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It had been a beautiful Sabbath day. The sun had shone warmly through the thin highland atmosphere and I was enjoying a day off from my busy schedule. Worship services over for the day, Lorretta and I were sitting around at home visiting with another missionary family we knew as missionary families do. "How glad," I felt, "that God in His wisdom had programmed a rest day into each week so that we can relax, recharge, refocus and spend real Quality time with Him and with our families." As we were enjoying visiting together, the phone rang. It was the department of health asking me if I could go rescue a poor mother who was in obstructed labor out at a remote village. There were no roads in that area and medical evacuation by air was the only way of saving Mother and Baby. Knowing it was important for me to get proper rest I asked it there was any other plane available to do this flight. The national voice at the other end of the phone apologized profusely, "I know it is your Sabbath Mr. Trevor, but we are really desperate. I have phoned everyone else and no one can do it. I am afraid this mother is going to die. What can I do"
As he waited there on the other end of the phone, there was no question in my mind as to what Jesus would do in this situation. He came to heal and to save and yes I must follow in His steps. "Well it is true we don't do paid work on Sabbath," I began, "but we do help with medical emergencies and fly to worship programs on Sabbath, yes I will do the flight for you." "Oh that is fantastic Mr. Trevor, -Thank you so much, I know this is your day off and I really appreciate your help." As I put the phone down I frowned and thought to myself, "Why does it have to be at Herowana -in the afternoon." The cloud often closes in on Herowana after lunch time and sometimes even before. The village lies behind a mountain range that seems to encircle it creating a real basin. Cloud gets sucked into there and just seems to stick like glue at this time of day. I walked over to the HF radio and turned it on. I looked over at the visitors and back to my wife Lorretta and asked if they would maintain a listening watch for me in case I needed to pass on a message from out there as there would be no one at the hangar to hear the radio.
As I loaded the delivery bundle into the aircraft I breathed a prayer of gratitude that the health department had sent a midwife and a nurse for this flight. That was a load of my mind. If the past was any guide to the future, just getting to Herowana and back at this time of day was going to be enough of an undertaking in itself. Trying to deliver a baby while flying the airplane was not in my list of capabilities.
As we sat at the holding point with the with the TSIO 520 burbling away in its warm up routine, I looked out over the hills in the direction of Herowana. The weather out that side looked better than usual and I breathed sigh of relief. As we headed out over the first ridge I could see it was clear all the way to the Herowana gap between Mt Michael and Crater Mountain. This was all going to be much easier than I had thought and I began turning my mind from the flying to the plight of the poor mother and child waiting at Herowana for desperately needed help. Just a few minutes now and we would be there.
My reverie was interrupted as we crossed the last ridge inbound and there before us was a thick bank of cloud. There were no "holes." I ran my eye around the Herowana basin in front of me checking out the ridge lines to see if there was a small opening for me to get down underneath the cloud. One does not enter cloud in this territory. There are just too many pieces of terrain sticking up all over the place. It just isn't safe. We skirted around the basin Checking the areas where gaps are sometimes found but to no avail. We headed over where the river exits the basin, hoping that we could get down in the valley and follow the river up and find our way into Herowana that way. This route too was blocked. There was only one other possibility and that was to track around Crater Mountain further and try to approach from the Haia side. Even though the ground in between Haia and Herowana is higher that the river route in, sometimes it is clearer from that side and I was counting on it now. There was more cloud banked up in that area though and weather seemed to be coming in from that side. The weather got worse as I picked my way around the Southern side of Crater Mountain and searched for a hole in the cloud to get down through.
It is so easy to get disorientated as to where you are when you are constantly turning this way and that, going around ever changing cloud formations while you try to keep yourself in roughly the right location to make an approach from, under the cloud. I finally found a hole. I could see some ground down through it but there was a lot of cloud patches in the hole and it did not look like it would be safe to maneuver down through. I had to think about the climb performance of the aircraft for working my way back out of there too. No it was not worth the risk. I began to pray. Today was going to be a day where I would need to depend on "The Captain" a little more than usual.
