Friends,
I´ve finally posted photos. They will run as a slideshow at the top, or you can click on the slideshow to go directly to the album. You must go directly to the album if you wish to see the descriptions I made for each photo. They are ordered by subject but not chronologically. Enjoy!
If you are reading this on facebook, go to http://www.missionpilotscott.blogspot.com/ to view the photos.
God Bless,
Scott Sterling
June 26, 2011
June 14, 2011
More News
Friends,
I haven´t communicated in about a month, so here´s what´s going on:
Min made it back safely on her trip, and with presents! We had four missionaries request special items from the United States, and we had our own list of things. Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Insoles, McKay´s Chicken Seasoning, raw cashews, vegetarian jerkey, italian seasoning and rechargable batteries were among the requests. She said Pearl´s wedding was great, and she brought back a hand-carved pair of giraffes made in Africa that each guest was given. (Apparently the bride´s family bought them in Africa and brought them to the U.S. for the wedding).
Cooking had been a bit stressful for Min. She had been cooking 3 meals a day which meant getting up at 6am to get breakfast going, followed by a cleanup, worship, a two-hour break and then get started on lunch. After cleaning up lunch she was off for 3 hours and then started dinner... finally finishing her day at 7:30pm! If she did laundry on her breaks she would have a 12-hour day. Thanks to a missionary named Carmen who came to visit, we´ve adopted a new schedule and Min´s very happy. She now only cooks breakfast and lunch, and is off Saturday and Sunday. She also wanted to cook meals just for me and her, so I bought a gas cookstove and put it in our little kitchen. We´ve cooked one meal on it so far!
We have an airplane! It´s not for very long, but we´ve been granted permission to use our Cessna 182 Turbo for 1 month, ending June 27. Apparently when you bring an American airplane to Bolivia, you either pay 30% of it´s Bolivian-estimated value as an import tax, or you ask permission to fly it as an American airplane. Since the second option is free, we´ve been doing that on all our planes for about a year. Sadly, it´s getting more difficult to get permission, and we think they are pressuring us to import them. This amounts to $16,000 per plane and we have at least 5. We´ll see what God does. It´s been 6 months since we´ve had permission to use an airplane so we haven´t gotten many calls yet, as people are just becoming aware that it is available. We´ve taken a pastor out to San Joaquin to work in a village for a month, and Friday we brought David Harding out to Familia Feliz orphanage in Rurrenabaque, Boliva. David´s daughter started the orphanage. We also brought them 30 or so baking pans for making bread, and took a man home to see his family who had been in the hospital in Santa Cruz. It seems that there are other mission pilot organizations in Bolivia, so we just work one area that no-one else serves, called The Beni. It is mostly jungle with few passable roads. You can read about it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beni_Department . I´m learning to communicate to air traffic control in Spanish. Technically English is the official language of aviation worldwide, but that doesn´t apply in small regional airports in Bolivia. I had a fellow pilot tell me sometimes they can understand ATC´s Spanish better than he can their English! It´s very difficult for me, but it´s coming slowly. Herman, one of our pilots, told me even though he is fluent in Spanish, they sometimes use terminology with him that baffles him. So I´ve got a big learning curve to meet!
Another project here is the runway. We have a grass runway prepared on the property right where we live. Right now it´s 550 meters long (about 1800 feet) and ultimately we plan to extend it to 1200 meters. So far it´s been smoothed by a tractor dragging a large log up and down it, and good grass has been planted. Now we´re working on the requirements to get it certified for use. We need runway beginning and end markers, markers on the sides every 50 meters, and a windsock. Last week and this week we finished the markers. Being in Bolivia, we opted for large PVC pipes to mark the ends, and buried tires painted white for the 50 meter markers. I think in total we spent less than $50 so far.
On a sad note: Red ADvenir, our Spanish TV network is off the air. We´ve been waiting on some donated funds for some months now and praying, but finally we had to cease transmitting our signal last week. I hear that sufficient funds have been donated to keep us on the air, but they were sent from another country, through the U.S. and the funds are tied up in the U.S. Maybe the U.S. government thinks it´s drug money... or, more likely, Satan doesn´t want our station on the air. Just a week before this, we had a fire break out in our most critical computer room. Richard (the station manager) called the station watchman to tell him that he wasn´t receiving the signal. The volunteer watchman went out side and saw smoke coming from the transmission room! Apparently a power surge had started an electrical fire and the main power cable was fried. The fire had started underneath the signal amplifier, a $70,000 piece of equipment needed for transmitting the signal to the satellite that needed to be imported from the U.S.. By God´s grace, all that needed to be replaced was the fried power cable. The signal amplifier was completely undamaged. Within 6 hours the signal was back on the air.
A couple of good things are coming out of our current situation: Richard has had plans for relocating some of our equipment to better serve the station and aid expansion in the future. This project requires us to be off of the air, so we are going forward with it now. Another possible blessing is in working with the Seventh-day Adventist conference in Bolivia. In the past, it seems, our ministry has been regarded as a nusance and we have not had a good working relationship with the conference. However, new leaders have been appointed to the conference positions here in Bolivia, and they have already come to visit the station and extend the hand of fellowship. Here´s where the opportunity comes in: Even though we are off the satellite, we still have several TV station licenses around Bolivia. These stations were receiving our signal via satellite, and re-transmitting it via cable or over-the-air waves. The conference has an official TV station in South America called ¨Nuevo Tiempo¨. We can work together at this time by telling our TV stations to receive the Nuevo Tiemo signal via satellite and transmit it in place of Red ADvenir for now. That seems to be the plan, and in the meantime we´ll prepare for when we can be back on the air again, should God re-open that door.
