Flying for Life December 2010 magazine

December 2010

Will there be enough time? 2

The quarterly magazine of Mission Aviation Fellowship

Seizing the initiative 4 8Hope for

Angola

Will there be enough time?Madundas, in the Mbeya region of southern Tanzania, is just one of the destinations to which MAF flies a medical team from Chimala Brandt Mission clinic each monthStory Stephanie Gidney Photos Geoff Crawford

Despite the rainy season finishing only a month before, there is little greenery as I reach Madundas. The sandy surface of the hard ground is

imprinted with thousands of hoof marks; tracks criss-cross between the thorny shrubs and sparsely clad trees.

Arriving at the airstrip, I meet Sado and Nambojee. Sado is pregnant with her fourth child and in pain, so she’s heading to the clinic to have an antenatal check-up. She lives in Socannewa. It’s taken her three hours to walk this far, and the final mile still lies ahead of her.

Nambojee began walking from her home in Mapuli at 4am, bringing her five-month-old twin girls Curua and Kadori for vaccinations. Accompanying her is her older daughter Quimba, who has helped carry one of the babies.

Crowds gatherWalking from the airstrip, we pass numerous plots where crops of maize and peanuts grow in the grey soil. In other places, orderly lines of large mud bricks bake in the sun – they are not fired in an oven here.

Reaching the clinic, it’s difficult to estimate how many people have gathered – there are so many. The air is full of women’s conversation, laughter and babies crying. Every single spot of shade is occupied, people seated on the ground under scrawny trees or in the narrow shadows of the dispensary walls where the clinic is held.

Where there are people, there is colour – bright and cheerful, and a welcome contrast to the parched land. Set to one side are a handful of ‘traders’ selling bananas, sugar cane, chai, rice cakes and doughnut-like

TANZANIA: Primary healthcare

2 Flying for Life December 2010

December 2010 Flying for Life 3

Far left: Nambojee with her twins Curua and KadoriMain: Dr Gala and his team head for the clinincTop left: Nambojee and her daughter Quimba with the twinsTop right: Dr Gala with NambojeeAbove left: Oliva with her daughter ZalinaLeft: Sado received an antenatal check

snacks. There’s also a large metal pot of rice. Others have brought maize, and sit eating it off the cob.

Agitated waitOn one side of the square dispensary building, a queue of women, sometimes 20 metres long, waits to have their babies weighed. The scales hang from a beam under the tin roof. Mothers clutch white leaflets for recording the children’s weights – they know they need to bring them every time, but many of them cannot read nor understand what the card means. The medical staff are careful to record all data correctly.

Two babies seated on the dusty ground explore their environment with curiosity – grasping for anything within reach.

At the opposite side of the building, a crowd is pressing in around the door behind which the medical team is seeing patients. Dr Gala, the doctor in charge, is accompanied by nurses Anet Kaiza and Emma Sanga and, on this occasion, two trainee nurses as well.

There is an air of agitation among the waiting women – after all, many left home early to see the doctor, but it seems unlikely there will be enough time for him to see them

all before the duty hours of the pilot dictate our departure around 4pm.

Fully vaccinatedIt is here that 18-year-old Oliva, the mother in our 2010 Day of Prayer film, has received medical assistance, too. Her little daughter Zalina is 11 months old and has been fully vaccinated as a result of the services provided free by the medical team.

Oliva and Zalina, Sado and Nambojee are just four of the faces in this colourful crowd, representative of the great need in the area. If the medical team cannot get here, the only alternatives for the villagers are a six-hour drive (at an exorbitant charge levied by the owner of the single vehicle in the locality) or a three-day walk to the Brandt Mission clinic in Chimala.

During the rainy season, there is just no way of travelling – people probably wouldn’t even walk.

It takes only 30 minutes for the aircraft to fly to Madundas from Mbeya, collecting the medical team from Chimala on the way, saving them precious time and enabling the regular clinics to be held.

