Surrendering to the Call of God
The story of MAF’s first student pilot from Singapore
The Hitchins’ Legacy in Timor Leste
Ruth shares a heartfelt story as they say “ate logu” to Timor Leste
www.maf.org.nz
info@maf.org.nz
0800 87 85 88
MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) is a Christian organisation reaching men, women and children in more than 24 countries. Operating 120 aircraft, MAF’s pilots overcome terrain that has become inaccessible due to derelict roads, natural disaster, or violent conflict. MAF aircraft service more than 1,000 destinations - transporting food, water, health professionals, medical supplies, emergency workers and Christian missionaries where they are needed most. Each flight brings practical help, spiritual hope and physical healing to thousands of isolated people in remote communities for whom flying is a lifeline not a luxury. MAF is flying for life.
Front cover
Annelie Edsmyr, Papua New Guinea
This page
Grant Strugnell, Lesotho
Back cover
Matt Painter, Papua New Guinea
Flying for Life Magazine NZ
Editor: Zoë Davies
Email: comms@maf.org.nz
Designer: Zoë Davies
Printer: Roe Print Services
©MAF NZ Spring 2024
MAF NZ
www.maf.org.nz
info@maf.org.nz
0800 87 85 88 PO
‘Hello’, from our CEO
I want to say a heartfelt thank you for your support of the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship. This issue of Flying For Life is particluarly special as it includes many stories of the Kiwi families and individuals who are currently serving on the mission field. I know these stories are only made possible by New Zealanders who faithfully support us through prayer and finances. These stories are your stories.
I pray that as you read about the Van der Merwe family you are inspired by Izak, Jana and Karlien’s courage. As you read Bridget’s story, you are inspired to show God’s love through good times and hard times. And as we celebrate the Hitchins family’s time in Timor-Leste, you would be inspired to leave a legacy of your own.
While many of us may never set foot in these isolated villages, I hope you know just how significant your part is in bringing help, hope and healing to isolated people.
Mark Fox, CEO, MAF NZ
To subscribe to receieve future editions in your mailbox or email, scan the QR code or go to www.maf.org.nz/connect
Cobus & Tronel and their three children Isak, Jana and Karlien moved to Papua New Guinea in March 2024 to serve with MAF. When joining the MAF program in PNG, new staff and families take part in The Village Experience - spending a week living in a remote community. This helps them gain insight into the lives of the people they will be serving, build relationships, and learn the Papua New Guinean culture. For their Village Experience, the Van der Merwe’s spent a week perched high up in the mountains in Sangapi - a village only accesible by plane.
JANA (15)
“When we touched down on the airstrip I was a quite taken aback to see a massive crowd of villagers all looking at us. Knowing that most of the villagers spoke only “Tok Place” and Tok Pisin, I was more than a little worried about how the week would progress, but I was surprised to find what an enjoyable experience our village orientation was. Early mornings I awoke to watch the sun rising over the picturesque hills dotted with smoking cook-houses. I loved hanging out with our local hosts in their cook-house, and trying Cassava bread for the first time. It was really interesting to see how the villagers lived and saddening to see the poverty surrounding us. Though I probably wouldn’t call it a holiday, it was an experience I’ll never forget.”
ISAK (16)
“I really enjoyed our time, especially the hunting and the challenging walks. The people were really friendly and seemed to take great joy in me wanting to go hunt and do target practice with them. When you are in a village like this you get to see how difficult life in the bush is. The way of life for the people up in the mountains seemed very hard to me. They walk down the mountain or to the closest river to get water every day and then carry it back home. Medical help is also a big issue, with some people having to walk for days through the jungle carrying their loved ones to reach the small clinic in the village, or the airfield to be medevac’d by MAF.”
“The beds were a little hard but the walk to the water tanks was very fun and dangerous.”
Scan the QR code to watch a video the Van der Merwe’s put together of their Village Experience in Sangapai. Or go to www.maf.org.nz/people and click on their profile.
KARLIEN (11)
A Light in the Darkness
What solar power means to the isolated communities of Papua New Guinea.
While the lights remain on at Mouglu’s health centre, villagers know they have access to help, hope and healing.
Having reliable solar electricity is literally a matter of life and death for the people of Mougulu, a remote community in the foothills of Mt Bosavi in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province.
Missionary Sally Lloyd remembers a time when a critically ill child, who was admitted to the health centre and was relying on an oxygen concentrator, tragically passed away due to the lack of a power supply.
Sally, the daughter of missionary couple Tom and Salome Hoey, and her husband, Ian, have taken on her parents’ roles in Mougulu, focusing on humanitarian work that promotes and values community development in the surrounding villages.
