 December 2024. It seems that each newsletter this year starts with how Haiti’s instability and gang activity are impacting how Missionary Flights is operating at the time of publication. In the beginning of November, gangs in Port-au-Prince vowed to make travel difficult until their demands were met. In the course of a couple days, they shot three different airline’s aircraft. This resulted in the Port-au-Prince airport being closed to all civilian aircraft. At this time, Missionary Flights anticipates that it will not be able to fly to Port-au-Prince until some time in the new year. Initially the FAA prohibited all U.S. aircraft from being below 10,000 feet over the country of Haiti. MFI was able to apply for permission to complete two evacuation flights. Once those were completed, the FAA adjusted the boundary for the restriction to be the southeastern part of the country and MFI was able to resume flights into Cap Haitien and Pignon. Please continue to pray for a resolution to this ongoing situation, for safety of the missionaries that we serve, and that God will be glorified..  Haitian Artisans proud of the shipment we helped transport to the U.S.  MFI’s DC-3 at the Stuart AirshowWhile on deputation, we got to participate in a cool God story. We were in Elgin for First Baptist’s missions conference. We got the opportunity to share in a Sunday school class along with several other local ministries. The director of the local pregnancy care organization was present and sharing about her organization’s ministry there. When we started sharing about what we do with Missionary Flights, she shared that the clinic had an ultrasound machine that they were trying to get to Haiti. Our first question was to whom she was trying to get it since we only fly for ministries that are connected with us. She named two names and the second one we knew off the bat was one of our regulars. So on Tuesday, James went over to TLC and loaded up the ultrasound machine. God had made sure that he had the tools to disassemble it enough to fit and the space in the vehicle to transport it. After we returned to Florida, we were able to get it loaded on the plane and sent to the doctor in Port-au-Prince that the clinic had been praying for about a year and a half to be able to get this equipment to him.  Ft Pierce Hangar Banquet First ultrasound in Port-au-Prince Now that we are back home from deputation, it has been announced at MFI that our Director of Flight Logistics is retiring at the end of this year. Beginning in January, James will step into this role. On the upside, James has been being groomed for this role. On the downside, this means that finding a new assistant for James is happening much quicker than we anticipated. Please pray that this transition happens seamlessly.Thank you for your faithfulness in love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI .James and Sam Gabhart If you are not currently receiving our monthly Prayerline with items you can pray for daily for our family and Missionary Flights, please click here to update your preferences to be added to that mailing list. Family News It’s incredible to think that we’re already in the Christmas and advent season. As we look back on this last year, there are so many things to be thankful for. We are so blessed by having three incredible children who have a heart to serve God. We are blessed by Sam’s mom being with us to afford us the ability to be at Missionary Flights as often as we need to be. We are blessed to have an incredible church family that we get to spend time with a couple of times a week. We are thankful for MFI and the trust and encouragement that they give us with the roles that we fulfill. Most importantly, we are grateful for you – our supporters and our prayer warriors. .  Deputation Travel Pictures Deputation Travel PicturesThinking about the kids, we are excited to have gotten to see Chris turn 14. This smart, spunky, goofy teenage boy has a beautiful heart to point people back to Christ. There are several times when his encouraging word to us is exactly what we needed at that precise moment. It’s going to be incredible to see how he continues to grow and mature in his faith in the coming years.  