All the King’s men

GARY CLAYTON

is Copywriter and Editor at Mission Aviation Fellowship:

www.maf-uk.org

In 1945, Stuart King, an RAF Engineer Officer who had risked his life taking part in the D-Day landings, felt God calling him to use his skills for the Kingdom, “using aircraft as an overflow of God’s great goodness.”

With World War II over, the vision of using planes to save lives, rather than raining down death and destruction, resulted in the formation of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in 1945. By 1947, enough money had been raised to buy the organisation’s very first aircraft – a Miles Gemini. A year later, Stuart and fellow missionary Jack Hemmings left Croydon for a hair-raising six-month survey flight across Africa.

Stuart later wrote: “We flew the plane into a squall of icy rain with a 70mph crosswind for good measure. There had been a brief debate about waiting for better weather, but we’d done crazier things in the war, and couldn’t wait any longer to start this new adventure!

“Although that first pioneering survey was exciting, tough and dangerous, God helped us not to waver – even when our sleek little aircraft lost height and crashed in the Burundi foothills.”

Following the survey, Sudan was seen as the African nation that would benefit most from

MAF’s services. Regular operations started there in 1950.

“As the number of MAF programmes increased over the years,” Stuart said, “so God has provided – often miraculously. Our first aircraft crashed, the second was destroyed, then the third, but God always provided.”

In 1951, while repairing a crashed aircraft in Abaiyat, Sudan, Stuart met missionary Phyllis

Bapple. Later, when the head of SIM’s mission station there told Stuart: “You can have anything you need that will help you,” Stuart took him up on his offer and married Phyllis!

After their wedding in Khartoum, Stuart and Phyllis moved into a small room at the

SIM headquarters, sharing their bedroom with spare aircraft parts!

In time, they were blessed with three children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

“Phyllis,” Stuart said, “was God’s gift to me.”

Although she died unexpectedly in 2003, “her rich heritage remains.”

Led by Stuart as General Director, MAF’s work eventually developed across Chad,

Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

For the past 75 years, MAF has helped distribute Bibles and life-saving vaccines; transported church workers and Bible translators; evacuated Christians in times of conflict; provided food for the famished, and airlifted ill and injured patients to hospital – saving valuable time and precious lives.

MAF also enables humanitarian agencies, such as the UN, UNICEF, World Health Organisation and the Red Cross, to respond promptly to the needs of people affected by cyclones, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis.

Having led MAF UK for more than 40 years, Stuart stepped down in 1987. Despite ‘retirement’, he continued to visit the Folkestone office as President Emeritus, offering encouragement and advice.

One of Stuart’s last visits was in November 2019, when he received the Award of Honour from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots for his outstanding contribution to aviation. His name is now listed with the astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell.

Three years earlier, he was appointed Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government for Stuart’s “acknowledged military engagement and […] steadfast involvement in the Liberation of France.”

Before he died, Stuart said how excited he was by “the massive growth of churches and Christians in Africa, Asia and South America”, and their “strong desire to reach out to other parts of the world with God’s love.”

Looking back on MAF’s 75-year ministry, he prayed for “God to raise up more personnel to live for His glory – people who will be better than we were – more skilled, more in love with the Lord, and still pioneering… speeding the Lord’s return.”

The mission, established from the ashes of war with one aircraft and a small number of staff serving one African country, has grown to an organisation whose 138 aircraft serve 26 developing countries. MAF’s 1,300 personnel – 1,000 of whom are nationals, rather than expatriates – enable access to 1,400 remote locations.

Paying tribute to Stuart, Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs, said: “Over the last 30 years I have benefited first-hand from the ministry of MAF in my work […] when I was the Bishop of the Diocese in Kajo-Keji - a seven-hour, risky and time-consuming road trip to Juba, could be cut down to just 30 minutes by air.

“This underscores the importance of MAF […] Stuart literally saved lives by providing the facilities to medevac people in life-threatening situations.”

For a man born shortly after World War I, in March 1922, Stuart’s energy and commitment continued unabated, until this earthly king with a heavenward focus finally met his heavenly King on 29 August 2020, at the age of 98.

