Prayer Letter Archive

November 2003

You're probably wondering why you haven't heard from us. I gained a bunch of space on my hard drive with an uninstaller program, but then my computer wouldn't work! I had to reformat everything but was able to get the files saved. Then it took a while to find the address book. BUT, I think I've got most of it.

During the past couple of weeks we've had some excitement. The seas are calming down which is nice but they are still unpredictable. We took off on a supply run to pick up a family. Before leaving, the oil pressure gauge went wild. After investigating, we felt it was due to a wiring problem. So we went ahead with the run.

The seas were real nice...one of those times when you feel guilty for having so much fun at work. We got to our destination, unloaded cargo then picked up our passengers and took off. I wanted to do some trolling but some of the folks just wanted to get the boat ride over with so we took off full speed. After a 1/2 hour, they realized they had forgotten something so back we went. By the time we got on the open seas, our beautiful calm seas were long gone, so we had to slow down which makes a long ride even longer. You find yourself looking at your watch every five minutes only to realize ONLY FIVE minutes have passed!

With every wave came a splash over the boat so it was easy to find where the canvas top leaked. Micah was driving which meant I was down below where it's easier to get sick. I was feeling a bit queazy so stood on the leeward side of the splash to get some fresh air. We were only a stones throw away from home (5 miles but it looks close on the seas) when the engine started to sputter. We knew it was a fuel blockage but didn't want to stop as a bobbing boat 5 miles from land doesn't interest very many people. But, the sputter was getting worse so I got everything ready for a filter change with the idea we could do this fast!

Micah shut the engine down and took the suspected clogged filter out. We started up and went 100 yards when the engine quit. I changed another filter and we went another 100 yards then stopped. I was confused now as to where the blockage could have been. As I primed the fuel pump I sensed a strong urge to pray as I instantly felt terrible and everybody was depending on me to get the boat going. The prayer lasted a second--then I lost my lunch over the side. You can imagine the concern of the passengers..."he was our only hope" and... "who would be next?"

Acually, after the flushing out, I felt better but still couldn't get the engine to run more than a minute. So, we hung our 15hp kicker on the back and trolled in at 5 miles an hour getting in just before dark having been 7 hours on the seas.

I know someone was praying for us and if that someone was you, THANKS!

Last week we had a bit of excitement too as our mission helicopter landed next door to our house (open field) and shuttled cargo into a jungle location. Our kids got a chance to fly short hops which was a first for them so now they want to get a helicopter. They said sitting up front felt really cool. Micah had to take SAT tests so flew on the chopper to the testing station which was a long 4 hour flight away. Fun but boring. He'll be back next week.

We had 2 barges arrive last week as well so we've got all kinds of cargo around to get moved this week so I better get going and get the truck and boat ready.

Keep us in your prayers!

Mark and Joan