Guyana Aviation Evangelism

[Guyana-Mission-Report] A New Van

2012-02-16T05:10:00.002-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click on this link: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click here: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/volunteer-opportunities.html

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click here: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Six Down... One More Straight Ahead

2012-01-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click on this link: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click here: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/volunteer-opportunities.html

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click here: http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Heartbreak!

2011-12-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Well the van is down again, and this time I think the engine is finished. I was headed out to Timehri Airport to pick up a volunteer that was arriving when I noticed that the engine wasn't accelerating any more, in fact I was losing power. I downshifted and pulled to the side of the road and shut off the engine. Steam was pouring out of the engine compartment. I learned later that there was a sizable hole in the radiator, and we lost all our water, causing the engine to overheat. The irony was that it was almost the exact spot that the van broke down six months ago. So just as we get the van back online we are set with another major setback. This is a serious setback but not heartbreaking. Let me share what is heart breaking.

Two days ago when I touched down in Kamarang Village, the medex (like a Paramedic) came out to the airplane and explained a sad situation. Evidently one of her nephew's who was working in the mines at Issanaru had committed suicide. Because of the Christmas holidays there were no flights into that region from Kamarang Village and the distraught mother and kids were desperate to get there before they buried the body.

I ended up flying the relatives to the nearest air strip since it was just off my route of travel. The next morning they called me back on the HF Radio to see if I would fly back to pick up the body and carry it back to Kamarang. I declined... The high cost and elapsed time simply made it simply impossible.

As we were driving out to Timehri airport to tow the dead van back home, I was musing out loud to Winston James, our associate director. Why are we not reaching out these miners? Much of the work of spreading the gospel happens in the cities and villages, but very little efforts are being made to reach out to these mining communities. Why? Most of these miners are caught in vicious trap. They desperately need work to support their families, and the gold mines provide a stable job with very good pay. But every conceivable sin is waiting for them when they arrive. Those who are weak in character, find it almost impossible to live morally upright lives. The debauchery that happens is almost beyond imagination, and some poor souls decide that the only way out of this "hell" is to end their own lives.

As I shared my frustrations with brother Winston, an idea began to form in my mind. I've decided that the only way we can get to these miners is to copy DVD's of David Asscherick and Doug Batchlor and distribute them far and wide throughout these mining communities. One thing that miners have is money, and they have an abundance of generators, and DVD players. I'm sure some would be thrilled for something of substance besides Hollywood drivel. It's not that hard to fly into these mining airstrips and hand out stuff for the miners to watch. Then we can have a questionaire that they can fill out and send back, so we know how effective it is, and how to follow it up.

That's my new years resolution. 2012 is going to be a year of outreach.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] The Deep South

2011-12-12T05:26:00.000-08:00

[Guyana-Mission-Report] A New Chapter for Kopinang

2011-11-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Launching into Kopinang

2011-11-18T02:31:00.000-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Mechanical Miracle

2011-11-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Nine Exciting Mission Trips

2011-11-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] BLS Disclaimer

2011-10-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to send a follow up note to all our GMR readers, informing you that we have received special permission to distribute "The Bible in Living Sound" in Guyana. The Bible in Living Sound is copyrighted material, and should not be duplicated without the expressed permission of it's director Dean Sanders. All authorized duplications must have a BLS copyrighted label, so that illegal copies aren't mistakenly made.

If you would like more information on how to obtain a set of these exciting bible stories, please visit their website at: www.bibleinlivingsound.org

God bless,

James Ash

[Guyana-Mission-Report] A New Ministry is Born

2011-10-24T03:04:00.000-07:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] The Last Flight

2011-10-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

SUBSCRIBE: Write to ashjam7@yahoo.com if you are not already receiving these GMR reports by email

READ: All past GMR updates on our online blog. Click the link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: A one minute video about our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the airplane across a Google Earth Map in real time! Click the link below

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

VOLUNTEER: Would you like to be a short term or long term missionary. Click the link below:

http://www.gmivolunteers.org/

SPONSOR: Would you like to sponsor a village bible worker? Click the link below:

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-missionary-bible-worker.html

GOOGLE GROUPS: http://groups.google.com/group/guyana-mission-report

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Launching a New School

2011-09-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

SUBSCRIBE: If you would you like to receive these GMR reports by
email, send an email to ashjam7@yahoo.com and state "Please subscribe
me to GMR"

READ: Read more updates about our work at our online blog. Click the
link below.

http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

WATCH: Watch a one minute on our aviation work. Click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ashjam7?blend=11&ob=5

TRACK: The movements of the missionary airplane across a Google Earth
Map in real time! Click on this link to see where we've gone or where
we're headed to:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02zFvgK0gbChfCRLny9ZVsqMdDPQZj1d1

FACEBOOK: James Ash

YOUTUBE: ashjam7

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Sad Flights

2011-09-06T04:09:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day of flying.

Last Tuesday I was sitting in an exceptionally boring meeting at Ogle Aerodrome when I got called out by our other pilot to do a medivac to Philippi village in Region 7.

Two villages are notorious for having poisonous snakes. One is Chenaweng and the other is Philippi. This time it was a little girl about four years old who was bit on the calf by a large Laborea Snake.

When I arrived on the scene six hours after the incident the leg was already swollen up and she was starting to spit blood (a very bad sign). I immediately made a charcoal poultice and applied it to the bite. I also mixed up a solution of charcoal water for her to drink.

She was alert and I was hopeful that she might pull through, but when we arrived in Ogle and loaded her into the Ambulance, she threw everything up. Sadly, like other snake bite victims, she died on the operating table the next evening.

Today I'm going to fly her body back to Philippi, and the body of another man back to Chinaweng.

BUT... I'm planning to take some time on the ground in both areas to talk with each of the health workers, and give them some charcoal and instructions. I have a scar on my left ankle from a brown recluse spider bite that was successfully treated with charcoal. I plan to use it if I need to to try and drive home that charcoal really works.

Then I must move a bible worker to another village so he can start an evangelistic campaign, and then I must fly down South to meet some new Russian volunteers who are coming to help at our industrial college.

Please pray for me, because this is going to be a day of many challenges.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Perfect Timing (again!)

2011-08-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

I sense that the Lord is quietly putting more pieces of the puzzle together, preparing us for what could very well prove to be a landmark year of outreach and evangelism.

Just three days ago I was walking into the Davis Memorial Hospital compound just as another gentleman was catching a cab to leave. The timing couldn't have been better. Incidentally, I had talked with this gentleman on the radio about five months back, and in general terms explained that I needed him to be a bible worker in Region 8. Since we were on a public frequency, I decided not to discuss details. Anyway, when we saw each other in the Hospital driveway we were both pretty shocked.

Since the taxi driver was waiting on him, I asked if he would be willing to come over for supper. That evening I spent a couple hours sharing with him my burden for opening up some new work. I could see that God has been working on his heart and convicting him that he needs to become a bible worker again. Four years ago he had been a GAMAS bible worker in Kopinang village, but when his fiancee left him, he lost his missionary zeal, quit bible work, and went to work in the mines. But like Jonah running to Joppa to get away from his calling, Ray has been working as a foreman in the mines in Jawalla making good money, but still feeling a deep longing to serve the Lord.

No - it wasn't a coincidence that we bumped into each other. And at the conclusion of our evening together, I challenged him to quit mining and go to work for the Lord again.

He says he'll need 30 days to wrap up his mining work and then he'll come on board full time.

Before we parted ways we had a special prayer together with him, praying that God would open up new opportunities as we move forward. The next day he caught a commercial flight back to Kamarang.

Timing – Perfect once again! One or two minutes one way or another and we would have missed each other.

One other piece of good news is that the minibus is back together again, but the engine knocks pretty badly. The mechanic calls it a diesel knock, and says that it is caused by too much diesel injected into the cylinder. He'll try to fix it tomorrow, but says that he needs the whole day to adjust it. Hopefully it won't take too much time to fix.

Must run,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Do Angel's Drive Golf Carts?

2011-08-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Lot's of exciting stuff happening.

I'm convinced that at least one angel resides at JFK International and she drives a stretch golf cart! No joke! Ok, ok - I'm not totally sure that she was a real angel, but when we stepped off of our flight from Salt Lake City a little after midnight, we had not idea how close we were squeezed for time. I vaguely knew that we'd had lost some time on the previous flight, but unbeknownst to us, the moment we arrived, they were already boarding the other aircraft in a whole different concourse. Only if you've traveled through JFK International can you fully appreciate the tremendous size of the airport.

As we stepped off the airplane the black lady was quietly waiting there, watching us from her limo-cart. I vaguely remember seeing her but decided first to ask someone who would know where we were supposed to go. As I strode past her over to the nearby Delta counter to ask where we were supposed to go, the lady in the cart turned to my wife and asked, "Why didn't your husband ask me where you guys are headed? I know all the flights around this place." A little taken back Joy said to her, "We're going to Georgetown Guyana". And without missing a beat she said, "Flight 383 - I know the flight well. It's boarding right now. You'll need to hurry"

"Uhh... Is there anyway you might take us there?" my wife asked.

"I can take you to the shuttle, and they'll take you directly to the flight. But you need to hurry, the shuttle is about to leave."

At this point in time Joy started giving me sign language across the room that we needed to leave immediately. We loaded up in the golf cart and she sped us down the concourse past all the other passengers loudly telling people to clear out of our path. Soon we pulled up at another counter where they checked our passports and put us on the last shuttle bus that night. Then it was that we began to piece together the details. The skytrain which normally runs all night wasn't working beyond 9pm due to construction on a new Delta Concourse. Buses were running, but we had narrowly made the last bus four our flight. Less then ten minutes after we found our seats, the 757 was pushing back from the gate.

Life hasn't slowed down since arriving. Gary Roberts and D.J. Knott with their families have been in Paruima working on the damaged Maule. It appears that the damage isn't quite as extensive as once though, but it will take lots of hard work to get it out of Paruima in the next ten days.

Meanwhile we're working on getting the minibus going again. Today we picked up a new head and hopefully by some time this week we'll be back up and going again. It looks like the van may have been driven after I left the country. Sigh. Whoever picked it up (it would seem) may not have wanted to tow the vehicle so they may have tried to drive it back, just adding water whenever it needed it. Sigh... So a simple fix probably escalated into a $1000 USD+ problem.

On a positive note. Last thursday Gary and DJ were able to put the new tires on the 182. They look really nice, and I'm itching to try them out.

I need to run catch some lunch. I've got a bazillion things to do, including gettinginternet at the house.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] I smell something burning!

2011-05-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

The acrid smell of burning rubber is a very distinct smell - regardless of the context of which you smell it. But when you smell it in-flight at 7,500 feet with nothing but raw jungle and rivers below you, it takes on a whole new significance!

Yesterday I was returning to Georgetown to do some maintenance on the airplane and prepare for our next big push - flying bible workers back to their home villages.

We were maintaining 7,500 feet above sea level, and I had pulled the power and propeller control back so as to get the best fuel economy. 45 Miles from the international airport I detected a strong smell of burning rubber. It was so strong that my front seat passenger turned to me and said "I smell something burning!"

Immediately I kicked into action. Hit the "Nearest" button on your GPS to see where the nearest airport is - should the situation escalate into an emergency. The nearest airport was Linden about 20 nautical miles away. Instantly I got on the radio and requested ATC for a right deviation, and a descent. Then I started trouble shooting.

Engine Instruments - All Indicating normal
Felt under dash - No abnormal heat
Circuit breakers - Nothing noticeably popped
Smell - Burning rubber but nothing particularly electrical

After 20-30 seconds the smell went away. The closer I got to Linden the more I debated what to do. I could land and try and find out the problem, but the airstrip didn't provide anything in the way of repair facilities. It was just a strip out in the middle of virually nowhere. The situation appeared to have stabilized somewhat (i.e. the smell was gone), so I decided to split the difference between Linden and Timehri (international airport) and if everything went well I would continue on to Timehri.

Airplane continued to perform like normal, and I was just about to Timehri Airport and considering making a run for Ogle (our final destination), when the smell came back stronger than ever. It was clear that something was very wrong, so I took a deep breath, keyed the mike and told the tower that we were experiencing some electrical problems and needed to land. Two weeks earlier a Carribean Airlines Flight to New York had ingested a couple birds soon after takeoff and had to circle back for an emergency landing. I think this was fresh in the controllers mind, when I told him about my situation because he immediately cleared me to land on either of the two runways.

After landing I taxied over to the Texaco Refueling Area and cut the power. My passengers and I sat for a few minutes and debrief on what everyone smelled. After climbing out of the aircraft, I opened the little hatch to the oil dipstick and immediately saw the problem. The pully on the alternator was missing a belt. Ahhhhh! It all made perfect sence now!

I handed a screw driver to one of the other guys and we proceeded to take the cowl off to have a better look. Somehow the belt had loosened up and started slipping and eventually it torqued completely off and was laying on the inside of the bottom cowling.

We buttoned the airplane back up and flew back to Ogle using our battery for the radio.

I praise the Lord that it was a simple solution. Now we have to locate another belt to keep going. The work has been nothing short of a flood and we've probably flown 60 hours in the last three weeks.

Starting this next Sunday we plan to make four to five flights to transport bible workers back to their home village.

As things slow down a little I'll look at traveling back to the US to take a little break.

Thank you for your prayers in our behalf. Flying over the jungles of Guyana always carries a certain amount of risk, but in order to get the gospel into these remote areas we must assume that risk. Rest assured, we do our best to keep our aircraft in top flying condition, but airplanes are made by fallible humans, and can break on occasion. This is why your prayers are such a big encouragement to us.

We know that we're not just flying on wings of a Cessna - but also wings of angels.