Tanzania has seen a 30% reduction in child mortality among under-fives over the past five years. But still, one child in ten does not live to have a fifth birthday. Early vaccination is critical.

The Brandt Mission clinic in Chimala, working under the Lutheran Church, has an outstanding reputation – people far and wide know that the sisters at Brandt are good and caring.

In a typical month, Dr Gala and his team treat about 300 children each day – all are weighed and advice is given to mothers when children are under average weight. Children are then vaccinated against TB, polio (four visits), diphtheria (three visits), measles and tetanus (two visits). Vitamin A is given to those who require it.

Without the medical team coming to the people, it is likely the distances and the frequency of visits needed to complete full vaccinations for each child would deter families from pursuing this crucial preventative care.

In March, during an overland visit to check the state of the Madundas airstrip to resume flying there, one Sukuma woman came running when she saw the car. She wanted to know when the plane would come again to bring help, as they had none. She shared that already several people had died of measles in Madundas this year.

Programme to improve child health

goat with her loan – and a highly reproductive goat at that! While other people’s goats have produced four kids each, Zana’s has given birth to nine. She sold five goats and, with the 10,000 taka she earned, she bought a cow.

Eager entrepreneursPreviously, Zana sold leather items to earn a small amount. She still does this, as well as raising her animals that provide additional income. In similar ways, all group members are supporting themselves.

Zana’s husband divorced her seven years ago, leaving her with young children – two sons and a daughter. Now she is able to provide for them and is supporting them through school.

She is very optimistic about the future. ‘I hope that, from this cow and these goats, I will be able to develop myself, and will be able to change my family’s lifestyle,’ shares Zana, her face becoming animated.

The courage of these women and a refusal to give up, despite their circumstances, is clearly evident. They all worked together, creating a community and sharing their lives and possessions for the good of everyone. Their own lives of real hardship and poverty seem less important than their desire to tell how a small loan and the purchase of a goat have changed their lives.

Dairy businessIn another village, Rupa was also divorced by her husband. Her future prospects were not good due to the stigma of being divorced. HEED provided her with a goat that has reproduced, and now she has five. Each is an asset with potential to change Rupa’s life when she sells them in the market to buy a cow. From one cow, she will get more cows.

Slowly, Rupa will build up a business. She is planning to have a dairy farm with ten cows.


BANGLADESH: Return on investment

Seizing the initiativeHEED Bangladesh uses our weekly service to the far south of the country. As part of its social development programme, HEED runs a microcredit schemeStory Stephanie Gidney Photos Richard Hanson

Zana is one who benefits from the scheme. She is from the Unnayan Dol group in Samajik Karjokrom village, on the edge of the Bay of

Bengal. The group consists of ten single mothers, single through divorce or because their husbands have died. This means they are underprivileged, very poor and vulnerable.

In 2007, the Unnayan Dol group took the initiative, organising themselves into a society to encourage each other in changing their circumstances. Shati, a HEED development worker, supports them.

Each woman received a loan of 5,000 taka (£46) from HEED Bangladesh. Zana bought a

Slowly, Rupa will build up a business

And through this, she wants to support her parents, and will donate a cow to someone else in need. Her prospects for remarrying will also greatly improve. Without the first goat, none of this would have been possible. Rupa’s expectations are high and she is very happy now. She has hope for the future.

Huge differenceParmin Khan is another beneficiary of HEED’s microcredit scheme. Her husband works as a fisherman. Living on the river not far from the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, they were badly affected by cyclone Sidr.

Following Sidr, Parmin obtained two loans, one from HEED, to set up her small clothes shop. It’s located in Mohipur Ferry Ghat on the busy main road just a few metres from a ferry crossing. Without the help from HEED,


she would not have been involved with this business or have any earnings.

‘After selling clothes and after doing the flexi-loan, I am earning money and am able to maintain my family very well,’ Parmin shares. She is able to pay for her son and daughter to be educated. Her role has expanded from housewife to businesswoman – and she is very pleased and happy.

