“Good morning, Captain Norman! We have a pending flight request from Mapun.” It was just after 5 AM when Dianne, the PAMAS flight nurse, sent the text. A young woman, only 31 years old, was suffering from acute kidney failure, causing severe dehydration. She needed to be transported to the hospital as soon as possible.

I immediately checked the weather and was relieved to see it had improved significantly since the day before. There were only a few scattered showers along the one-hour flight path that would take us over the Sulu Sea to the island of Mapun in the Philippines. I confirmed with Dianne that we would take the flight, and soon after sunrise, we took off in the mission’s Cessna 182.

I had been to Mapun at least half a dozen times in the six weeks since Nancy and I had arrived in Palawan. Almost every flight had been a medevac, and I felt blessed to be able to serve the friendly people of this small island.

As soon as we were airborne, we could see clouds in the distance. We deviated east to try and navigate around the worst of them and find a way through. As we got closer, we spotted a gap between two towering clouds. We entered the gap, encountered some rain, and then burst through into bright sunshine. Soon, the welcome sight of Mapun appeared in the distance.

As we landed on the grass strip, the ambulance was already waiting. Dianne had prepared the plane, removing one of the seats so the patient could lie down on a cushion. I removed the door to make it easier to load the patient and her mother. The woman’s breathing was erratic, and she was visibly anxious. Before taking off, I wanted to check the satellite weather, but the signal wasn’t strong enough. After several attempts, we finally got a call through to Sean, the PAMAS Palawan director, who told us that poorer weather was moving in from the east and advised us to leave sooner rather than later.

The sky was clear as we took off and headed north for the 140-mile flight back to base. In the distance, we saw a line of clouds blocking our path - some of them building to great heights. I turned toward the area with the lowest cloud, hoping we could climb high enough to go over them. But as we approached, it became clear that the clouds were growing faster than we could ascend. We were soon met by a huge wall of cloud swirling in slow motion. I glanced back at Dianne, who was busy attending to the still-agitated patient. The mother of the young woman sat next to be seemingly oblivious to the danger we were in. I breathed a silent prayer for wisdom and protection. 

As we neared the cloud wall I decided to buy some time by circling and continuing to climb. After one circle, it was clear we couldn’t outclimb these clouds. But I also knew this was the area with the least cloud and I was especially grateful for the instrument flight review I had completed just before arriving in the Philippines. 

After notifying Dianne of my intentions I focused on my instruments and prepared to enter the cloud. If things didn’t improve we would do a 180 degree turn and look for another option. As we entered the cloud, darkness surrounded us and we could feel the buffeting of light turbulence. I considered initiating the 180 turn. Just then Dianne called out in excitement, “there’s a bright spot over there”. Sure enough a lighter area could be seen just off to the right. I immediately turned toward it but it seemed to disappear just as quickly, then another one appeared to the left and before long the clouds parted and we were again in clear air.

The rest of the flight was smooth, and as we landed at our home base in Brooke’s Point, even our patient had fallen asleep, resting calmly. My heart overflowed with gratitude to God, who cares deeply for each one of us and is attentive to our every cry for help.