This Christmas:
Dear Friend, December 2010
Much is happening on the Amazon regarding the aviation program. It has been (and still will be) an uphill battle, but without it, we could not cover the 14 Indian villages we are covering with Bible Institute training for their leaders (that being the main reason for its existence, there would be no MEDIVAC flights, there would be no supply flights…).
The paperwork problem is almost at its end! Our thanks to Sharon Payne who has done a tremendous lot to help us get that detail done!
We no longer have had our shop. The last shop we worked with has cost us thousands of dollars in missing equipment, time down, and we are being asked not to use them anymore. The new shop, mentioned in our last prayer letter (with the roof blown off) is really struggling to get going, though at this time, humanly speaking, it is our only hope for maintenance. We thank God for Tim and his great sacrifice to help our missionary aviation stay alive.
We have done the calculations and it will cost far more to rebuild CJG than it is worth. We are down to (practically speaking) one airplane and it is still heavily regulated by a system that has not caught up to modern aviation (i.e. months waiting line for checkrides, float plane regulations that conflict with each other, etc.)
We have now found another major solution. Please read this carefully… The plane pictured above is a four place amphibious airplane that is under a category that does not need to be taken to a licensed shop to do maintenance (but does still require a Brazilian-approved mechanic, which I am). It has proven over time to be very reliable, will fly the speeds of our big-bird Cessna 185s, and will run at almost half the cost in AVGAS per hour, though it does carry less load. We can use it in the water and we can use it on land. We can do our own maintenance at our floating house/hangar under my Brazilian mechanic's license and save thousands of dollars per year.
We are now planning to keep DNY alive, but make some more changes to be able to comply with ANAC regulations. We are putting what is left of CJG up for sale.
We believe getting this airplane will move us into a new phase of ABWE-Air missionary aviation that will be workable at a fraction of the cost. The beauty of it is, we already have about half the money we need to make the purchase!
Now, this is going to sound like a sales pitch and it is not! It is just an excited aviation church planter that has found a solution to 10 long years of trying to solve a difficult situation. This is Christmas, a time when we spend megabucks on gifts for each other. May I have the liberty of making a comparison? If 50 people were to not get that plasma large screen TV and send that money to God's work, with the money we already have, it would be ours. If all of the members of all of our supporting churches were to give 10 dollars each, the plane would be flying for Jesus on the Amazon. Or, if all of our supporting churches were to give 1000 dollars, the airplane would be ours to set our program up for a long, long time.
We are not begging for money! If God wants us to have this, He will provide. I just wanted to show how little sacrifice it would take to make a major impact in ABWE Amazon aviation church planting, let alone freeing me up to do much more ministry flying than beaurocratic paperwork.
Please pray with us concerning this - a Christmas gift for the One who's birthday it really is! And please pray that God would send MORE pilots from either the USA or Brazil to train up to keep this work going, long after I can't fly anymore, if the Lord does not come back sooner.
Thanks so very much,
For HIS glory, for HIS work in His name.
Your servant, HIS bond slave,
Allen and Kimberly Yoder
ABWE
PO box 8585
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585
Yoder Aviation account 0111983 sub account 007 aviation
ANY QUESTIONS?
PLEASE check out our website: http://theyoderministry.com/