Starved Rock Chris is 14! Another thing we find ourselves incredibly grateful for is the scholarship the kids have for being homeschoolers with the state. The scholarship has given us the opportunity to try new things, and new curriculums. I know we’ve talked about it in the past, but to see them thrive in ways that we have not seen them thrive, is quite honestly the biggest blessing of them all. To know academically, that they are being challenged without finding major sources of frustration, is a gift. The ability to order them things that they are excited about— that sparks their interests— is just incredible .  Trunk or Treat Trunk or TreatThank you again for your love, support, and prayers this year.Here’s to 2025!  Praises and Prayer RequestsPraise that MFI has raised our support level to help reflect the higher costs of everything. Prayer that we are able to raise the difference of this new increase. Prayer for wisdom to know the right time for Kathy to have her first knee replacement. Prayer for the ability to recognize boundaries and to hold to them. Praise for the blessing of our new vehicle and it assisting us with daily life beautifully.< /li>Praise for our faithful supporters, both in prayer and financially. Prayer for God to bless their consistency to support the work He is doing. Prayer for MFI in the needed wisdom in filling open positions, and for God to provide the correct people to fill them Ministry Update We are so thankful to all who are following God’s leading in supporting us. The MFI Board increased our support level to $6,300 monthly. We currently receive $5,500 (87%) in monthly commitments. We need an additional $800 to be fully supported. Online Giving: www.missionaryflights.org/gabhartORMail Checks to: 3170 Airmans Drive Fort Pierce, FL 34946 Memo: Gabharts #2837Click here to download a printer friendly version.Copyright © 2024 Gabharts Flying By Faith, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you requested to receive communications from us. Our mailing address is: Gabharts Flying By Faith742 Forster AvenueSebastian, Florida 32958Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |
Gabhart’s November 2024 Prayerline
Mylinda Bates October 2024
The Great Spirit walks with us through times of trouble, giving us courage and well-being so that we can give to others the same comfort given to us. We need your prayers, for as you send your voice to the Great Spirit, many will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks. -1 Corinthians 1:4 and 11 First Nations Version
On my rainy walk this morning, many of my global partners came to mind and I was compelled to not only pray for them but to invite you to join me in those prayers. After all, you make it possible for me to work alongside these folks as I’ve served in my role as Global Consultant for Training with the Restorative Arts with International Ministries. Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Lebanon, Ukraine and more places and faces come to mind, making me both smile and sigh.
I smile when Ernesto shares that he’s getting close to finishing his Doctor of Ministry dissertation focused on how he implemented what he learned from our Expressive Arts in Transition training in Cuba to support community youth during the Covid 19 crisis. I smile when my Costa Rican friend Ruth invites me to collaborate with her to offer creative conflict transformation training to women and young girls in Costa Rica. When Idaliana shares a poem, Eloy sends photos, Leslia and Marybexy write notes of thanks, or Oseth asks me how I need prayer, I smile. Their greetings remind me that together we are God’s answer to our prayers. I’m deeply grateful to them and all of you for the witness, commitment and encouragement that prod me to deeper faith and action.
I sigh as well, because along with everyday graces and gifts, grief and heartache touch us too. I sigh as I listen to Aida, Gabriela, and Elizabeth’s stories of the littles, the elders, the students and professors, the healthcare workers and those who’ve stayed in their home countries when others have left. I sigh in sacred trust that God sees and strengthens the hundreds of internally displaced folk now staying at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut, Lebanon in seminary housing where I stayed when visiting there. I remember the hummus and hospitality I enjoyed, and pray that the abundance of God’s love will bring comfort, courage and well-being to them as it did for me. These are just a few of the many challenges held alongside of the courage I witness.
