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Childhood Dream - David Gates'
Co-pilot!
Text mostly by Daniel Adams, Venezuela missionary & pilot in training and service.
Once upon a time (when I was very small) in a
far away land (Mexico) there was a little boy who loved
airplanes (me). One day a mission pilot (David Gates) came
to visit. Our families hade a good visit. While there I told
him that I wanted to be a mission pilot too when I grew up.
David asked me many questions about my interest and then he
said “Some day I want you to be my co-pilot in the mission
field.” Ever since then I had dreamed of flying in the
mission field. Well,
on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006 I got to fly as David’s co-pilot
in the mission field!
We drove from Venezuela to Brazil,
then flew on to Georgetown in Guyana where we spent the
night.
Wow, a Dream come true!
Lehana and Becky were a little
cramped but they didn’t seem to mind.
As we flew I thought back through all the
years of training and how God has led me and provided for me
to get to this point. Looking down I saw this rainbow around
the shadow of our little plane. I felt as though God was
saying “This is a special covenant between you and Me. I
love you so much and will protect and guide you for as long
as you let Me”
While in Guyana I was able to
hear of all the work going on at Kimbia Adventist Academy. I
also learned a ton about mission work and the factors that
determine whether a missionary is a blessing or a failure.
The next day we spent some time cleaning the engine so it would run more smoothly
It was nice spending time
working on the plane and learning more about how to fix and
maintain it.
Aha, found
it. Just get this clean
After we finished working on
the engine, we loaded another engine in the plane for the
Cessna 182 that Bob Norton recently purchased.
A very tight squeeze . . .
But it fit!
Last summer AMA (Adventist Medical Aviation) purchased this Cessna 182 for Bob Norton's work. Once it is overhauled, it will be able to take heavier loads and be safer to use on short jungle airstrips. The new engine will have 230 HP instead of 150 that his current plane has. Also, It will be able to fly using auto fuel which costs 16 cents a gallon, instead of aviation fuel, which costs more than $2.00 dollars a gallon!
My dad wanted a good
picture of Bob and Neiba Norton, so here it is. Bob is the
mission pilot who has been doing most of the training here
in Venezuela.
Each moment spent with him is an incredible blessing. He has so much experience and communicates so clearly with me that it’s hard not to learn!
David Gates is high-energy and constantly on the go. But yes, he does sleep. You just never know when! His dear wife "Sweetie Pie" Becky keeps an eye on things while he dozes.
While here, David Gates and
his film crew shot footage for a new video called “No
Regrets.”
From what I’ve seen it looks very good.
The crew will be here for the next month or so working on the new movie. I’m excited because they want to teach me how to do videography when we have time!
Becky Gates
has been reading for
Red ADvenir for some time now. |
