Friday, February 16, 2024

2024 Projects & Sponsor Invitations


As a one airplane, non-profit operation, serving the faith community in a small region of the planet, we are dependent on YOUR SUPPORT in prayer, encouragement, and financially. At times, our users can make a contribution, but only by adding the subsidy funding that YOU provide, can we continue.


In 2024, our "NEW-to-us" (1981 model) Cessna 207 has started serving WONDERFULLY, but we have a list of needs. Will you pray for us and consider sponsoring one or more of the needs below as a way to collaborate with the church in Gabon? Thank you for considering this! We are so grateful.

2024 CRITICAL NEEDS:

Pilot Training (early year) - $1015

1st Quarter Aircraft Insurance - $1500

Engine Analyzer Unit Replacement - $1500

Spare Alternator & Misc. Parts - $1165

Parts Shipping - $200 SPONSORED!

Visiting Technician for Annual Inspection & Training - $4950

Visiting Tech for Equipment Recertification - $3550

Roof on Fuel Storage Container - $2000

Generator / Solar Building Completion - $1000

INTERN On-Line Spring TUITION - $4990


If you would like to contribute to a specific item above, 
please email me (gabon.pilot@gmail.com). 
Otherwise, contributions will go to "where most needed
at that time. With your prayers, encouragement, 
and financial teamwork, we continue to express God's love! 

Ways you can support:

OPTIONS TO CONTRIBUTE:

DONATE THROUGH the ALLIANCE (click)


PAYPAL THROUGH THINGS ABOVE PROJECT (click below)









Sunday, December 24, 2023

Bongolo Friends Update!

 From Dr. David Thompson!

Hi Friends! Next to me is a recent graduate from the nursing school
at Bongolo Hospital. During the month of June, I helped out
while some of our IW's were on home assignment. 

Many changes have taken place since June, but first I want 

to tell you that Bongolo Friends was able to provide the hospital 

with a grant of $80,000 to help the hospital order medicines for 

the coming year. This was because the government owes the 

hospital almost $500,000 in insurance payments! 


 Every year, Bongolo Hospital spends more than $160,000
on orders from Asia for medications and medical
supplies. This is
one fifth the cost of purchasing
medicines and supplies in Gabon's capital city,
and allows the hospital to serve all who need help.
 


Other News: Since June, IW's who have returned from home
assignment 
in the U.S. or are newly arrived include
Dr. Renee Valach, Dr. Wendy and Eric H. and their three children;
Dr. Zack and Jen O. (both general surgeons); the Team Leader
and nurse Amanda and IT tech Christopher E., Dr. Alicia S. (OB/gyn);
and pilot Steve S. and his wife Alace. New arrivals include
Dr. Stephen S. (Family Medicine) and Dr. & Mrs. David
S. and their two young children (General surgery).
Dr. Kristen (ophthalmologist) and Dr. Peter (general surgeon) will join the
Bongolo team May '24. Pilot Rob and his wife
Dr. Bintou P. and their son are expected to return Jan 2024.
 
This amazing list does not include Bongolo's five PAACS surgery 
residents and their spouses, or the many outstanding African 
leaders serving on Bongolo Hospital's administrative team. 



Bongolo's three chaplains are extraordinarily active and have a 

deep love for patients who come, either as outpatients or inpatients. 

Their goal is to share the gospel with every patient that comes. 

Recently a man who after cataract surgery could see clearly said, 

“I just don’t have the words. I see really well, and all of my 

expectations were met. I’m just really thankful!”



Patients who hear the gospel message from our chaplains and 

turn to Jesus during their stay are encouraged to attend churches 

nearest to them, like this one in the photo. Our chaplains contact 

by phone the pastors nearest a new convert's home and encourage 

the pastors to contact them. At the hospital's joint mission/church 

board meeting in October, the chaplains' reported that during the 

previous seven months, a total of 457 patients prayed to receive 

Christ. Of that number they were able to connect 404 new 

believers with the pastors of churches nearest them, and verify 

they were "integrated."

During my visit, I learned that a church in the U.S. had shipped two large TV screens to Bongolo Hospital so the chaplains can show Christian programming in local languages in the waiting area, including the Jesus film. They hope to get that set up soon. 

Over the past 12 months the hospital has treated 23,000 outpatients and more than 3,000 inpatients. What an amazing opportunity to respond with compassion to the sick, and to proclaim to them God's good news! 

As you and you celebrate this Thanksgiving and Christmas season with your family, would you consider sending a gift of any amount to Bongolo Friends? In doing so, you will be helping us ensure that this ministry will continue to thrive. 