These women testify to the huge difference even a small investment makes for families in the developing world. It is MAF’s privilege to assist HEED in such life-changing work by providing subsidised flights.

Highly vulnerable

It is not just the status of Zana and her colleagues that renders each of them highly vulnerable. The village of Samajik Karjokrom is situated on the edge of the Bay of Bengal. They are therefore highly vulnerable to the cyclones that form there and move inland.

Despite all the women’s efforts, there is the risk that, in a matter of hours, a cyclone could wipe out all they have worked for.

But incredibly, only five people died here during Sidr, but there was complete devastation, the embankment disappeared, and people lost all their livestock. People live here because they are fishermen – they want to be near the sea, a source of both life and death.

Left: Zana benefits from the micro credit schemeMain: Parmin in her shopBelow left: The busy main road in Mohipur Ferry Ghat

Mary’s story is shared by many of the women in Jonglei State of southern Sudan, which witnessed terrible clashes between the Nuer

and Murle ethnic groups. Such fighting in 2009 left 1,400 people dead – along with cattle-raiding, child abductions and rape, as well as escalating tensions within communities and households. Thousands became displaced, and communities were left traumatised. Explanations for the fighting range from age-old disputes to outside instigation.

‘But we want to live in peace,’ continued Mary as she talked to Murle women in Pibor.


And what a breakthrough this meeting of women was! The initiative of Christian women from both groups, following three peace- and trust-building workshops led by Reconcile International on preventing violence against women and children.

Just getting to remote Pibor overland is impossible for six to eight months each year during the rainy season. But now, the roads are closed because of last year’s violence. Reconcile Facilitator Violet Nyirakundo confirms, ‘There is no other way to get to Pibor, so it is very helpful to have MAF.’

After dropping off the Reconcile team

SUDAN: Travelling to reconciliation

Women on the road to peace‘We came to ask questions, to get answers and listen, to stop our children from dying,’ explained Mary Nyakuoth on behalf of Nuer women from Akobo. ‘We came without fear because many children are already dead’Story Shaun Oliver


there, pilot Stefan Hageneier flew twice to Akobo to collect Nuer women, including Mary, to meet Murle women for the conference.

Grass-roots processThese were the first ever peace-building talks between the communities. The main objective was to initiate a peace process that is aimed at breaking the cycle of violence. Attempts between local leaders had failed. In contrast, this was done at grass-roots level – among themselves.

Reconcile Program Manager Milcah Lalam affirms, ‘It is a great testimony of the contribution of Sudanese women in the Church to peace-making, even when they are the most affected by the conflicts which engulf their communities.’

Why are women so key to maintaining peace? Consultant Piath Alapayo illustrates, ‘The woman is the one in charge of running the household and the man is the breadwinner. As soon as the mother is in the wrong, the whole house will crumble.’

When tension arises, women can calm the emotion of their husbands rather than let it end in bloodshed. Women can bring up the children not to follow the war culture of revenge, but to promote peaceful living.

Biblical principlesSo how do you reconcile two people groups with such deep tensions? Reconcile uses biblical principles.

Jesus came that we might have life and

have it to the full, but Satan comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

At Pibor, the women reflected on how fear, mistrust and a spirit of ungodliness and unforgivingness have deeply affected their communities. Getting people to open up and talk is crucial – they were encouraged to share their pains and seek forgiveness from God and each other.

We are one in Jesus. Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it.

Relationships were strengthened between women, united as sisters in Christ. As the Apostle Paul emphasised that God wants reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles, so unity in Jesus brings peace. Promises were made to continue this in spirit and love, along with specific plans for forging peace.

Crucial referendum‘Nuer women who attended the meeting now eagerly await the visit by their Murle sisters,’ adds Milcah. ‘May we be inspired by their stories and continue to support them in their endeavours for lasting peace in Sudan.’

The Sudanese Church plays a crucial role in promoting peace on a local and national scale. Only the Prince of Peace can bring about real change. How amazing that God is using our aircraft to enable such remarkable events. As southern Sudan faces a crucial referendum planned for 2011, to vote whether or not to become a separate country, it is our prayer that the UK Church will also get involved in interceding for the nation.

