[Guyana-Mission-Report] Flyin Home

"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