Please check out our website online at BongoloFriends.org, and donate online. If you have questions, call me at 530-395-6286 (I'm on Pacific Standard Time). If I don't answer, send me a text, and I'll reply asap! 

Dr. David Thompson 




Thursday, November 30, 2023

Did You Miss our Thanksgiving Update?

If you missed our Thanksgiving update, you can see the full version by clicking this link:

CLICK HERE

Here is a preview...  


CANCER FREE!!!

 

At the end of the summer, Alace's mom, Barbara
had surgery for cancer and then came four rounds
of chemotherapy that finally ended at the end of 
October. She lives near Cincinatti.


Alace's biological grandmother, whom Barbara
(adopted as a baby) had just connected with over the 
past year, was also able to join for the first part of this 
journey! She's from East Texas. Do you like the matching 
Support Team outfits?!?


Joe, our oldest, lives in Chicago, and is also pitching
in on "Team Gram" through treatments and recovery


A week after her last treatment, a scan and bloodwork
revealed that Barbara was CANCER FREE!!!
It was time to PRAISE GOD and have a nice 
meal at Panera Bread!



Alace shares...
My mom has persevered courageously through 4 chemotherapy
sessions and 9 supplementary infusions and so many doctor 
appointments, as well as taking anti-nausea meds around the clock
to combat the severe nausea that worsened with each treatment!
She prevailed through so much misery and finished well! Her CT
scans show her to be CANCER FREE!!! 



Thank you all for your prayers and wishes! She is still regaining
her strength after such an intensive course of treatment. Hopefully
soon she will regain pre-surgery/treatment strength and once again
be able to engage with normal life rhythms!





Thursday, August 24, 2023

LAST DAY OF REPOSITION... Kinda...

Today was our FINAL and BIG day with two flights: Obo to Bangui, then Bangui to Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

I was up at 4:30am for a small bite of breakfast, instant nescafe coffee, preflight, and blast off around 5:15am with the daylight. It was a 4 hour flight from the mission base of Obo, in the far east of Central Africa Republic, to almost the opposite side of the country to the capital of Bangui.






Arrival in Bangui. The air was a bit tense- there was a referendum vote and security at the airport and in the city was ramped up. 




For the first 3 legs of the flight, since there was no AvGas available at Bangui, I had 12 jerry cans (63 gal.) along for the ride. It was nice to get the fuel out of the cockpit and up into the wing reservoirs! I was on the ground for about an hour to do the fueling and formalities. It went surprisingly smooth and I was finally launching for the FINAL LEG  of this reposition mission! 


Here's a short video on climb out from Bangui with a nice view of the Ubangi River on a southern heading. Soon I'd be turning more westerly and continuing up to 10,000 feet for about 4 and a half hours to Libreville... or so I thought...
At 10,000' I had a nice tailwind and soon I was passing the corner of Cameroon, Congo-Brazza, entering into Gabon... and then...


The "Low Voltage" light came on and, sure enough, I verified that my battery power was dropping off- typically a sure sign that I had an alternator issue. I turned off all non-essential electrical equipment but determined that, even though I was just ONE HOUR from our destination (Libreville), it'd be best to make a precautionary landing and check things out.


I communicated my intentions to the Libreville approach controllers and then landed at a nearby airport called Oyem, where I've been several times previously. It was about 4pm and I was hopeful to open the engine cowl and simply find a broken alternator belt that I could replace easily. However, the belt was fine and all the connections looked fine, so, the problem was likely internal to the alternator and we'd have to get a new one. 

Being on the "home turf" of Gabon, I was able to make a couple of phone calls and, voila!, my rescue team from the local Alliance family was there to help! The regional superintendant, Pastor MOUETA, with his wife and friend, picked me up and took me to dinner and to a nice hotel- they insisted to cover all costs! How great to be in God's family and experience such generosity!

The next day, other friends joined me on some troubleshooting efforts, but nothing worked. So, we ordered a new alternator from the US and a teammate arriving from the US to Gabon soon agreed to put it in their luggage! 

For the time being, we secured the aircraft on the ramp, put the window coverings in place, and bid "adieu" to "Seven-Bravo-Hotel". Pastor MOUETA says he'll be keeping a close eye on it for us.

    We are so blessed to have "Three-Tango-Mic" through the end of August, on loan from our key partners, SIL Cameroon. Within two days of having one airplane "grounded" (Cessna 207), I was back in the air with our loaner aircraft (Cessna 206- in this picture).

In Summary, our Cessna 207 is IN GABON! It's not exactly the way we had in mind, but soon enough, we'll have the part and be able to install it and get the aircraft to Libreville where civil aviation will inspect it and issue the permit for flying in country for the next year!

