FLYING FOR LIFE SPECIAL EDITION
THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF
MAF AUSTRALIA
we are
FLYING FOR LIFE
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A
t the close of WWII a few Christian airforce pilots from different corners of the world, had a similar thought: “Aircraft have been so powerfully used for destruction, what if they could now be used to bring life?”. It was there Mission Aviation Fellowship was born. Today it is a global movement with around 140 aircraft serving in more than 25 countries. Flying to more destinations than any other airline, MAF is now the largest humanitarian airline in the world, supporting the work of over 2,000 organisations. Although we’ve grown and the technologies we use are more sophisticated, the original motivation remains the same today: each and every day, we are flying for life. Isolation is not often thought of as a problem, but for millions of people across the world it is the barrier to basic medical care, clean water, education and development, disaster relief or the opportunity to receive the good news of God’s love. All simply because it’s too dangerous or time-consuming to reach them. With your help, we are able to overcome these barriers and “fly for life” in its fullest sense.
Delivering the basics of life; food, water, shelter
Providing access to medical care in times of need Bringing the Good News of Jesus
Releasing people from oppression; supporting individuals and communities to thrive
We are pilots and engineers. We are teachers, IT specialists, managers and admin experts. We are the volunteers at home, the faithful prayer partners and donors. Together, we are Mission Aviation Fellowship. Together, we are Flying for Life.
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FLYI NG FOR L I FE
Delivering basic needs In many isolated areas of the world, the fight for survival can be all consuming. Having access to reliable food, clean water and adequate shelter is a daily struggle. In thousands of remote communities across the world, MAF is able to help meet the basic needs of life, empowering and facilitating long-term change where it’s needed most.
Water everywhere... but not a drop to drink. One child under 5 dies every 2 minutes due to diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor toilets*. Such an issue is far from the minds of parents here in Australia, but for many living in isolated communities it is a ever-present threat. During the worst of times, the Satkhira community in Bangladesh was forced to travel 30-40 km by boat to collect safe water. Today they are able to collect and manage clean water from their own community using a reverse-osmosis facility. In fact, in 14 hours this facility can produce 5,000 litres of clean drinking water. Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated nations. Around a third of the country is covered in water, yet accessing clean drinking water is a constant challenge. With our amphibious Cessna, *WASHWatch.org
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MAF has been able to make use of the waterways, partnering with WaterAid to reach the isolated areas, empowering this community and many others, helping to facilitate long-term change. COUNTRY PROFILE
Bangladesh 1
aircraft
55 destinations 21 staff members 96 partners
Women from Koyra Village come to collect clean drinking water
Partners include: Action Against Hunger, Friendship, HEED Bangladesh, Helen Keller International, Impact Foundation, Save the Children, Water Aid
Children enjoy a working water pump in Satkhira in southwest Bangladesh
When famine takes hold. From helping to distribute crops in PNG, to flying food security experts in Timor-Leste, MAF has been able to partner with organisations to help meet the food needs of the communities in which we serve. In recent years, our supporters have helped enable MAF to serve the remote areas of South Sudan in their time of need. Ravaged by a civil war and a severe drought, this fragile country is now in a state of famine. They face an extraordinary fight for survival, acutely felt in the isolated regions. Tearfund relies on MAF to get food supplies for their feeding program in remote areas like Motot. White and orange boxes full of “Plumpy’Nut” pack the pods underneath the plane as well as a few layers high inside. This peanutbased supplement has worked miracles on malnourished babies
and small children. Recent figures show that approximately 80-90% of the malnourished children that arrive at the feeding centres are discharged as cured at the end of the 60-day program. COUNTRY PROFILE
South Sudan 5
aircraft
55
destinations
42
staff members
204 partners
A malnourished child eats Plumpy’Nut at Tearfund’s Motot nutrition centre
Partners include: AIM International, CMA, Every Village, Far Reaching Ministries, IMA World Health, Medair, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, WHO, World Vision
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FLY ING FOR L I FE
Providing access to medical care Isolation is often responsible for turning the most common medical complication into a life-threatening illness. Communities that are geographically cut off from basic medical services, live with the constant threat of such an illness. That’s where we come in. The following story is a small snapshot of how MAF and our partners are able to bring help to people in their time of need.