Sincerely,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Aircraft down

2011-03-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends

As some of you may have already heard. The other pilot in our organization had an accident with his aircraft in Paruima Village. From the reports it sounds like Gary was hoping to get three students out of Paruima Village, but was uncertain whether to take two or three. So he wisely decided to take two in order to assess how the airplane would perform. He took off just fine, but when he turned around and landed down-wind to pick up the third student, the wind caught the airplane at the wrong moment. He tried to stop the plane, but the grass was extremely slick and the aircraft skidded off the end of the runway down an embankment and into some small brush-like trees. All three occupants were able to get out of the airplane with not a scratch on them. By the next day the villagers had pulled the plane which was partially submerged out of the Kamarang river and set it up on the river bank.

What does this mean for the GAMAS flight program? Good question. At this point there are many variables in the works and it remains to be seen what the final outcome will be.

Without a doubt, the flight program has experienced a serious setback, and at this moment we're the only remaining GAMAS airplane flying in Guyana. This increases the burden on my shoulders as I seek to cover the entire region with the Cessna 182 the Lord has provided us.

Gary Lewis is tentatively making plans to travel back to the States to prepare another airplane to bring down. How long this will take is also another key variable. Let's hope for the sake of the work that it is quick.

The good news in all of this is that Davis Indian Industrial College has closed early. This last Monday I flew into Paruima to evacuate the remaining four teachers.

For the immediate moment we're not making plans to move anywhere. Shea's new health worker is back in the village, but she's pretty new and will need a lot of training and coaxing to break out of her shell. She's very young and quiet. So the reality is that Joy needs to stay on at Shea longer to effectively wrap up the project.

This is accident reminds me again how quickly a situation can develop. One unguarded moment can spell disaster for the airplane and others lives. That's why I'm moving very cautiously, taking extra precautions. I'm so grateful for the army of people who are standing shoulder to shoulder with us in their prayers. I know that it may seem to you that your petitions disappear into the blue atmosphere, never to be seen again. But a number of times I've felt God's guiding hand reach down and intervene in my behalf.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Fast Forward

2011-03-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

PICTURED - Our bible workers in at the secondary school in Paramakatoi Village

Joy's medical work in Shea Village is wrapping up. I just saw Bernice (the newly trained health worker for Shea) and she told me that she's supposed to travel back to Shea Village in two weeks. We're not sure yet where our next assignment will be, but until that time we're stuck on "fast forward".

Last Thursday I met together with the couple in Maururinau Village (Fred and Kateri). It was a vigorous 30 minutes mountain bike ride, ending with a steep climb up the hill to their house. We spent an hour and a half together studying the bible with a series of lessons from Amazing Facts. I also talked with them about doing some training so that they can form a branch Sabbath School in their village. This is ground breaking since most religious groups have been flatly denied access to work in the village.

Praise the Lord. We now have about 10 different bible studies going in our village. God is truly blessing the outreach efforts.

Some of our friends and family have inquired about the Church of Christ group in Shea, and what is happening with them. They are continuing to meet together, but strangely their bible worker isn't coming. Joy and I are continuing our studies with them.

Gregory (our bible worker in Aishalton Village), just arrived back from his trip to Bolivia. We had sent him to Bolivia to record some programs in the local Wapishana dialect. He spent three weeks preparing, and recording 10 sermons, but as an added bonus, he also did 24 bible stories in Wapishana as well. Now the media team is taking the raw footage and in a couple weeks we'll be able to replicate these messages and share them out. It's like multiplying our bible worker many times over!

We also have plans to replicate select programs off 3ABN and use them for evangelism and edification of the churches.

There are other exciting developments happening. The district pastor just told me yesterday of a village in the North Savanna of Region 9 that is located in a mountainous region. Since they are so remote few religious organizations have been able to visit them. But Pastor Garnett reports that he's traveled there several times already, and the people are so happy that any church would be willing to come teach them from the bible, that they are seriously considering deeding their local Anglican church (which isn't in use) to the Adventists if they will continue to come! It sounds like we must put a bible worker in there immediately who can nurture these people.

Reports are coming from several other villages where the people are crying out for more knowledge. We've got to train, equip and send more bible workers.

If you would be interested in sponsoring an Amerindian bible worker (only $150USD a month), we would personally train, equip them, and send them to places like I just mentioned.

Please contact me and I can give you the details of how this would work. ashjam7@yahoo.com

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Exciting Events

2011-02-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

A big thank you goes to everyone who has been praying for the fledgling bible study group that is wanting to start up a new Sabbath Service in Marurinau village which is only 5 miles away from us. The village has been very closed to any sort of gospel outreach, going so far as to give some visiting church members 30 minutes to get out of their village.

About 6 weeks ago one of our Shea church members who is from that village decided on his own that he wanted to start a small bible study group in his home. He wrote a letter of request to the village council stating in very clear terms what he was wanting to do. The council responded back to him, saying that they would "consider the matter and inform him of their decision". When Fred told me what he written in his letter, I cringed a little, wondering whether the council would accept something so boldly stated. But I just heard that they've given him permission to go ahead with the bible study in his home, but he can't do anything public. Whether this allows him to study with multiple people in his home or only one at a time, I'm not quite sure. I'll have to find out more details. But we're praising the Lord for this breakthrough. Again we sense that this is partly due to the aircraft ministry. They're secretly hoping that we'll move close to Marurinau after our tenure in Shea is complete.

The same member from Marurinau got married this last Sunday. It was actually a double wedding with another couple wanting to tie the knot. On Friday I flew all the way up to Region #7 to get the pastor. Joy agreed to make some wedding cakes for the reception. Come Saturday night she realized that she needed an additional 14lbs. of flour and 32 eggs! Since there were no eggs in the village and flour was also short, we sent a guy on a motorbike over to Marurinau to see if he could get the items. He came back some time around midnight and said that they didn't have either. So all our cakes were the egg-less variety. The flavor was perfect, but getting them out of the pan was a bit tricky. Joy started baking at 2am and continued straight up until the wedding at 10am. The service went really well but as soon as it was over we has to hurriedly pack up our stuff and departed in order to get the pastor back to Kamarang Village before sunset.

As we were winging our way back to Shea the following day, Joy turned to me and asked whether we could stop in a Paramakatoi and pick up our high chair. If you remember, about 6 weeks ago we were traveling from Georgetown to Shea when we got an urgent call to airlift a snakebite victim out of Paramakatoi. Since we didn't have enough room in the cabin for the passengers and our stuff, the high chair got left behind with our bible worker.

Joy was wanting to get the chair back, so we diverted a little and stopped in at PK. We had a long talk with the Gudges who are doing bible work there at PK. They are the deans for 300+ secondary students from Region 8. We had given them some Amazing Facts Bible Study Lessons about a year ago, and they've already used these up. Not too long ago 15 people were baptized into their church group. The church has about 32 - 50 persons in attendance, and its growing.

They are desperate for more of those colorful Amazing Facts Lessons. They are studying with the kids in the mornings. Many of these kids are interested in studying bible, and at the end of this year they will be scattering to every village in Region 8. I challenged the Gudges to consider training these young people to be evangelists to take the message to their villages. Winston smiled and replied, "I was just thinking about this a couple days ago. But we need bible study materials."

I asked him how many sets he could use. His response, "As many as you can send." Oooookay!!! Truly this is an opportunity like few others, and we're trying to get this done so that when the students leave for the summer, they will be trained and equipped to plant gospel seeds all over Region 8.

While I was flying the pastor in the airplane from Paruima to Shea, we had a chance to talk about bible work in the Rupununi. We are going to be working on a major bible worker training initiative that will train, equip, and launch new bible worker couples into fields that are inquiring about the Advent Message. I'll give more details as it unfolds.

There's so much more to write about, but I must go. Thank you so very much for your prayers. Daily we're seeing God's direct intervention in our lives. To someone who doesn't believe in divine appointments, our lives look a little disconnected, but as we glance backward at the events in our lives, we see a masterful tapestry of how God has led us.

God is truly answering your prayers, and we're so grateful for this.

Sincerely

James and Joy Ash

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Missionary Snippets

2011-01-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

I'm stuck in Georgetown... Sort of.

Let me catch you up on some bits and pieces of what is happening.

Yesterday I flew up from Region 9 with our bible worker so that he can go to Bolivia. We're sending him to Bolivia to professionally record him preaching some sermons in his native Wapishana dialect. The GMI team in Bolivia will shoot the footage on a special set that they are building just for him, and then will do post production so that it can be put on DVD's. Once we get these DVD's we plan to replicate them like the leaves of autumn, and distribute them throughout the villages. Those who don't have DVD players will get an audio version.

Tomorrow I'll fuel up the airplane and fly back to Shea.

The well diggers have finished the well in our front yard. They're only 14 feet down, but have 2 1/2 feet of water. This is a huge blessing because we've been without water for 3+ weeks and I've been hauling it in five gallon buckets three times a day. My arms could sure use a rest. Like they aren't long enough already!

A couple days ago I went out visiting. I've determined that I need to turn up the intensity and start doing more house to house outreach. We've been doing all sorts of missionary related stuff, but I've determined that the key is is home visits.

At the first house I went to I sat on the grass and just talked with them. I've taken a simple formula. 1. Talk to them - every day conversation. 2. Listen to them - Listen for felt needs. 3. Share the Word - Share bible texts that address their needs. 4. Pray for them - And allow the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts.

As I was saying goodbye, and turning away to walk to the next house, the lady throws a bombshell my way. "Pastor, when are you going to come teach us the bible?"

Wow! What a question... I looked thoughful for a moment and then asked, "When would you like me to come?"

"Next Sunday" she replied.

"I'd be glad to come and I'll bring a nice set of bible lessons for you to keep."

She looked really pleased at the though. As I walked away, I couldn't help but wonder. "How long had she been asking herself this burning question, 'When is he going to come and teach me the bible?'"

This question quickly sparked another thought - "I wonder how many more people in our village have this same question burning in their hearts?"

There are thousands, yes millions of people around the world who look wistfully toward heaven longing for a better understanding of truth. We must go, because they rarely will come.

Please pray, not just for us, but that God would guide you to someone that you can TALK-LISTEN-SHARE-PRAY with.

God bless,

JamesGuy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Grave Top Ministry

2011-01-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

New Years was a sad day in Shea Village. A young man in his early thirties who had been partying all night, came home, beat up his wife and then took his hammock rope and hung himself on a cashew tree behind his house. This is the second suicide for the year, and 6-7 unsuccessful tries were made.

The sad part is that the church which he belongs to was unwilling to help the family dig a grave. Everyone was recovering from the nights revelry and few people wanted to get out in the hot sun and pick out a proper hole. I was informed that a few elderly people dug a foot and a half down with a hoe and buried the body.

I was alarmed when I heard this, envisioning some dogs digging up the remains. So I talked another church member into helping me give the guy a proper burial. At first we weren't quite sure what to do. We didn't want to dig the body back up after 36 hours. We had an extra bag of cement at the church that needed to be used up, and so we spent a couple hours and cast a 2 inch slab over the top of the body. Just enough to keep the dogs from exhuming the corpse.

A bunch of kids and youth showed up to watch what was happening. After I finished troweling the top of the slab and inscribing the name and date with a nail, I took off my hat and we had a little grave side service. I looked them each in the eye and appealed to them that they never ever even consider the idea of taking their lives. It leaves so many hurting people behind.

I also had prayer with the family who weren't at the grave side service.

The father in law of the deceased man has opposed the building of the church, and has gone so far as to call our church members snakes. I hope and pray that this little gesture will help to break down prejudice and maybe open their hearts to the gospel.

One of our church members also had a close call. He had been imbibing some alcohol, and came back to his house in the early morning and promptly got into an argument with his wife. I don't know all the details but he nearly choked his wife to death, and then in a complete reverse of emotion he tried unsuccessfully to drink poison and kill himself. Somehow the mother in law and wife were able to wrestle the bottle out of his hand and pour it on the ground.

I paid a pastoral visit to him the next day when he was sober and we had some pretty straight words about what happened and the terrible effects of alcohol. When they drink their local Para Cari drink it makes them almost demonic in nature.

There is good news!

After catching our breath a little on the building project, we're hard at it again. This time we have both bible workers out in the field, cutting boards for the benches, doors, and pulpit. We'll need to get windows installed as well.

It's now time to finish what we've begun.

We're so thankful for everyone who has helped us with this project. We'll continue to send pictures as things progress.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Called from the Pulpit

2010-11-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was preaching a message at the new little Adventist Church in Shea when a young lady appeared at the back of the church and started waiving her hands animatedly. It was the wife of my translator, so he quietly excused himself to go see what was the matter. I tried to continue my sermon without translation, but by this time my train of thought was pretty well derailed. A minute or two later he whispered in my ear, "There's a medical emergency in Marurinau and they need the airplane to fly the patient to the hospital".

Question to you - What would you do in this situation? Do you continue preaching and finish your sermon hoping the patient doesn't die on you? Or do you leave your audience hanging mid-sentence and race out the door? I tried to strike a happy medium, closing off the message in a few well placed sentences, and with a closing prayer. I must admit that it wasn't the smoothest conclusion, but it worked - and people understood

The young girl who came to inform us had run the 5 miles from Marurinau to Shea. Fortunately and the kids with her didn't have to run back because we covered the 5 miles in 2 1/2 minutes.

The man was elderly (late 60's), had lost a fair amount of blood, had bloody saliva, and was feeling cold in his lower extremities (possible shock). Joy sent me off with some IV supplies to start an IV, because someone had said that a nurse might be at the airstrip. As it turned out she didn't show up. Looking around at the villagers I could see the tense look in the faces of people who came to see the patient off. They were deeply concerned that he might not make it. One of the villagers turned to me and said, "We're sorry to bother you on your Sabbath". I looked him in the eye and as convincing as I could be said, "Hey... That's why we're here... We're here to serve. It doesn't matter what day it is".

After the patient and his wife were strapped in, I debated what to do. I couldn't raise either of the two hospitals on the HF radio. So I decided to go to the field hospital in Aishalton since they could get an IV going and monitor his condition. The only problem is how to alert them I'm coming?

