months pregnant. Needless to say, your prayers would be appreciated.

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Jet engines are easily restored from a flame out with a simple resuply of fuel flow and a restart.

A few years ago I took my motorcycle on a long ride in the Arizona desert. I was nearing the end of a very tiring 100 mile ride when the engine began to sputter. No problem, I thought, I’ll just select “reserve” on the fuel tank. I reached for the reserve lever only to discover that it was already there. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to limp an engine along that is in the initial stages of fuel exhaustion, but it can be quite a challenge. I swerved all over the place, bounced up and down, rocked back and forth – anything to try to slosh just a few ounces of fuel back into the carburetor so I could continue. Even 100 yards extra means a lot when the alternative is walking the bike home in the desert sun. (more…)

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Here's the helicopter on one of it's first operational flights into the jungle. It's number is "2-6-1-niner." "6-1-niner" was the Supercub that used to fly for Brian's parents on Palawan and many, many others.

It is hard to believe that this coming summer marks three years since we first arrived here in the Philippines. Where does the time go? When we arrived the situation was a bit bleak. There was only one functional airplane (one of three) and one active pilot, Ben Hart. Our Chief pilot/program manager was leaving for home assignment shortly after we arrived so there wasn’t a lot happening except on Palawan where Ben was working. The Philippines was in need of three functional flight programs with pilots to cover the whole of the work load in both flight and maintenance.

Several years ago we brought this need before our support team and asked for prayer and encouragement as we moved forward with a sense of urgency to see if the Lord would bless our efforts and allow us to set up the aviation programs again. Through many setbacks and hard times God has been faithful and it is with great joy and thankfulness that we get to announce, “Mission Accomplished!”

Just this month our helicopter carried its first passengers to and from the tribe in the Northern Philippines. Also, this month Josh Dalton was checked out on the active Palawan airstrips and is flying missionaries and their supplies in and out of their locations. This gives us two pilots for the Palawan region which has allowed the Harts to go home for a home assignment after several years of slugging it out alone. Bailey and I are continuing to do the flight program for the Mindanao region which now gives us three pilots and three aircraft!

In just a few weeks the second pilot for Mindanao, Joel Davis, will be arriving and I’ll be helping get him checked out so that he can run the program and allow us to return to the US for a 9 month visit. Then, at the end of the summer our second helicopter pilot hopes to complete his language studies and begin working in the helicopter program. Shortly after he starts, the second pilot family for Palawan will return from their furlough in Canada. Amazing what the Lord has done to bring all of this together.

Our current team:
Garry and Cynthia Barkman
Ben and Suzy Hart
Josh and Candy Dalton
Joel and Missy Davis
Brian and Katherine Schaadt
Zach and Jane Keller

Thank you so much for all your encouragement along the way as well as the many, many financial gifts that have helped this happen. God has been hard at work in the technical details. This gives us two pilot/mechanics in each region plus Garry, our chief pilot/manager, who is overseeing the training and logistics in all three programs.

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