Resource Centre for Civil Leadership (Reconcile) was established by the Sudanese Church in 2003 after two decades of brutal civil war, recognising the need for communities to build trust, heal the wounds of trauma, transform conflict into peace, and promote reconciliation. It works among some of the most isolated communities in southern Sudan.

‘MAF has been absolutely invaluable to the work we have done, as can be evidenced through what Reconcile has been able to accomplish and witness in Jonglei State’, commends Milcah Lalam.

Reconcile International and MAF

Pray specifically using the latest requests on www.maf-uk.org/prayforsudan

Praying for Sudan

Main: Nuer and Murle woman meet for peace building talksTop left: Christian unityTop right: Violet, Milcah, PiathAbove left: Pilot Stefan Hageneier collects the Reconcile team from Yei


Lucas Sicaleta has a swollen stomach. It looks as though it is going to pop. Blue veins are clearly visible. He is badly dehydrated and the skin on his

arms and legs is shrivelled. He is only one week old. This tiny little baby is so helpless.

Dr Steve Foster examines him.Lucas has no rectum, so he hasn’t been able

to pass faeces. He has stopped feeding because of the discomfort, so he’s now in pain and hungry. Steve pierces his bottom to try to find

Hope for Angola

a hole. Blood comes out. Lucas cries. Steve explains, ‘We have to do a colostomy,

otherwise the child will die. No one noticed that he didn’t have a rectum. We will have to do a fast operation.’

Home birthLike more than 90% of babies in Angola, Lucas was born at home. In the majority of cases, women deliver and there are no problems. But when complications do arise, consequences

‘This is Africa’: a phrase often used in the film ‘Blood Diamond’, referring to the reality of life in much of Africa – corruption, death, war, disease, injustice, poverty. This is AngolaStory Emma Stewart Photos Layton Thompson

ANGOLA: Missionary doctor

The Evangelical Medical Centre of Lubango was initially funded largely through Samaritan’s Purse. The 43-bed urban tertiary referral hospital is in south-western Angola. Development plans include a medical imaging department and an endoscopy suite. Its mission statement is ‘Health and hope through Christ’.

CEML: Centro Evangélico de Medicina Lubango


are dire – children have health problems that aren’t dealt with; babies die unnecessarily as they become obstructed in labour; women become damaged and are rejected by society. Most live with these facts, accepting them as reality, not knowing there is a different way. This is the norm. This is Africa.

‘We went to Benguela.’ Lucas’s mother tells how she first took him to another clinic there. ‘They stuck something inside him but said, “We don’t know what else we can do. You should go to Kalukembe.”’

Today, Lucas is very fortunate. He is one of hundreds of patients Steve will see, operate on and treat in the few days that he spends at Kalukembe Hospital.

Working togetherKalukembe is a former Swiss mission hospital, now handed over to IESA, an Angolan church. Dr Steve Foster is Canadian. But as a child of missionary parents, he spent much of his early life in Africa, first in Zambia then later visiting his parents in Angola. In the 1970s, he came back to Angola as a fully-trained doctor, wanting to make an impact on the appalling health system.

Based here during the long Angolan war Steve, now Medical Director at Lubango CEML hospital, still returns to Kalukembe every month. Healthcare in the rural areas is lacking. Here, there is not one doctor for half a million people. Nurses are trained to do the work of a doctor. Steve does the more complicated cases and refers others to the hospital in Lubango

As well as Kalukembe Hospital, The Anglican Synodical Evangelical Church has established 20 medical centres. Other projects include evangelism, a Bible institute, agriculture and rural community development.

IESA: Igreja Evangélica Sinodal de Angola

Far left top: Lucas SicaletaMain: Lucas undergoing his operationAbove left: Kalukembe hospitalLeft: Dr Steve Foster at work

where facilities are much better.Steve is the reason MAF began operating in

Angola in 1989. In the midst of a deadly civil war, the country was tearing itself apart. Both sides in the fight were laying landmines, roads were extremely dangerous, people faced daily attack.

