Prayer Letter Archive

Serach and Rescue Mission!

When I was a teenager and knew I'd be late getting home, I'd call my folks and tell them not to pay the ransom because I escaped. You're probably wondering why you haven't heard from me in a while. Well, thankfully I wasn't being held for ransom. Good stories are like good food, they take time. But, I think I've got an adventure for you here.

First though, I want to tell you about a fellow missionary who was held for ransom in the Philippines. Her name is Gracia Burnham. She and her husband were taken captive by a Muslim group and held for about a year. The military rescued her but only after a gunfight where her husband, Martin, was fatally wounded. Gracia has written a book published by Tyndale that is due out this month. You may want to pick up a copy. It's titled In the Presence of My Enemies. She has also been on a number of talk shows and has articles in a bunch of magazines. Maybe you saw her. Remember to pray for her and other missionaries around the world who are in troubled areas.

We had five days of conferences with our fellow missionaries in the field here many whom we have never seen, but had heard their voices on the radio. It was a good time yet emotional at times as some shared the struggles they were having or have had. The reports of what was going on in the villages were encouraging as many desire to hear God's "Talk."

One evening as I was chatting with some guys, our helicopter pilot came to me and asked about getting fuel in the area we live in. I told him we had a lot of fuel at my place. The reason he needed fuel was because he had just received a call for a Search and Rescue mission. A small boat had gone missing...5 days ago. It had 3 passengers on it. We made plans to head out the next morning. Many were envious of me as they had never gotten to fly in our mission Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. Neither had I so I was looking forward to the mission.

The small boat had departed the area that I make regular supply runs to. (The area I had recently hit the log.) They were last seen near a little island. That week there had been strong winds and the Australian Search and Rescue Bureau had calculated the area where the tides and currents would have taken them. We had a map of the area...all blue water. Fifty miles out, the pilot asked me if I had a problem flying over all that water. "Should I?" I asked. He said he did as the chopper only had 1 engine and a small raft. I remembered hearing stories of small rafts out in the ocean.

One story I heard was about a raft that had 4 guys in it. The raft couldn't handle it so the "Captain" of the raft decided someone had to go. In order to be fair, he gave a test. He said to the first guy, who was Japanese, "What was the most tragic sea disaster?" The man thought then shakily answered, "The Titanic?" "That's right!" the captain said. He turned to the next man, a German fellow, and asked, "How many people lost their lives on the Titanic?" The guy didn't know but finally said, "I think around 1500?" "That's right!" the captain answered. Man, was the German guy relieved. The captain then turned to the third guy and said, "Name them."

So, with that story in mind, and me being German, I said I was willing to go on the mission and we prayed we wouldn't need the raft. The next morning after briefing, we touched off ever so gently. We had headphones on so I was able to talk to the pilot, Curtis, as we made our way across the island at low level just above the treetops. It was pretty neat, I must say. The middle of the island is vast jungle and seeing it close up was a sight to behold. As we talked, I learned Curtis had flown helicopters in Vietnam although he didn't sign up for it. He said most of the time he went in to pick up casualties and almost always while under fire. On his second tour, which he didn't volunteer for either, just after take off, the engine stalled and the chopper fell into the trees. Miraculously, the trees cushioned the fall although 3 men out of the 10 onboard were killed. Although he was injured, he was able to complete his tour of duty in Nam. I think this story was vivid in his mind as we flew over the trees. We came to a village and as we made our approach, I could envision what it must have been like in Vietnam landing to pick up casualties. Curtis said he doesn't have flash backs though.

At the village, we got food and water in the event we found the small boat and took off. It was a perfect, calm day, no chop or white caps. A boat or something splashing in the water would be easy to spot. We set a grid and flew low. Knowing someone's life was at stake, I was afraid to blink. I didn't want to miss anyone out there. What if it was me, and it could easily be some day. I'd like to think the rescue crew wasn't up there "blinking." All of a sudden I saw something white off in the distance. Curtis made a tight right turn and swung us back to the white spot. It was like a wild roller coaster ride but I kept my eyes glued to the white spot and as we approached, a bunch of white birds flew off a floating log. Bummer.

We continued our search and our seats were getting sore but I still wasn't blinking. Having not seen a boat, now we were looking for anything...pieces of boat...luggage...bodies? We did find a piece of plywood floating, a blue tarp and a piece of styrofoam that quickly flew away as we got close to it. At one point as we were banking hard to get back to "something," there was a school of dolphins right under us. I had my video camera and would have loved to get some pictures, but again I was mentally focused on finding the real survivors...if there were any. In one area there was a lot of debris so we combed that area again to make sure. Nothing. Even our mission plane was out looking and he only spotted an oar. Could the boat have sunk?

The Catholic Church had paid for 3 hours of airtime. We flew for 6 hours but didn't find anything. As we headed back over the island and trees, I couldn't help but think about those 3 guys. Were they still out there...lost...but maybe alive? Had they seen us flying around? I could only imagine how they would have felt had they seen us turn away and head home. Who would find them now? The real question though was, was there anyone willing to pay some more money for the search to go on? In an economy where $5 is a day's wage and $6000 in flight time had been spent, how much more would be given?

The thought came to me too that we are like those guys in the boat. We are lost and drifting and waiting for someone to come help us. Who would pay the price? Were we worth it? No, we weren't...but God thought we were and He paid the price so we could be saved.

When we landed, it was over. No exciting rescue story to tell. A nice ride and adventure but a futile effort. Not much cause to be happy and write home about. However, that night, news came over the radio that the small boat had been found by a fishing trawler. The 3 men were alive! The winds were so strong that they had been blown way outside of the suspected area. Later the story came out that they had survived on those intravenous water bags they hang up, as one of the guys in the boat was sick. They were headed to the hospital and were given this water in the event the hospital didn't have any. They had also caught fish and the Lord sent them dried coconuts floating by occasionally. During the day, they spent time in the water to keep from getting too much sun exposure.

So, it was an exciting rescue story even if we didn't find the boat and its passengers. And, it was a fun roller coaster ride in the chopper. I still wish I had gotten video of those dolphins though. That was the chance of a lifetime.

Now, you're probably wondering about that third guy in the raft. What nationality was he???

Mark