MAF’s GA8 Airvan approaches the airstrip at Rumginae
There in the time of need Story and Photos LuAnne Cadd Loretta lies on a hospital stretcher, moaning in pain as another round of contractions begin. Her husband Eric stands next to her, holding her hand and looking shellshocked. It’s a day of ‘firsts’ for the couple: their first baby and first time to fly. Following a full day of contractions with no birth, MAF medevaced the couple to Rumginae Rural Hospital from their remote village of Debepare in Papua New Guinea (PNG), an otherwise weeklong trip by boat and walking. Doctors Sharon Brandon from New Zealand and Kevin Pondikou from PNG successfully facilitated
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a safe delivery of Loretta’s first baby boy. “She had been in labour too long, and the contractions weren’t strong enough,” Dr. Kevin explained. “If the labour had continued in the village, it would have resulted in a fetal and maybe maternal death. We had to put up oxytocin, a chemical that causes the contractions to come. In the remote aid posts, the health workers are not trained to that level.” The doctors at Rumginae Rural Hospital are experienced in difficult births and have saved the lives of countless women and babies. Many baby girls have
COUNTRY PROFILE
Papua New Guinea 13
aircraft
212 destinations 129 staff members 29
partners
Partners include: Anglican Church, Baptist Union PNG, Christian Leaders Training College, Evangelical Church of PNG, New Tribes Mission, Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Top: Loretta and baby Steven’s miracle birth; Bottom-left: the MAF hangar at Rumginae; Bottom-right: Dr. Sharon Brandon talks on the HF Radio
been named after Dr. Sharon, a gesture of gratitude. Loretta and Eric’s healthy baby boy is named after MAF pilot Steven Eatwell. The Hospital on the River Located in the hot lowlands of Papua New Guinea’s Western Province, Rumginae Hospital serves the surrounding remote communities, many only accessible by boat, walking, or flight. MAF serves the hospital, as well as other mission groups, churches and isolated communities with two pilots and a plane based at Rumginae outstation. The hospital, a cluster of dark wood buildings connected by covered walkways, was established in the 1960s. The 60-bed facility provides health care for a large part of Western Province, not only through the hospital but also through 15 isolated health centres and aid posts staffed by Community Health Workers (CHW) scattered across the North Fly District. The MAF outstation facilities sit across a grassy airstrip from the hospital. The single Airvan parks next to a tiny one-room ‘terminal’ with a hand-carved wooden sign jokingly proclaiming it as the ‘International Rumginae Airport’. The tail end of the plane points directly at Dr. Sharon’s house providing a rather loud wake-up call each morning as the engine roars to life, blowing loose items off her kitchen counter. The medevac service is one vital link between the
hospital and MAF, but there are many other services the hospital relies on which also save lives. “MAF is completely essential for our work here,” Dr. Sharon explains. “MAF not only brings us patients. Maybe in the morning I’m packing medicine to send to health workers at one of our remote health posts. Every day when I’m on the radio schedule there’ll be a health worker saying ‘I need vaccines’, or ‘I’ve got this patient with epilepsy. What am I supposed to give them? I don’t have anything’, and I’ll send medicine on the next plane. Or they’ll say, ‘My father just died. I need to come back’. MAF supports our health workers so they can serve in the remote villages. We are totally involved and linked to be able to work with our remote aid posts.” Linked by a Common Purpose Without Rumginae Hospital and the support that MAF provides to isolated people in western PNG, many women would have died or lost a baby in childbirth. Children would not be vaccinated. Health workers would not be trained or at their aid posts in the remote villages. Many would not be alive today. MAF and Rumginae Hospital remain faithfully linked by this common purpose: to reach isolated people with Jesus’ love.
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F LYI NG F
Our globa MAF BY NUMBERS Here’s a global snapshot of MAF’s annual impact. Behind each one of these numbers are stories of life and transformation. This work only happened because people like you enabled it. Thank you for partnering with us!
135
1,250
25+
1,400
AIRCRAFT
STAFF MEMBERS
COUNTRIES
DESTINATIONS
2,000
7 MIL
60,000
39,000
ORGANISATIONS
KGS OF FREIGHT
British doctor Andrea Hotchkins and her husband Mark, a surgeon, fly to Bardai in the Sahara to transform a barely-working medical centre into a functioning hospital. * All statistics from MAF’s global work in 2016
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FLIGHTS
HOURS FLOWN
F OR L I F E
al impact WHERE WE WORK MAF operates in over 25 countries worldwide. We fly in and out of 1,400 airstrips, more than any other airline in the world. The map below shows where we work. The countries marked in blue are the ones that MAF Australia are responsible for resourcing.
