SUBJECT: Flying the families into Kaikan

AUTHOR: David Gates, his wife Becky, and four of their five children - Lina, Trina, Carlos, and Kristopher, work together with Becky's sister and family, the Burgdorffs, in a medical aviation program in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

DATE: November 17, 1996

Dear Family and Friends,

Some of you have received short updates on the progress of our plans to make the move into Kaikan, and some of the special evidences of Gods leading. Due to the lack of actual internet connections here in Guyana, it has been difficult to get notices off to multiple addresses. We are currently working on having mail forwarded from Trinidad using the Caribbean Union College's internet connection.

This particular letter is about our dream come true, our actual move into the interior village of Kaikan today, and the reception received there.

Having determined that it was more cost efficient per pound to take two flights by single engine plane (Cessna 206) than one trip by twin engine (Norman Britton Islander), we scheduled two round trips to Kaikan this morning. We had been allocated 1,200 lbs per trip, so we carefully weighed everything to get our full payload worth. Since I would be unable to stay in Kaikan, but would have to return to Georgetown so I could make the trip to the US to bring down our plane, I flew in on the first flight this morning, taking my wife Becky, our two boys, Carlos and Kris, our older daughter Lina, and her cousin Heidi. The second trip would bring in my brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Betsy Burgdorff, two of their daughters, Kristen and Kara, and our youngest daughter Katrina. I would return to Georgetown with the pilot on the second flight back to town.

The flight was approximately 1:40 minutes, which went fast as we watched the fascinating landscapes of Georgetown pass below. First there was a lot of flat sugar cane fields, followed by some grasslands and some large rivers. That quickly changed into solid jungle with intertwined smaller

Demarara River

rivers. As the terrain rose slowly from sea level, we witnessed high plateaus at about 4,000 feet above sea leave. These dropped off suddenly into the jungle below, creating miles of sheer cliffs. Dozens of rivers cascaded over these cliffs spraying dark tannin-stained water into the lowlands below. With the plateau leveling off, came more grasslands, swamps caused by trapped rain water, and flat rock surfaces. When we were about 30 miles east of our destination (Kaikan is directly West of Georgetown against the Venezuela border), we began a descent down just above the plateau, and then as the plateau dropped suddenly off into the valley we found ourselves over Kaikan. I looked back at the kids and found them with noses pinned to the windows, exclaiming over the beauty of the scene. Becky herself quit her quiet admiration and broke into exclamations of delight. The plane flew over our house-to-be, over the river into Venezuela on a downwind leg of the pattern, banked low on base, and turned final. As we came in low over the river, the white sand runway flashed under the wheels and we could see villagers standing along both sides of the runway along its length. Soon the plane came to a stop at the far end, just in front a large crowd of church members standing in front of a large 3-color hand-painted sign which said "WELCOME TO KAIKAN".

All the local church leaders, the village elders, and the village Captain were dressed in their Sabbath best, with even their ties on. We ourselves began to feel underdressed for the occasion. As we stepped out of the plane, hundreds of hands stretched out to give us a hug. Our heavy duffle bags, and trunks which took nearly 45 minutes to carefully load, were out in a couple of minutes, unloaded by strong hands.

"Your luggage is in good hands. Leave it with them.", we were told. "Please bring your family and follow us to the church Elder Gates." (In Guyana, church Elders are literally addressed as 'Elder').

Glancing up toward the lovely little white church surrounded by white sand, we saw that poles had been planted every 6 feet on both sides of the path from the runway, all the way to the church. Each pole had a bouquet of flowers, with strings tied between the poles with color plastic, flowers, and adornments hanging from them. The grounds had been carefully mowed by machete, and the open places swept clean of small brush. Tears burst into my eyes as I realized that the dream come true for us, was also a dream come true for them as well. As we walked down the path, I noticed that some of the more mature men kept putting their hands on the shoulders and head of our boys Carlos and Kris. I was soon to discover why.

As we walked up the front steps into the church, 6 church Deaconesses waited, one on each step; each with a hug and a kiss for each visitor. Our boys didn't know what to

Arrival in Kaikan

think about so much attention. I had to tell them to kiss them back. We were taken to the front by the Head Elder, and asked to sit in the chairs at the head of the church. Immediately some young girls came out onto the platform, each with a lovely embroidered neck piece (forgive me for now knowing the name). Each piece was a different color. The girls gave a short speech, gave each of us a hug and kiss, and placed the beautiful cloth around our necks. I looked at my wife, like me, tears were running down her cheeks.

Special music by the church choir was followed by a speech from the First Elder, which was followed by special music from the children's choir, which was followed by a speech from the village Captain (Chief) who said that our coming was very similar to that of Jesus' coming, since I had promised to come, and I did, but they had to wait a long time with out know exactly when. Continuing on came more music from the church, which was followed by a speech from the local Bible Worker who said that he was very jealous because he was from another village and he felt it wasn't fair for just one village to have missionaries stay with them. He made us promise publicly to visit the villages in his district someday and teach them about better health and Christ's soon coming. Everything was so beautiful, it is hard to put into words.

Somewhere during the middle, five youth came out, each representing a letter of the alphabet (G A T E S).
"The letter 'G' is for Going into all the world to warn others about Christ's soon coming," said the first.
"'A' is for Assisting others with love," the second one continued.
"'T' is for Traveling in from far away"
"'E' is for eating from all the delicious fruit in Kaikan"
"'S' is for sent from God to Kaikan," finished the fifth.

As you can tell, they had been preparing for a long time for such a reception, and what a privilege it was to feel the joy of a long-awaited reunion. Won't heaven be much more beautiful that? After the church service, we all walked past the school house, down to the beautiful river, along its banks, to our house. Our things were already there, 600 lbs worth. Soft drinks and crackers,

House and People

purchased from the Venezuelan side of the border were thrust into our hands. As we relaxed for a few minutes, the yard filled up with more women and children. Ten minutes later I noticed that Carlos had gotten out his little matchbox cars, and had a group of about 8 boys playing excitedly with him, most of them chattering to him in Akawaio dialect (Well Carlos, I don't think it will be very long and you will be able to help me with my language studies). After the initial curiosity wore off, most everyone disappeared, except for the Captain, and church leaders. Together we put up our radio antenna and hooked up the radio so that tomorrow morning I will be able to have contact with them. We then stopped by the local police station (actually a small military post) to register the radio with them, and get clearance to operate it.

Peaceful River

After a short dip in the river, it was time for all of us to head back to the runway (about 1 mile from the house, along the river and up the hill) for the arrival of the second plane full. Within half an hour, we hear the plane coming in the distance. People came running from all over to meet it. As the plane landed and taxied in, I took a picture of it, only to realize that Ted was taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. He had a big grin on his face. Since the captain of the plane was in a real hurry, I was unable to accompany the group during the second welcoming service (which was supposed to be identical to the morning service). However, we did get a lot of pictures, and finished off 3 rolls among us so that I could fly out with the rolls to have them developed in the US next week.

Please pray that God will work in mighty ways to open doors for His work to reach those that are dying without the gospel.

It is late, and I must close. Thanks again for your prayers for this medical-aviation program.

Yours in Christ,

David Gates

You may write to David at: gates@andrews.edu

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Last Updated: March 10, 1997

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