Dear Family and Friends: It is amazing that Christmas will soon be here and 2011 is drawing to a close. As our family looks back over the events of 2011 we realize how blessed we have been, especially having the opportunity to serve God through this aviation ministry in Guyana.
Recently we received another urgent call for a medevac late in the afternoon. Karen opted to fly with me, while my niece Danielle stayed at the Mabaruma home with Jake and Zack. We have been so blessed to have Danielle with us. Our boys have demonstrated excellent responsibility as a result of their mission experiences; and the more mature influence of Danielle can do wonders at times to temper their “enthusiasm.” The patient needing the medevac was a man who had been paralyzed for several years. But for some reason he developed a number of serious health issues. On this particular day he began to have seizures and suddenly was unable to speak. His wife, who has been is primary care giver for some time, accompanied him and was very attentive. As we began to descend into Georgetown, our patient began to seize again; and it always amazes me how much that movement transfers throughout the plane. Unfortunately, after we landed we had to wait 20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Georgetown has a chronic shortage of ambulances and occasionally we are forced to hire a taxi, which can be a problem because the drivers are not thrilled with having patients in their vehicles as it may require them to clean their car later. With the patient safely in the ambulance we realized it was too late to fly back to Mabaruma. Thus, Karen and I took this as an opportunity for a “date night” at the local Pizza Hut, something that is highly unusual.
We are into our fifth year in Guyana, which is amazing. When we first arrived here five years seemed like a long time—but it has gone by fast. Now, as we are counting the months ahead when we will be returning home, there is a certain amount of melancholy as we consider what we would like to still accomplish here before leaving. But there is the odd sense of security in having become adept at negotiating the traffic madness, challenging the service industry and the often cumbersome bureaucracy. Even the one stop shopping at Wal-Mart seems far too easy after numerous unsuccessful stops to locate something as simple as garden hose gaskets. We have come to admire local resourcefulness, which at the beginning seemed like hack repairs. For instance, last week our regular driver, Smokey, took the wheel from the airport’s hand truck to get new bearings for it. He brought it back with one side pushed in to hold the bearings that were meant for an alternator. His repair job also included a piece of PVC pipe to space the bearings and some washers to ensure correct pressure on the final assembly. It works as good as new! The past years have been filled with so many rich experiences. Even though many of the experiences have been heartbreaking tragedies, we still count our blessings for the countless positive outcomes. The children have been the most vulnerable. Handing a sick child a Beanie Baby and watching it being held closely during the flight to the hospital is a simple thing—but deeply touching. However, the most rewarding is the privilege of returning the patients home. When you see a snakebite victim laying in the plane, bleeding from the haemotoxins coursing through their system, and later seeing them fully recovered and rejoining their families makes it all worthwhile. We thank God for these miracles.
Our Guyana team over the past five years has established a reputation based on trust and reliability. Our faith based NGO has worked in a close partnership with the Ministry of Health and other governmental agencies to help improve the systems that were already in place. In these past years we (as a team) have successfully accomplished the following: • Over 6,000 passengers flown • 515 medical emergency patients • Another 1,200 patients, medial workers and accompanying family members • Nearly 1,300 ministry, medical outreach and operations passengers • 1,600 patients and family members returned home after medical treatment • 75 bodies returned to home villages for burial • More than 160,000 pounds of freight, including medicines, ministry supplies and food. None of this would have been possible without your partnership through prayer, and of course, financial support. Thank you.
We will be returning home to British Columbia in time for the boys to start school this coming fall. We don’t have a specific plan; getting back on our feet there is a bit intimidating, but we have confidence that God will provide. The Guyana project will continue, and we look forward to continuing our support for the work here in whatever way we can. But we are not finished here yet; with several more months remaining we have active projects in which to focus on, and we look forward to our continued prayers and support.
Looking forward to 2012 there are needs for construction personnel, ministry support team members and medical personnel to help in our outreach projects. There is also a great need for a full time experienced aircraft mechanic. If you feel God is calling you, please contact AWA.
Tyler Quiring recently joined us for a few months. He has taken on the responsibility of headmaster for the Wickwire classroom—for which we deeply grateful. Tyler is a recent graduate from Southern Adventist University with a degree in Media Production. Check out some of his work by searching YouTube, “A Week with the Wickwires.” He comes from Kelowna, British Columbia.
You may have noticed or heard about some major changes at AWA’s corporate headquarters. We have a new President, Pastor Ric Swaningson, as well as a number of other new faces. We welcome them to AWA and know that God will bless their efforts and help grow this ministry and develop a more comprehensive support base. We are excited about the many things that are happening in mission aviation and are looking forward to expanding the circulation of our monthly newsletters and AWA’s quarterly magazine, AirWays. If you are not receiving the magazine or know of someone that would appreciate it, please send their names and addresses (both postal and email) to projects@flyawa.org or call 414-226-5195.
Remember to check the AWA website at www.flyawa.org for the links to our blog, as well as news of the other team members in Guyana.
Jud, Karen, Jake and Zack Wickwire
Danielle Schneider and Tyler Quiring