Mongolia Nepal Bangladesh
Mexico Haiti Guatemala
Liberia
Suriname
Ecuador
DR Congo Angola Brazil
Arnhem Land Chad Myanmar Papua South Sudan Papua New Kalimantan Guinea Kenya Timor-Leste Uganda Tanzania Madagascar Lesotho South Africa
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FLY ING FOR L I FE
Thriving communities Isolation can often be the cause of oppression, generally related to a lack of access to education, supportive infrastructure and community development. In many of the isolated places in which we serve, we fly for life by actively supporting community development. We have seen time and time again isolated communities thrive when given the chance.
Supporting children with special needs in Mongolia Nine-year-old Nomin remembers her first flight on Blue Sky Aviation (MAF in Mongolia). The year was 2013 and she was just five years old. “It went up very fast and was a little scary,” she recalls. “I felt a little bit sick.” That day and the following years began a radical change for Nomin and her family. It was the day they flew from their home in the far northwest of Mongolia to the capital Ulaanbaatar to begin intensive physical therapy for Nomin at the Reaching the Light Developmental Center for children with special needs. “When we met the Reaching the Light people in Ulaangom, it was the luckiest moment of our lives,” Nomin’s father, Anglan, says. That moment happened in his hometown on a Reaching the Light trip where physical, speech, and occupational therapists, plus a medical doctor, screened special needs children. For Nomin’s family, it was the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Nowhere to Turn Starting on her first day of life, Nomin’s skin began to turn yellow from severe jaundice. Unfortunately, Anglan and his wife didn’t know
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much about jaundice, didn’t know that it could be easily treated or could cause serious harm. By the time they admitted her to the hospital to receive phototherapy treatment, the jaundice had damaged her brain. Anglan and his wife had no idea what to do. Hope and a Future “Reaching the Light gave the right diagnosis and understood what the cause was and what the future potential is,” Anglan remembers. “Many things became very clear so we didn’t have to visit other doctors. We started doing the proper exercises with Nomin and recognised a lot of improvement. For example, her balance and speech improved.” Nomin’s cognition appears to be normal and above average in math. “She’s the top math student in her class,” her father brags. In other areas she still struggles. For 21 years, Anglan has been teaching high school-level chemistry to pupils interested in entering medical university. Thanks to Reaching the Light, he now sees hope and a bright future for his daughter. “I hope she will be a pharmacist one day,” he says. “I’ve already started to teach her!”
Nomin (9) and her father Anglan
COUNTRY PROFILE
Mongolia 1
aircraft
30 destinations 16 staff members 26 partners Partners include: Antioch Church, Joint Christian Services, Reaching the Light, SOS Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar Baptist Church.
Child undergoing therapy a Reaching the Light satellite center located in the Ulaangom hospital.
