Community gardening projects help improve health and quality of life. Click to enlarge.

UIM Mexico is increasingly involved in a ministry with a Mexican pastor to Huichol Indians in the Tepic area. Together they are implementing several community development projects in various villages, one of which is a refugee settlement where Huichol Christians have fled from persecution for their faith in their home villages. Due to the poverty in which so many of the people live, the community development projects thus far have included gardening, composting, and basic hygiene seminars.

Unhindered by the poverty in which they live, many of the Huichol Indians have demonstrated a desire to know more about Christ. They have been faithfully attending and completing a theological training course administered by missionaries. They are eager to learn about God’s word and are dedicated to maturing as God’s children. They have a great desire to return to their home villages and share their new-found lives with

Gardening projects. Click to enlarge

family and friends. Currently, most have to travel about 20 hours by ground. Many of these trips can be reduced to 20 minutes by air. If UIM Aviation partners with UIM Mexico, the local church, and the Huichol Indians, flights would allow the people to make more frequent visits to villages, spend a larger part of the day in the village, and ultimately aid in reaching more of the Huichol people for Christ.

On a recent survey trip, UIM Aviation staff met with UIM Mexico, the Mexican pastor, and several Huichol leaders. We presented our ideas to them and were received openly and favorably. Most of the surrounding airstrips we would use are registered airstrips, meaning they are officially recognized by the government. The suspicious activity in Mexico is assumed to take place on unregistered strips, which was the primary reason our flight operations in Durango had to be closed. Furthermore, Tepic is centrally located between the states of Durango and Jalisco, both of which have ongoing and developing ministries that could benefit from air support.

An intense Bible study course is a critical aspect of this ministry. Click to enlarge.

In order to immediately begin serving the Huichol people, we would schedule a monthly flight from our base in Chihuahua, Mexico. The trip would last about one week and cost roughly $1200. As we move toward a base in Tepic, we will plan to station two UIM families and one airplane there. All of this needs considerable prayer and we place our trust in the Lord to guide us through the decision-making process as well as provide funding.

- Pray with us as we seek to expand in Tepic, Mexico.
- Pray for UIM Mexico and the pastors who are working in this area already.
- Pray for the growth, protection, and safety of the Huichol believers.

Hundreds of children in Mexico exposed to missions by UIM (Click to enlarge)

Children everywhere! Hundreds of them, in all shapes and sizes, and they kept coming. This was sure to be an adventure, a missionary adventure.

For one day, the sights, sounds, and smells of world missions came alive for Mexican children aged 6 to 13. Participants were divided into traveling groups of about 35, plus guides, and spent the day rotating throughout the grounds learning about world missions in different countries as well as different types of ministries.

The UIM Aviation team welcomed each traveling group into a mock airplane. Kids took their seats, buckled in, and received pre-flight briefing. Via video on a large screen, our passengers experienced a missionary flight into some of the most remote parts of Mexico. They learned how God uses the airplane as a tool to reach the lost. We challenged them to develop their God-given gifts and abilities for His service.

This annual event is vital in exposing Mexico’s future missionaries to world missions. We give all praise and glory to God for the chance to be a part of His kingdom work. Pray for these children who have now returned to their homes. Pray that God is working in their hearts and minds to open their lives to missionary service.

Banquet Flyer (Click to enlarge)

Thanks to all who made our annual fund-raising banquet such a success!

260 people attended our dinner at the Westward Look Resort in Tucson, AZ. We raised just over $22,000 and thus earned in full a $10,000 matching grant from Mission Increase Foundation.

Did you miss the event this year? Make sure to watch out for it in the fall of 2010!

MAD was great exposure for local kids to missions and mission aviation!

Have you ever seen the city of Tucson from a seat in a Cessna 206 airplane?

Those who came to Mission Aviation Day (a.k.a. “MAD”) at Ryan Airfield had an opportunity to do just that. Our pilots were busy as they flew more than 400 people throughout the day. With activities to engage the young and old, visitors learned about the many different ways God uses airplanes on the mission field to reach people. Although we were the main sponsor, 15 other mission organizations were also represented. Games, rides, food, and a variety of entertainment made it a fun, worthwhile way to spend the day.

We had great opportunities each day to share one on one with people about the ministry of missionary aviation and specifically what UIM Aviation is doing.

UIM Aviation was privileged to participate in the annual AirVenture air show this July at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. One of their main themes was Fly4Life, which highlighted mission aviation as well as  humanitarian aid. Our airplane that had been confiscated by the Mexican government for some months was displayed in the central show area.