I began thinking of the the mother below us going through the agonizing pain of child labor that cannot progress. So many mothers in this situation just die in Papua New Guinea because in many places there is no radio to call for help on, or there is no money to pay for a medevac flight to get them to hospital, or there are no planes available to provide this life saving service. I began pleading with the Lord. As I was praying I remembered there were people back home listening out for me on the radio. Now when you need help -and I did, -that's a wonderful feeling. "Hey why didn't I think of that before?" I mused. I pressed the microphone button on the yoke. "Goroka Base, Goroka Base this is Sierra Delta Alpha, do you read." Lorretta's voice came back loud and clear, "Sierra Delta Alpha this is Goroka Base, Go ahead."
I began to explain how we had the medical team, the equipment, the vehicle and people in dying need of the help we wanted to bring, but there was one major problem. The weather was impassable. Only God in heaven could fix that. Would they pray for us as we searched for a way into Herowana. Have you ever been in a situation of need like that and known there was a group of people who were on their knees interceding with God on your behalf mentioning you personally in prayer to God and laying before Him the particular situation you were facing at that very moment. Man that is empowering! Especially when you know that if God has any weakness at all, it is a weakness for people who are hurting. Jesus could never resist reaching out to the heartbroken, the oppressed and the dying.
As they prayed, we flew. Round and round up and down searching here searching there. Thankfully we had come with plenty of fuel. That was one thing I did not have to worry about. There was still a few hours of day light left. So there was time to hold for a while and keep hoping and praying that the weather would open up for us. But how much time did that poor mother and her unborn child have?
I tracked out South of Haia hoping to find a way down under the cloud over the lower country surrounding a wider section of the river. There was no opening there. I headed back to where I had seen the first hole. It was wider now. I took a closer look. It was wide enough to circle back up through safely if we needed to get out in a hurry so we carefully started to make our way down. The afternoon Sun glistened on the huge cumulous clouds at the back of Crater Mountain. Soon these shimmering monstrosities were lost to view as we descended into the dark world below us. "Goroka Base, Goroka Base, this is Sierra Delta Alpha." The prayer season paused for an update from the aircraft. "Sierra Delta Alpha Goroka Base, we have notified the health department that you are delayed due weather, what is your current situation over?" "Finally we got down through a hole to just above ground level and I have begun orientating myself as to where exactly we are in relation to major terrain formations nearby and the route I am looking for to get into Herowana. Ah there it is but Oh! it is full of dark low cloud and misty showers. Definitely not safe to go in there yet. I am going to have to circle here and watch the weather for improvement and keep and eye on my 'back door' to make sure I can get out safely if it all starts to close in on us again. I need your prayers so much. We are only 5 miles away from Herowana on the GPS approaching from the Haia side, but we need the Lord to open the next step of the way for us." "Roger Sierra Delta Alpha we are praying and standing by for your next transmission, Goroka Base clear." A glimmer of sunshine started to brake through from another hole forming above us. It shone over towards the way we needed to go. This additional light added to the contrast and made the path ahead look even blacker and more foreboding. But it was a sign that things were generally improving for now and I was thankful for that. I was edging closer to the route in to Herowana now and closer to the showers and bad weather. I began tracking to the Southern edge of the weather leaving ourselves adequate space on my port side to turn back out quickly if needed.
Below me the 3 water falls in the horse shoe cliff between Haia and Herowana were surging with all the power of the recent rains. What a magnificent sight! Papua New Guinea abounds in natural wonders like this but there was no time to admire them today. I could see that the path ahead was slowly clearing. I glanced back over my shoulder. The hole we entered through was getting bigger and letting more light through now. The weather for our flight out seemed to be on the improve. I thanked the Lord silently for that, conscious that His angels were there with us and going before us to open the way to this soul in dire need. I could now see right out into the South Eastern end of the Herowana basin, but the the cloud channel in there was very narrow and too dangerous to enter just yet. A few rounds of the compass more and I was satisfied that we could proceed into the basin with safety and get back out. Soon the Herowana village emerged out of the showers to the North.
