He tied a driveshaft to the bicycle and rode it through Manila!

Not long ago I was driving our truck on a trail that was pretty rough. I had forgotten to tie down the cooler and toolbox and other miscellaneous stuff in the cargo area of the truck after eating lunch, and low and behold when we got back on the trail it flew all over the place. Thankfully only one thing broke; my air compressor. It is, because Murphy works internationally, imported from the states and is a vital part of the tool  kit for the truck so I had to get it repaired. Having parts sent from the states wasn’t practical or affordable, so I decided to go to a machine shop and have one fabricated for around $7.

Much of my Tagalog practice has revolved around shops, and mechanics because often their English is quite poor. So far I haven’t had any surprises, like asking for an oil change and getting a glitter paint job. I was a bit concerned about this one cause it was a pretty foreign piece of machinery to them, but they got right to work doing what I had asked. As they carved out a new part on the lathe I sat and waited. While I waited I was entertained and amazed by their delivery guy who rode a bicycle. A machine shop delivery guy, not a pizza delivery guy, on a bicycle.

I was amazed when I first saw the rider show up with a couple of lower control arms off of what looked like a Toyota Corolla. Then, the next trip he brought a couple of front brake disc rotors from a full-sized truck that looked like they weighed over 100 pounds each. Keep in mind that he looked like he may have tipped the scales in triple digits after a good hard rain.

Then the most fascinating delivery of all was a drive shaft off of a box van. I was amazed at his ingenuity and boldness of riding his bike in Manila traffic with a driveshaft tied to the bike and resting between his legs. I don’t think I’d ever need an adrenaline rush again in my life if I had to ride that contraption through the insane maze of traffic that is Manila.

Throughout my formal and informal aviation maintenance training, I have learned to respect gasoline. It can be a lot of fun when properly applied to a pile of furniture, or through a fuel injector into an engine. It can be absolutely deadly if not respected. Special care is always given when handling fuels to avoid fire hazards and explosions.

Recently I had reason to believe that my fuel tank in our truck had become contaminated with water. I took the truck to a shop to have them lower the fuel tank, clean it, and reinstall it. It was a Midas-type place that had good equipment and was recommended to me by a Filipino friend as a good place to have the work done. He was right, it was a great shop, they just followed some different safety standards than I was used to.

The mechanic started working and I was comfortable with how the work on the truck was going so rather than “supervise” I went off and ate breakfast and took care of some errands. I returned after lunch to see that the job was nearly complete, they needed only to bleed the fuel filter, and refill the tank.

As I walked around to the front of the truck I was shocked at what I saw. The mechanic was under the hood working and…smoking! He was, with his left hand, operating the primer pump on the still-soaked-in-diesel-fuel filter, and with his right hand only inches away, he steadied himself and held a smoldering cigarette.

He was soaked in diesel to his elbows from when he drained my fuel tank earlier in the day and didn’t seem to be bothered by the possibility that the entire vehicle could go up in flames if his cigarette ashed! I was grateful when he finished under the hood and hadn’t exploded. I was also relieved to see his cigarette was nearly consumed and would soon find its way to an ash tray.

We walked to the rear of the car where the refueling operation was taking place with a small homemade plastic funnel and some old oil jugs. Of course, there was a sizable puddle of diesel fuel on the ground where all the guys were standing. My smoking mechanic friend decided to get rid of his cigarette. As he approached the other guys who were standing in fuel, he threw his cigarette down to the ground, missing the puddle by about two inches, and stepped on it with his diesel soaked foot.

Thankfully diesel is much harder to ignite than gasoline so there was no accident. My heart rate came down sometime after lunch the next day and my truck seems to be doing great with its freshly cleaned tank. The work that was done was good, I just should have taken a longer lunch and avoided seeing the scary disregard for safety in the workplace.

We arrived here in the Philippines last August and as we approach our one year anniversary our heads are already spinning with how much has changed since we first boarded a plane to come here. When we left California we had a set of plans that seemed like a very reasonable thing to shoot for. We decided to go with what seemed clear at the time and even signed a 14 month lease on our apartment.

And then everything started to change. Originally we were planning to go to Palawan in January when we are finished with language school and begin the “checkout” process there and work alongside our friends and co-workers, Ben and Suzy Hart. At the time that was the most urgent need and the reason we hurried to get here and the reason we hurried through language study.

A more pressing need has now arisen and it is really good that we hurried here because we are now in a position to fill a need we would have otherwise been unable to fill. We had no idea, but God knew. We plan to finish Tagalog study on September 4, and then move to Mindanao where they speak Cebuano. Bummer.

Currently our missionaries are receiving their air-support from SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Philippines). SIL has graciously covered for us while we have been shorthanded, but they have accelerated their timetable and are moving out of Mindanao in January 2010. Currently we have no program there to fill in when this happens.

The plan is for Bailey and I to move to Mindanao and help our chief pilot, Garry and his wife Cynthia, with administration tasks and the set up of a program while we also go through the checkout process on Mindanao. Once checked out, I will help fly for the program while Garry travels off and on to Luzon to assist the start of a helicopter program. SIL currently does our flying on Luzon as well, but will be leaving the country in April of 2010.

The opening of these two flight programs will be our primary job for the next year. This is a huge task and one that we are not sure how we can accomplish with so few resources and so little time. Please pray as we are brainstorming solutions and plans to cover all these needs.

This is a big change for us. It is a bit discouraging to think of learning Cebuano as we work on Mindanao, but we are going to do our best to learn and fit in to the local language and culture as we work. No more language school!

Once these two flight programs are opened up, we will plan to move again. This time to Palawan to relieve our other pilot team, Ben and Suzy Hart, so they can go on a much needed furlough. We are trusting the Lord for wisdom as we venture into a sea of unknowns and make plans as best we can.

All these changes are working toward the same goal that we were sent here to accomplish. Get the Gospel to places it has never been. It is absolutely critical that we get these flight programs set up without causing a gap in the flight service for our missionaries. They rely on the airplane because of their remote locations, and we don’t want to see their works delayed because we can’t transport them. This is not only important for our missionaries, but also for the SIL missionaries who we will now fly for until their Bible translations are completed.