In Kalukembe, Steve found that his staff were being ambushed trying to get to the hospital with supplies. A number of them were killed. He asked MAF to come. We’ve worked together ever since.

Abundant lifeToday, Angola is at peace. Yet war has left its mark. Much of the country remains mined, and demining will take years. Roads are bad – potholed and bumpy. Steve continues to use our plane to get to Kalukembe. He can arrive early in the morning, begin rounds straightaway, stay for three days and work up to the last possible minute before flying back to Lubango.

‘We are swamped by the fact that there are several million Angolans outside the sphere of healthcare. People are dying,’ shares Steve.

Life expectancy here is 38 years, making it one of the lowest in the world. Steve describes Angola as the deadliest place on earth. This is Africa. This is Angola.

Lucas received a colostomy. He began to feed. He lived. When he’s older, he will undergo another operation.

Jesus said He came to bring life. Life in abundance. Life in all its fullness. Eternal life. This is the hope for Angola.


Andrew:

So far I’m really enjoying it. The first few months had some frustrations with quite a lot of waiting: for a work permit, for

licence papers and for room on flights for supervised flying. Now that I am playing my part in the team, I’m finding it very rewarding to be using my flying to make a difference.

Liz:Our first two months in Tanzania were in Iringa for some language training. I enjoy learning Swahili and try to take every opportunity to practise.

A Tanzanian lady called Margaret comes to our home each Friday to help me develop my conversation skills. Tanzanians are warm and tolerant with us speaking Swahili and go along with it. They laugh with you not at you, which gives me confidence to try.

Sometimes I struggle with lack of personal space at home. But our children have adapted well to Tanzania, although they get frustrated when I speak Swahili, and often interrupt because they can’t understand and feel excluded.

Medical matters are a major concern for me as a mum. There’s no emergency response system here, like calling 999. Once, Esther fell off a climbing frame and gashed her head. I was glad that a nurse on our compound, along with the MAF first-aider Glenn, could stitch her wound.

Then Ben caught scabies. The local hospital suggested that he had a fungal infection. But then, after four weeks, a visiting American doctor took one look and diagnosed scabies, so we could get the right medicine. This shows me that God is looking after us.

I can’t help wondering what people do here when there’s no social security to help them. It certainly means that

having a job becomes very important. My house-help Jane works really hard. It’s so good to have her, and it is a great opportunity to learn more Swahili. I also learn a lot about local culture by chatting to Jane.

Church time is always a challenge as Sunday School is rather sporadic here. Although the Tanzanian children seem to sit quietly through services, sitting still for Ben is a weekly test!

Andrew: We have tried attending a Swahili-speaking church but we find it very difficult to follow with our limited command of the language. Sometimes there is a simultaneous English translation of the sermon, but that can also be hard to follow. It’s something that our international staff seem to struggle with here at times. So we have favoured an English language service. Thankfully, we can also download sermons from the Internet from our home church in England to get good, challenging teaching we can understand, which makes a big difference for us.

Liz:To get spiritual input, we have to be proactive. The wives of MAF staff hold a weekly Bible study and that has been beneficial for me. Also, locally-based missionary Manuela leads very helpful sessions about reaching out to people of other faiths.

Living in a different culture certainly has many kinds of challenge. At times it can be tiring not being able just to blend in and to be anonymous for a while.

However, overall we have a strong sense that we are where God wants us to be, and it is a privilege to be a part of God’s work here in Tanzania.

TANZANIA: Making a difference

One year onAndrew Parker was born in Durban, and his wife Liz grew up in Liverpool. A couple of years after their marriage in 2003, they embarked on five years of preparation to serve with MAF, Andrew training to be a pilot. Now, with Esther (4) and Benjamin (2), they have completed their first year of service. They share about their experiences in TanzaniaPhotos Layton Thompson


Above left: Andrew and Liz Parker with Benjamin and EstherMain: Andrew carrying out pre-flight checksAbove: Liz buying local produce

As civil war raged 12 years ago across the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a Christian couple fled to Kenya.