Please consider partnering with us in this important work to SHOW and TELL about God's Love. If you would like to specifically assist with one of the above needs, please let me know with an email to "Gabon.Pilot@gmail" and follow the giving instructions below. Merci Beaucoup!

OPTIONS TO CONTRIBUTE:

DONATE THROUGH the ALLIANCE (click)


PAYPAL THROUGH THINGS ABOVE PROJECT (click below)









Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Day 3 of Reposition Flight!

The LEAST UNEVENTFUL day of the reposition...

When I arrived at the airport in the morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a Cessna 206 had arrived. Another pilot doing relief work and church work in South Sudan. So, in this picture, you see a rare sight of a Cessna 206, 207, and 208 side by side by side!



The flight at 12,000 feet went so smooth! There was a short delay until the fog and clouds cleared at Arua, but it didn't take long and the leg to Obo, CAR took less than 3 hours.
I hugged the border between South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo until I entered the far southeast corner of the Central African Republic. It wasn't long after entering the country that I was descending for the landing.


I arrived just after a United Nations aircraft that was delivering aid as part of the World Food Program.


Soon after, an AIM AIR Cessna 206 arrived after a day of supporting local church ministries in the region.

Awesome sunset! It was a very chill flight followed by a very chill evening and overnight. It was nice to have a peaceful day in the midst of a challenging mission. The AIM AIR team once again took care of my logistics- refueling, meals, and lodging. I was so grateful.

One last day of repositioning to Gabon remains!!! To be continued...

Please consider partnering with us in this important work to SHOW and TELL about God's Love. If you would like to specifically assist with one of the above needs, please let me know with an email to "Gabon.Pilot@gmail" and follow the giving instructions below. Merci Beaucoup!

OPTIONS TO CONTRIBUTE:

DONATE THROUGH the ALLIANCE (click)


PAYPAL THROUGH THINGS ABOVE PROJECT (click below)









Monday, August 21, 2023

Detained in Uganda!

 ...continued from last post...

At the end of the 1st of 4 flight legs to reposition our Cessna 207 aircraft from Nairobi, Kenya to Libreville, Gabon, we found ourselves DETAINED at the Arua, Uganda airport. It turns out that the flight permit number that I was issued on my arrival was the identical one that another mission aircraft had used. I was not permitted to leave until the situation resolved.


Thankfully, the waiting area had a TV with the women's world cup matches and I had some snacks remaining from Kenya. I was told that people were working on a solution, but it was a Friday and I wasn't holding my breath.





One fun thing was that HUNDREDS of elementary kids were getting tours of the airport and taking pictures with the airplanes... one of them ours!


After waiting all day and hearing different versions of who was to blame for the situation, a call came at 3pm that I was RELEASED! However... it was too late to depart, so I called the hotel transport... isn't it cute!

By the way... if you find yourself in Arua, Uganda, I highly recommend spending the night at the Mission Cafe! Great people and a really sweet coffee shop!


Breakfast was outstanding!!!
After a great night rest and fueling my own tanks with the delicious food, it was now time to launch the SECOND LEG of the reposition flight towards GABON!!!


To be continued...


Please consider partnering with us in this important work to SHOW and TELL about God's Love. If you would like to specifically assist with one of the above needs, please let me know with an email to "Gabon.Pilot@gmail" and follow the giving instructions below. Merci Beaucoup!

OPTIONS TO CONTRIBUTE:

DONATE THROUGH the ALLIANCE (click)


PAYPAL THROUGH THINGS ABOVE PROJECT (click below)









Sunday, August 20, 2023

FREED TO FLY!!! ...then, not so Free...

By God's grace, all the roadblocks were cleared and I was given the clearance to leave Nairobi, Kenya for the reposition flight to Libreville, Gabon!

Here are the four legs of the flight. After consulting with the AIM AIR team, we carefully choose a safe routing, with stops where we could have AvGas for refueling and overnight stays.


The AIM AIR team, which was so critical in this journey, sent me off with a time of prayer.


First leg: Nairobi to Arua, Uganda


Beautiful views of mountains as I departed Kenya.


Our Cessna 207 performed very well on this leg and I arrived in Arua, Uganda four hours and 1 minute after departure. The AIM AIR team greeted me there and rolled out the drums of AvGas to top off my tanks.


As I was securing the aircraft, my AIM AIR host informed me that there was a problem... apparently, the flight permit number that I had used to gain entry into Uganda's airspace was the same one used by a different mission aircraft the previous day. I was told I couldn't leave Uganda until this was sorted out... Needless to say, I was not too happy, but... I know it will all happen in God's good timing.

To Be Continued....