Our staff also gave a seminar to the public on Cessna modifications for short take-offs and landings. It was a blessing to be able to share what God is doing in Mexico and how He’s using aviation. Many who visited the Fly4Life tent were believers already, but many more were not. We are praying that God uses the memory of our conversations to bring people to Jesus. Even after shaking so many hands, we were amazed to learn that 578,000 people attended the week-long event this year!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Spring 2009

Summer 2009

For 12 years UIM had rented a space here for $500/month. However, a short while later, this hangar was seized by the airport for unpaid fees. Thanks to a friend, we were informed the night before and removed the airplane, parking it in the more vulnerable out-of-doors. We needed a solution fast. The Lord had obviously prepared us for change.

Nosing about, Dennis Joyner and Wolfgang Grotendiek inquired about space at a private owner’s airstrip, just minutes from the International Airport. The owner, Fernando Amaya, was willing to work with us.
Dennis, UIM’s Chihuahua Area Manager, punched some numbers and realized that over a period of 10 years, UIM could build a hangar at a lower cost than 10 years’ worth of rent. He, Dave Wolf and a Mexican friend went to visit Fernando and see what they could work out. Fernando agreed to the idea of constructing a hangar in lieu of monthly rent.

The Lord’s people have freely given of their time, sweat and finances to make the new hangar in Chihuahua a reality. Thank you!

The project was approved but there was no way to get funding from the budget. Our Chihuahua staff researched possibilities. Dennis shared the dream with his brother in Arkansas. The Lord impressed their church, Freedom Fellowship, to raise enough money for a 60’x60’ slab, which UIM staff plus a few volunteers promptly poured. Later the Lord touched Mountain View Baptist Church in Tucson as well as an interested individual to fund the poles, trusses and roof tin, so the team put up the poles and the roof. What a blessing that the Lord so skilled our staff that they could do this work.

The next phase in the project was to enclose the walls and hang the main doors. Would the Lord still provide?  He did indeed. An Indiana couple and a visitor to the July Oshkosh Air Show donated enough funds for these materials. An unexpected gift from another Indiana man will be used to complete a bathroom. Dennis expects to have enough money left from all the donations to paint the hangar floor and hook up electricity.

The Lord’s people have freely given an astonishing $20,500 for this hangar. We hope to finish the building for around $25,000. How exciting to watch God work! Step by step, He has provided for each phase of the project from totally unexpected sources and construction has proceeded with continuity.

Five-thirty Monday morning found me leaving the house for another day or two during my field checkout training on mountain airstrips. I gave my wife, Misty, a kiss and expected to see her and my son Benjamin the next evening.

As fellow pilots Dave Wolf, Wolfgang Grotendiek and I ascended from the Chihuahua airport, the day began with a few puffy clouds lingering in an otherwise clear blue sky. The forecasted thunderstorms due to Hurricane Paul had changed overnight to a mere 20% chance of scattered showers. Conditions were good for flying.

We landed around two o’clock in a local village called Samachique, home to a Tarahumara Indian mission hospital. Dave left us there and took off immediately for another village where two Tarahumara women waited to be flown to the hospital the next day for scheduled surgeries. As soon as Dave left, it began to rain and pounded down continually the rest of the day. Tuesday brought even more rain, so we helped dig and replace pipe for a well. Wednesday dawned with…you guessed it, more rain!! But our God controls the weather.

On Wednesday afternoon Dave took off in clear weather with his two passengers to Samachique, but the weather turned nastier and nastier the closer he got. Finally, just as he was about to turn back, the Lord opened up a just-right sized window in the clouds. The rains abruptly ceased for a moment. He was able to descend through a layer of thinning clouds and land the airplane. As he taxied up to the local hangar, the rains started up and visibility once again decreased to almost nothing.

Thursday morning, missionary doctor Mike Berkley, an Orthopedic Surgeon serving with Mexico Medical Mission, began preparing the women for surgery.  As he and I had already chatted about my medical background as a respiratory therapist, Dr. Berkley asked me to assist in the operations. Both women had suffered for years with dislocated thumbs: one for three years due to a fall, the other for seven due to an abusive husband. The surgeries took several hours while each thumb was fused back together with a metal rod.

Normally, the Tarahumara Indians do not express emotion; however, that day, one of the patients had tears in her eyes over the joy of regaining the ability to use her hand properly. The missionary from their village who accompanied them and spoke their tribal lan-guage shared with us that neither of the ladies were believers in Christ. These successful surgeries, she felt, had opened a door to building deeper relationships with them.  (Several months later, one woman did accept Christ and demonstrated a desire to learn more about God.)

Just after the surgeries were finished, the weather finally broke.  We packed up, resumed some training flights, and returned to Chihuahua. I certainly did not know what I was in for that Monday morning when I left, but I am thankful for those steps God put on my path. How good is our God who uses the skills and abilities He has given us to minister in different ways to others when we least expect it!