A Little Scare

Friends,

    I had a little scare today! First I should say that Min is safely back in the U.S.. She has a friend that she grew up with in Africa who has been engaged for many years. So long that her friends are calling it the "wedding of the decade". Min really wanted to go, and was blessed when a friend from Florida used some of her air miles to buy min a round trip ticket. The trip turns out to be a blessing to us and those around us as well. We're getting our cold-weather clothes from home, and some needed cooking items from Walmart and the Village Market in Collegedale, TN. Some important documents are being carried to the US for a volunteer, and some items for other missionaries are going to come back here with Min. I miss her :)

    When I returned from the Airport this morning at 9:30am, our volunteer pastor was standing outside the kitchen. He was talking to Carmen, a visitor who cooks really well and is taking over for Min this week as cook. Carmen speaks both English and Spanish and was translating for us. Apparently the workers were going home, because we had received word that the government was coming to reposess the property of the TV Station! The first word we heard was that when the government does this, everything on the property at the time becomes theirs. I asked why this was happening. Carmen said, "Apparently some of the paid workers had filed a lawsuit with the government because they had not been paid in several months. The government has ruled in favor of the workers and they are coming to reposess the land." My mind raced to the computers and other equipment in the TV station that might be saved if we brought it next door. There is a property next door that is not ours yet but we're renting it. I mentioned this to others and we were contemplating the task . To move some of the equipment would mean taking God's TV network off of the air... a daunting prospect. The station director had just left this morning for La Paz, Bolivia and was on an airplane so we couldn't contact him for direction.

    Just then, the pastor returned with better information. The workers who had filed the lawsuit had been laid off months ago. Normally that means all of them must be paid all back pay within 15 days. The station did not have enough money to do this, and was in the process of negotiating a payment plan with the workers. The workers had told the government that our mission was rich, had airplanes and other expensive equipment and could pay if we wished. Today the government was simply coming to inspect us and see if these claims were true. No reposession was to take place! Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and my mind raced for a few minutes more until I calmed down.

    Everyone slowly dispersed, and went to work. I welded the rest of the shelves I was working on, and by the end of the day no-one came. David Gates and Richard were both contacted and I'm sure they were working with the government during the day. It just reminds me how delicate our position is on the planet, and how much Satan would like to see our work ended. The TV station daily reaches millions of homes with wholesome Christian family programs, Bible studies, Nature videos, etc. and has been heralded as a great benefit here in Santa Cruz. I am so glad they are still on the air!

Please pray for the TV station, the workers' pay, Min's safe travels, and her friends' wedding and future life together!

God Bless,

Scott Sterling
011-591-6-780-4066 cell (Bolivia)

http://www.missionpilotscott.blogspot.com

News From Bolivia

Friends,

We have been here 12 days now. Our time here has involved both great joy, and adjustment. Our joy has been the fresh air, peaceful country setting, and good company. The Bolivian people are amiable, and don't treat us poorly or try to sell overpriced items to us at the market.
They just seem a little more interested in me because I stick out. This week we went to the market twice. The fresh market called "Abasto" is where we get the cheapest and freshest fruits and vegetables. The market is HUGE. Maybe like four Super-Walmarts side by side. It reminds me a little of the Pike Place Market in Seattle as well, although there is not a second floor. We bought pineapples a little smaller than watermelons this last time, and they were 10 Bolivianos (Bs.) each, which is about $1.40, and what they call mandarines, which look like green and yellow normal-size oranges 10 for 5Bs, about $0.80. So it is possible to eat here for about 100 Bs. per week, or $60 per month per person and eat healthy, if you shop right. The people seem to think that Min is Bolivian sometimes. I had one person in the market speak to us in Spanish, and I replied that I didn't understand. They nodded toward Min and said, "It's ok, she understands."

This week I worked to lay the foundation of David Gates' new house here on the property. We had lots of help this week, so it went relatively fast. David's daughter, Katrina and her husband Jared were visiting, and Jared headed up the work. An electrician and retired pastor, Paul Eirich is here with is wife. The volunteer coordinator here Jose-Luis arrived as well. Min was surprised to be feeding 12 people for breakfast and dinner rather than the usual 7.

With all those hands, as well as one of the paid workers, Jose, we worked quickly to mix cement, pour it into a wheelbarrow, dump it into the ditch of the foundation footing, and smoothed it to the right level. Having worked for a brick mason before, I was familiar with mixing cement and pouring it, but this time I learned to smooth it. I had put metal stakes (rebar) in the floor of the ditch and had made sure each was level with the rest. I now used a large metal level to scrape the wet, pudding-like cement to the right height. Then I would use a smoothing-motion to get it all level and smooth. We also have a laser-level system. A laser on a tripod at one end of the construction site emits a laser in all directions that is level with the ground. I use a receiver mounted on a measuring rod to test the level of the cement. If the cement is at the correct level, the receiver beeps long and loud. After 3 days we had a smooth, solid, level cement footing for the foundation of the house. Just in time too - David and his wife left and took Jared, Katrina and Jose-Luis with him. Jeff, the chief pilot left with his family earlier this week, and so did D.J. and Steve, two other pilots. Now it's just Min and I, the TV station volunteers, a german couple from another ministry, and two other pilots. Of the two pilots, Daniel and Herman, Daniel is fighting Dengue Fever and Herman is busy getting permissions from the Bolivian government for the use of our planes and for the new runway to be approved.

Today I learned how to drive a piece of heavy equipment: A diesel tractor forklift. This one is finicky; It often needs to be jump-started with another vehicle, and you have to keep the gas pedal all the way down when you move it or raise it or the engine dies. I used it to move a 1000 L water tank to the pumphouse for one of our wells. I cleaned it well, filled it up, and now it's next to where 3 missionaries live who don't have running water (including us). Jeff left and hasn't assigned me something specific to do. Fauna, his wife, asked me to plant some trees of theirs and water them while they are gone. I have to dig a 3' by 3' by 3' hole to do it, and by hand, so that will take a good while and is not an emergency. Later today I am going to view a project I'll be assigned at the studio, cutting and welding some pipe into something useful for the studio. I have welded before, and am still a beginner, but they are not concerned if the weld looks great, just that it sticks and I think I can do that well. I've got until Wednesday to get this welding project done, and then the man with the keys to Jeff's container that has the tools in it will be leaving. Jeff has asked him to bring the keys to him in the U.S., which is understandable because the Lord has blessed us with some expensive tools that need to be protected from misuse. I'm not offended that I wasn't entrusted with the keys :)

Please pray for our volunteers: Daniel Adams is recovering from Dengue Fever, Daniel W. is beginning pilot training here while his wife works at another ministry. Pray that our mission here will reach many souls!

God Bless,

Scott Sterling
http://www.missionpilotscott.blogspot.com