I decided to fly over the hospital and circle it until someone decided to come out. Othere than a couple construction/maintenance workers who were milling around, it looked pretty desolate. A couple minutes after I landed, the Medex showed up on his motorbike to find out what was going on. I told him about the patient, and after assessing him he decided to keep him for the night. Today we transported the same patient out to Lethem to the main hospital. Please pray for Valentine P.

Not too long ago I had another interesting experience.

Here in Guyana, the air regulations state that in order to be able to fly into an airstrip in the interior, you must first fly into the airstrip with another experienced pilot who has been there before.

Every time our chief pilot Gary Roberts comes to Guyana we try to train on new airstrips so that we can increase the reach of our ministry. Anyway, not long ago I was getting a new airstrip checkouts to Achwib and Sowariwau. The airstrips weren't particularly difficult, and we finished the checkout back in Shea. That evening Joy and I packed up our stuff and flew to Lethem.

The next morning my cell phone began to ring. It was the Lethem hospital stating that there was an emergency in Achwib Village. A young man had gotten his face sliced open in a drunken fight, and was needing to be flown out.

Immediately we responded by flying to the field hospital in Aishalton to pick up the field doctor before flying the 15 minutes to Achwib. The boy had a huge gash on his left jaw, nearly down to the bone. By the time we landed a huge number of people were standing around watching. The doctor immediately started an IV on him and started doing an assessment of the injury. Fortunately the knife hadn't cut any nerves or tendons. It was basically a stich job.

So back to the hospital we went where the boy would be sutured up.

The next day the doctor told me that the wound had sutured up nice, and the boy would only have a thin little line to remind him of what had happened that night.

We don't know when the call might come. But God does, and its experiences like this that serve as reminders that the Lord is only but a step in front of us.

Must fly some boxes of medications to Aishalton, and then back to Shea.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
http://guyanaaviationevangelism.blogspot.com/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Expanding Fronts

2010-11-07T15:56:00.001-08:00

This last Sabbath was our first worship service in the new church. I was a little worried that we would get lost in the building, so I encouraged the members to invite a friend. One small oversight... I forgot that we didn't have enough benches! Many people happily sat on the new concrete floor for the service.

One of our church members is from a neighboring village five miles to the South. This village (Marurinau) is staunch Catholic and has steadfastly opposed other church groups building a church in their village. But we'll be starting a bible study group in the home of our member, and eventually this will include weekend services. Who says we need a church building! We are the church!

As time goes by I hear of other strange groups that are making evangelistic overtures in other villages. Just recently we heard of a strange new group that has come to Rupinau just an hour away from us. This group purports to have a prophet who has the OT Shekinah Glory following him around. They've been handing out CD's of this guy preaching. I listened to half of one message, which was just enough to determine that this guy was completely out to lunch. But the sad reality is that many of these dear Amerindians don't have a firm bible base and they have a hard time determining the difference between a true and a false prophet.

This week I plan to fly over to Rupinau to visit with the village toshao, but I also want to meet with the family that is getting all mixed up with these erroneous doctrines.

Please pray for our work. Nothing comes easy.

Nothing...

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Church building Shea Style

2010-11-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the new church

1. Carrying Sand five hundred feet from the sand pit to the church site. We had 3 tractor loads of sand transported to the church site, but as the contractors continued to work, that sand disappeared in a hurry. It became clear that we needed to get another 50 wheelborrows of sand. The church members rose to the occasion. Some of the members started at midnight, and others at 3am. By the time I took this picture at 7:30am we were pretty much done with the sand and one of our members was goofing around carrying his wife in the borrow.

2. We had to dig backfill for the stage area. After the sand was complete we all started digging and filling in the stage area. Some didn't have even a bucket, so they used old cement sacks, bucket lids, pots, etc.

3. This is the backfill compactor. Fairly primative, but very effective! After a while of doing this, the arms complain! I would do this a while and then jump around and give my legs a workout. Of course everyone thought that was the funniest thing in the world, and they laughed and laughed.

4. By 9am this last Sunday we were all done and ready for breakfast! Notice the new cement floor at the bottom of the picture.

5. When our bible worker made the temporary doors, they were an inch to big. As you can see in the picture, its no big deal if you have a Stihl 051.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] It happened again

2010-11-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well it happened again.

I came out with a medevac yesterday only to find out that there's a mini-fuel shortage in Lethem again! Had to overnight to wait for more trucks to arrive from Georgetown. I've gotta do something about this, because this is getting crazy!

I'm excited to announce that the interior of the Shea Church is done! Praise God. In about two weeks, the roof was put on, the interior walls completely plastered, and the floor and rostrum poured. The professionals that we hired from Aishalton to help with the project, did it for a discount since, the one guy is related to our bible worker.

Most of our members pitched in, working long hours hauling sand and mixing cement. Some of them worked 12am to 3am so that the contractors would have the sand they needed. Now that's commitment! The contractors themselves worked till midnight one night with a small generator and a couple bare light bulbs so that they could do the entire floor in one pour. The next day the one guy showed up at the health clinic to get his fingers wrapped. The lime in the cement had made his fingers pretty raw.

One day we hired the tractor to come from a neighboring village to get some loads of sand. I was going to hire some guys in the village to come and help load the trailer, but there wasn't a sober guy in the village. (Sigh) That's one of the terrible scourges of our village. It's become so bad that Shea has built up a reputation for being an alcoholic village. We need a twelve step program in the worst way, especially for the men. I'm dead serious when I say, that I don't know if a single day or night goes by that there isn't a party going on somewhere in the village.

Since we couldn't hire any guys we had 4 guys pitching sand from 11am to 4:30pm. It was brutally hot, but we were able to get the job done, by the grace of God.

There's still quite a bit of finishing work to do. We've got an Out-house to build, the outside walls to plaster, paint, inside & outside, pews to build, chairs for the rostrum, a pulpit, windows to install, etc.

We're hoping to have a church dedication by the early part of this next year.

Must run,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] SMS from 881631851557@msg.iridium.com

2010-10-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

shea update = church walls plaster today. zink roof also goes on today. trying 2 set up sm. engine pump 2 bail our well. out of water & lots of sandfls @

NOTE: TO WRITE TO JAMES & JOY, SEND EMAIL TO: ashjam7@yahoo.com
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http://lists.ashclan.org/listinfo.cgi/guyana-mission-report-ashclan.org

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Pictures from the Trip

2010-10-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from our trip across the Caribbean to Guyana.

#1 - My cousin Luke and I somewhere over the blue green waters of Nasau
#2 - Lifting off into the golden sunrise of our first leg in our trek across the "pond"
#3 - The islands of Grenada
$4 - Home sweet home - Shea Village.
$5 - Reality hits - Time to bail the well.

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Correction...

2010-10-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

I would like to correct a slight error in the previous GMR that I sent out. Simple Church ministries website is located at...

www.SimpleChurchAtHome.com

Please contact them if you are interested in the idea of church at home.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flying to Guyana #3

2010-10-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

After a week of hard travel we're finally back in Georgetown. It's hard to describe the feelings of gratitude to God for bringing us safely over the 4830 miles that we flew in the last seven days.

Thursday (Sept. 23) - I had a lot of little errands to run, and things to wrap up before the trip. Details, details details- so many details to look after. I managed to get a test flight in with Gary Roberts to get a better feel for the plane. And later that afternoon we ended up flying the airplane down to Laurel Brook Academy to check out the new airstrip that they have.

Friday (Sept. 24) - The plan was to leave mid morning some time to get down to Florida before night. But... as normal, we severely underestimated what it would take to wrap everything up. At about 5pm we lifted off and turned toward Leesburg Florida. The flight down was pretty much standard until the last 60 miles or so, and then we had to dodge thunder storms the last little bit. It was sure nice to have Jacksonville Center on the radio, and they safely guided us around the worst cells.

A very good pastor friend of mine (Milton Adams) picked us up at the airport. He had planned to come pick us up at the airport at 3:30pm, but just as he was about to walk out the door, his computer happily announced that there was an email. It was from me, informing him that I was delayed and would get in at 7:30pm.

Saturday (Sept. 25.) My cousin Luke and I had church with the house church that meets in his home. I have to say that it's a very unique experience, quite unlike anything else I've experienced. Milton is developing this house church movement presently they've seen an explosion of growth with over 11 churches started. His website is www.simplechurch.com

Saturday night there was a flurry of activity. We at much to do and very little time to do it. One of my big dilemmas was that I needed a Low Altitude Enroute Chart for the Caribbean. I had originally banked on being in Forida on during the day and on a week day.

So I started calling around to see if any 24 hour Fixed Base Operators located near Opalaka Florida had any Charts to sell. After quite a while of calling I was fortunate enough to find one who had a Caribbean Instrument Chart.

After filling out our international flight plan and online customs departure, we headed for the airport at midnight. The night was calm and the flight was smooth as glass.

Sunday (Sept. 26) - The flight to Ft. Lauderdale Exec. was breathtaking as we watched the lights of Southern Florida glide beneath us. We picked up the Instrument Chart and 10 gallons of gas before we pushed on to Opalaka to finish our preparations.

I had forgotten what a huge airport Opalaka International Airport was, and trying to find our way around around the taxiways at night didn't help. We managed to go down a couple dead ends until finally we found a 24 Hour Fixed Base Operator (FBO) and looked at a map.

By 6am we had the airplane completely fueled and tested the auxillary fuel pumps to make sure they would work inflight. Time to fire up and taxi to our departure runway. One little snag. We couldn't raise Miami Center on the ground. Hmmm. Ok - Try it in the air. Several minutes later we were airborne and contacting Miami Center. Soon they gave us a heading and we were climbing up to 9000 feet on our way to Providentialles Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Second problem - I can't activate my flight plan. It was a friend's GPS and I was so tired after spending all night awake that I was having trouble activating the flight plan that I had programmed the night before. After a few minutes and prayers, the Lord helped us activate the appropriate plan in the GPS and we were headed toward the intersection we had been cleared to.

Luke slept the first 45 minutes, and then we traded off. It was sure nice to have another guy along to fly the airplane. The airplane worked like a charm and the flight was absolutely incredible.

From Provo we flew on to Beef Island, stopping for the night and visiting a friend we had there. Since the customs didn't open until 7:00am the next morning we decided to file our flight plan and fuel the airplane before going to the hotel. It's a good thing we did that because the next morning we didn't get off immediately.

To my knowledge I have never experienced mosquitos like at Beef Island that night. They were absolutely horrible. We didn't have much of a choice, and kept slapping as we moved.

Monday (Sept. 27) - 4:45 am the alarm goes off and the day begins. We felt better than the day before, but both of us were thankful that we didn't have to do a one man marathon.

As I processed our outgoing papers, Luke finalized his tickets for his return to the States.

By 8am we were lifting off for Grenada. Once again the flight went really smoothly and we arrived in Grenada with plenty of time. I was very glad to have a faster airplane because if I didn't, I wouldn't have made sunset in Guyana.

On the route from Grenada to Guyana, we weren't able to contact contact the air traffic controller at Trinidad. I tried probably a dozen times without success, wondering what to do. Other people appeared to be having the same problems as well, and since we could all communicate with each other we figured it was their problem, not ours. We continued on our flight and soon they sorted out the problem.

We arrived back in Timehri Airport in Guyana 15 minutes before sunset. All I can say is that the God we serve is an awesome God, and we are very thankful for his rich mercies to us during this long journey.

I'm thankful to be back in the village with my wife and kids. They've been pretty sick, but God has been blessing them, and giving them just enough energy to keep going while I've been gone.

Thank you for all your prayers and moral support.

God bless,

James,

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flight to Guyana #2

2010-09-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Evening (Sept. 21) - After arriving in Salina we taxied over to a Fix Based Operator (FBO) to try and locate a place to stay for the night. They were very nice and offered us the free use of a "crew car". It turned out to be an crotchety old Chrysler, but we weren't complaining!

Trying to find accommodations wasn't the easiest. Since we were going "economical" we decided to try Motel 6. I guess I had forgotten what Motel 6's were like. We looked at two rooms, but finally opted for a refund, and went to Days Inn. Much much nicer.

Wednesday (Sept. 22) - Next morning we slept in a little. We knew we didn't have as far to travel to get to Collegedale TN.

Because of weather we opted to fly further south toward Memphesis before cutting across to Collegedale. We stopped at Jonesboro for gas, but after learning that the gas was $4.99 we opted to fly to another airport where it was only $3.59 a gallon. When you fill up 45 gallons at a shot, it makes a huge difference.

By 7pm Eastern Time we were circling for landing at Collegedale.

Thursday (Sept. 23) - Today we spent the whole day playing around with the airplane and testing it out. Tomorrow we'll finish up our errands and fly toward Florida. Luke and I will spend the weekend with a pastor friend of mine, and then early Sunday morning we'll shoot out across the water toward Guyana.

Thank you for your prayers.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Trip to Guyana #1

2010-09-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on our long trip to Guyana.

Monday (Sept. 20) - Everyone was working hard to get the airplane ready to go. Our original goal was to depart early Sunday morning, but we kept encountering things to do. When it comes to airplanes, there is an endless list of things to do. Mike, Larry, and Andy (the mechanics) did an awesome job getting the airplane ready to fly.

By 4pm Luke (my cousin) and I were airborn. First stop - Mt. Hood. I was going to scatter the ashes of my Grandparents on the eastern slope of Mt. Hood as they had requested, but true to its name, "Hood was under the hood". So unfortunately we had to abandon the idea and turn toward Walla Walla

Enroute to my brother's house in Walla Walla, we dropped in to see a good friend in the Dalles.

Tuesday (Sept. 21) - Day started at 3am. Checking weather and planning the route of flight. By 5:30 we were out the door heading for the airport. As the sun was rising into the sky, so were we. Our rout of flight - head South Westerly toward Boise and cut across. Weather was absolutely fabulous! Hardly a cloud in the sky.

Over the rockies we did encounter some turbulence which cause some airsickness, but we made it safely to Salina by nightfall. Off to our left was a massive thunderstorm. It put on quite the firework display.