Once there, Bisoke Balikenga and his wife Furaha enrolled at college. Within six years, Bisoke had degrees in business administration and peace and reconciliation, while Furaha became an accountant and gained a degree in community development.

But, their newly-acquired qualifications were not to help themselves, for they then returned to Bunia, DRC, in 2004 and began helping many youngsters orphaned and traumatised by the fighting.

Having no money, but with a calling from

War orphans find happinessDelivering books, seats and work teams by air is critical to a recovery programme for traumatised childrenPhotos LuAnne Cadd

the Lord, they lived in a garage belonging to Furaha’s father. They set about planning to ease the plight of children caught up in the seven-year war which, with its aftermath, cost five million lives.

Hope for lifeTrusting God for provision, Bisoke and Furaha found loving people who gave homes to many orphans. Then, with numbers approaching 100, they decided to build a school – orphans could not afford state school fees.

And assisted by gifts of land from village chiefs, Baraka Academy came into being.

Vegetables and crops were planted. The children received an education, health and

DRC: After the conflict


Furaha and Bisoke Balikenga

dental care and spiritual nourishment. Many accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, receiving hope and assurance for their future.

‘Without MAF, none of this would have been possible. The children would have had no books and nothing to sit on,’ emphasises Furaha. ‘These children have suffered greatly from the war. They have very little, but it does not mean they are not happy. They sing and clap. And with MAF’s help, we teach them the Word of God.’

In Nyankunde, 13-year-old Kasemire had watched a man kill her father with a machete. With her mother and two other children, she fled to Bunia. Now, Kasemire declares, ‘I am going to be a teacher. I want to teach in this school – I want to help especially the younger children. MAF brings us plastic chairs for the nursery school.’

Healing at schoolArriving traumatised at Baraka Academy when it began, Bahemuka saw his mother killed when he was just eight. He says shyly: ‘Since I arrived at the school, I have seen much change in my life. I want to be a nurse because I want to help people.’ Bahemuka recalls that MAF staff have shown the Jesus film at the Academy, and he adds, ‘MAF brings the books to us and they give us the Bible.’

‘We were in danger of losing an entire generation of kids who have lost parents and endured horrible things,’ points out Suzanne

Lincoln, wife of our Country Director Joey, who has taught English at the school.

‘An Australian psychologist comes and she’s been all over the world, including Bosnia and Croatia, and she says the Congolese are the most traumatised people she has ever seen. Every year, she assesses the kids and says they are less and less traumatised here because of the work being done in the school.’

And a German businessman visiting Bunia exclaimed, astounded, ‘There are no street children!’

Help by airMAF aircraft have delivered all the reading materials, desks and benches, as well as shoes and backpacks. Teenagers in Australia make quilts for the orphan children to have on their beds – or on the floor where they sleep.

Two years ago, we flew in an Australian work team which, together with two MAF families, built the only playground in the whole of Bunia. It has a slide, a set of swings, a playhouse, a zip line and a climbing frame. Suzanne reports: ‘The wooden frames are painted the colours of the rainbow and the children obviously love it.’

In a country struggling to re-establish itself, children at Baraka Academy have every reason to be afraid of others and broken by the course their lives have taken. But they are learning the Christian message of peace and forgiveness along with maths and English.


n There are 600 orphan students alongside other children whose parents pay towards their education

n The large numbers on a small site means that some students come in the morning, others in the afternoon

n The school has a medical centre that also provides care for the wider community

n Founder Bisoke reflects: ‘This school gives the children here support and help in rehabilitation after what they have seen. They want to learn, but they have been through war and we want to provide a place of peace for them.’

