“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23, KJV)
Built To Carry
High in the mountains of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, communities sit beyond the reach of ordinary roads. This August, the FIA team plans to carry drilling rigs into those villages, bringing clean water and opening new doors for the gospel where neither has reached before. No regular truck can haul that kind of equipment up such terrain. The only one that can is a 27,000-pound crawler dump truck called the Morooka: a diesel engine on two-foot-wide rubber tracks, built to crawl where wheels fail.
Meet Morooka – 27,000 LB Crawler Dump Truck
Pastor Gaby (left) and a community member pointing to the terrain.
By August, it has to be ready.
Vanuatu does not make it easy. The FIA ranch sits a quarter mile from the Pacific, where salt air, tropical rain, and relentless heat eat through belts, seals, and hoses at a pace we don’t see in North America. Equipment that might last a decade in a dry climate can fail here in a single season, which is why FIA’s head mechanic, Rob Donley, has been flying in since 2018 to help keep the fleet alive. This April 2026 trip was the one where he felt they had finally made a breakthrough.
“This trip, I felt like we gained ground,” Rob said. “We’re at a better place with the equipment than we’ve ever been.”
When Rob arrived, the Morooka had taken on water through its air intake, causing it to pool in the cylinders. After days of clearing them by hand, draining oil, replacing the hydraulic drive lines, and rebuilding the intakes, the diesel finally fired.
Rob Donley, FIA Head Mechanic
Choosing Faithfulness
Two days before flying home, Rob and FIA volunteer Seth Martin took the Morooka on a test drive. As it crested a steep bank, they heard a pop and saw hydraulic fluid spray across the engine. From every visible sign, a hydraulic motor had blown. Tired from three weeks of work, Rob made the call to stop, eat, sleep, and trust God to do what God does.
God Answers
The next morning, as a fitting on a brand-new drive hose came loose, a thought flashed in Rob’s mind: the O-ring. Heat and vibration from the test drive had loosened the bolts. When the hose came off, there it was, a failed O-ring instead of a blown motor. Twenty minutes later, the Morooka was driving again.
“I was lying under the machine, crying, ‘Thank you, Lord,” Rob said.
A sunset at the FIA Ranch on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.
Pray With Us
Rob returns to Espiritu Santo in July to finish the Morooka before the August drilling push: the remaining hydraulic hoses, the rotted-out cab, a new airbox, and the hydraulic cooler. Lord willing, when the FIA team carries the drilling rig into those mountains, the Morooka will be ready to do what FIA equipment was built for, speeding the gospel.