To be continued...

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flying to Guyana

2010-09-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

We're beginning our journey to Guyana with the new Cessna 182.

You can track our progress on the internet through our little Spot Transmitter. The link is

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0dtIqtFO65aieVcWjI2qy9oDTsb2oH1Ga

We'll have stories on our blog. www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

Thank you for your prayers.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Stretched but not broken

2010-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

We're stilling hanging in here.

Our two little girls are doing fine in Shea, except when it comes to sleep. On average Joy and I are waking up 4 times a night to tend to them. I pray that this doesn't continue too much longer. We need some serious sleep!

There is a terrible fuel shortage in Lethem. It's very difficult to get any sort of flying gas for a reasonable amount. Those who do have will only sell it for $8 US a gallon. We do what we have to do, but its cutting pretty deeply at this moment.

I wish the devil would lighten up and take a vacation, but no such luck. When we got out to Shea we discovered yet another set of problems. Sigh... One of our members has become involved with another mans wife, and now the whole village has become aware of it, and are asking the toshao to stop work on the church. We've had a good talk with all parties, and I think the immediate crisis is over, but the problem is still very serious. Please pray for us.

We're working on getting more livable living arrangement. We've already finished a shower house, and are working on installing a sink and some plumbing.

I need to run. Thanks for all your prayers in our behalf.

Must fly...

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] "What is in thine hand?"

2010-08-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting question that God asked Moses in Ex. 4:2. I'm sure Moses must have stared at his rod wondering if this was a trick question.

The obvious answer was that it was "just a rod", but strangely enough the rod turned out to be more than a glorified stick. Throughout Moses' ministry you see the "rod" surface again and again, and in each situation it does extra ordinary things.

What does this have to do with our ministry? Three weeks ago we returned to Guyana, minus an airplane. We didn't have any good means of transporting ourselves out to the bush, and even if we did, we would be stuck without the disposal of an aircraft.

Well the Lord has provided one. There is a little Cessna 150/150 tail dragger that has been sitting on the ramp at Ogle Airport. A week ago David Gates arrived in Georgetown for a few days, and to make a long story short he was able to take time from his busy schedule to check me out in this aircraft.

Tomorrow we plan to fly down to Region 9 to once again take the gospel torch into the darkness. It's not easy. There seems like an infinite amount of things to do to get ourselves out to Shea, but I praise the Lord that we have this great opportunity.

And yes, some people may see this as simply a Cessna 150 with a bigger engine, but I have no doubts that this aircraft will continue to do many extra ordinary things for God.

We have to keep going forward with what is in our hand.

The second bit of good news is that we just received word today that the Cessna 182 that is being prepared up in the States has been officially approved by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority for work in Guyana. When the airplane arrives in the country it can immediately enter into service.

We praise the Lord for his incredible mercies to us.

God bless,

James, Joy, Jenna & Julianna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] "We're seizing your bus!!!"

2010-08-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

I stared at the officer in disbelief.
"What?"
"We're seizing your bus!" the officer repeated "We have orders from the Supreme Court of Guyana to seize this bus and take it down to the courthouse" the officer told me as he hopped in the front seat, and unlocked the sliding door so two other marshals could get in.

At first I didn't believe him. Surely this was a huge mistake, or even worse still a scam. Guyana is infamous for both, and I was not going to fall for their ploy. It was late Wednesday morning. I had driven down to the Guyoil Gas Station on Sheriff Street to pick up fill up our six gas jugs for the airplane.   David Gates, our director, was only a block and a half away, finishing up a conversation with some missionaries, and in a few minutes we would rendezvous and drive out to the airport together.

"I think you have the wrong people" I said calmly "Who are you trying to locate?"
The officer pulled out a sheaf of papers and flipped to the back page he asked, "Is the license of this bus PJJ1896?"

"Yes it is." I replied. "Then we have strict orders to drive it down to the courthouse immediately" The officer stated emphatically. "It is under a levy from the Supreme Court of Guyana."

By this time the cars behind me were impatiently honking their horns for me to pull forward so they could get gas. My mind was grasping for the right words to say to these men. Finally I decided to pull forward, buying myself some precious seconds to come up with a viable game plan.

"Look" I said turning to the police man "I'll need to drive over to the mission house to pick up the director of our program."

"NO!" the man shot back "We are not allowed to let this bus go to another location. You must drive it immediately down to the Supreme Court, or we will seize control and take it down ourselves"

"Ok" I said as I shut off the ignition "I'll do what you want me to do, but before I can go anywhere I'll need to make a phone call to the director. My cell phone is out of credit." I got out of the van and started toward the station to buy a phone card.

"Stop!!! I'm warning you! If you take the keys to the van we'll call a tow truck and have the van towed at your expense"

Realizing that I was inches from a major explosion, I froze in midstride.

{Oh Lord! Please give me the right words to say} I breathed as I slowly walked back to the van.

"Look" I said "Calm down, calm down… You have the wrong people. We're not who you think we are. But… I recognize that you have a job to do today. You must insure that this bus goes down to the Supreme Court. I assure you that I will drive it down to the Supreme Court, but you are making things very difficult for me. I cannot answer all your questions. So you must first allow me to drive a block and a half to pick up our director, and then we will go to the court house."

When the officer heard that I was willing to comply with their request, he relaxed and off to the mission house we went.

At my request, David and Warren came outside to try to talk with the marshals to solve the misunderstanding. As they were futilely presenting their case, another light was beginning to dawn in my mind.

Two years ago I was randomly looking through a little metal filing cabinet at the flight base when I stumbled across the original paperwork documenting the incorporation of Guyana Adventist Medical Aviation Service. All of a sudden this flashed into my mind. Maybe, just maybe this would satisfy the powers that be, and they would let us off the hook.

Unfortunately they wouldn't allow us to drive anywhere else except the courthouse, so reluctantly, David and I drove the bus down to the courthouse and surrendered the key. By this time is was raining cats and dogs, and the outlook looked pretty bleak.

On the way down town we asked the marshals what we could do to get the van "out of jail". They informed us that there were only two people authorized to release the van was the court registrar, and the lawyer representing the plaintiff.   By the time we arrived the plaintiff's lawyer was on his lunch hour, so we decided rather than kill time waiting, to catch a taxi back to the hospital to try and find the document showing the incorporation of GAMAS. Maybe he would see the light and let us off the hook.

We searched carefully through the cabinet, digging fruitlessly through file after file of receipts, letters, manuals, important documents, and the like. Just before 1pm I found the precious documents. David and I ran out the door to flag a taxi.

The plaintiff's lawyer arrived back at his office close to 1:30pm, brushing right past us without a word and into his dilapidated office.   Soon his secretary came out and informed us that, "Mr. Chase can't help you. You will need to get a lawyer to assist you in this matter."

Since we were less than a block from the courthouse, we decided to try the registrar. We showed our documents, explained our situation and asked for assistance. This time they did listen sympathetically. There appeared to be some disagreement amongst them as to what to do. But in the end, the answer was the same. "We can't release the bus without an order from the court. You will need to hire a lawyer."

Sigh…

So to a lawyer we went. The law offices in Georgetown are all within two blocks of the courthouse and so after placing a few phone calls we decided to go to the law office of Boston and Boston.

Mr. Boston graciously ushered us into his office and invited us to have a seat.   After David and I explaining the situation to him he said that he would have to file an "interpleeder" document with the court to appeal the seizure of the bus. He called in one of his secretaries to make some photocopies of our documents. He then turned to us with a gracious smile, stating he could do it for a small fee of $180,000 Guyana dollars ($900 USD).   We were floored. David explained the status of our organization as made up of volunteers. The man didn't miss a beat, "Ok, I'll do it for only $150,000 ($750 USD).   Again David explained what we were doing and asked for consideration of this. He then decided that he would give us his service for $125,000 ($625 USD).   David paused for a moment of consideration. Then asking for $100,000 ($500 USD). The man thought about it and decided that he could do it.

As we walked out of the office it became clear that this wasn't going to be an easy or inexpensive process. We've priced around and the cheapest place wants $250 USD to take the case.

It appears that we'll have to file an interpleeder, and get a court hearing. The judge will listen to our case, and then allow the plaintiff to make his case. The outcome will determine whether we get our van back.   This could take time since everything happens really slowly.

In the mean time we've had to hire multiple taxi's to take us to and from Ogle Airport.

Please keep us in your prayers. We feel that this is yet another way the devil is trying to harass us. But God can work even situations like this to our advantage.

"All things work together for good, to those who love God, and to those who are called according to His Purpose." Rom. 8:28

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Dengue Fever

2010-07-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

At times during our lives certain events happen which leave us scratching our head and wondering whether Romans 8:28 is valid, or whether it has expired.

A month ago our family drove 5 hours to Seattle Washington with every intent to board the airplane that would take us to New York, and then on to Guyana. But after standing in an unbelievably long line, we encountered complications with the baby's paper ticket. We tried to reason with the agent, and even offered to pay for an extra ticket so we wouldn't miss our flight. But to no avail...

Almost in tears we walked back to the car, and retraced the long journey home. How come this happened?

Here's just one reason...

A week ago our bible worker called me from Lethem, and told me the bad news. He had contracted Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever is spread by day feeding mosquitoes, and since the rains have been falling incessantly in Lethem, the mosquito populations have been thriving. The illness includes strong fevers and body aching. There is no cure for Dengue, and like a bad flu virus, it just has to be endured. Certain strains of the disease are extremely deadly.

As I was listening to Jacob tell about his "woes" all of a sudden it struck me. Two weeks prior we would have traveled straight from Georgetown to Lethem. With the road to Shea washed out, we would have been stuck at the mission house Lethem, and almost certainly, most of us would be sick at this moment with Dengue.

But God in his mercy allowed two things to happen. First he delayed our arrival in Guyana by two weeks, and then he sent such a deluge of rains that the only road from Georgetown to Lethem washed out, preventing traffic from passing. So we've had to say here in Georgetown for an extra two weeks.

God truly sees the end from the beginning, and occasionally he allows us to encounter trials and hardship if it will bring honor and glory to His name. But at other times, in mercy, He throws road blocks into our path so that we can continue to move forward in good health and with grateful hearts.

Please pray for our Amerindian bible worker (Jacob) that he would make a rapid recovery because he's been sick for over a week and he's still not fully recovered.

God bless,

James, Joy, Jenna, Julianna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] (no subject)

2010-07-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

We're back in Guyana. (Really, truly!)

The plane that was to fly us from New York to Guyana was delayed 1hr. 30min. due to president Obama's departure. I guess everything grinds to a halt when the president drops in for a visit.

We eventually landed safely in Cheddi Jaegan International Airport at 8:30am last Friday, and stepped off the plane to be greeted to a blast of hot and muggy tropical air.

After 16 hours of continuous travel with a red eye special to finish us off, we were pretty spent. While Joy and the girls crashed at the hospital guest apartment, I decided to hit the streets of Georgetown to check off a few more items of my never-ending-to-do-list.

By Friday, evening we were nicely camped out in the new "temporary" abode. Little did we know that the dirt road that winds through the dense jungle and mountains from Georgetown to Lethem had been washed out at Mabura. And from the pictures in the local newspaper, they haven't even begun to repair it! The rains are still falling off and on, the local people say that it will be this way till the end of the month.

The bible worker also informed us today over the HF Radio that the road to Shea is also washed out in a couple places and only tractors with experienced drivers can pass. The last one carrying school children took 3 days to make an 8 hour trip. The Savanna's are saturated and in some cases flooded with rain. Streams and rivers which used to be but a trickle during dry season, are now raging torrents. Airplanes are the only transportation that can effortlessly get in and out. There's only one other full-time pilot down in region 9 so even air travel is in short supply.

There is some good news though. Malaria appears to be under control in Shea. That is good because during rainy season with limited transportation, malaria drugs can be in short supply.

Even more miraculous is the report that the new church has sustained almost no rain damage to the unprotected walls! It's almost as if our Heavenly Father has allowed heaven's floods gates to open, but at the same time put a sheltering hand over the new church building. It will still be many weeks before we can get the zinc up to Shea but with your continued prayers, the church will come through in fine order.

We praise the Lord for the progress on the new airplane. I just got word that they are presently fitting up the wing tip extensions. Once this is completed, it will be painted and the last items will be finished up and the plane will be ready to for its pilgrimage south.

It will take some time to get it approved by the Guyanese government for work in Guyana, but with each day that goes by we're getting closer to the end goal.

What does that mean for our immediate plans? We're going to see if we can arrange some sort of air travel to Lethem and hopefully Shea Village but this might be a bit of a challenge. We're exploring all our options, and praying for direction.

Take care,

James, Joy, Jenna, and Julianna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] The Unsung Missionary Mechanics

2010-06-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

In a society where too often cash is considered to be "king", I find it very refreshing to finds a few pockets of people who resist this notion, and are willing to freely give of their time and talents.

Two such individuals that I have very high regard for is Mike and Larry at Northwest Air Tech in Kelso, Washington.

Mike and Larry are both licensed airplane mechanics. They've been working hard to prepare the Cessna 182 to fly back down to Guyana, South America. Balancing commercial customers and volunteer work can be kind of tricky at times when bills begin to stack up, but that is exactly what these guys are doing.

Multiple times this last few weeks Mike didn't leave the shop until 8:30pm or later, just so he could keep on this missionary project. With the precision of a general surgeon, Mike has been cutting and fitting the leading edge wing cuff (seen in the picture). It is truly a work of art and the picture hardly does it justice.

Larry on the other hand has spent a good majority of the last two weeks with his nose under the dash of the plane. He's carefully removed all the 60's vintage electrical wiring and is meticulously rewiring the entire instrument panel (a true labor of love!!)

These men are not the kind of guys who draw attention to themselves. In fact, very few people know what they're doing, and the sacrifices they're making. They truly embody the true missionary here in America.