Facts about Baraka Academy

Main: Children in class at Baraka AcademyAbove left: KasemireAbove centre: The playground at BuniaLeft: BahemukaAbove: Suzanne Lincoln teaches English

‘Without MAF, none of this would have been possible’

Mission Aviation Fellowship is a worldwide Christian organisation operating over 125 light aircraft in more than 30 countries. Around 280 flights every day transport patients, relief teams, medical supplies and Christian workers in the world’s remotest regions and places of deepest human need. Places where flying is not a luxury but a lifeline.

Normally, passengers contribute a highly-subsidised fare towards the true cost. The balance comes from people concerned that others should have a better life spiritually and physically.

In the UK, MAF is a registered charity funded by voluntary gifts which help finance MAF’s operational work and support services.

This is MAF

Will these help you to pray?Three new formats are spreading news of MAF wider than before.

Could any of these help you to keep up to date with what’s happening and informed about all of the latest matters for prayer? On offer are regular email newsletters, Facebook fun and facts and twitter entries.

For micro-blogging enthusiasts, twitter sites @MAFPrayerDiary and @flying4life provide an opportunity to interact with those at the heart of

Shop and giveAre you wondering what to buy for last-minute Christmas gifts? Your answer may be right here. A new online shop means that you can buy ethically-traded products and also contribute to MAF at the same time. Yes, it’s true!

In this venture, we are partnering Christian company ethicTrade. All the products offered are made to the very highest standards. Quality materials are sourced from suppliers who are paid a fair price for them.

As part of the fair trade concept, all suppliers enjoy a safe and healthy working environment. And in the UK, to protect the environment further, ethicTrade reuses all its delivery boxes and utilises recycled packaging, bubble wrap and tape.

Now for the extra good news. For every purchase in our online shop, ethicTrade will give 20% of the cost to MAF while still maintaining a fair price to suppliers.

From everyday items to clothes and stationery, crafts and toys, items come from around the world – Africa, Asia and South America – bringing a flavour

of overseas to the UK.Order now and get your gifts in time

for Christmas.Go to www.maf.ethictrade.com or to

the MAF website www.maf-uk.org and click on the ‘Shop’ link.

UK NEWS


God with usAs a child, I often heard ‘count your blessings’. As an adult, but still a ‘child of God’, I count as a blessing knowing God is always

with me! But there are many people who have yet to know the love of Jesus.

With this in mind, I am really encouraged that, along with vital supplies, hope and help through pastors, doctors and many aid agencies on MAF flights, comes the life-saving message of the love of God and the promise of His continual presence.

Many may have forgotten those living beyond formidable barriers – but not the Lord! Hebrews 13:5 reminds us He will never leave us nor forsake us.

I hope you are encouraged by reading in Flying for Life how your continuing prayers and support help lives to be changed for the better.

You can also support MAF by shopping online. Each purchase can help our overseas work. Just go to www.maf.ethictrade.com

We are so grateful for the many ways in which you support MAF. Thank you!

Christmas will soon be here, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us; I wish you peace this Christmas and a very blessed New Year.

Ruth WhitakerChief Executive, MAF UK

It had to be by Professor Denys MeadKnowing MAF as I did, how could I not support it from its early days?

I was very strongly influenced by my mission-hearted church in South Woodford, Essex, where I first met MAF UK-based personnel. My boyhood wartime enthusiasm for aeroplanes had led me to the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School for aircraft design training and design experience. MAF’s very first operational aircraft in Africa, a Rapide, was designed and built by de Havilland, giving me a special incentive to support the work.

Next came postgraduate education at Cranfield College of Aeronautics which, in turn, then led to my move to Southampton, into university teaching

Trustees of MAF UK some 3½ years ago and have found my involvement in this role to be a real blessing. To have the privilege of discussing the issues facing MAF UK as an organisation with like-minded Christians, to contribute my own experience to our discussions and to seek God’s will as we debate and pray together is a stimulating and enriching experience.