Helping end violence against women in Timor-Leste Following a large study in 2015 on violence against women in TimorLeste, The Asia Foundation revealed that 59% of women aged 15-49 have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. In addition to this, over 40% had experienced it in the last year, which indicates that the violence is ongoing in most cases. The study also found that most women haven’t ever reported the violence to formal services like the police or NGOs. Xian Warner from The Asia Foundation comments on the study: “The main reasons why they don’t tell anyone is because they’re afraid it’ll bring a bad name to their family or, perhaps even more worrying, they themselves think that the violence is normal and not an issue so why would they report it.” Stopping Violence Xian and her team are working to combat this violence through community-centred training and workshops that promote open dialogue. Their goal is to stop it before it starts. “The main part of that involves working on trying to change the social norms around violence against women and children”, says Xian. “Trying to change it from the
situation we have now, where it’s seen as pretty normal, to a situation where people and the community as a whole reject that and push for different ways for people to resolve conflict that doesn’t require violence”. With the help of MAF, Xian and her team are better able to support their volunteers in these remote communities. Flying staff out to a remote community saves the organisations both time and money, ultimately resulting in staff being able to spend more time on the ground. “A 6 hour journey becomes a 30 minute flight,” Xian explains. “That means that if we fly with MAF we can hit the ground running, we can focus on what’s really important – that is spending time supporting these community mobilisers to make change in their community. “
COUNTRY PROFILE
Timor-Leste 2
aircraft
9
destinations
5
staff members
30 partners Partners include: Asia Foundation, CARE International, Ministry of Health, Save the Children Tearfund, The Leprosy Mission International, WaterAid, World Vision
MAF pilot Jonathan Lowe flies to Same, Timor-Leste
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FLY ING FOR L I FE
Bringing the Good News There is something uniquely special about the relationships and respect that can be built with communities when serving them in their home and in their language over the long term. It is within this context that MAF staff, serving all across the world, are able to share the Hope of the Good News of Jesus. In this sense, “Flying for Life” takes on a whole new meaning as we are able “share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” (1 Thes 2:8) A remote homeland community in East Arnhem Land
Empowering local Yolŋu ministries to share the Gospel in their own communities Story Stephanie Gidney Photos Brett Nel, Balz Kubli and Thomas Bärtschi For over 40 years, MAF has been privileged to support and encourage the Yolŋu people in their own tribal lands through the Homeland Outreach program and other ministry initiatives. Our staff are not only able to meet the physical needs of the community through the provision of much needed resources, but are involved in helping to equip and support the local indigenous church in their various ministries. In 2017, MAF was able to connect with and support ministries scattered all throughout East Arnhem Land.
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On one such occasion MAF was able to help support “Awaken Arnhem Land”. This week long event aimed to promote unity between different local ministries, whilst providing intensive discipleship training for new believers. There was also indigenous led evening rallies. Awaken Arnhem Land In the weeks running up to the event MAF spent time transporting a team from Yolngu for Jesus to the surrounding remote communities to promote the event, during which
time many people came to know Jesus and were baptised. We then carried out over 20 flights carrying 121 people to Yirrkala where the event was taking place, including a team of Yolngu from Elcho Island who had come to Christ the year before and were going to help set up and serve. The opening night saw an amazing turn out of around 400-500 people! During each day 40-60 people came to take part in Jesus School, keen to learn more about the saving grace of Jesus Christ and be equipped for a
Scenes from Awaken Arnhem Land
s MAF’s Brett Nel
Scenes from Awaken Arnhem Land
life following Jesus. Crossing Cultural Boundaries On the final night all who held a leadership role were asked to come forward for prayer – an amazing sight to see so many different nationalities, groups and churches represented. Brett Nel, MAF Ministry and Outreach Coordinator for Arnhem Land, reflects on the value of partnership when crossing cultural boundaries: “We are now providing technical support to enable the local indigenous ministries and the body of believers through aviation and other technologies to bring spiritual transformation.
“These guys are doing grass roots church, house church, outside fellowships, home Bible studies. There are no big church buildings, offerings or spare money floating around to help these guys in their ministry.” “Having an outreach support fund, through donations from the Church worldwide, has made all the difference to help subsidise flights for people in ministry working in partnership with MAF to get around. It has allowed us to partner better with those who have the giftings and callings to be the evangelists and disciplers, rather than trying to do it all ourselves in culturally inappropriate ways.”
COUNTRY PROFILE
Arnhem Land 13
aircraft
52 destinations 37
staff members
76 partners Partners include: Uniting Church, Anglican Church, Galiwinku Bible Translation Project, Pioneers, Youth for Christ, Indigenous Ministry Links Australia, Wycliffe
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Together, we are
FLYING FOR LIFE “We would love you to join with us in bringing this fullness of life to the isolated communities that we serve. Together we will see many lives transformed in Jesus’ name!” Ian McDougall, General Manager MAF Australia
Our organisation and the communities we serve depend on your constant prayers. The MAF mission began almost 75 years ago reliant on prayer and it remains that way today. If you’d like to serve our organisation with faithful prayer you can sign-up to receive ‘Fuelled by Prayer’ - our monthly prayer guide. It outlines the needs and praise points for our global mission and the staff that serve on the field.
GIVE
It is paired with our Staff Prayer Handbook, a booklet that helps you get to know the Australian staff serving around the world.
If you have been inspired by the stories of MAF Flying for Life, please consider contributing financially to the work of MAF. Your partnership offers remote communities the basics of life, the delivery of medical care, a release from oppression and the good news of Jesus.
