August 1, 2006

Hi Jack,
Sorry for the delay in getting in touch with you. Everything went well with
the flight up here. I spent 2 days in Cairns getting a whole lot of things
done that needed doing before my departure. The plane flies really well. It
is 15 or so knots faster than the AAS plane but slower off the ground which I
was expecting anyway. I don’t think that will limit us in most places.

The plane flies very nicely and is in good condition. I am not expecting too
many problems with it. It looks like there is plenty of work to do. I do not
really want to go to Moresby this week because there is so much to do locally
here and that is where my mission is for now, but Roger is looking so haggard
and stressed and tired, that when he asked me to do it I could not but agree.
It will not take me away long and will put quite a few hours on the plane.
They are not as well paid as the hours around Goroka, but I am keen to help
AAS as much as I can and take Rogers load of him a bit so he can get some rest
and not burn out too fast. Having him there where he is doing all the
logistical stuff for us is worth every cent of what we pay him and more.

The SPD have decided to pay me again for another month to help Roger and
finish the check and training work so that is great. It means I can save what
is earned to get the vehicle which is needed before we start getting more
people. Damon told me yesterday that the manager at Sonoma imported his car
direct from Japan. I want to talk to him and see how that goes. I may get
better value that way.

Simon and Hails – the guys who own the plane are really nice people. He
prayed with me before I took off on Wednesday morning for here and they were
so helpful and nice while I was in Cairns. He is probably coming up in 2 or 3
weeks time to do some routine maintenance on the plane. They have a dear
little 3 month old son.

Jack I have seen Gods helping hand and leading in several ways since I have
been back. I was lined up at Guasa air strip Thursday approaching to land and
a pig walked out onto the runway in front of me. New Tribes Mission hit a pig
there last year and it damaged their airplane real bad. I could not go around
because of my load and the surrounding terrain and had to go through with the
landing. I prayed silently and lifted the nose and landed over the top of the
pig. There was sufficient runway left to pull up. I talked pretty sternly to
the people and reminded them what had happened to New Tribes Mission and let
them know that we would close their air strip if they did not fence it
properly and keep the pigs off it. There is just so much need here we cannot
afford to loose an aircraft unnecessarily. I thank God for His protection
that day.

Also when Simon picked the plane up Friday last week, he had a pilot fly him
somewhere to do an inspection and the pilot lost it in cloud. He was not
supposed to be in cloud and had not planned the trip very well. Simon thought
he was going to die. He saw an airstrip through a break in the cloud and
demanded the pilot land there which he did. So Sunday I had to get off the
plane in Townsville and drive 2 or 3 hours north to where the plane was to
pick it up. Fortunately the weather had cleared. Simon did not want to get
back in the plane but I am glad he did. It was a great trip up the tropical
coast with reef and beautiful tropical ocean out to the right and into Cairns.

All the customs and immigration people were very good to me. Did not get
charged import duties on anything which was good. I had thousands of dollars
worth of parts for Linden.

Jack I am so happy to be here and know that God is taking care of things. I am
sure He will open the way forward each day as we continue to trust our dreams
for Him into His care and look for His guidance each day.

I hope to get the chance to talk with Roger about volunteer issues next week.
He is going to know next week whether the church is going to allow him to
order the new aircraft which is the subject of this thirteenth Sabbath
offering. If they go ahead he is talking about searching for AAS funded
pilots and engineering staff in earnest. He will be taking on a volunteer so
will need to go through those issues anyway. The other thing that means is
that we may need to have alternative accommodation sooner rather than later.
I had a suggestion made to me about some more land yesterday. I know the land
and it is in a really good spot but still in town and would need good fencing
and security enhanced buildings. I want to see what houses are around town to
buy too and what cost they might be. It might be easy to take the stairs away
from a 2 story house back and front and put an internal stair case in and
block in the down stairs. Will try and find time to find out more this coming
week or next. This coming week looks pretty flat out but will run out of duty
time the following week and will be glad to take a day or two off to do some
of those chores.

Anyway its great to be here and to have actually started!! I am really
looking forward to getting the clinics and the elementary schools going. I am
looking forward to your arrival too.


Yours in Service


Trevor D. Robinson

 

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