If you think God may be calling you to join us in serving Him as a Trustee of MAF UK, do please contact Rachel Phipps, HR Manager, Mission Aviation Fellowship,

Castle Hill Avenue FOLKESTONE CT20 2TN or you can email her at [email protected]

I enclose my gift of £for use where most needed

Is He calling you?MAF UK Trustee Stephen Lockley writes:

Have you ever thought you would like to serve God as part of His work in MAF, reaching needy,

isolated people around the globe, but think that you couldn’t do this because you’re not a pilot or an aviation expert?

If so, then there may be good news for you. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:16 that Jesus uses every one of us, with all our diverse talents, to contribute our part in building up His Church. So it is in MAF. We may not all be called to be pilots, or even to work overseas, but MAF needs a whole range of skills to work effectively in achieving God’s mission.

The opportunity exists right now for you to serve the Lord as a Trustee of MAF UK. As the Board of Trustees, we each contribute our complementary expertise and experience as, working together, we seek prayerfully to provide strategic direction and guidance for the organisation. We are now actively seeking additional Trustees who could contribute skills in any of the following areas: PR, HR, Governance, Fundraising or Strategic Leadership and Missiology.

How can I encourage you to consider prayerfully if God is calling you to serve Him in this way? Perhaps from my own experiences? I joined the Board of

Please use Block caPitals

Mr, Mrs, Miss, Rev, Dr, Christian name and surname

Address

Postcode

My response

flying for life.The new www.facebook.com/mafuk

provides another area for sharing your common interests with other Supporters as well as those involved in the work.

Also, our long-established website continues to provide extensive coverage of our worldwide ministry. You can now sign up for regular email newsletters by going to www.maf-uk.org

These are not simply places where you can get the very latest information. They are ways of sparking your interest and enthusiasm at a time that suits you.

and membership of Above Bar Church (ABC) – also mission-hearted. One of ABC’s visiting speakers was MAF’s early pilot Steve Stevens. His infectious fervour drew me into MAF’s Supporter team, and I was especially pleased when two of my former students spent time with MAF.

In obedience to Christ, and unique in its versatility, MAF helps take healing to sick, blind, lame and wounded people, food to those who are hungry – and spreads the Good News of the Kingdom. Long may this God-inspired ministry continue!

My wife and I are privileged to help this work already. Our planned legacy to MAF will be our contribution to its future.

We thank the Lord for the legacies we have received so far this year. If you would like to find out more about planning to support MAF through your own Will, please

call our Legacy Co-ordinator Miriam Wheeler on 0845 850 9505 or email [email protected]

Mission Aviation FellowshipCastle Hill Avenue FOLKESTONE CT20 2TN29 Canal Street GLASGOW G4 0AD

FSF fflc2

Please tell me how I can best give to MAF on a regular basis

I want to help MAF bring God’s care and compassion to needy people

Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107)

Mission Aviation FellowshipCastle Hill Avenue, Folkestone CT20 2TN29 Canal Street, Glasgow G4 0ADFREEPOST ADM4164, PORTRUSH BT56 8ZYDept AA1818, PO Box 4214, FREEPOST Dublin 2Telephone: 0845 850 9505Email: [email protected]: www.maf-uk.org

Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107)

Flying for LifeEditor: Andy PrescottEmail: [email protected]: Headley Brothers LtdAshford, KentPrinted on sustainable paper producedfrom a managed forest©MAF UK December 2010 fflc

Lifeline beyond your lifetime

Professor Mead with his wife Rosemary

Young Meka was very excited to be in an MAF plane for a second time – and delighted to be able to walk to it unaided. Earlier, her family home in La Gonave, Haiti, collapsed in last

January’s earthquake, crushing Meka’s feet and killing other family members. Pilot Will White had airlifted the girl, then seriously ill, to Pignon Hospital as God wonderfully brought patient and surgeon together (Flying for Life June 2010). After surgery, Bill Campbell of Haiti Home of Hope helped house Meka and looked after her. Will, pictured below with Meka and her mother darline, enthuses, ‘It was a thrill to do the flight taking Meka home.’

Quake victim walks again

Documents

Flying for Life December 2010 magazine