Many have asked us when we're planning to go back to Guyana. We feel torn. We would like to wait until the airplane is complete, but Shea Village has been without their health care worker for 3 months, and we feel we need to get back ASAP. Later when the airplane is completed I'll most likely return to the States to fly it back down.

Blessings to you all.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] News Flash! - Shea Church

2010-04-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

We just received pictures within the last hour from our bible worker. These pictures show the new Shea Church under construction.

As you can see the walls and concrete columns are in place! It's exciting to see the tangible results of a lot of prayer and hard work.

But right now the rains are falling in Region 9 and the bible worker is really concerned that they might soften the concrete blocks and mortar.

PLEASE - take a moment right now to pray earnestly that God would hold back the rains until we can get a zinc roof installed.

The good news is that that rafters for the roof is already cut and ready to use, and we have about $1200 USD in our building fund, but we need and additional $2743 USD to purchase the zinc sheets for the entire church and sabbath school building. This also includes and additional 40 additional sacks of cement to complete the concrete work and the hire of a truck to take all the materials out to Shea.

If you would like to be a part of completing this exciting project, please email me personally, and I would be glad to share with you a breakdown on the individual costs.

My email: ashjam7@yahoo.com

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] The Littlest Ash

2010-03-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Ash tree just sprouted another twig.

Julianna Elise Ash was born Friday evening at 5:59:50 at a water-birth center in Tualatin Oregon. She was 9lbs 1oz.

Thank you for your prayers and support

James, Joy, Jenna, Julianna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flyin Home

2010-03-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

"The journey of four thousand miles begins with a prayer..."

Every pilot who has an adventurous spirit and enjoys flying cross country, dreams of one day island hopping through the Caribbean. It is truly a journey like few others, covering vast expanses of cobalt blue ocean, punctuated by an occasional rugged green outcrop. While we carry an inflatable raft and life jackets for each passenger, we fervently pray that we never have to use them!

Our journey back home began by skirting up the North coastline of Guyana, bypassing Trinidad and Tobago on our way to the island of Grenada. The winds were very favorable, and at one point in our decent into Grenada we were approaching 180 knots!

Brandtley and James flew the airplane while Joy took care of Jenna in the back seat. At first Jenna was excited to be flying, but as the hours clicked by, her interest wore thin. Several times during the course of the trip she became very airsick, and at one point she threw up all over her daddy's lap (what are dad's for anyway???). She finally resigned herself to the trip, and in moments of sheer boredom, she took fiendish delight in kicking the back of James' seat.

From Grenada, we swung up the chain of islands on our way to "Beef Island" (aka British Virgin Island). There we met some really nice Adventist Christians that Brandtley had coincidentally met four months before on his flight down to Guyana. They were so helpful to us, offering to driving us to and from our motel, and even taking us out to eat.

The next morning we got a very early start. We knew that the winds were going to be against us pretty much the whole way, and we wanted to make sure we had enough time and fuel to make it up to Florida before nightfall.

We flew up to Grand Turk Island for a fuel stop and then turned Northwest toward Florida. Just like we expected, the winds were pretty brutal, slowing us below 90 knots for some of the journey. But we doggedly plowed on, and barely made it to Opalaka by sunset, and with our minimum fuel requirements.

Oh, what a blessing to be back on American soil again!

The next day was Friday, so we decided to fly up to Collegedale to spend the weekend. Since we got a late start, we made it into Collegedale airport just after sunset. Evonne Richards from Gospel Ministries was there to pick Joy, Jenna, and I up, and we spent a most delightful weekend at their house.

Sunday morning was clear, cold, and icy. We got off a little later than we had planned, and enroute Brandtley filed an instrument flight plan. These extra delays, coupled with heavy head winds, caused us to change our plans. Our original plan was to fly to Rawlins Wyoming, but as dusk was fast falling and the fuel was getting low, we decided divert to Laramie instead.

It turned out to be providential that we did, because the next morning soon after takeoff, the prop governor decided (on its own) to stop functioning. While the airplane could technically fly, it was like driving a car that was stuck in first gear. We hoped that it would start working again once it warmed up, but no matter how we fiddled with the nob, it refused to work.

Brandtley closed the flight plan and we returned to the Laramie Airport to try and troubleshoot the problem. Three hours and many phone calls later we discovered what we already suspected, that we needed a new governor. Hmmm... What to do?

The mechanic Brandtley called happened to have a Brother that lived 60 miles East of Laramie. After a few phone calls, they offered to drive the 60 miles to come and pick us up. We ended up spending three wonderful days with them, enjoying their warm hospitality, sharing mission stories and pictures.

Looking back now, it's pretty clear. If we had continued on to Rawlins we most likely would have broken down in Rawlins and missed connecting with this wonderful family.

Finally on Thursday the new governor arrived by UPS, and in a couple hours the airplane was back together and the new governor working beautifully.

We were hoping to push all the way to the Pacific Coast, but once again the Lord had another little detour. Several icy storms were rolling inland from the coastline with 50-60 mph surface winds. So we opted instead to stop in Walla Walla for the weekend. James' brother and sister-in-law live near Walla Walla, and were happy to have relatives drop in for an unexpected visit.

Sunday morning we awoke to crystal clear blue skies. There was no rush since the weather was fabulous, and the flight relatively short. Shortly after noon we touched down in Tillamook, Oregon.

We praise the Lord for such a blessed trip. What was supposed to be 6 day trip, turned out to be 11 days instead. But we arrived back safely and that's what really matters.

During the trip Brandtley took a picture of the shadow of our airplane as we were flying through a thin cloud layer. It was one of those Kodak moments. The angle of the suns rays as it hit the water molecules, created a perfectly round rainbow around the shadow of the airplane.

Sometimes we forget that God's promises are always surrounding us. Even when we are suspended in a little tin can with not a hint of dry land in sight, God's faithfulness never lets us go.

God bless,

James, Joy & Jenna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Final Days in Shea

2010-03-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well we're back in the States (for a little while). It seems like we've been caught in such a whirlwind of activity which has taken our breath away.

For the last two months Joy was stationed out in Shea and I was riding back and forth on a motor bike since the airplane was out of commission during this time.

Many people have been asking about the church project. I'm pleased to report that the church project has been moving forward. But the devil is putting up a ferocious fight at every turn. One member from the Sand Creek Church came to Shea village to cut rafters for the church. But when he started cutting with his Stihl 051 Chain saw, that's when the problems began. The tree didn't fall right, and when he started cutting up the lumber, his chain broke three times in one hour. Finally in frustration he stopped and began to pray. After that everything began to go smoothly

The same thing happened with our bible worker. When our bible worker started cutting materials, the brand new Stihl chain that I had personally bought started breaking. He borrowed another brand new chain and kept on working. And then the rings on the piston broke. We bought him a new piston and rings and within a week he was happily cutting again. Then the piston and rings gave out again!!! Now it looks like the block might need to be replaced as well as a piston and rings. He borrowed another saw from our other bible worker, and now this saw has broken down!!!

Midway through the cutting, one of the villagers came forward and demanded that we give him some of our boards because we were cutting on his farm area. We had previously asked the Tosaho (captain) of the village for permission, but this person began making a big stink about it that we had to stop. Since we dare not give boards away for fear that the other villagers would try the same trick, we abandoned the site and found another area to cut from. Fortunately it was a bigger log and better wood.

The devil is challenging every inch of progress, because he knows full well that this church is more than just a worship center. It's a training center from which we're planning to reach the rest of the village and the surrounding villages.

So far we've gotten three tracker loads of sand and a load of gravel built up to start the concrete columns. We need about 4 or 5 times this, but everything takes time and effort since almost everything going into the church has to be carved out of the jungle and the ground in 95 degree weather.

The church members are all dirt poor and can't help much financially, but they've been working really hard, and one of the older ladies is carrying sand on her back in a nylon rice sack! Unbelievable!!! Sometimes they'll carry boards out on their backs for 3+ miles in the dead of night! If they get an early start they say they can do two trips (12+ miles)

Before we left, we gave the leaders $150 USD so that the work could proceed. One of the church members from Sand Creek has also come to help with the concrete construction.

During our final week in Shea we had a 7 night Spiritual Revival. Joy preached most of the sermons, and I filled in a few times. Again, we encountered difficulties. Half way through our video projector blew a bulb and stopped working. Fortunately we had a 21" Color TV, and so we just kept plowing ahead. We had a nightly attendance of 35 -50 persons. In a village of 350, that's not too bad! Even the captain/toshao of the village came out to see what was going on.

People are searching for real answers to their real problems. There is a terrible scourge of alcoholism and spousal abuse in Shea. About a month ago, most of the village was drunk, in celebration of republic day. What is interesting is that the toshao believes that this is a sign of a spiritual problem within the village. Even though the village is predominantly Catholic, and he's a staunch Catholic, he admitted that Catholicism hasn't made their village any better. In fact, things have gotten a lot worse, and people are starting to look elsewhere for the answer to their problems. This is why the devil is trying to throw all sorts of road blocks in our way. This is why other religious groups are trying so desperately hard to get their foot in the door. This is also why we have such mixed feeling about coming back for eight weeks.

But this is God's work, and we're only a small part of the bigger picture. In the next couple GMR's we'll tell you about the amazing 4000 mile trip home in a Cessna 172RG. We'll keep you updated on the new preparations to take a Cessna 182 back down to Guyana.

God bless,

James, Joy, Jenna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Spending New Years Alone

2010-01-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Christmas time was a very busy time for James. It was the week after Christmas that he had to bring back the body of the baby that died. (As mentioned previously)   It just seemed like one thing and then another was happening to keep him away from Shea, and Jenna and I had been alone for several nights.

The day before New Years I was dealing with another situation of a baby with vomiting and diarrhea who was very very dehydrated. Fortunately, the regional hospital had sent IV supplies during the week. I was getting my first opportunity to use them. As I was preparing my equipment I felt the impression to turn on the radio. Within a minute or so, James voice came through asking for me to respond. I instantly felt relieved. It was later in the afternoon, but I felt that if he came right away he would still have time to evacuate this latest baby to Lethem before dark. After losing one baby that week I didn't want a repeat. James told me that he had unexpectedly had to travel to Georgetown and that he was calling me from our flightbase there. I was pretty shocked and disappointed. Now, there was no way to get that baby out. I would just have to deal with the situation by myself. On the radio, I said, "ok". Inside my heart just sank and I wanted to cry, but I had a baby to care for so I went inside my house and knelt down to pray for God to help me. I knew that I couldn't deal with the situation alone.

Jenna stood by my side and watched as I tried desperately to start an IV on that baby. I prayed and tried my best, but was unsuccessful. Two veins gave me a flash of blood, but then I couldn't thread the catheter successfully and they blew. "Oh no!" Now my heart really sank. In the end, I had to give up. Thankfully, the baby was able to still take oral fluids and breastfeed although at ten months of age it was very weak and was having difficulty holding up it's head at times. I wanted the mother to stay at the clinic so I could keep an eye on her baby during the night. Unfortunately, the patient room is more like a tool/junk room and the bed has no mattress. (Mucking that out is a project I just hadn't gotten too.) The mother didn't have a hammock either, so I decided to send her to the place she was staying. I told her to bring the baby back first thing in the morning. I also gave her rehydration drinks and medication along with careful instructions.

I had been expecting a group called the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are a mission group from Oakwood University that does relief and mission work around the world. Anyway, I had made a big pot of lentil soup for them. Well, since James had been called away (by no choice of his own) they weren't able to fly in with him, so I had this large amount of food with nobody to eat it and no refrigeration. I asked the kids of this family with the sick baby if they were hungry. They were famished. So, I was able to feed them. I gave them all huge portions and then just to be sure asked if they were still hungry and they said they were. I felt a little bad because in the process of taking care of Jenna and the baby I forgot to give them more food. The baby and 3 year old child looked especially malnourished so I knew they weren't getting enough to eat at home.

Well, I thought to myself, "The NAPS group won't be coming because James can't bring them and we have all the food they sent to feed themselves on their trip." So, in the morning instead of waiting for the mother of the sick baby to bring it to the clinic I went out with Jenna to get a lady from our church to translate and we packed a large quantity of the food from those bins into bags and off we went.

When we got to the house where the family was staying the mother was down bathing so we were able to take a discreet look around. It was a thatch hut with a dirt floor and some clothes hanging on the walls. I didn't see any hammocks or other sleeping mattresses. A fire had just been put out near the door. A couple of dirty looking puppies were running around the yard. Jenna wanted to play with them.

When the mother came she had the baby with her. Surprisingly, the baby had noticeably improved. He seemed stronger and his fontanel wasn't sunken as far. I was soooo relieved to see some improvement. The mother told me he had been taking the fluid and medications. Through a translator I was able to give the mother some vital education about her child's condition and about malnutrition. I explained why it was so important for her to eat so that her baby would get what it needed from her breastmilk. She told us that they had nothing in the house to eat, so they had given the baby tapioca porridge for breakfast. She thought that this was a fine breakfast!

Wow! I was so thankful that we had been able to have food to bring them. The family was particularly bad off because the father had been away in Lethem with one of the other sick children. The mother allowed us to pray with her as well.

I felt good as we left the house, but I was still nervous about that baby. I was also feeling sorry for myself because Jenna and I were going to spend New Years alone.

Later that day I was preparing some lunch for Jenna and myself when a truck pulled up in the yard carrying 6 people wearing navy blue shirts that said, "NAPS" on them. Now I was embarrassed. I had given their food away. They were very gracious and glad to help. It was wonderful not to be alone anymore, especially, since they had brought a doctor with them. The doctor, a young lady named Marlo, was literally Heaven sent. It was such a relief to me to be able to talk with her about some of the patients I was worried about and take her to visit the sick baby and its sibling. We started telling people that an American doctor was there to help people. In no time at all people started lining up at the clinic to see the doctor. So, that evening and all the next morning she saw people.

