Dear Friends and Family,

Just want to share a praise report with you about an experience we had a few weeks ago.  I received a telephone call early one morning from one of our missionaries, asking why there are soldiers walking around their house with guns.  I had no clue what they were talking about so I got into the car and drove to the hanger where we keep the mission airplanes.  When I got there I saw eight armed soldiers walking around the airplanes.   I asked them what was the purpose for them being on the property, and they explained to me that they got a report and that three armed men were walking around this area.  As the soldiers were looking for those men, they came across our airplanes and wanted to investigate if the planes are involved in drug trafficking and also if they are legal.

We knew we had nothing to hide so we gave them all the information they needed and presented to them the documents for the airplanes and runway.  They spent a few hours asking questions and making telephone calls to their main office to verify what we were saying.  Finally they asked what type of work we do with the airplanes and what religion we belong to.  Giving them the answers raised more curiosity as to why we worship on Saturdays and not on Sundays like everyone else.  This opened the door for us to share the message with the whole team.  I first asked them what religion they belong to and sure enough, they were all Catholics.

I thought to myself, how in the world do I tell a bunch of armed soldiers that their beloved church changed the Sabbath day to Sunday and this same church is the beast that the book of revelation speaks about. Especially knowing their good Pope just paid Bolivia a visit in August. By the way, as I make mention of the Pope, I must tell you that the day before the Pope arrived to Santa Cruz, lightening struck our tower in the middle twice and blew out the system for three days.  Normally the lightening should have struck the tower on the top where the lightening protection is.  Just to give you and idea of the spiritual battles we face.  However, we shared the message with them and gave the history of the Catholic church and the role they are playing now and will play in the future.   Some of the soldiers said they never heard this before and were interested in knowing more.  This was a great opportunity to give each one of them a copy of the Great Controversy book.   They all left the property contented and we thought that was the end of the surprise visit.

Later that evening when we least expected, there came a caravan of cars driving down the runway towards the hanger.  This time it was not just the military, but also officials from the justice department, a private investigator and the news press.  When I heard they were there again, my heart paused for a brief moment.  The news reporters gave their report and the private investigator taped up the one airplane that had not been flying for a few years and said this airplane is now under investigation.

That night we turned on the news to hear what they had to say and we could not believe our eyes and ears.  On the news, they said they found a hidden runway with airplanes that were probably used for drug trafficking.  The images of cars speeding down the runway and the military in action around the hanger gave the wrong impression of our organization.  This type of news report was replayed several times during the week.  We all got together and prayed that God would intervene and protect us from the attacks of Satan.  The whole organization was at risk and also our reputation.

This first night the news came out, I received a call from our legal representative asking for $2000 to contract a lawyer to defend us. The lawyer told our legal representative that this is very common in Bolivia and they do this to close down organizations they don’t want especially if they are foreigners.  He warned that they are capable of planting drugs in the planes and that would be enough to shut us down and even put us in prison.  Our legal representative runs a very successful prison ministry and she knows there are many innocent people accused of crimes they never committed.  As she pleaded with me to hire the lawyer, I whispered a prayer asking God for wisdom.  Praise the Lord He gave me the peace I needed.  I told her we do not have the money anyway to pay the lawyer, we just have to trust that God would be our lawyer and defender.  We all left the matter in God’s hand and decided not to fight.  If we do not trust God now, how can we ever trust Him in the future?  This was the perfect time to put God to the test and see how He is able to protect his work.  I remembered then, the battle is not ours but God’s.

The following week the drug department came with their equipment to inspect the sealed airplane.  They did a micro vacuum to the airplane and took the dust to their lab for inspection to see if there were drug particles among the dust.  We were at their mercy because they can switch filters in the lab if they desire to do so.   That evening I received a phone call from Kelvin, our head engineer.   This call brought peace to us and showed clearly that God is in control.  Kelvin said that his friend who is a high-ranking officer in the drug department saw the news and wanted to help us.  He said to Kelvin that he is a faithful viewer of our TV network (Red Advenir) and knows that we are not involved in drug trafficking.  The officer asked for the names of persons who were involved in the inspection of the airplane.  He wanted to look over their shoulders to make sure the results are what it should be.

During the two weeks of waiting for the results, we got a letter from the aviation department (DGAC) in La Paz stating that all our planes are grounded until the investigation is over.  Well, finally we decided to call and find out what the results were.   The investigator told us to meet him outside the hall of justice and he will give us the results.  On arrival to Hall of Justice, the chief pilot and myself left the car to meet the private investigator and then invited him to a coffee shop to talk (of course we drank juice).  When we got to the coffee shop, the investigator saw there were three other people waiting.   He realized they were lawyers and so he stopped, then looked up at the ceiling, then said to us “What are you guys doing? This place has cameras.  I am not going to speak to you guys here.”  I asked him if he had a place of choice, he paused for a while, and then said, “Ok, let us talk here.”  The two lawyers and engineer we presented to him were missionary lawyers who work with the organization as volunteers and were guiding us through the legal process.  I thought it strange that the private investigator was nervous and sweating.  I had no clue why.  Our lawyer Janet assured him that they are not here as lawyers but as part of the organization to find out what the results were.  The investigator then took out a large folder with documents and showed us that the study came out negative and the documents on the plane are legal.

Janet kindly asked the investigator if he would be willing to accompany us to the legal office and present the documents to them so that they would remove the restriction they had placed on all the airplanes including the incoming flights. Who knows what God did behind the scenes and what plans Satan had in mind for us.  Not long after the investigation, the news reported that the government had confiscated 196 airplanes throughout Bolivia that were either involved in drugs or did not have proper documentation. There is absolutely no doubt that God was indeed our Lawyer and Defender.  Praise the Lord, today, our planes are now flying once again and our international flights can come into the country without problems.

Because of this incident, those men are now going to know about the Great Controversy including the private investigator.  We know Satan is no match for God.  God always comes out the winner.  Please pray that God would use this opportunity to reach the hearts of these soldiers through the Great Controversy books.

I want to say thank you with all my heart to those of you who support the work we do here in Bolivia through your many prayers and financial help.

Yours in Christ,

Richard Carrera, Director