Many of you may be wondering how Blake is doing and how the Pal helicopter shuttles went.  First of all, thank you for praying for Blake, the Pal shuttles and the Pal missionary team.  In January, our helicopter pilot (Ray) was able to get Blake and a work team into the Pal tribe safely, but the weather was not very good.  As I said in the previous e-mail, it is rainy season here and the winds were very high during the time allotted to do the shuttles.  Since the weather did not cooperate, Ray was not able to complete many shuttles from the shuttle point on the coast into the Pal tribe.   Sadly, most of the cargo and supplies needed for living in the tribe and for working on the houses could not be transported into Pal.

An electrician, plumber and builder went in with Blake and did as much as they could with the materials they had to work with.  Ray made several attempts to complete shuttles on Wednesday and Thursday to get building supplies in, but there were high winds, fog and clouds that did not allow him to fly.  When Friday rolled around and the weather trend was not improving, the decision was made to regroup and plan the next building trip at a time when the weather is not notoriously bad for flying.

Please pray for the Lockwoods and Claasens as they were not able to move into the tribe at this time.  Please pray for them as they look to the Lord for wisdom and direction on when and how to plan the next attempt to move into the tribe.  It can be difficult to wait, especially when plans were already in place and they were so prepared for the move.

Blake was able to help with installing plywood paneling on the interior walls of the Claasen's house. He also started to put together the racks that will hold the solar panels on the roof for the solar system that will be installed for lighting and power in the house.  There is still a lot of work that needs to be done on the interior of the houses before they are livable.

Blake commented to us about his time in the Pal tribe.  One of the things that stuck out to him was that there were always tribal people around just watching him work.  Many of these people have never seen a hammer or saw.  There is no such thing as plywood paneling out in the middle of the jungle!  Please pray for the tribe, as this is impacting their world view.  They have been bound by Satan's darkness for thousands of years.  May the Lord give the Claasens and Lockwoods wisdom and insight as they learn the language and culture of the people so the gospel can be shared with them in words and terms that they will be able to understand.

Thank you for the part you have had in this new tribal outreach.  We trust and pray that you are feeling a part of the work.  Without you, we could not be here and Blake would not have the opportunity to help out in the way he has been able to.  We thank the Lord for the work He is doing in and through each one of us.

So the Pal tribe can be reached with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ,

Brent, Hollie, Andrew, Blake, Amber & Victoria Brielle Dodd