When we visited the dehydrated baby she agreed with me that he seemed to be improved based on what I had told her. We had a nice time with the NAPS group and one girl watched Jenna for me so I could spend time with Marlo seeing patients. They even made an outdoor oven for me, for the purpose of making my own charcoal.

Well, the next morning the infant had obviously started to worsen again. Marlo tried to start an IV and it was just impossible. We decided that that baby just needed to go out to Lethem, so NAPS packed their things and left a little early with the mom and baby. I was sorry to be alone again, but was so relieved to know that infant would have more advanced care available.

So, you might be thinking, "Why didn't God answer my prayer for help when I was trying to start that IV?" God did answer my prayer, just not in the way I thought He should. God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. I don't understand all of the whys and wherefore's but God is working to strengthen my faith in Him. He has a thousand ways of solving our problems of which we know nothing.

                                             "The Lord's our rock,
                                              in Him we hide,
                                          a shelter in the time of storm."

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Joy's World

2010-01-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family

Jenna and I just returned from 3 weeks in Shea. James has been in and out doing some medivacs and other things. I have so many stories to share from the last three weeks that I could keep you reading for an hour, but I'll try to keep it short.

Jenna has been getting a serious introduction to medical work for one so young. She loves to be in the clinic with me and sit on my lap while I'm talking to patients. She has a soft heart for sick babies and wants to hold their hands and play with them (much to the consternation of her mother!). I feel torn because I don't want her getting some of the contagious things that patients have, but neither do I want to give them the impression that we don't want to associate with them. So we've reached a compromise, and Jenna has been getting a lot of extra scrubbing in private.

My eyes are really being opened to the true needs of the people. I'm sure a bigger picture will emerge as we experience their culture more and see how they live.

So far, I'm a bit overwhelmed by what I see. The village has about 400 occupants, not all living within the village proper. Last week I had 33 patients.

I'm seeing what a terrible scourge alcoholism is. The parents with this problem spend more of their day drinking rather than farming. In certain families, all the kids are hungry and malnourished. The mothers drink home brewed alcohol while they are breastfeeding and don't eat healthfully themselves. Their babies are thin and malnourished. Then when they become ill they are really sick. On top of the whole problem of alcoholism is the problem of drinking water. We're supposed to be in the middle of rainy season, but it hasn't been raining. It's very dry and some families are drinking stagnant pond water. These ponds are very dirty and the cows and pigs also drink from these ponds. People don't boil the water either. They also don't wash their hands before they eat and eat with their hands. A good number of the kids under 3 appear to have worms.

One particular family lives out in the bush about 4 hours walk from the village center. They don't have a house, just some type of leaf shelter. They have at least 6 kids, all with sad eyes and dejected expressions. The parents are both alcoholics. We sent out the 12 year old girl for suspected Leishmaniasis. She had 5 sores on her legs, one of which she had had for three months and was over 2 inches in diameter. I tried treating the sores with some generic topical medication in the clinic, but it didn't seem to respond. So James took her to Lethem to get IV medication. I also sent out the 10 month old infant to Lethem with the mother from the same family as well because he was weak and dehydrated. He had had a bout of malaria and a couple of bouts of diarrhea and vomiting, all within the last month.

The 3 year old boy in the same family also has a sore on his leg, but I'm hoping it can be treated locally and we won't have to send him out as well! These children are so hungry. The mother confessed to me they had nothing to eat since the father had gone out a couple of weeks earlier to Lethem with the sick daughter. Thankfully, a group from the US had left two big bins of food and I was able to give them a whole bunch of supplies that will hopefully last the children, until the parents return. It just makes you want to cry when you see how some people live.

Most of the families don't live this way, but there are some who are destitute, and living in extreme poverty. The poor families appear to grow only cassava and bananas on their farms. There's lots of room for agriculture education.

There's currently a region wide outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting in children under two years of age. It has been so rampant that the regional field hospital has been running short of liquid medications. In Shea it appears that the problem may be slowing down. I've been trying to spread the word to parents to not wait to bring the children in for treatment. We had to evacuate 3 babies in the last month due to severe dehydration.

Two weeks ago we flew to a village 15 minutes flight away from Shea. Friday night the parents of a sick infant in Shea both went out to a drinking party. Concerned villagers told me the baby was getting worse, but the parents didn't bring it back to see me (for whatever reason). Sabbath morning James and I flew to Sand Creek to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the church. In the hours that we were gone, the baby took a turn for the worst. Still, the mother waited for us to return on Sunday. As soon as I arrived back in Shea, they met us at the airstrip and said, "Please come, a baby is dying, It's getting cold." I went up to the clinic to find this very dehydrated and weak infant. It had a fever, but I was still able to give it medication by mouth and it was still breastfeeding. There was also another child with a fever and abdominal infection who needed to go at the same time so James rushed off to Lethem with both of them. Unfortunately, we found out that the dehydrated baby died 18 hours later at the Lethem hospital. James flew the mother and baby back to the village for the funeral. I cried when they put that small box in the ground. That baby should not have died. I kept thinking, "If only I had IV supplies... If only we hadn't been out of the village... If only the parents had brought her in sooner... If only they had gotten an IV on the baby when it arrived in Lethem". There are a lot of "What-If's" in this kind of situation.

We have emphasized to the villagers that in future if we happen to be out of the village, to please try to contact us on the radio and we will come. We don't want to lose more babies while they wait for us to come back. The good news is that the 3 year old boy with the abdominal infection is doing better. He will have to undergo surgery at some future time to completely solve his problem.

Everywhere we go there are physical and spiritual needs. We're getting ready to come back to the States to have our second child. We're excited because we haven't been back in over a year, but we're reluctant to leave our post of duty.

Sincerely

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] The first 13,000lbs.

2009-12-27T16:38:00.000-08:00

We received the first truck load of 13,000 lbs of cement and rebar. This will build the foundation of the new Shea Church.

We also began leveling the ground in preparation for pouring the foundation. A group from Brazil will come and help in the construction. We're racing to finish the church by the end of February when Joy and I plan to return to the States for the birth of our second child.

We hope to launch an evangelistic series at this time as well.

Thank you to those who have prayed for us, and those who have helped to make this possible. We'll post more stories and pictures as the church goes up.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141

Blog Site: www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Latter Rain

2009-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Guyana's weather is roughly divided into four seasons. We have two dry seasons, and two rainy seasons. Right now we're in the midst of the "latter rains" of December and January.

Last Wednesday when we arrived in Shea Village the rain water tanks were filthy, and the pipes connected to the health clinic gutters were broken and disconnected. It hadn't rained in months and the wells were beginning to dry up. I tried asking some of the villagers if it had rained recently, but the best answer I could get was, "Not really".

Hmmm. What to do?

I decided to take a hours to fix the water tanks in hope that it might rain. When I drained the scum water out of the back tank, a dead frog came out! Yuck! This called for more than a swab job. Crawling into each tank I vigorously scrubbed them out with bleach water. I then scrubbed down the gutters, and finally finished by fixing the pipes and setting everything back up. What a job! I thought it would only take a couple hours, but it ended up taking almost a day and a half to complete.

When I finished the last tank on Friday afternoon I felt a certain satisfaction knowing that if it rained we would be ready to collect all the rain water, and that it wouldn't make us sick. Around midnight that night, while we were sleeping, without warning the sky opened up and dumped on us for about an hour solid, giving us almost 1000 gallons of fresh rain water. If you've ever heard the sound of heavy rain on zinc, you know that it is absolutely deafening. It was like music to my ears!

As we were lying in bed listening to rain drops thundering on zinc, the Lord spoke quietly to my mind about the Latter Rain.

Just before Jesus returns to this earth, God is going to send a spiritual rain shower to drench this earth (Joel 2:28,29). Only those who have been cleansed from sin, emptied of self, connected to the word, and standing upright, will be able to receive the Holy Spirit when it is poured out.

Now (in this apparently dry season) is the time to search our souls and to make a special preparation. If we wait for the rains it will be too late.

I invite you today to consider this little object lesson and to join us in praying that God would prepare each of us for that time.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Pictures

2009-12-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

Picture #1 - New literature to our bible worker in Kopinang
Picture #2 - Dismantling a motor bike for transport in the airplane.
Picture #3 - Medivac from Aishalton Village - Woman with a difficult labor. The baby was born soon after arrival, but the baby (last I heard) is still in critical condition.
Picture #4 - Loading the patient into the Ambulance in Lethem.

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Tale of Three Airplanes

2009-11-24T11:56:00.001-08:00

This is the true tale of the three little airplanes.... (forget the three little pigs)

Six weeks ago I was driving the mission van around Georgetown when my cell phone rang. It was the chief mechanic who was doing the annual inspection on the Guyanese airplane I fly. His first words were "James - I've got some bad news for you". He then proceeded to tell me that they had found all sorts of metal in the oil filter, indicating that the engine was starting to break down. A thousand thoughts swirled around in my mind, but I distinctly remember thinking "Ok Lord... Now What?"

The answer wasn't long in coming. Two days later a close friend wrote me a one line email. "Praying for you, Do you want my airplane?" I didn't quite know what he was thinking about, so I called him up. He said that since I had flown his Cessna 182 two summers ago, the airplane had been mostly sitting on the ramp. In fact the airplane was presently tore all apart in its annual inspection. My friend was intending to sell it the moment it came out of annual. That's when he got the email about our airplane and felt impressed to contact us. He'd already had a couple solid offers on the airplane but told us that he was willing to let it go for half the market value if it would be used for mission work. When I hung up, I remember thinking "Great Lord! Now What?"

Later that day I happened to be talking to some people on Skype. Unbeknownst to me they had been praying earnestly that God would provide a Cessna 182 for us to use. When I related this opportunity to them, they were ecstatic. This set off a chain of events, and by the end of the day God had provided the funds to purchase the aircraft.

In the mean time I was still months away from having another airplane. Again, I wondered to myself "Now what do we do?" But God had already gotten this covered. Another close friend of mine had heard of the unfolding situation and felt impressed to bring his Cessna 172RG down to Guyana so we could keep flying. This last week and a half I've been flying in the new aircraft. It's been a tremendous blessing, and already we've done a couple missionary flights including a medivac of a snake bite victim.

So at this moment, the Guyanese airplane that I flew all last year is in Bethany (minus the engine). About a week ago some of our missionary mechanics pulled the engine off and when they removed the cylinders they instantly saw the problem. The cam followers were pretty beat up on all the intake cams and were wearing down the cam shaft lobes. What was causing this? Nobody is sure.

As I write this email the Cessna 182 is finishing up its annual and will soon get fitted up for its flight to Collegedale TN where it will get some huge tundra tires for the rough strips down here. Then it will be ferried down to Guyana.

I'll continue to fly the 172RG until the 182 arrives, and then continue the work with the Cessna 182. In the mean time we're working on starting a church building project in Shea.

We'll fly back to the States near the end of Febuary for the birth of our second child.

I'm always in amazement at how God provides for the work down here. He always seems to have just the right solution at just the right time. What an awesome God we serve!

Sincerely

James & Joy Ash

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Dragon was Wroth with the Woman...

2009-11-01T09:53:00.001-08:00

Here is a fresh report that indicates how the Devil is working overtime to undo the gospel work in Shea.

The Church of Christ has been very active in Region 9 and is doing a strong evangelistic push into the villages. Wherever they go they preach a watered down gospel, and offer all sorts of material gifts (i.e. food, clothing, T.V.'s, VCR's, Bicycles, and even money itself!) Naturally thousands are flocking to the free "loaves and fishes" and are getting baptized. The sad part about this is that it makes a mockery of the true gospel, and feeds the covetous spirit of the poor Amerindians.

Just within the last two weeks a group from this church traveled up to Shea Village to meet with the Adventist members to get them to join their church. They met with the new Adventist believers and began to tell them erroneous teachings, such as 1) The Sabbath has been switched from Saturday to Sunday due to Christ raising on Sunday. 2.) Pentecost happened on a Sunday (flatly false) 3) The Law was nailed to the cross, therefore we need not worry about keeping Saturday Sabbath. They also brought out gifts and offered the Shea church members money if they would become baptized into their church! Many prospective Adventists were taken by their ploy, and at least one known Adventist member was "baptized" into their church.

Also they performed an instant wedding service for the deputy toshao and baptized him and his wife.

The new Adventist Members were confused and many were inclined to join the movement. Fortunately the leader (Sandra Rodrigues) sent a letter to Sand Creek telling them what was going on and implored them to come quick otherwise everyone (including herself) would join the Church of Christ.

A group from the Sand Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church set out immediately for Shea. When they arrived the Church of Christ group was just leaving. The Church of Christ people were planning to stay another three days, but when they heard that the Adventist members from Sand Creek were coming to town, they decided to leave early, promising to come back to baptize the others.

The group from Sand Creek has spent about a week with them doing bible study, and answering their many questions directly from the bible. Fortunately most of the members didn't apostatize, and the one who did confessed with tears his error and wants to be rebaptized. The members have also talked with the deputy and explained how marriage in Guyana works, and that they aren't legally married. Needless to say he's pretty confused as well.

The good news is that the group from Sand Creek helped the Shea members frame up the new temporary structure. This fulfills the Shea Council requirement of starting the building within eight months. This coming week, I'll be traveling with a team into Shea Village and we'll begin building the permanent structure..

I know this report may be shocking, but this underscores several important things.

The Devil is not happy that the work is going forward in Shea, and he's going to do everything that he can to disrupt the gospel.
The Church of Christ group has promised to come back at a later time to rebaptize the other members. We must not leave the Shea members open to attack until Joy and I can move there permanently. Please pray for the last documents to be written giving us permission to move out there.
Part of the group from Sand Creek are staying in Shea until we can go back there to work on the church building.
We must work diligently to ground these new believers in the word of God so that they will not be blown about by every wind of doctrine.
We must move forward quickly with the church structures as it will encourage the members and send a statement to the community.

