“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Psalm 100:5
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from Yap Island! We hope and pray that this newsletter finds you all doing well. We are truly thankful for all our friendships with you. Here are some of the main events that have been happening in our lives, since we last wrote.
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
With the 50th Anniversary coming up, we started a large construction project at our PMA hangar, which I had been planning for years. The main goal of this project was to make a meeting place for our staff and more storage space. Our crew worked very hard to build this and we were able to get it fully enclosed and painted in time for the big event. After the ceremony we continued to finish the project. Now we have an airconditioned meeting area where we can eat lunch or have team meetings. We also finished a kitchen where our staff can make their lunches and wash dishes in.
PMA 50TH ANNIVERSARY
On June 18th, 19th and 20th, we celebrated PMA’s 50th Anniversary. The first event was in Yap, since this is where PMA started, then we flew 4 plane loads of our guests out to Ulithi to celebrate on the island that we first began flight services to. Then the next day we flew everyone down to Palau, where we had a third ceremony with the people there.
It was a great event where we were able to speak about God’s faithfulness to PMA over the last 50 years. If you want to see a video of the ceremoniesthat our son Tommy edited, you can check out this link. PMA 50th Video
MEDEVAC FLIGHTS TO MANILA
Medevac with two patients
On July 11, I flew the King Air to pick up two patients in Palau who needed urgent transfer to Manila. We set up the plane with two stretchers end to end on the right side of the cabin. One patient was a 9 year old girl with abdominal pain and the other was an elderly man. The flight went well and both patients were able to get the care they needed to return to Palau once they recovered.
Medevac with Lifeport Stretcher Installed
Three days later on July 14th , we were called again to take yet another patient from Palau to Manila due to liver failure. On August 29, we received another request for a flight to Manila, but this time it was the other way around. The family needed us to come pick up a patient and transport him back to Palau. Basically there was nothing more the doctors could do, and the family wanted him to spend the rest of his days around his family at his home. This was a high profile flight because the patient was the father of the sitting President of Palau.
On all of these flights, I will pick up our other pilot Brock in Palau who is also certified on the King Air. I do the flight into Manila and Brock flies the return leg on the same day. This works out very well, because we can support each other on the flight, and we can do the whole round trip flight in one day without exceeding our 8 hours of flight time allowed. The biggest thing we enjoy about these flights though, is to see how far PMA has come and how we are able to support the region with this kind of life saving service. It is truly rewarding work and our team feels blessed to be part of it.
CHECK RIDES
Amos & Brock after completing their check rides
This year in August, our Palau pilot, Brock Welge, and I were due for a 6 month proficiency check flight which could only be done in Guam. Since both Brock and I are now Check Airmen, we flew to Guam for one week training and also brought our families along for a short 1 week vacation. I trained Brock and gave him a check ride and then Brock trained me and then gave me a check ride. It was an efficient trip and everything worked out as well as possible. The alternative to doing this in Guam would be for both of us to fly all the way to North Carolina for SIM training.
FAMILY
Collins & Welge kids at the beach in Guam
Kids building a tree house
Our families were able to join us on the trip to Guam. We had a fun time eating at fast food restaurants, and seeing things we don’t normally see back in Yap. The kids enjoyed a day at the water park and also at some nice beaches. It was particularly fun to have the Welge family with us, because our kids are all about the same ages. So they were able to make memories together even if only for one short week.
KIDS’ SCHOOL
Honora is our 12 year old who was in 7th grade, but decided to make a try to get into highschool early. So Heidi finished her last semester of 7th grade, by teaching her some 8th grade subjects. Then Honora applied and was accepted as a freshman at the same high school that Tommy and Raina have been going to. Now we have Tommy (16) in his Junior year, Raina (14) as a Sophomore, and Honora (12) as a Freshman. Their first quarter progress reports show them each holding a 97% average, and we are very proud of them.
Theo (11) now has a posse of boys with him in the homeschool and they are his closest friends. Owen (5) is just starting school and learning his numbers and reading. Heidi has 9 kids in her school this year, and only two of them are ours, but she finds helping these kids fullfilling and worthwhile.
SUMMER MINISTRY
Youth Camp 2025
In the early years that we lived here on Yap, we would have a big Youth Camp and VBS every summer. But when COVID hit, the youth camp fell by the wayside as we had few resources. But this summer, through the hard work of many dedicated leaders, we were able to revive the youth camp once again with the help of some volunteers from California and Guam. These off island volunteers, along with the local churches pulled together a vibrant, high energy VBS followed by an amazing youth camp. We knew along the way that the devil did not want this to happen. There were so many things that did not go as planned which caused a lot of discouragement, but when the event week finally came, it turned out to be a miracle of God, working in so many young lives. We are so grateful for all the selfless leaders who were involved.
Heidi teaching at the combined youth group.
Since then, we have tried to keep the youth united together by having a monthly combined youth bible study with the Palauan, Yapese, and Outer Island youth. This also had a great turnout and the youth really enjoyed getting together, singing, and learning from God’s word. We hope to keep this up and nurture these young people closer to the Lord.
PUSH-UP CHALLENGE
Our Aviation team from Palau invited me to join in a 100/day pushup challenge for one month, and also to memorize Psalm 100. Heidi and the kids decided they also wanted to join, so it became a daily routine for our family. All of us except Theo and Owen successfully accomplished the challenge. And now that the month is over, we are debating whether we want to continue the habit.
PURPOSE:
For the last year, I have been the only pilot flying at the PMA Yap base. In that year I flew over 500 hours to support the outer islands with transportation and medevac services. We praise God for good health throughout the year as we did never had to cancel any flights due to bad health. We look forward to another pilot, Mark Abbott, and his wife Sherry to join our team later this fall. We are thankful that for 50 years, PMA has been able to provide such vital services to these remote islands. We have provided medevacs which have saved many lives, transported caskets of loved ones so they could be buried on their home island, and we have responded to search and rescue calls to find those lost at sea. The church ministry goes on, with outreaches to the outer islands of Yap, as well as our family’s involvement in the Ladies Bible study, Youth ministry, Sunday school, church nursery, and music ministry. We are so thankful to all of you who support us financially and also with your prayers. We continue to feel fulfilled in this ministry and feel a tight bond with the community we serve.
(Just a reminder for those of you who send donation checks or who give through PayPal:
Please attach a note that says, “Preferred for the Collins Family.” This is a requirement per IRS rules.)
Thank you again for all your prayers and support!
Amos & Heidi Collins Tommy, Raina, Honora, Theo, & Owen
Family Camping trip
Owen with a Sea Turtle
Related Posts
You must be logged in to post a comment.