Thank you for praying for us! Please pray for the station, the aviation program, the other missionary efforts here in Bolivia, and that Min and I would continue to be a blessing here.
God Bless,
Scott Sterling
Scott Sterling
May 19, 2011
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!
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)
Scott Sterling
011-591-6-780-4066 cell (Bolivia)
May 2, 2011
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
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
April 21, 2011
ARRIVED IN BOLIVIA!!!
Friends,
Min and I arrived safely on Tuesday morning in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A friend of mine and pilot for GMI named D.J. Knott picked us up at the airport and showed us around town on the way to the RedADvenir TV station where we will be working and staying. Santa Cruz is an interesting city in that there are roads called "radials" that start from the center of the city and go outward in all directions, as well as "rings" that make a circle around the center of the city. The circle closest to the center is called "ring 1" and the next, "ring 2", etc. We travel west out of the city on the radial "double via" until kilometer 17 and take a left to get to the station. It's a good distance away and very peaceful. Min and I are staying in a shipping container that has been converted into a house. It is several feet off the ground on cinder blocks and has running water from the well at the station, and 220V electrical power, a shower and toilet. We're very happy there. I am officially working with the pilots, who have a plot of land at the other end of the property and a grass runway. The airplanes are at a small nearby airport though. Min is working at the TV station. She may be the new cook, as the current one is leaving on Tuesday. She is hesitant about cooking for 15+ people, 3 meals a day but she is brave enough to be considering it. She is working with the current cook, Monica (who is from Guyana) and we will be taking a trip to the market together soon to buy food for next week.
Today, RedADvenir had a visit from the local SDA conference. Two officials came and were very supportive. Everyone at Red ADvenir was very pleased and excited, especially David Gates. It seems that in the past, the Conference here has not recognized "supporting ministries" which are ministries that are not directly supported and supervised by the Seventh-day Adventist Conference. However, a change in administration has taken place, and now the door seems to be opening for us to work together in harmony! I am very happy to hear this, although I didn't know there was a problem in the past with this until yesterday.
So far I have been helping the pilots move tools, oil, etc. from the TV station to a shipping container on the pilots' side of the property. This allowed the TV station to clean up the main studio for tours, as they were able to move their things into the adjacent storage rooms that were now empty. For me, it was a lot of lifting heavy objects and moving them all day. I was so grateful for a loving wife who could give me a back massage I so much needed that night!
A little history: The TV station has sold their old property which was in the city (actually the city grew to encompass it) and bought a property in the country. The new property had no buildings, so they are almost starting over. They have a very nice main building now, and hope to be up and running soon. The pilots are working on Jeff Sutton's house. He is the director of the Aviation program here, and the new grass runway is across from his house. He just moved into the unfinished house just recently and we are working around him and his family. Please pray for all of us as we work to get these two ministries set up in our new location.
April 8, 2011
Bolivia Mission Trip
Friends,
The time is getting closer when we should be able to depart. We have
received enough for plane fare, and to keep up with bills while we are
gone. All that remains are visas for Min and I, and enough commitments
from donors to supply our needs while in Bolivia. We're communicating
with those who've said they want to support us, and as soon as we know
for sure, we'll post that it's been taken care of, so you all can
rejoice with us! Please pray that God will continue to lead us in a
plain path on this trip. It seems that He is opening the next doors as
we walk through the ones He has already opened. We're excited!
God Bless,
Scott Sterling
April 5, 2011
Re: Going to Bolivia soon
Awesome, if we want to make a donation, where do we send it? Jason
--
--
Jason Shives, MD
---
www.jshives.blogspot.com
www.HaitiHunger.com <http://www.haitihunger.com/>
www.AudioVerse.org <http://www.audioverse.org/>
(407) 536-8280
(909) 238-0194
---
"We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way
the Lord has led us in the past."
On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 3:33 PM, Scott Sterling <scott.a.sterling@gmail.com> wrote:
Friends,
We've had quite a battle trying to launch to Africa. I'll go into more
detail later, but after four months, we still do not have sufficient
funds travel to Africa. It seems the Lord has kept us here. We were
frustrated and beginning to wonder if our plans were not in accordance
with the Lord's will, or if we had somehow made it so that he could
not bless our plans. It has been hard working, waiting and wondering.
We decided last year that, if at all possible, we would be back for
Min's brother's wedding in September. However, time is short now, and
even if we had the funds, it would be hard to justify spending them,
just to return in 5 1/2 months. We really want to begin working,
however, and an opportunity has arisen. David Gates suggested that we
go to South America until September. It is much cheaper to fly there,
and he even said he can give us a ride back, making it still cheaper.
Our upcoming tax refund and the sale of our cars ought to get us
there. Please pray for us. We are very excited!
God Bless,
Scott Sterling
--
--
Jason Shives, MD
---
www.jshives.blogspot.com
www.HaitiHunger.com <http://www.haitihunger.com/>
www.AudioVerse.org <http://www.audioverse.org/>
(407) 536-8280
(909) 238-0194
---
"We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way
the Lord has led us in the past."
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