The resilience and creativity of my friends in the midst of difficulty inspires and motivates me to do all that I can to stand with them. Here’s how I need your prayers and support for the doors God has opened to partner with these wonderful colleagues–
- In order to continue offering training and in person support to my colleagues around the world, I need to enlarge my team of monthly supporters who are called to a ministry of financial giving to make this possible. For those of you who like specifics, this would mean 15 new givers at $200 per month or 30 at $100 per month or 60 at $50 per month. Acknowledging that as we enter the Fall and begin to wrap up the year, you will be receiving a number of worthy requests for your solidarity and support; World Mission Offering, charities and political campaigns, and GoFundMe’s galore. It can get overwhelming, and yet, I want you to know that I need your prayers and your support. You can easily sign up to be on my team as a monthly supporter at this link:
https://internationalministries.org/author/m-baits/. If you need help setting this up please reach out to me at mylindabaits.gmail.com
2. We have been invited to expand the reach of our Expressive Arts in Transition pilot project in Cuba. After successfully graduating 8 certified EXIT facilitators, both the University of Holguin and a group in Santiago want to offer our arts-based psychosocial training program in their communities. We thank God for the $4000 already donated towards the $25,000 we need to complete these two new cohorts in 2025. If being a part of making the first ever Expressive Arts in Transition training in all of Latin America possible, will you consider giving a year-end gift? Any gift you can make will be helpful. By giving to this pilot project fund, you will make training and supervision available to those who are closest to the situation at hand. They hear the stories of struggle, they see the lonely elders and comfort the grieving children, sharing love by being the tangible expression of compassionate justice. You can donate directly at this link: https://internationalministries.org/expressive-arts-in-transition-exit/
3. At the end of this month I will be joining a small group of Global Consultants to accompany our colleague Kristy Engle and meet with ministry partners of the Hungarian Baptist Aid Society. We will visit ministry sites and encourage those involved in vital and life transforming ministries of care and comfort to those impacted by the war in Ukraine. I will facilitate an artful healing gathering with some key leaders there. Please pray that this time will be what is needed for the soul care of those gathered.
For those of you who are already part of my team, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you for your ongoing and faithful support. For those of you who, like me, smile and sigh at the beauty and brutality, gifts and griefs, resilience and raw realities of our world and want to DO something to make a difference, you are.
Praying that you will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks.
Mylinda
Gabhart’s October 2024 Prayer Requests
Scott and Tan September 2024
I had been planning for some time to write a newsletter. But, as you probably know me well, by now I could always find just one more thing to do before getting started on it, so it gets delayed and delayed. No I have to send you at least a short update as life has just turned upside down.
Many of you may have seen or heard by now, possibly through International Ministries, that Northern parts of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and Eastern Burma all got hit by the tail of a typhoon last week which has caused heavy flooding in all four countries. Vietnam is reporting over 240 dead, over half of that number from a landslide that took out one village. Accurate information on Burma and Laos is not so easy to get, but we are seeing reports of severe damage in Burma with at least 160 dead and counting. Even the capital of Burma, NayPyiTaw, was flooded badly.
Our home province of Chiang Rai was also severely damaged. The flood came into the city and damaged most of the downtown. Almost all the communities near the river were hit hard. Upstream, in the hills, many villages near the river have seen complete destruction. Our home, near the river, was also flooded. But thanking the Lord that it is just a lot of mud that we have to deal with and no significant damage. We got most everything up in time before we rushed out at 10 pm on Wednesday night – just as the water rushed in. At least a dozen other missionary families were flooded out. Some lost absolutely everything.
The flood of the century, I would say. In the nearly 40 years I have been here, I have never seen this level of flooding.
International Ministries has put out an appeal, if you would like to donate. Some of the local ministries I am related to here will be managing those relief funds.
The Thai people have been amazing. Volunteers from the entire country have poured in. It is a time of working together and helping each other.
We are monitoring the news from our neighboring countries, trying to find ways we can help as we know that the needs there will be greater than ours.
Blessings,
Scott and Tan
Thailand Flooding September 2024
International Ministries has sent an initial grant of $20,000 in One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) emergency relief to partners that will provide humanitarian relief to the victims of the severe flooding devastating northern Thailand.
Catastrophic flooding has struck Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, affecting more than 10,000 homes, according to news reports from the Bangkok Post. Some are calling it the worst flooding in 80 years, with the Kok River overflowing to submerge the entire business district of Chiang Rai city. Across Thailand, 48 provinces remain under flash flood warnings through September 18th, with the potential for further devastation.
International Ministries (IM) is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of its global servants, partners in the region, and the communities they serve. The Williams and Coats families, IM global servants stationed in Chiang Rai, have been forced to flee their homes due to rising floodwaters.
IM Area Director for Southeast Asia and Japan Rev. Kyle Witmer describes the dire situation: “Our partners among the hill tribe peoples here have seen some devastating realities as rivers have overrun their banks on numerous occasions. Please prayerfully consider how God might use you to respond with love and care for those affected. Pray that in the midst of this difficult time, people will see the difference that a relationship with Jesus Christ makes in the lives of God’s children.”
