Elliott's Logbook

After Trip Reflections

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0600

The trip is finally over. I have learned probably twice as much as I could absorb, been bitten with twice as many mosquitos as ever before, and seen five times as much as most people see on a missions trip. Conclusion: it was worth far more than the couple grand it cost to go. The experience was priceless. I have had the little bit of missions philosophy that I had before shaken to its core, split apart, and totally transformed. Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned this past month is the dangers and effects of "destructive generosity". Many missionaries have harmed their church instead of helping it by running it exclusively with American dollars. It is a very controversial topic. But don't argue about it until you go see for yourself.

Damon and Lisa Matacchiera were a huge blessing to me, opening up their home, life, and Sprite crate (inside joke) to me for three weeks. The little girls were also fun to be around. Damon's parents, Joe and Jan M., also did their part to make me feel welcome and give me a good round veiw of missionary life.

Probably I'll make another trip or two in the next several years before I move to Africa, to keep updated, get more information, and learn more of the culture and the people I will be ministering to. For now I will keep you all posted on what's going on in my next preparations.

I typed most of this on the airplane, and I'm finishing up at home. Everything was uneventful except for some heavy turbulence over the Atlantic. The long flight was about half empty, which was a blessing. I'm sure I'll be tired once I wind down, since I've only slept one or two hours in the last 37. I have all weekend to catch up, though.

For anyone praying for me, thank you very much and please continue to ask God to make my way clear and help me not to be distracted from the main goal, to glorify God by winning souls.

May God bless you.

A Soul...

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0600

A soul -- is that what you see when you meet someone? A soul that will spend eternity somewhere? Lord, forgive and help us all!

I went out with Adriad and Boyd this past Saturday afternoon. They are two young men from Grace Bible Baptist Church in Kitwe. After an hour we had witnessed to several people and not gotten anyone past "lost." No one was willing to take the next step, and of course we weren't out to push people to say a quick prayer. On the way back to Bro. Matacchiera's house we kept on trying. No one refuses tracts, but do they read them? It can be a little discouraging on a still, hot, humid day. A young man I gave a tract to said he went to a Jehovah's Witness church. I thought it was a futile attempt, but I started witnessing to him, and suddenly I realized that he had no religion at all. In fact, he was quite receptive to the Gospel! It turns out he only went to the JW church because the people he is staying with in Kitwe go there. Thank God they are not good witnesses themselves! After going through several verses and several minutes of explaining, he was ready to bow his head and receive Christ as his Savior. I do not know if he understood everything or even if he is truly born again, but that is not for me to always know. I praise the Lord for a bit of fruit on a seemingly bare tree. Pray for Mbulwe and the field of Zambia, Africa.

I Meet a Missionary Pilot

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

Finally! Our trip to Chingola today got answers to all the stuff I'd been dying to know. We all (Damon's family and I) went to Mike Dobbin's flat. He has a work in Chingola and he knew a missionary pilot nearby. Damon and I rode in his truck to the Flying Mission station. There is a large school there that many missionaries' children go to. We met Don Amborski, the pilot. He was a swell fellow who has been in Zambia since he was two years old and was very willing to share with me whatever I wanted to know. We talked for a good hour, I should say.

Even though he is part of a larger organization, he encouraged me to be indepenent, which I had decided to be a while ago. Each has their place. We discussed different options for missionary pilot bases, the cost of different things like fuel, maintainence, and land, and Zambian regulations for pilots. I took a lot of notes so I could research things later and remember other things. I was very glad for the opportunity to meet with him. I can now figure out how much money I will need to do different things, what equipment I will need, and what equipment I should leave out to lighten the plane. Radar equipment like transponders are useless in a country that doesn't have a single radar antenna! VOR navigation is primitive at best, and when the power is out the VORs don't work at all. So it is best to have a GPS in the plane and maybe a handheld backup. He also gave me some ideas for mods to do to the aircraft. We both like the Cessna 206. He recommended not using a Piper because the high wing on the Cessna is less likely to be damaged and affords a better view of what's below you. That's often more important in Zambia than what is above you, although air traffic is starting to increase slowly.

Passport Problems!

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

This morning Damon and I went to Mufulira to do some evangelizing. I handed out a lot of tracts, and we each got a good witness in to someone. There is so much belief in works here! Thankfully the Bible is filled with verses that deal very specifically with that topic. Then a couple of men in shirts and ties walked up to me and showed me a card that showed that they were from the immigrations office.They asked a few questions and wanted to see the visa in my passport. I showed them everything and answered their questions, and they were satisfied.

Then they went to Damon. Well, he's not a visitor; he lives here and goes to Mufulira three times every week. So he doesn't carry his passport around. And since the officers were plain-clothes, he figured they were thieves who were trying to steal his ID or something. It's not uncommon in Kitwe. So he refused to talk to them. We just went to the car and left. Well, sure enough they were closing the gate at the police checkpoint when we went to drive out of town. They wanted to see Damon's license and threatened to shoot the cart tires if we didn't cooperate! The immigration officers drove up and boy, were they upset. We ended up going back into town to the office and getting a call set up between the office in Kitwe and that office, since he's on the files in Kitwe. Everything got straightened out and we all parted with smiles and handshakes. It was a cheap experience, as they could have put Damon in jail untill someone brought the original documents.

Praise the Lord for another un-boring day in Zambia!

Witnessing in Zambia

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

Thank you to all who have been praying for me! I have been very busy running around with the Matacchieras (both families) doing different things.

Saturday I went out soul-winning with Adrian, a young man from the church in Kitwe. We were out for over an hour and a half, and we only talked to a few people. The most notable were three teens hanging out under a tree at a street corner. After striking up a conversation by inviting them to church, Adrian asked if they knew where they would go if Jesus came back today. One boy answered promptly that they would go to hell. It unfortunately didn't concern any of them. We explained the whole gospel, and they patiently stood and looked at us as if we were speaking another language. It can be discouraging to feel like you're talking to a telephone pole, but we know that they did hear. Satan has dulled their ears and blinded their eyes to the truth, but if the Holy Spirit waters, that seed can sprout and break through the most solid clay. Please pray for these young men and for the work in Kitwe, Zambia.

Nothing Is Easy

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

No, nothing is easy in Zambia. Damon and I just returned from an afternoon in town. We were on a simple mission - get the window on the car fixed. It's an electric window, and as a matter of security you shouldn't be able to just push the window down by hand. Everything that can be stolen here, is stolen. So, off to one of the most knowledgeable electrician mechanics in Kitwe. Boy, was it painful to see him working with his homemade tools! He was using the wrong bits in the screws and everything... oh, I had to stop watching. We finally had the problem pinpointed. The cable that operates the window had overlapped itself and chewed itself up and broken. It took the guy and his helper an hour to get the cable out and the rest put back together. He directed us to Afrope, a cable factory outside of town. They gave us a bunch of trouble though, because they "didn't sell just the cable." They would install it for us too. Well, that was fine -- but then it came out that all they wanted to do was put the actual cable in the frame, not take the panel off, fix the window, and put it back together; no sir! We finally got them to sell us 4 metres of 2mm cable. We have to go back tomorrow morning to get the clamps to put on the cable, pay the rest of our bill, and go have the mechanic (who really is a nice fellow) to install it. I pray that everything will work out fine, but if it doesn't; well the Lord saw that we needed to learn even more patience, and... welcome to beautiful sunny Africa!

Chinsali Part 2

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

I'm back with more on the trip to the Northern Province! Sunday morning we went back to church. Bro. Mike preached on repentance and the true Biblical meaning of it. He preaches in Bemba, so I didn't understand much of what he was saying. After Sunday School was the main service. When someone does special music or a group does a chorus, they usually do two or three. I gave my testimony, with Pastor Samuel interpreting for me. They really liked it. They are all very enthusiastic about missionaries coming. Then Brother Mike preached again, this time in English with the translator. He did it for my benefit, which I greatly appreciated.

The cook at the hotel was out, so we went to another lodging place to eat. We had fried chicken with rice and a tomato sauce, washed down with Coca-Cola.

Samuel took us in the evening to a village that is part of Chinsali, but fifteen or so minutes away driving. All the people there supposedly belong to a cult called "The Jerusalem Church." The church building is no longer used as it was destroyed by the government. You see, a woman from the United Church of Scotland came to be a missionary with the United Church of Zambia. When they realized she was up to no good and kicked her out, she formed her own religion and political party. She led the people of that little village in a split of an existing political party, an ingenious way to add "thousands to the church daily"! The other half of the party came to put down the uprising, but the wicked woman assured her followers that their guns would only produce water. She then took to the bush and escaped. The government slautered evryone they could see and destoyed the big church building. There is nothing left but the concrete floors and the outlines of the walls, and the concrete pulpit box. When the "prophetess" died later, she still had followers. They had fled to the Congo but came back after things settled down. Believing that that she would rise after three days, they nonetheless took her body, when it failed to happen, and put it n a little concrete vault they built in the remains of the church building. There are thousands across Zambia that believe in and pray to this skeleton, still believing that she will rise again one day. What hopeless darkness!

Chinsali Trip

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

I just got back to Kitwe, Zambia, from a 3-day adventure in Chinsali with Damon and missionary Mike Dobbins. Chinsali is a village, or actually a rather sprawled-out cluster of villages, about ten hours' drive from Damon's home. We took some Bibles, tracts, and other materials with us to give to Pastor Samuel, the national pastor who has a work in the main village of Chinsali. The roads weren't very good, but they could have been a lot worse considering that it's the rainy season and the roads are given very poor bases. We saw a couple of accidents, but the Lord took us there safely. We stayed Friday night in a dingy little hotel. My room had a bed with a mosquito net, a filthy shower with only the cold (very cold) working, a temperamental toilet (you reach in the tank and pull on the wire loop to flush), and a sink with a faucet that spins in a circle when you try to shut it off. Really, it was a blast. The food was pretty decent; the cook made some very good rice to go with the dry chicken or beef.

But accomodations and cuisine were not what we went there for. Friday morning we went to Samuel's new church building that is under construction. Members of his church met with us and we split up into groups and went soul-winning for three hours. It's different than what I'm used to; we only went to three or four houses the whole time. The people are very receptive -- of the visitors. They are not very receptive of the true Gospel. They will pray all sorts of prayers with you all day long, but they trust more in their baptism than the blood of Christ to save their soul. One big problem is that the culture is so strongly steeped in the traditions of sorcery. Christianity is often little more than another welcome "protection" against evil spirits and witchcraft. So a "convert" may not be truly born again. I can see that it requires a lot of wisdom to deal with.

There was a church service in the evening. Although English is the national language in Zambia, this remote location speaks mainly Bemba. So I couldn't understand much of the service, except for the sermon. Damon preached in English, and Pastor Samuel translated into Bemba. They seemed to be a very enthusiastic church. Pray that this work will continue to grow in numbers and in grace.

The Adventure Begins...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600

I am writing in the terminal of OR Tambo Intl. Airport in South Africa. I left this morning...no, it was yesterday morning...right; for a three-week stay in Zambia. I will be visiting missionaries Damon and Lisa Matacchiera in Kitwe, and working with them and Damon's parents, the Joe Matacchiera family (can I figure out some keyboard shortcut to write that name automatically?). I will be searching for God's will for my life and getting a feel for the field in Zambia.

The flights have been good and uneventful. I was very thankful for the aisle row bulkhead seat I had for the 18-hour flight over here. I will leave tomorrow morning at 9 AM for Zambia, and land in Ndola, aout 45 minutes from Kitwe, the Matacchiera's "home city".

Please pray for me as I continue my quest to start "Bringing God's Light to the Dark Continent".

May God bless you.

A Big No-go!

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

I’m writing this from Arkansas, where our family is on vacation visiting relatives. While I was here I figured it might be a good idea to check out a missionary aviation training school I’ve been praying about attending to get my mechanic training. It’s called Alpha Aviation. The downside is that it is 3 or so hours away from here. Well, that shouldn’t be such a problem. I have my hard-earned pilot certificate, right? And there's an airport nearby that rents aircraft. I contacted them...and the problems began!
They require a checkout, since the only planes for rent are Cessna 172 SPs. These are a technologically advanced aircraft because of the "glass cockpit" electronic flight displays they have instead of the conventional layout. That is a lot of extra money, since I'd have to pay for an extra hour plus the instructor. Then when I called to go ahead and schedule the checkout (I figured it would be a good experience to learn a new aircraft), the man said, "Oh yes, I didn't tell you -- your renter's insurance has to be $120,000 coverage or more." Well, that was it! I pay enough premium for my $5,000 coverage; I can't afford the $1,500 annual premium for enough coverage to please some rental place. It's just another reminder that there is more than bad weather that can ground a pilot.

Pilot Missionary Matt Allen

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

I have had the privilege recently to hear pilot missionary Matt Allen speak at our church. Before the service I was able to go with some other young men to our pastor's house and listened to Brother Allen talk about how he went about getting his certificates and ratings. He painted the "dark side" of missionary aviation for us. It just isn't like the videos portray. Unless you pick up the winning ticket off the sidewalk tomorrow, you had better be ready to have no time, no money, and a lot of hard work for a few years. I already knew that but it was a good reminder. If you would like to find out more about Matt Allen and his work in Paupau New Guinea, go to his web page.

No longer Student!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Last week I got in touch with the FAA designated flight examiner and scheduled my practical test. He had a cancelled trip, so he was able to be in the area on Monday. I went ahead and scheduled for Monday morning at 10:00 (1500 UTC).

I studied a little more, but as they say, if you don't know it, you aren't going to. I did a cross-country plan to Erie Pennsylvania.

I had some trouble remembering airspace answers during the oral test, but I knew where to go to find most things.

The checkride went rather well. The air was very unstable and bumpy, but not overly turbulent. I started off a couple of miles off course, but I quickly corrected it as soon as I realized.

We did slow flight, stalls, and steep turns, then he pulled the throttle at 2400 feet above the airport. I made a successful approach to the runway, but I could have made it better. I stretched the glide a little too long. Then I did a soft-field and a short-field landing, both uneventful. I taxied back to the ramp and shut down.

He turned toward me. "Well, congratulations." Praise the Lord. This is a culmination of many hours and dollars of training, and it's so nice to finally be a pilot, not just a student pilot.

Of course, the next step is usually the round of rides, but I'll take it slow and get a little more money first. It costs $85 an hour for a Cessna 152, which is probably the least expensive around here.

As far as flight training is concerned, I plan to start studying the books for the instrument rating, but probably no instruction yet. We will see how God directs my steps!

Last Lesson...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Yesterday I had my last training lesson before the checkride. We went up and he just threw random maneuvers at me . I "failed " the first one, but after that I watched my altitude better and went through the rest okay.

I had to do a go-aruond on my last landing. I might make a good bush pilot, because I have a strong tendency to stay high until the last minute and have to quickly dump the flaps down and chop the power at the last minute. That's not the best way to land at a normal airfield, though. It's better to keep everything even and calm, and add a little power on final approach if necessary. I made a successful soft-field landing. It helps to add just a touch of power at the flare to geep a nice float going until you gently touch down.

Afterward I spent a bit of time filling in my online application on the FAA web site. I just have to call the examiner and schedule the test now. And study!

Glider Pilot

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Glider Pilot? I thought you were applying for "single-engine land". Well, yes, but that involves some training for the un-called-for unknown scenario - Engine Failure. This was not new material but simply a review, so I knew exactly what to do when my instuctor pulled the throttle to idle. The automatic checklist:

Best glide speed. 60 knots will give you the greatest distance for your time.
Carb heat on. This will melt ice that is possibly accumulating in the carburetor.
Throttle full. Make sure there's something in those cylinders to burn.
Mixture full rich. Make sure you've got lots of gas in there!
Fuel Valve on. Just checking.
Primer locked. If it drifts out it can be a culprit.
Mag check. Switch your magneto switch around to see if she'll light back up.

Flight on October 19

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Another early afternoon lesson. We did another hood (instument) flight to Olean County. This weeks TOL(TakeOff and Landing) focus was soft-field. The main objective is to keep the weight off the landing gear. I'd like to fly into a soft field like Geneseo before winter, to get a more real soft-field experience.

I flew simulated instrument back home. My instructor breiefed me on Recovery from Unusual Attitudes. I look in my lap as he puts the aircraft in a descending spiral or a climb, and then I take over and return to staight and level flight using only the instruments. I found it rather easy, but then I was expecting it. In a real-life situation, one is normally in a distracting, high-stress situation to begin with.

Flight on October 12

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:49:34 -0500

I am beginning the final stage of training- review! We are also using these last few hours to get the few hours of simulated instrument.

I took off (short-field) with my instructor at about 2:00 PM. We went right into instrument mode, so I put on a pair of "foggles."

They are less bulky than the conventional "hood", but I think they give me too much peripheral vision when placed over my perscription glasses.

I flew the VOR to ELZ (Olean) and did a short-field landing. After a short-field takeoff, right from the stopping point of my landing -- you see it was not an actual short field! -- I intercepetd the 50-degree radial of the Olean VOR and flew it back to 4G6. I made a much better short-field landing this time. It helped to pick a target spot on the runway.

Flight on October 5

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Monday, October fifth I arrived at the airport at 6:30 PM. The rain cells that had been bumping around western New York were clearing away, exposing a beautiful sunset.

Before daylight faded, I did my preflight of N__69Q. In addition to the normal checklist, I turned on the nav lights, rotating beacon, strobe, landinding/taxi lights, and panel light. All were in good order, as was the rest of the aircaft. I got my laptop and checked the weather for the lates information. My instructor showed up and we calculated the wind correction angles to give us the correct course heading. It was pretty breezy upstairs, with a 23kt wind out of the west, so flying from 4G6 to BUF was a little slow - 75 kts instead of 95. This was my night cross country to fulfill the requirements for private pilot certification. I had been out in the traffic patern before, but never farther tha that at night. I found the big city all right; that was easy. Finding an airport in the mass of lights, as any pilot can tell you, is a very different matter. My instructor gave me a few tips like looking for other planes (which you should be doing anyways) and watching which "black hole" they disappear into.

I found the airport and was clered to land straight-in on runway 23. Those bright, sequential lights really help! As I waited on the taxiway for some passenger jets to take off and land, I suddenly realized the disadvantage of doing all one's training at a lare airport. The Hobbs meter does a lot of ticking on the taxiway.

We got flight following from Buffalo and Rochester flying home. Our route was via the Geneseo VOR. We flew down along Conesus Lake, enjoying the beautiful moonlit reflection.