While it is true that the devil is hard at work, it is also true that the Lord is even harder at work. We praise the Lord that a major disaster has been averted.
Please pray for the work. We're moving forward together with NAPS to finish the first phase of the church building and prepare the way for the second phase when plan to come on a mission trip in December.
Sincerely
James Ash

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Man's Extremity...

2009-10-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Someone once said, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity" If this is true, then the great news is that we are facing some awesome opportunities for God to work.

About a week and a half ago I flew the airplane back up to Georgetown for some aircraft maintenance, and to do some errands for the church building project.. I was driving the van around Georgetown when I received the cell phone call from the mechanic. His first words were, "James, I have some bad news for you". He then proceeded to tell me that when they drained the oil out of the engine, that they picked up an alarming amount of ferrous metal in the oil filter. This is concerning since it could potentially cause a break down in the engine. The mechanic said that we would need a new engine or do a major overhaul, but flying it any further was totally out of the question.

I finished up my tasks in Georgetown and took the bus back to Lethem (13.5 hours). Today I got the results from the oil sample we sent to the States. The results conclude the same as the mechanic, indicating that we're picking up a higher than normal ferrous content in the oil. Probably one or more of the bearings are disintegrating causing the foreign particles in the oil.

So where do we go from here? The answer is forward. We don't know how but God has miraculously provided us this opportunity to work in Shea Village, and we must answer that call.

While we're praying for another airplane engine for the airplane, we'll have to rent or buy a truck so we can keep moving forward. This is a critical time in our mission, and we can't afford to lose what God has provided for us.

Please take sixty seconds to pray for us right now so that we would have lots of wisdom to know how best to move forward.

God bless,

James, Joy & Jenna

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] First Delivery in Shea

2009-10-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

We had a most wonderful time out in Shea Village this last weekend. We got there Thursday evening just in time to see a beautiful Savanna Sunset. The sunrise and sunsets in the bush are absolutely fabulous!

Since we weren't set up to cook, we ate dried fruit and nuts for supper. Both of us were tired from the long day, and fell asleep to the sound of a horse ripping off grass. In the middle of the night Joy woke up to what she though was Jenna snoring. As the noise got louder she realized it was

a pig grunting. The animals weren't too bad. Once James had to drive off a cow who was trying to eat Jenna's ark, and twice James had to chase a pesky rooster who started crowing right outside our bedroom window right at 5am.

Friday we spent the whole day cleaning. The floor was filthy and our stuff was pretty disorganized. We made banana bread and corn bread in our new oven. We praise the Lord for this little luxury in the midst of our jungle living.

Friday night James went to the meeting at the church and had a nice time there. Joy stayed back and put Jenna to bed. She seemed to like it out there, especially playing with the kids.

While we were making breakfast Sabbath morning, somebody came to tell Joy there was a lady in labor who needed her help.

The lady informed us that the mother was "passing out". So Joy went to help out. The clinic had a wooden fetoscope, but Joy couldn't pick up any fetal heartbeat whatsoever.

This was the third baby for this girl and indeed she was "passing out". She would hyperventilate then hold her breath and effectively "pass out" and stop breathing for 3 or 4 seconds. Joy was worried about how that might be stressing the baby out. So, she tried to help her keep her breathing a little deeper and more even. That seemed to help the problem. Joy was also able to get the father involved too, although he was more nervous than a cat on a tin roof! Joy's plan was to have James fly the mother to Aishelton or Lethem but in the end Joy ended up delivering the baby, in a hammock no less.

Thankfully, the baby started breathing on its own immediately. (Joy says - "Having no oxygen handy makes me nervous.") Everything really turned out to be just fine, thanks to God's help. So many things could have gone wrong, but nothing did. Joy did have a little trouble figuring out what to clamp the baby's cord with though. The clinic is so poorly supplied that there wasn't much to choose from. Eventually the cord was tied and cut. Joy says that in the future she'll have a delivery kit ready, so that when she's called on, she can just grab and go in a moment's notice.

Joy washed up and made it to church in time for the sermon. The church members had asked her to teach the children's Sabbath School, but they decided to do a group study instead. The dilapidated adobe church building that they're presently using was packed out. That little building needs more benches for the people they have. We didn't count but there were probably

thirty to thirty five people.

Sabbath afternoon Joy got her opportunity to do her Sabbath School presentation, during the AY presentation. James did a second sermon on the topic of the Second Coming accompanied by a "multi media" felt presentation. The kids really like felts and when we were done they got up and sang for us in English and Wapishana (their dialect). It was very sweet.

Sunday morning James got up at 5:30 to "fetch" boards for the new church. The people in Shea are not waiting for anybody. They have their plan and a

lthough they are poor they are starting to cut lumber whenever they have gasoline for the chainsaw. James came back about noon. He was exhausted and said he thought he had walked at least 10 miles. He carried out four boards. Those boards are extremely heavy too since they haven't dried out. At least the weather was dry and not raining!

When he did it before in Paruima he would sometimes slip and slide in the mud and that made it infinitely harder. Anyway, almost all the church members came out to help even the kids and the grandmothers carried boards which was very impressive! Joy felt a little guilty for not going herself. She cooked though and when James and some of the church leaders arrived back they were ravenous! The church members brought us a huge pile of plantains and bananas and sugar can and a few greens. It was very generous of them since this is what they use to survive.

When James came back and we got our stuff together we barely made it to Lethem before sundown.

Part of the reason for getting such a late start was that several more people came for treatment. One of them was a mentally ill girl. The family wanted Joy to do a physical evaluation on her so that they can send her to Georgetown. Joy doesn't think that her evaluation will count but she did it anyway to make them happy. This poor girl was so scared. She is really like a baby mentally. She can walk and feed herself and follow simple directions but that is all. She doesn't speak at all. They said she was normal until she was two and then something happened and she has been like this ever since. They couldn't tell Joy what happened exactly. This girl pinches and bites and wanders around and gets lost and eats dirt and other non food items. She also is not toilet trained and goes all over the house. The back of her hands are terribly scarred where she has bitten herself repeatedly. The family is at their wits end to know how to deal with her. It's such a sad situation it almost makes you want to cry. There is a real person inside that body because you could see her looking out at you, but it's like you can't reach inside the box to touch her.

So many hurting people in this world. Some cases are just more severe than others. James had a special prayer with the girl and her family. We'll have to see what happens in her future.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Today's Medivac Flight

2009-09-23T18:50:00.001-07:00

It appears that the pregnant lady is going to be ok, but her baby is probably dead. The medex at the field hospital in Aishalton said that the mother appears to be stable, but they couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat. We prayed at the airstrip for the mother and baby and I flew her immediately back to the main hospital here in Lethem. Tomorrow I'll find out what happened.

Thank you so much for the prayers and continued prayers for the family.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Urgent Prayer Request!

2009-09-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm just sending a short note asking for you to pray. James just flew out to bring a pregnant lady from Aishelton Village. When they called asking for help, they said they could barely find a pulse on her. So unless God performs a miracle, she won't get through.

Thank you so much!

Blessings,

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Digging for water

2009-09-18T10:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we began digging for our new well in Shea.

Shea Village has a problem with drinking water. The government has promised to dig some new wells for them, but so far they've not come through. Politicians here aren't any different than elsewhere. They make all sorts of grandiose promises until elections are past, and then they are promptly forgotten.

Some in the village have grown tired of waiting, and dug their own wells but they're pretty primitive. They're not cased, and don't have protective coverings to prevent contamination or small children or animals falling in.

The Health clinic where we will be staying at does have some rain water tanks, but they only work well during rainy season. When the weather turns hot, the tanks dry up.

So we realized right away that we would need to dig a well. Believe or not, this is the perfect time to do it because it's been really dry, and the water table has gone way down.

Yesterday morning we measured approximately 100 feet from the outhouse and started digging the ring. I got about 1" down and hit concrete. Opps! It was a left over project from a long ago. So we moved the site over about 5 feet and begin digging the 5 foot perimeter.

Since we were in a rush to get this project done we drew up a contract with the Toshao (captain) to hire 4 men to work on this full time for the next five days (except Sabbath).

The soil is hard clay mixed with volcanic stone and a little sand. It's pretty hard digging but definitely doable. The nice thing is that there is no danger of the well collapsing.

By Monday this next week they should be down about 20 feet and hit water.

What's so cool about this well is that a major path in the village goes right past the well, and when we set up our water tanks on the tower, we'll set up a faucet so that the villagers can help themselves. I just hope that when they come for water, that they'll stay and learn about the "Water of Life".

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Riding to Georgetown

2009-09-09T10:56:00.001-07:00

By the time you read this email, I should be on a minibus traveling 11 hours to Georgetown to pick up the airplane. I was supposed to leave on the big bus this morning, but unfortunately they cancelled it.

After a month of delays, the airplane is finally through with its annual, and tomorrow the official from Civil Aviation will inspect the aircraft. If everything goes according to plan (like we're praying) I should be able to do some test flights, and have the airplane ready to go by the early part of next week.

The Lord tells us in Isaiah 55 that His thoughts and His ways are much higher than our thoughts and ways. We wondered why God allowed such a long delay with the airplane.

One of the things we did recently is help with a Vacation Bible School at the Lethem Church. We consistantly had 30+ kids come out to the program, and even though Joy and I had never done anything like this, it sparked some ideas of what we would like to do in Shea. Now the kids are calling out to me as I pass on the road. It was fun.

Right across the street is a family of Jehovah's Witnesses. One of the ladies is dying of colon cancer. A couple days ago she was in such excruciating pain that she was praying for death. Joy has been going over there frequently during the day, and even at night to administer injections and bring comfort to the family. They are very grateful for her help. Two nights ago we baked the family a whole pan of cinnamon rolls. With six kids and five adults, I doubt they lasted more than 24 hours.

Please pray for us as we minister to these people.

God bless,

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Three Envelopes and Answered Prayers

2009-08-27T17:57:00.001-07:00

We are really praising the Lord for his abundant mercy and grace. Just recently I went down to the Ministry of Health and picked up three envelopes. One was addressed to our ministry, one was addressed to the Regional Health Officer (RHO), and one was addressed to the Regional Executive Officer (REO). These three envelopes are the letters of permission from the Regional Health Services for Joy to become the health worker in Shea Village.

Two days ago I delivered the letters to the RHO. After carefully reading it over, he looked me in the eye and said "this is what we've been waiting for." What a relief!

The only thing that is slowing us down right now is the airplane. The airplane is presently in Georgetown going through its annual inspection. Please pray that there will be no major snags with this inspection. The inspectors from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority will go through the airplane, stem to stern and look at everything. During this inspection, they are constantly looking for any snag to remedy. The airplane could potentially be down for several weeks, or even drag out longer if they insist on replacing a lot of parts.

This is God's work and we are learning how to depend on Him.

I finished another small video on the bible work that we have going right now. Here's the link to the two video's we have on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JspZBbJvQCg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKwr3NHqazc

You can see pictures and read other reports on our blog - www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

God bless

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Moving forward while we wait

2009-08-15T16:28:00.001-07:00

We're still waiting for the final green light to move out to Shea Village. But in the mean time God has been moving in some truly amazing ways. Here's a couple examples.

Last Monday we received an airmail package with some donated funds for the bible workers. Soon after receiving the package, I went to the local store and bought some groceries to fly out to the bible worker in Aishalton village.

Allow me to pause the story for a second -- Our bible workers are an integral part of the gospel work in the interior. We give them a small monthly stipend, and in return they do full time outreachministry. The bible worker in Aishalton has a little chinese-made motorbike and travels from village to village meeting new people, studying the bible with interested persons, and supporting the new Adventist believers in Shea and Aishalton. Our other bible worker here in Lethem runs the TV station, studies the bible with people, and leads out as an elder in the local church. A number of baptisms, and the whole church in Shea Village is a direct result of their hard work and selfless sacrifice. These two bible workers are such an inspiration to Joy and I, and we're happy to do everything we can to support them.

So when the funds arrived, we immediately went to get groceries for the bible worker in Aishalton. As I was loading the airplane, I got an impression to call the Regional Health Officer (RHO) and ask if he had anything that needed to be transported to Aishalton. He almost shouted "YES!" Evidently the hospital in Aishalton was low on propane to run their refrigerator. They had thousands of US Dollars worth of vaccines in the fridge and they were worried that if they ran out of propane that the vaccines might spoil. So I ended up flying about 250 pounds of propane tanks. When I touched down, the Aishalton hospital administrator met me at the airstrip, beaming from ear to ear. So was I!!!

A day later (Thursday) the RHO called me again on my cell phone and asked if I could transport some of his health workers from Aishalton to Lethem for a workshop. It was too late in the day to fly them out on Thursday, but I promised to try and help them on Friday.

Back to Aishalton I went to pick up two nurses and a health worker. They were very grateful to take a 35 minute flight instead of an 8 hour bumpy road trip, and I was once again grateful for the opportunity to serve!

When the taxi came to collect them at the airport the RHO took me aside and asked if I could help with a medivac. A 16 year old girl with severe abdominal pain was in Annai, and couldn't travel by bus to Georgetown since it was too painful. Most likely it was kidney stones, or a possible appendicitis. I was planning to fly to Georgetown on Sunday since the airplane was due for its 200 hour inspection on Monday, but when the RHO told me about this situation, I decided to fuel up the airplane before sunset (just in case). Sure enough! Right after Sabbath School this morning I got the call. The RHO informed me that the family had traveled from Annai to Lethem and were ready to go. I met them at the airport and after preflighting the airplane, we departed immediately. Before we lifted off I prayed a special prayer, asking God to give us favorable winds so that we would arrive early. Usually the flight back to Georgetown is long and bumpy since you're fighting a huge head wind the whole way. But today was different. The wind for the most part stopped blowing, and at times we got gusts of tail wind! My ground speed edged up to 105 knots per hour, and we arrived over 20 minutes earlier than normal (which is absolutely phenomenal!).

