PCM News: Another Long Day in the Saddle

04 January 2010

Another Long Day in the Saddle

Just got back from a 750 mile (1200 km) day, a lot of which was spent in clouds dodging thunderstorms. I got back to White River just before dark and just before it started hoofing it down with rain.

I went to Jo'burg International pick up a Spanish family and drop them off at a dirt strip near the Moz/Zim border. I will pick them up again on Friday and take them on up through Botswana to Zimbabwe.

On the way to Jo'burg I was able to help another mission family who work in N. Moz and who had been down in SA over Christmas to have a baby. This baby became my youngest ever passenger at just 6 weeks! This saved Anne and the kids a five day 4x4 drive back to N. Moz which her husband was having to do.

Always worth looking right, left, and right again at T junctions at Jhb.

Not too obvious in this next pic but at the dirt strip where I droped them off, I had to chase away an Elephant before I could safely take off again.

Paul

1 comment:

Mick said...: that's some day in the office! couildn't be more different here, -9c yesterday, snow again today and schools off, much to teh delight of some in our household...; 05 January, 2010

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A short history of us

Not long after we were married we felt that God had some full time work for us overseas. This initially began with a move to Sheffield in 1992 to work for a Christian management training company. Three years later we felt the Lord's prompting that another change was imminent and this led to a move to Africa where we helped set up a youth program with the Lesotho-Durham link in the capital Maseru. An initial three year commitment turned into four after which the youth work was handed over to the nationals.

Then, after feeling God was moving us into mission flying Paul enrolled at a flying school and completed his South African commercial license with an instrument rating in December 1999.

We moved from Lesotho to White River in South Africa in June of 2003 where we now work with Mercy Air. Mercy Air was borne out of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and is a sister, although smaller organisation to the more well known Mercy Ships. We are situated near Nelspruit and provide a service to missions and the development/aid community in the southern African region but mainly serve Mozambique.

We operate four aircraft at present - a Quest Kodiak, a Cessna 310 and two Airbus 350 helicopters which are often used for the relief flights.

When not flying Paul is responsible for flight operations and is Mercy Air's Safety Officer.

Cathy, who is a registered Nurse and Midwife works part time at Africa School of Missions which is a bible college preparing missionaries for overseas service. She teaches in their School of Health and is part of a team which visits a number of rural clinics during the week. She is also helps with the hospitality ministry that Mercy Air runs.

Matthew spent four years at Rhodes University in Grahamstown where he studied photo journalism. He has now flown the nest and is living with his wife in Durban. They have a young daughter named Isabella.