As the plane climbed over l,000 meters Paul checked for the first time to see what time it was. The clock on the panel said l:58 a.m.Oh no. That meant he needed to land by 3:20 in the morning. It would still be totally dark.

"Set this bird down while it's still dark?" It seemed impossible! But, hadn't God just helped him to do the impossible? "You got me up here safely," prayed Paul. "I believe you can get me back on the ground again safely."

At about 3,000 meters Paul broke out of the clouds into the clear night. Wow! The sky was full of brilliant stars as far as he could see in every direction, and a sliver of a moon shone brightly.

Paul exclaimed, "Lord, how awesome You are! How magnificently powerful!"

Up there in the heavens, Paul praised and praised God. There just weren't enough words to pour out his thanksgiving to Him. As Paul flew through the night, he thanked God for each little detail of the escape.

Paul was so glad that he had gotten away from the guerrillas. But now he had another reason for wanting to get back to the Mission headquarters. He knew things that nobody else knew about the group that was holding Tim, Bunny, and Steve captive. What he knew might be used to help free them.

Now Paul needed to land before it ran out of fuel. He descended to 700 meters. He could smell burnt grasslands. That was a good sign -- there should be flat land nearby.

Soon Paul's little taxi light spotted the ground. He saw brush, high clumps of termite nests and mounds of anthills -- not good for landing, and he could only see right where the taxi light shone.

Trees! (Click on the picture to go to a larger picture you can print out and color.)

Suddenly there were trees right in front of him! Paul jerked back on the yoke, and the plane lifted over the trees. The plane was very light since it had almost no fuel, so it responded to his touch very easily. Coming down again, Paul kept looking for a place to land. More trees! Up and over again.

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