Fueling Progress Update

(Scroll down to see older updates)

SEPTEMBER 2014 UPDATE

Sixteen more 55-gallon drums have been filled up, sealed, and delivered to Cleveland, Ohio to be loaded onto the shipping container bound for Gabon.  Expected arrival is the by the end of October.

JUNE 2013 UPDATE

1st 15 Drums of FUELING PROGRESS FUEL are DELIVERED!!!

The "Back Road" from Libreville to Bongolo Hospital

More photos…

The last bridge crossing before the hospital

Arrival at the Bongolo storage depot- our colleagues welcome the load!

Let the grunting begin!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all that have been on this journey with us!  This unloading in Bongolo represents the hard hard work of so many!  More barrels will follow!




15 MARCH 2013 UPDATE:

Fueling Progress... MAKING PROGRESS!!!

I am THRILLED to tell you about some recent developments on two different fronts:

IN GABON:  The administrator of Bongolo Hospital, Pastor Serge, suggested that we submit a request to the government for them to consider supporting our program by ordering about $25,000 worth of AvGas.  They would use their contacts with a French oil company (TOTAL) to have the fuel (30 barrels) shipped in to the port.  We have worked hard to get all documents in our dossier and submit it to the government.  Their response was that we should see positive action taken in April! 

IN THE US:  An idea emerged to simply make use of the shipping containers that are regularly coming to Gabon, twice a year, in support of medical mission work.  This was very attractive since it would allow us to not feel a burden to fill an entire shipping container all at once.  We've decided to give a try with an initial shipment of 15 barrels (an estimated 2 months worth of flying).

Thanks to some friends, we found some "over-run" fuel drums (in KY) that met the specifications we needed for a fraction of the normal cost.  These were taken to our friends at MMS Aviation (Coshocton, OH), who supervised the fueling (one of the lowest prices per gallon in all of the US!), and then the drums were trucked to Cleveland for loading in the container that will soon come to Gabon.  We estimate their arrival in late May or early June.

We appreciate your patience with us on this journey.  As we are all finding, international aviation work advances slowly and typically plan "A" becomes "B" and "C".  We appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we link arm-in-arm in this exciting, important work.

Blessings, Steve 

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15 NOVEMBER 2012 UPDATE:

We are still optimistic that the Lord will intervene on two necessary fronts to help us realize the FUELING PROGRESS effort:

1. Air Calvary financial picture to brighten:  At this time, the AC financial picture is simply too bleak to make a major financial investment into the fuel barrels.  Some have already given, but many have simply "sponsored" barrels.  We do not want to call in those funds until we know that we are on FIRM financial ground and can move forward with confidence.

2. Government exoneration from Import Fees:  We are continuing to put together our dossier to present to the government.  We've already had some meetings regarding this request and were told we were missing documents.  So, pray that the preparation of those documents (some are not in our control!) happens in a timely manner and that we can deposit the dossier, again, with a favorable outcome.  This exoneration will save us $10,000 in fees!

For those of you that have given- we have all the details of your gift and are still pursuing this effort!  Thank you so much for your patience.  We acknowledge your faith in us to keep our word and that is our intention!  We'll continue to update on this.

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July 2012 Update

WE'RE DONE!!!

Thanks to a very generous donation, all remaining fuel barrels have been sponsored this summer (2012)!!!  We are so blessed by everyone's generosity!

At this time, our board of directors has suggested a pause in all major undertakings until the overall financial picture begins to turn around a bit.  Please pray that this happens soon!

We will begin to contact all the sponsors when we are ready to move forward.

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 Fueling Progress is an appeal for
YOUR involvement to kick-start
a self-sustaining aviation program
deep in the jungles of Equatorial Africa
through provision of start-up fuel costs.

 READ MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM