In the last letter, we mentioned that we had lunch with Jeff and Shira, former missionaries to Belize before they went on a short-term trip back to Belize in December. I spoke with Jeff in January. While in Belize, they visited with other missionaries and let them know that Harvest hopes to resume flights as soon as the FAA allows. They told Jeff that they would welcome our support, but they had questions. How much would our services cost, and how often would we be flying into their country? These are the questions that we expected, and one’s that are hard to answer at this point in the process. Because Harvest has opened a separate commercial flight company, Peace River Aviation, our pilots will also be able to fly charter for profit within the USA and internationally once we get that FAA approval. All of the profit from commercial flights will be transferred to Harvest Aviation to subsidize the flights supporting missionaries. Our prayer is that we will be able to make regularly scheduled flights to Belize and beyond to meet the needs of missionaries. As always, God is in control, He knows the future of Harvest Aviation.
Our Chieftain is heading to MMS Aviation in Ohio to get one of the engines replaced with an overhauled one. Though our engine has about 70 flights hours remaining before it would have to be changed, the FAA encouraged us to go ahead and replace it before the inspection. Once the Chieftain engine replacement is complete, another step to get us flying again will be accomplished.
We are overwhelmed with the amount of support and encouragement we receive from you. With the addition of some one-time gifts, we are at 91% of our target budget. We are amazed at God’s kindness and your generosity.