It was time to size up the approach. The circuit weather was clear and I began preparing for a landing on this short one way strip with the predictable afternoon tail wind providing us with a high touchdown speed and only wet grass to brake on. We came to a stop up the top end and began taxiing back down to the parking bay where hundreds of excited Papua New Guineans were waiting. The nurses quickly grabbed their equipment and disappeared with some anxious villagers to where the suffering mother was waiting for them.
My task now was to radio an update to the prayer season and keep an eye on the weather. I was anxious to get out of there as soon as I could before the weather which can change so quickly in the highlands of Papua New Guinea - turned against us. The Midwife however assessed that it was better to complete the birthing process then and there. Both baby and mother had already sustained high levels of physical stress and the mother had already sustained some injury. After what seemed like for ever, I could hear excited happy voices coming up towards the airstrip from the village. Presently the midwife emerged with the precious little child. It looked like it had been kicked around the football field by big ugly men with razor blades on their boots! Mother too needed to go to Goroka hospital for surgical repair but both were alive. Low cloud was drifting back across the field now. There was not a moment to loose. We said a hurried good bye to the appreciative villagers and loaded our precious cargo aboard.
Lining up we reviewed the take off. The main factors were the shortness of the runway and the softness of the strip which makes it hard for the aircraft to accelerate to flying speed. We needed to leave mother earth in time to avoid brushing the wheels clean on the bushes at the other end of the runway. The turbocharger slowly wound up as I held the brakes on. I needed every inch of manifold pressure and every rev the 520 could safely give me today. At least I had some of the wind still and it had a head wind component now, which would help reduce my take off distance. Brakes released we began accelerating down the slippery grass surface. I held the control yoke hard back to try and get as much weight off the wheels as I could before we reached the softer part of the runway further down. We clawed our way into the air finally and I adjusted the flight attitude to allow the aircraft to accelerate in ground effect to a safe climbing speed. Here come the trees now.
We had climb speed and over the trees we climbed. The way we had come was still the only way open, but the cloud was reforming and showers were starting again. But it was navigable with safety still but probably would not have been for much longer. I breathed a sigh of relief as we passed the horse shoe cliff and the waterfalls once more. We now could see clear sky above us and began climbing in earnest reaching for it. Coming up out of a weather hole and up into a canopy of God's clear blue sky is just such a wonderful feeling that only pilots know. We made our way around the mountain and I could see it was clear from there all the way to Goroka. "Goroka base, Goroka base - Sierra Delta Alpha" "Sierra Delta Alpha go ahead." " We are clear of weather now and estimating Goroka at time 45, we have mother and baby aboard, both are in need of urgent medical attention, please notify health department to stand by for our arrival. Oh and thank you for your prayers. We could not have made it without God and your intercession on our behalf." The phone call to the health department over, the prayer season turned from supplication to heart felt praise.
The ambulance was waiting when we arrived. As they finished loading the ambulance and were about to close the door the health department official thanked us warmly and sternly admonished me to send him an invoice for the flight. This caught me a bit of guard. We do not do charge flights on Sabbath but God knows our program needs financial resources badly. What does one do here. Finally I said, "Everyone knows we do not do commercial flights on Sabbath. But we do care for people like Jesus did on Sabbath. There will be no charge for the flight." The occupants of the ambulance broke out into cheers of appreciation.
On the next Monday morning I had a phone call from the health department to thank us for the flight and to let us know that as a token of their appreciation for our doing this flight on Sabbath, they would give us as much of their medical repatriation flights for people who had come in from remote areas for treatment in Goroka as we could handle and pay us well for doing them. That was a God send to us. At the time we were trying to support our missionary work with fare paying passengers. This work the government sent our way was worth Thousands and thousands of dollars and many many times more than the cash value of the flight we had conducted to save this needy mother and child. God has always honored our faith in going out and doing what He bids us by repaying the resources used. What a wonderful flying partner we missionary pilots have.
The life saving services described in this story are currently not being provided and have not been for many months now. Mission Support Network is committed to restoring those services and developing them to meet the needs of other areas in PNG as well. If you would like to be involved in a life saving missionary project like this in some way, we would love to hear from you.
God bless for now
Trevor
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