The Lord had another small blessing in store for me. I had no transportation to take me from the airport back to the hospital, and I didn't want to hire a taxi on the Sabbath. So I prayed about it and started down the road in 100 degree sun. Soon a car pulled up beside me. It was the airfield inspector from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). I had flown her out to the Bethany Airstrip just a month before. She asked me where I was going and when I told her, she said she was going to going to her seamstress which happened to be close by! She also had wonderful air-conditioning! God is so good!

Joy and Jenna are still in Lethem. We're still waiting for the the letter of approval from the director of regional health services. The airplane is facing a 200 hour inspection on Monday. In one sense we're waiting on God. But ironically God is calling us to move forward while we wait. We count it a huge privilege to play a small part in this wonderful gospel work.

Thanks for your earnest prayers, and positive encouragement. You have no idea what this means to us.

God bless

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Answers to Prayer

2009-08-04T18:14:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone

We are pretty excited right now. We just got back from a nice meeting with Medex Xavier (Regional Health Officer). We delivered the documents and letters that he was requesting.

He then related to us what had happened during his trip to Georgetown. Evidently, word had traveled up through the ranks of the ministry of health that an NGO had sent mosquito nets into Shea Village. Evidently it had caused some serious waves, because unbeknownst to us the Ministry of Health was planning to do something similar. They had (and still have) 5000 mosquito nets neatly packed away into 150 large bales. But for some strange reason, they've not given the final approval to distrubute the nets, inspite of a major malaria outbreak in Shea, inspite of the fact that there's 80+ cases of dengue fever in Lethem! So with this background in mind, in steps this little NGO and preempts their project. You can now see why it got their attention. It basically thrust the issue of our move to Shea into the spotlight. Word traveled up even to President Jagdeo himself! The Toshao from Shea told him last week that we were helping their village through mosquito net distribution.

The RHO is so frustrated with the situation of the unused nets. He had a meeting yesterday about this, and is scheduled to have yet another meeting tomorrow. He's also asked that James join him at the meeting! 5000 nets sounds like alot, but Lethem alone has 6000-7000, let alone all the villages in the interior. It's hardly a drop in the bucket!

In fact, during our conversation, RHO Xavier took out his cell phone and called the director of Regional Health Services and requested that he immediately write a letter of approval so that we can start working in the region. The director promised to fax it across tomorrow. When the letter arrives the Medex wants to attach it to the documents we gave just him, and then immediately go with him to meet with the Regional Executive Officer.

As we reflect over the events of the last three weeks, we're amazed at how God has led in each event. The very day I was planning to fly from Georgetown to Shea, I took sick. Then when I recovered there were two other flights that needed immediate attention, further delaying our departure. When we finally did go to Lethem we were further delayed in trying to get the nets treated. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it allowed us to interface with the RHO personally, and for us to work together with him and his wife. This broke down barriers, and now the RHO is anxious to help us get our approval and he's personally driving the process forward. If we would have gone directly to Shea a week before, we would have short circuited the process, and it would have taken much longer.

The bottom line is that we wouldn't be where we are right now if people hadn't responded to our call to prayer. Thank you to one and all who have stood together with us during this uncertain time.

James & Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-629-5141
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Mosquito Nets and Cassava Currie

2009-08-02T18:29:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday I personally delivered seven huge garbage bags containing 80 hammock mosquito nets into the care of the deputy toshao of Shea. When I told him how many were donated, he said that there would be just enough for each family to receive one. I had the privilege of giving each family their net. Wow! This will really help to prevent the present and future spread of malaria in the village. Praise the Lord!

Thank you for those who helped with this project! This is the core of need based evangelism. When we scratch where others itch they are so grateful! It breaks down barriers and opens hearts to the presentation of the gospel. We're itching to do that too! For now we're trying to share our love in tangible ways.

I spent some time on Thursday mosquito proofing the clinic with styrofoam. It's a pretty daunting task when you think of all the different ways those critters can come through the cracks and holes.

I had a real eye opening conversation with the Deputy Toshao. He related to me the story of how he had started out dirt poor, farming peanuts. Through back breaking hard work, he worked his way up the economic ladder. Now he owns the best shop in the village, and has a herd of 22 cows. He says that he hopes to have 40 cows by next year. I asked him how many other villagers raised cows. He mentioned that surprisingly very few people in the village own livestock. My curiousity was piqued by this anomoly and so I had to ask a follow up question. "Why don't other people follow your example and build themselves a better life?" His answer was really sad. "As long as they can grow just enough cassava to make their alcoholic currie they're happy."

Three weeks ago when I was working on putting in window screens into the health clinic we heard about a snake bite victim in the village. When I arrived at the hut the first thing I saw was a guy sprawled out face down in the sand. At first I thought that he was the snake bit victim, but the villagers assured me that it wasn't. As it turned out, the man sprawled on the sand had drunk too much currie and had passed out. About half of the villagers standing around the snake bite victim were drinking currie from old butter containers. One man was even slow dancing.

The devil has some deep strongholds in this village.

God's power can break these strongholds and we ask for your continued prayer for us because Joy and I know very little about helping people overcome alcoholism. A complete set of materials for a 12 step program have already been very generously donated. Would anyone be interested in conducting a 12 step program for the village? Seriously!

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
http://www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] More Opposition...Please Keep praying!

2009-07-30T08:10:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

James took those nets out to Shea yesterday. I expect him tonight. He was going to continue work on the screen project and do some mosquito habitat spraying.

Please keep praying. The Ministry of Health found out we are distributing nets and called the hospital here to find out about it. Apparently, the opposition to what we are doing has spread or the troubler is just widening his net. The devil doesn't waste time. James hasn't even returned yet. However, the thing to remember is that God has the power. Perhaps this attack will actually backfire and turn out to be a lot of positive PR for the Lord.

Have a wonderful day filled with blessings,

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
http://www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] More News

2009-07-27T19:04:00.001-07:00

Hi Everybody,

I hope you are well. I really want to say how much I really appreciated all of the prayers and concern for James last week when he wasn't feeling well. He was still trying to function even though he felt rotten. I begged him to stay in bed. God is the great healer and so James fine now. It did delay our plans and he couldn't get out of Georgetown until Friday.

We are staying with the Bible Worker at the TV station. He has been very kind and helpful in letting us stay with him and helping us learn how to get around here in Lethem. I never thought we would have the TV on in our house for 10 hours a day, so that is a new experience. :) They broadcast 3ABN, so it's really nice programming.

Today, we were able to meet with the regional health officer (RHO) at his home. He is in charge of health for the entire region. We had a very nice visit. We were able to discuss our plans to help Shea and the region as a whole. He told us he could use someone to do continuing education for nurses. That would be great since I enjoy teaching. He also needs someone to help with transporting supplies, personnel to do immunizations, and so on. He is a really nice Christian man with three children.

Sunday, James was disappointed. Because of the opposition to our coming that was started from a key person in another village, he decided to not go to Shea that day as planned, but to wait and talk to the RHO first. Well, the Lord, brought a blessing out of that. When we talked to the RHO today, he told us that he and his wife are trained to treat bed nets. Tomorrow he is going to show James how to treat all these nets James purchased last week. That should be interesting. They are going to suit up with personnel protective equipment. This substance is supposedly not harmful to humans. It makes a person wonder.

We tried to buy chemicals for net treatment in Georgetown before we left, but they were out throughout the city. The next order was due in one month. Even Ministry of Health didn't have any. Well, this RHO helped us find a place here to buy some. James is going to fly these nets to Shea as soon as they are finished.

We have a couple more hoops to jump through before the RHO can grant me final permission to work out in Shea. We are hoping the process won't take too long. Please pray for the barriers to be removed in this situation. God can work miracles and his timing is impeccable so we're counting on Him.

The captain of Shea Village, Larry, called this morning. He is very anxious that we come. He is wondering why the delay, since the village wants us to come so badly. He told us that the malaria problem is still an issue. It's a little hard to explain about why it takes so much time to go through the proper channels. Hopefully, our presence here in Lethem will help speed things up.

A 1 inch long unidentifiable creature just scuttled under my feet and a lizard just dropped something on my hand from his perch above. I think that's a sign I need to go to bed while I'm ahead. The eves are open on this house and surprisingly I haven't seen one bat. It's weird.

Thank you again for your prayers. They mean a lot!

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Moved South...

2009-07-26T08:55:00.001-07:00

We finally made the move!!!

We'd been delayed and delayed with our move to Shea, but finally Thursday evening we decided to go for broke and get off before the weekend. Joy and I stayed up till 1:30am packing up our stuff. The next morning we both felt like we'd been run over by a mack truck, but we were determined to press on and leave for Lethem by the end of the day.

The hardest part was getting off by 3:30pm so we get down to Lethem by sunset! I don't think we could have fit more than a shoebox into that airplane. It was so full that when I opened my door after landing in Lethem, a couple items fell out!

We've had a wonderful weekend in Lethem worshiping with the believers there. Right now I'm getting ready to go to Shea to finish up some stuff before Joy and Jenna come to join me.

I just got an email from our bible worker in Aishalton that says that the Medex in Aishalton (who oversees medical work in Shea as well) is very upset that we're moving into town. He's trying to oppose us and create predjudice against us. We've been working hard to work through the right channels to make sure that no one gets their feelings hurt, but I guess we've offended the old devil, because he's trying very hard to stop this move.

I'm flying out to Shea today to meet with the Captain and talk about these issues. I'll deliver our mosquito nets and finish caulking the house to make it mosquito proof.

Please, please keep us in your prayers. This is a critical juncture in the move and right now we're in no-mans land.

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
http://www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism
874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] Prayer for James

2009-07-21T18:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This is just a short not to let you know that James, who is almost never ill, isn't feeling well at all. It's not malaria. Special prayer for him tonight would be much appreciated. Thank you so much.

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

[Guyana-Mission-Report] A Fire and a Miracle or Two

2009-07-20T18:29:00.001-07:00

Hi everybody,

James flew the airplane out to the international airport tonight and Jenna is in bed. Since I have a little free time, I thought I would take this opportunity to write about the latest miracle we've experienced today.

I've been trying for sometime to get a permanent nursing license here in Guyana. Things have been moving very very very slowly. Lately, we had some original documents hand carried to Guyana. Our GAMAS representative here who deals with these issues took my documents down to the Nursing Council at Ministry of Health, July 16, to present them. The person who was dealing with the matter tried very hard to get our representative to give her the original documents. Our representative refused to let her have the documents and insisted that she have her secretary make copies, since we had had them sent all the way from the United States.

The rest of the story is that the next morning at 3 AM the entire Ministry of Health Building burned. That department keeps paper records, so everything went up in smoke. We have really been blessed because it would have been a potentially expensive, time consuming, headache to replace all of those documents.

However, we were not only blessed once on July 16, but twice. When our representative visited the Nursing Council Office he was given a receipt by the department for the application fees paid, which states that I am an "Approved, trained RN". For whatever reason, they hand wrote that in even though there wasn't a blank for it on the form. I've been informed that although my application has been destroyed, this receipt document will pass as a Guyana nursing license until the paperwork can be resolved and I am issued a formal license. I actually applied the first time for this license before I came to Guyana 3 1/2 years ago and was told one year later that more documents were needed. So, you can see why we are so happy.

God is ultimately in control. He has worked so many miracles for us thus far. I'm sure the next miracle is just around the corner.

Thank you for your prayers,

Joy

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
http://www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org/

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism

874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842

Malaria Outbreak!

2009-07-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

There has been a severe outbreak of malaria in Shea Village. Last Wednesday my father in law and I flew down to Region 9 to install screens on the doors and windows of the Shea Health Clinic. Three weeks ago when I visited Shea, there was a small outbreak of Malaria, but I assumed that everything was under control.

I assumed wrong…

When we arrived, the captain of the village met us at the airstrip with the grim news that the confirmed cases had ballooned from 34 to 84 in our absence. That is almost a quarter of Shea’s entire population! The captain said that this kind of outbreak is very unusual. In a normal year a couple people will catch the disease, but it never reaches epidemic levels.

The government has sent a microscopist to the village, and he is presently treating the infected villagers with medications. But he spends most of his day laying around the clinic waiting for people to show up.

Fewer than 10% of the villagers have mosquito nets for their hammocks. Some of the nets really need to be replaced since they have gaping holes in them. But the worst part of the crisis is that nothing is being done to control the mosquitoes and their breading environments!

So, what can be done?

First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going to call around to see if there is a fogger we can borrow. The chemicals are pretty cheap, but the foggers are expensive. In the mean time, while we are waiting to find out about the fogger I'm going to get a pump action sprayer and see if I can do some manual spraying with that. I won't be able to cover as much area as with a fogger, but at least we have to try. This would eliminate most of the adult mosquitos.

Second, I’m hoping to get some mosquito nets for the infected, this is going to be a little challenging since there are so many of them. Mosquito nets play a key role in controlling the spread of the disease. Depending on how many nets we get, we’ll probably focus primarily with infected individuals in healthy families. This is the highest risk.

Thirdly we’ll get some mosquito repellant for those with the disease. I noticed that the villagers like to socialize together in the evening after a long day’s work on the farm. They don’t realize the huge risk they are taking since the Anopheles Mosquito feeds primarily in the early evening.

Finally, I hope to do a little public awareness about the disease to help the people protect themselves against infection.

The challenge will be to get all these items together and fly them out to Shea by nightfall tomorrow.

Is there a risk of getting Malaria? Sure… There’s always possibility that I could be infected with malaria myself. But how can we effectively share the gospel if we remain a safe distance during their time of need.

I pray that God will use this crisis situation to open many hearts to the good news of the gospel. People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care.

Please pray that God would place a hedge of protection around me as I go down
tomorrow.

God bless

James

James & Joy Ash
121 Durban Backlands
Georgetown, Guyana
011-592-227-2184
www.guyanaaviationevangelism.org

James & Joy Ash
Gospel Ministries International
Project Name: Guyana Aviation Evangelism
874 South McDonald SW
McDonald, TN 37353
1 (423) 473-1841 or 1 (423) 473-1842