Gary Clayton is married to Julie, is the father of Christopher (16) and Emma (13), and works for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). To learn more about MAF and the 26 African and the Asia-Pacific countries served by 138 light aircraft, visit www.maf-uk.org

A very special Christmas in Riyadh

LINDA SAGE MA, BA Ed (Hons)

DTM - Mindset & Resilience expert, trainer, broadcaster and writer

Friday midday, and the huge ball of light in the middle of the clear blue sky is radiating its heat and bright light. With massive palm trees and colourful flowering cactus plants in a peaceful garden, it could be anywhere in the world, but this quiet oasis was not a typical sight for most people; it was only for special guests.

In the first 10 weeks of my contract, I felt very isolated and alone. There was no social life, theatres, cinemas or bars in which to meet people, and I was looking forward to the end of my 12 weeks in Riyadh. My contract was coming to a close in December, but not a single

Christmas tree, bauble, Santa or decoration was in sight; my only break from work was in the Sheraton Hotel, still garbed in the abaya and scarf, where afternoon tea was my treat (no alcohol, of course). I saw a group of Western ladies from various countries having lunch, and from them I learnt more about what to do, what was possible, and where to go in the next hour than I had in the previous ten weeks.

Loendi, a lovely South African lady, invited me to a walk in the desert the next day. This was illegal, as men and women (who are not married) mix together there. It is an abaya-free zone, and an excuse to be out of my hotel room. The wonderful beauty of the desert has never left me. While we were out walking, she asked me whether I had been to a ‘Special

Meal’ in the British Embassy. I hadn’t, so she explained that, although church services of any type are forbidden and illegal, people met in the safety of an embassy or consulate.

Once again, she invited me. I don’t know how she managed to get me onto the security list for the next day, but she did.

Entering an embassy, you have to go through a variety of military and police checkpoints with your passport and visa. There are no mobiles allowed inside any embassy. The Diplomatic Quarter, where all the embassies and consulates are, was an abaya-free zone that has changed since. During my first visit, everything seemed daunting and unreal; I would never get invited to any events in embassies in the UK. As I entered the British Embassy for the first time, going through the security check and being ticked off a list surrounded by machine guns - whilst knowing I was doing something illegal - was scary.

Through the barriers, in that calm garden, my heart started to slow and my temperature lowered. When I opened the door of the lower building, I was greeted by some amazingly familiar sights: a polished wooden cross with Jesus, garlands, flowers, music, candles… and happy people. I hadn’t realised until then how much I had missed all of this. There were people from all over the world - all ages, genders and creeds - but the atmosphere and passion were tangible. I spent most of the service in tears, but I couldn’t say why. Communion was held - not with wine - but the kindness, hospitality and openness of these people was something I hadn’t seen in all the previous weeks of being in Saudi. After the service, I sat and had lunch with some people and we exchanged phone numbers. In the following week, people called to ask how I was, and whether I wanted to meet for a coffee. Life was different. In that week, my employer also asked me to extend my contract for a further six months; I wouldn’t have considered that a week before, but now I had some amazing support, and even looked forward to the coming months.

The following week, I attended a Christmas party at the American Ambassador’s residence that could easily have been in Hollywood. The carols, the choir, the grand piano, the festivities all by candle-light - were the start of a new reality for me. The atmosphere, gratitude, attitude, warmth and sincerity of people based in faith really opened my eyes and my heart. I was raised a Christian, and had always taken comfort from Jesus and prayed, went to Sunday school, took my mum to candle-lit Christmas services, wore the crucifix she had bought me, etc, but I wouldn’t say I had been very church-based in my life as a general rule.

My stay in Riyadh was actually extended to six and a half years in the end, most of which I would say was down to the people I had met through the church connections there. There were many events, activities and services arranged in many of the embassies, but the invitation was always to a Special Meal. In all, they were all very special for me. The solace and friendship I found there, like so many others, shows that faith is stronger than any man-made environment, laws or buildings.