With ongoing flood warnings, immediate needs for displaced families include food, clean water, and shelter, while longer-term efforts will focus on restoration and rebuilding. Kyle and Katrina Williams, IM global servants in Chiang Rai, have been providing updates on the situation as it unfolds. They are urgently asking for prayer and support. “Our community is overwhelmed. Many families are now living like refugees, uncertain of when they’ll be able to return to their homes and begin the daunting task of clean-up,” shared Kyle Williams.
IM calls for urgent prayer and support for all affected by the floods, especially for the families of its global servants and local partners. Financial gifts can be made in two ways:
- To support community relief efforts, donations can be made through your American Baptist church, through giving online, or by sending checks directly to International Ministries. Please designate your contributions “OGHS–Thailand Floods” in the memo line of your check.
- To support the IM global servants who have experienced personal losses, donations can be made online or by sending checks directly to International Ministries, designating your contributions “Global Servant Emergency Care” in the memo line of your check.
Checks sent directly to International Ministries should be made payable to “International Ministries” and mailed to:
International Ministries
Attn: Gifts Processing
1003 W 9th Avenue, Ste A
King of Prussia, PA 19406
All funds will directly assist those in need as they navigate this unprecedented disaster. Your prayers and financial support will make a significant difference in helping those affected by the devastating floods in Chiang Rai and across the country.
Gabharts September 2024
Heart for Harvest
September 22, 2024
Right after second service come and share a complementary meal and learn more about the missionaries FBC supports.
Please sign up at the table in the vestibule starting Sunday September 8, 2024.
If you have any questions contact Candy Waite 815-222-5740.
Kihomi Ngwemi andNzunga Mabudiga July 2024
Greeting from our rainy Altagracia.
Many of you have been wondering about the whereabout of Nzunga & Kihomi. We are in Altagracia, a small village/town about 30-45 minutes’ drive from Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Our house is about 5 minutes’ drive from the FINCA, the mission land where we will be building the church and eventually develop a youth camp.
We are in the full swing of activities. Meetings that go beyond 9, 10 PM. Visits of sick & shuts in. Yesterday, in our nightly meeting we put in place a new structure that will help develop the new church. The young pastor Benny was named Senior pastor seconded by his wife, a Palmer Seminary Master of Theology student, and 2 Haitian leaders.
Nzunga & Kihomi will be teaching every Tuesday and Friday while sharing the duties on Sundays. Also Kihomi will help develop some development projects to help members strengthen their financial economy.
The big challenge in this society is how to help people with no legal status in Dominican Republic. Here is the case that has been keeping us awake since we arrived. A young Haitian lady member of our New Creation Baptist Church has been shut in.
Why? She has a mass preventing her to urinate normally. She uses a Catheter but needs a surgical operation, but no hospital will take her in because she is illegal in the country and because of lack of funds.
Yesterday in our meeting we decided to call The Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana about 4 hours away if they can take her in and we will volunteer to drive her over.
Thank you for praying for our emotional strength.
Yours in DR
Nzunga & Kihomi
Dear Supporters,
When this was written they had been back in the DR for 8 days. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on them. What passion of the Lord and his people.
The building of the New Creation Baptist church has been delayed due to the torrential rain and the lack of an engineer. Evidently there is a building boom going on and finding an engineer is difficult. The DR has building codes just like here. Please pray for the rains to stop and for an engineer to become available.
As always, thank you for your support.
Yours,
Dennis Shewell and the MPT team
deshewell@gmail.com
Meet the Goods
A reception will be held for Global Servants, Rev. Jon and Amanda Good on Tuesday, April 30 at 7PM in the Common Grounds. They will be speaking about their former ministry in Hungary and their transition into Rome, Italy. They have been staying at Judson Univesity for their home deputation and will be leaving in July for Italy. All are welcome to come visit with them and hear their story. Light refreshments will be served.