PRAY
To sign up for Fuelled By Prayer and order the Staff Prayer Handbook, visit: maf.org.au/prayformaf
When donating to MAF, it can be helpful to think in terms of ‘jerrycans of fuel’. Each jerrycan holds 20 litres of fuel and keeps us in the air for roughly 20 minutes. In the remote communities we serve, those 20 minutes are so often the difference between life and death.
If you want to talk with someone: Eleanor Rivers-Suharno Communications Officer: 1800 650 169
If you want to talk with someone: Lolly Fernandez Donor Services Officer: 1800 650 169
4 EASY WAYS TO GIVE
Call us 1800 650 169
Online
www.maf.org.au
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PO Box 7187 Baulkham Hills 2153
Bank Transfer
MAF Australia BSB 032164 ACC 183831
ADVOCATE
Not all of us can confidently land a small plane on a remote airstrip, or know our ‘yaw’ from our ‘roll’, but we can all tell a good story. Fortunately, MAF has incredible stories to be told. Stories of lives transformed. Every story you tell, helps support our pilots, engineers and the remote communities they serve. If you’re keen to make a meaningful impact here at home, we invite you to ‘Be a Voice’ in whatever way you can for MAF. Become one of our team of advocates spread around Australia, praying for our work in the field, telling the story of MAF in churches, running events or mentoring others. The time you give as an advocate doesn’t have to be much, but it will make a meaningful difference in transforming lives around the world. To find out more, contact aus-advocate@maf.org.au If you want to talk with someone: Matthew McBurney Advocate Coordinator: 1800 650 169
GO
Real adventure will come when, trusting in God and following His call, you step out in faith and learn to lean on Him in a whole new way. It’s not easy leaving your comfort zone. But when you serve with MAF – determined to bring help, hope and healing to the remote parts of the world – you’ll experience the adventure of a lifetime. MAF’s vision is simple: to see isolated people physically and spiritually transformed in Christ’s name. Join with us now and be part of real transformation. The needs in remote communities are vast. We need: • Mission Pilots • Experienced Aircraft Engineers • Programme Managers • Operations Managers • Finance Managers • IT Managers • Facilities Managers • Teachers • Administrators • Tradespersons/Builders Take the first step in this adventure today. Sign up for our online journey at www.maf.org.au/bigger or email personnel@maf.org.au If you want to talk with someone: Kuren Galant Recruitment Manager: 1800 987 221
GIFTS IN WILLS
Including a charity in your will is one of the most powerful ways you can create lasting transformation. A legacy gift to MAF is an investment in an established organisation that has demonstrated careful and effective stewardship of the donations we’ve received over the past 70 years. Partnering with MAF in this way ensures your legacy is the delivery of the basics of life, the delivery of medical care, a release from oppression and the good news of Jesus to the remote communities at home and abroad. If you want to talk with someone: Edgar Voights Relationship Manager: 1800 650 169
Flying for Life
(ISSN: 2202-0365) Design/Editor: Cadence Media (cadencemedia.com.au) Printer: BHB Printing Flying for Life is the official magazine of Mission Aviation Fellowship and CRMF in Australia. Articles may be printed with acknowledgment. Flying for Life is a member publication of the Australasian Religious Press Association. If you no longer wish to receive Flying for Life (MAF News), please advise us at: MAF Australia 1800 650 169 and your name and details will be removed from our distribution list.
STAY CONNECTED
To hear our incredible stories fresh from the field, jump online and sign up for our monthly e-news! Hear the stories, watch the videos, see our photos, meet our missionaries and be kept up-to-date with the latest developments in this lifechanging ministry. Go to: www.maf.org.au/e-news
MAF Australia and CRMF ABN 26 134 583 887 PO Box 7187 Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 Contact: 1800 650 169 | 02 8014 6450 maf@maf.org.au | www.maf.org.au Privacy Statement MAF is committed to your privacy. We will only disclose your information in accordance with our Privacy Statement and/or with your permission. Our Privacy Statement explains what information we collect from you and how we intend to use it. You can view our Privacy Statement at maf.org.au
Together we can fly over jungles, mountains, swamps and deserts to bring emergency relief, medical care, long-term development and the Good News of Jesus.
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