52Q is back!
7 years ago 52Q had a hard landing accident at an airstrip in Mexico. No one was hurt, but it impacted our ministry because we were now one plane short for needed flights. God’s hand of protection is clear to see in the pictures but even more so if you could have walked down that airstrip.
This airstrip was way up in the mountains which meant a major undertaking to collect it and bring the plane back to Tucson. A team of our guys went down by road, dismantled the plane and hauled it back. Check out the wings on the roof of the car!
Since then 52Q has been a major on-going project. Some jobs were outsourced to another mission agency that specializes in aircraft repair. Otherwise the work was done in our hanger as each part was repaired or replaced. This was a slow process because 1) we were waiting for funds, and 2) work was done when other pressing maintenance needs were met and time allowed. This has been Paul’s “hurt baby” for so long.
The guys were all super excited about 52Q being finished this past month and back in the air! I got a call from Paul saying, “Hey, just want you to know that Justin and I are taking 52Q up for it’s first flight.” I was praying (as you can imagine) for a safe flight and landing for sure! Even knowing how meticulous Paul and the guys are in their work, it’s still a bit nerve wracking!
Summer Ministry
Summer 2021 is coming fast…what do we do? We have been struggling with this question concerning ministry travel. Through much prayer and seeking input from advisors we have come to the decision that we will NOT be traveling back East this summer to visit churches and supporters. That is so hard to actually see in writing! We miss seeing you and being able to share and laugh together (in person) about how good God is!
To explain it a little better, we have 23 churches and even more individual supporters that we need to visit. That means taking the summer and traveling through 13 states with meetings (in a different church) every Wednesday, Sunday morning and Sunday evening. In between those meetings we have home visits. Many of you house us during these trips…and now Covid rears its ugly head! We can’t do all that travel and visiting without exposing you and ourselves to so many contacts. If one of us even came down with a cold that would bring a halt to the schedule, followed by testing and missing meetings. With all the above we were counseled to not do this trip.
So, how will we catch up? We are working on a video to send you! Coming soon: a tour of the hanger where Paul works, as well as a walk into our home! Now, we are not pros at this so don’t expect a Blockbuster or anything, but we at least want to update you and in this way, bring you to Tucson.
Besides the video, we ZOOM – do you? Between on-line schooling and staff meetings with our Mexico bases we are becoming pro-Zoomers. This is a way that we can meet face-to-face informally, visit, take questions, and get caught up. If you personally, you as a pastor, or you as a mission’s committee/church would like to do this with us, please, let’s schedule a time.
Family News
Bethany & Filipe are back safely from Brazil and enjoying some snow in Lynchburg, VA where they live. Filipe continues working for Liberty University and Bethany for UIM Aviation as the Office Manager.
Matthew & Karizma are doing well. Matthew’s academy group has had some positive Covid tests so he has been doing some distance learning as well for the classes. It’s a whole new world eh?!
Gabriel is freezing in Hungary. Poor kid needs some more meat on his bones! He enjoyed being the speaker this past Sunday for their “small church home group” as they are only allowed to meet in groups of 10.
The girls continue to plug away at on-line schooling. It has it’s pros and cons, but for our home, mostly it’s a positive thing. Oh, and by the way, BIG NEWS: We had snow here in Tucson!
So, did you read all the way down to here? How about a quick email back letting us know how you are doing? We are missing our friends and family way over on that side of the US. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for financially supporting us. You guys, we love you and we don’t take either of those for granted. You are such a gift to our family.
Hugs from us,
Paul & Laurel … and the growing crew.
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