The smell of Jet A1 fills the air - again.

Good News.

Our helicopter flew at 10:30 local time today (see pics below).


This was the first time since last March when we took it apart for its 12 yearly 'C' Check. It now sports its new colours and some safety and performance upgrades.

Its first mission trip to Moz is this coming Friday!

Paul

Wings of love to people in need

Please click on the article below to find out about Mercy Air's plans to help provide an affordable aviation service to those who need it most.

Birthday on the go

Wow, what a hectic birthday.

Technically I spent the day at work but it was a work day I wouldn't have wanted to miss. I was up at death o clock to fly up to Botswana to pick up our friendly Spanish family. After a splash and dash for fuel in Francistown, we headed north to find the Smoke that Thunders.

It turned out to be just where the GPS said it would be, and ATC allowed us a sneak peak...

We landed, put the plane to bed, just beat an airliner full of people to the Immigration queue, and drove 20mins to the hotel...

A quick-ish lunch and then we all headed straight for the border so that we could leave the country... for Zambia, to have a look from that side...

An hour later we were back in Zim to see how different it looked from there...

You can get quite close - and quite wet!

Then it went dark, so we went back to the hotel for more food.

Up early again the next morning to fly all the way south again. About 1500 miles total round trip. I pick them up Monday again to take them to a school in Maputo which they helped set up, after which I will drop them in Jo'burg so they can get back to Spain in a big plane.

Paul

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

Here's one for all you digit heads - so just Paul really...

Just about the only exercise Cathy and I get these days revolves around two wheels (joke), and we try to get out at least three times a week before work A careful list of all bike rides and races is kept and last year's biking achievements were as follows:

Total distance 4350 km (2704 miles) - which is 12 km a day.

Not too much to shout about but that also included:

69064m (226588 ft) or 43 miles of ascent.
This is equivalent to cycling up Everest almost 8 times or up Snowdon 64 times.

All this took a total time of 235 hrs or just under 10 full days - ouch!

Sometimes it rains...

and sometimes it it doesn't...
but whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, whatever the weather we've got to put up with the weather we've got!

Not to worry, the clock has now started ticking on the new year and we'll have to see how much puffing and panting can be achieved in the next twelve months between flights.

Talking of which... Paul's next flight is on Monday 4th January, picking a group up from Jhb and dropping them on the Moz/Zim border. On the 8th (his birthday) he will collect them in Botswana and take them up to Victoria Falls for the night for a spot of sightseeing. Not a bad birthday present but pitty the plane is full and that Cathy could not come.

Cathy has an ever increasing diary of potential deliveries in January and Matthew has some weddings lined up to photograph in the next few months also.

P n' C

Happy happy and all that!

It’s hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of 2009. Looking back this year started with a flurry of flights including medivacs, mission trips and shed loads of office work. During this year you may remember praying for us as we both applied for work visas which God sorted out for us, 3 years each!

Cathy had a busy year heading up the hospitality ministry at Mercy Air and was often down to just 2 staff running everything. In between she taught at Africa School of Missions and delivered babies - not much time for sunbathing!

Cathy and Matthew made an unscheduled visit to the see her family in the UK after her dad had a major illness, but by God’s intervention he made an amazing recovery. Sorry that she didn’t get to see many of you but it was a very short visit and she had great quality time with the family.

Paul’s dad came to visit us in October and invested his time with us and our home by painting most of the house and making a veggie garden for us. It was brilliant to spend time with him!

Matthew has been back and forth from Durban a few times during the year and Cathy really enjoyed the time with him in the UK. He’s gradually building up a photography portfolio and reputation (as a photographer) in Durban where he stays with his girlfriend’s family.

The year has ended with a week of remembering and celebrating 20 years of Mercy Air’s existence. It’s interesting that when you remember the things that God has done in the past His future plans somehow become more clear and exciting! Mercy Air has some exciting plans for next year with at least 12 funded mission trips and possibly a new aircraft.

Thank you again to those who pray for, and support us.

You really do make a difference. Merry Christmas.

Paul and Cathy

A Working Holiday

Zululand Mission Air Transport (ZUMAT) are another Christian flying organisation we work very closely with, and last week Cathy and I got to do a shared flight with them.

They operate a Flying Doctor service in northern Natal and fund it by doing commercial game lodge transfers, and it was one of these flights we were helping with.

It worked out really well as there were six passengers - too much for one plane but leaving plenty of room (enough for Cathy anyway) when we split them up. We initially took them down to N. Natal where they spent two nights at a fancy lodge. We stayed about 20 mins flight away with our friends and got so spend a day in a local game park where we saw all sorts of things...

and some things we'd never seen before - probably just as well!

I think the one was stuck in the mud and the other was giving it a push!

Two days later we picked the passengers up again and took them to Durban - another stroke of luck - that's just where Matthew stays! Two nights with him and Annie, before a slow leisurely flight back...

Don't touch the red button!

taking in the new Footy World Cup stadium near Nelspruit just before home...

So, a working holiday - not quite, but at least a bit of a holiday whilst working. My kind of job!

Paul and Cathy

Mercy Air no longer a teenager!

Wow, what a week that was.

Numerous times in the Bible the Israelite's were told to remember what God had done for them. If they couldn't remember they were to ask their fathers and the old people - but they weren't to forget. Looking back is more than just nostalgia. Cathy and I get as much encouragement from relating our testimony of how we got to where we are, as the people we tell it to.

As part of Mercy Air's 20th celebration we decided that we too should also look back, as much to share and understand our corporate identity with people, like us, who have joined Mercy Air comparatively recently.

We set aside a week and invited many of the people who were instrumental in Mercy Air's birth from Europe and the US as well as missions that have joined us in our work and people that have benefited from our ministry over the years.

Everybody got a chance to tell their story of how God led them to be involved with Mercy Air.

Some of the staff prepared audio visual presentations from old scanned photos to help us remember how each aircraft came our way, how the hospitality ministry started and how the farm came to be ours.

Some evenings we finished with a meal together outside which left plenty of time to catch up with each other and those visitors we hadn't seen for a while.

At the end of the week we had an open day ...

and offered flights to people from the local community as well as some of the Africans and their families that work on the farm with us.

We finished off with a short service in one of the hangers.

Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a memorable and very worthwhile week. Here's to 20 more years.