Their hydroelectric system was damaged by an earthquake several years ago, so in 2020 the Hoeys turned to CRMF at the time, which is now MAF Technologies, for a solution.
“CRMF assisted mum and dad in putting that solar on as one of their final ministries here, and it really helped the health centre,” Sally said.
SALLY LLOYD TONY AIMA
“And now solar power is running almost 24 hours a day, powering our vaccine fridges, and providing power for the oxygen concentrators. Solar energy powers everything.”
Tony Aima, a local health worker in Mougulu, explained that the solar system is useful especially at night, to oversee individuals who have been bitten by snakes and, especially, mothers who are giving birth.
“Previously, we used torchlights to attend to patients who came in at night, and it was quite difficult to attend to them. But when solar power arrived, it greatly improved our work and lighting system, saving many lives,” Tony said.
Pipiali Falope, a mother of six from a nearby village, expressed her appreciation and sense of certainty that she and her children are getting proper medical care thanks to the availability of 24-hour lighting in the health centre.
“If one of my children becomes ill especially at nighttime, I know for certain there is light at the health centre, therefore, I bring them over to be treated,” she said.
“So far, I have never encountered any severe health issues because of the health centre’s availability at night.”
Lelegeme, another mother from the nearby Oglubabim village shares her experience of giving birth to her first child in the heart of the jungle because there was no adequate medical facility available at that time.
’But some years after, I was grateful and privileged to be able to deliver my other two children safely in a health centre that has proper lighting system that runs throughout the night,” lelegeme said.
Mougulu Health Centre also acts as a referral centre for many surrounding aid posts by overseeing referrals, providing drugs and other medical necessities.
Sally stressed that many times solar has been a lifesaving power source to have in Mougulu. ’It’s pretty amazing really, that we have that,” she added.
“And that has been a key to the success of Mougulu Health Centre, to have good health workers, a good health facility,
While the lights remain on, villagers know they have access to help, hope and healing.
and have power to maintain all the machines and everything else.”
MAF Technologies General Manager Bryan Mathews said the project was very challenging since the installation happened during the outbreak of Covid-19 when most services were ceased.
“We went over a lot of hurdles just to get the batteries and panels into Mougulu, eventually we managed to get the equipment in, and the outcome of the installation was very successful,’’ he said.
“We placed a large power capacity in the health centre so that in the future if they wish to construct extensions or add new medical equipment, the power can accommodate that.
“In the end, they have a 24/7 clean green energy that is not causing pollution, plus it has cut a lot of fuel cost for the generator since the cost of transporting fuel into Mougulu is high.”
STORY / KOWARA BELL PHOTOS / MATT PAINTER
Will you bring help, hope and healing to more isolated people? Scan the QR code or go to www. maf.org.nz/donate
Surrendering to the Call of God
The new student sits alone in the sun on an outdoor chair. His notes on his lap and his eyes closed. He speaks to himself, methodically working through a checklist with his hands reaching for switches around his mental cockpit.
Meet Ezra Tan, who recently commenced flight training at the MAF Training Centre, with Aviation Australia’s Diploma of Aviation.
“It’s quite a remote, outback place,” Ezra said. “I arrived about two weeks ago. I was very impressed. The first few times I got to touch the aeroplanes; I was very impressed with their condition.
“My first flight here was just last week. The moment the vibrations from the wheels stopped—oh man, my vocabulary isn’t enough! I remember the feeling. I don’t have the words. It was just surreal, it felt like flotation. It felt very comfortable.”
Ezra’s fascination with technology began at a young age. Not only planes, but trains, bikes,, submarines and even his sister’s alarm clock caught Ezra’s attention.
Having successfully fixed the clock, he turned his developing skills to the refrigerator light. Then when he saw the Space Shuttle at the NASA World Tour in Singapore, his love for winged aircraft took hold.
At fifteen years of age, Ezra questioned his purpose in life. His youth pastor challenged him with the Parable of the Talents, imploring him to find out what his talents were.
“And that’s where I felt God say ‘missions’. But at that time, I struggled because I also really felt very passionate about aeroplanes. I wanted to pursue a career as a pilot, and it felt at odds because of the limited information I had about what missions really meant,” he said.
“I felt that if I want to go and do missions, I would have to give up my dream of being a pilot because there just wouldn’t be the time or space for it after being ‘delayed’ by a missions term. Or if I choose to be a pilot, then I would be too old do missions by the time I finished the many years of bond with the airlines or the Air Force.
“The ministry blew me away. It was the perfect middle ground between being a pilot and serving in missions”
“That struggle went on for about seven years. One random day, I felt God prompt, ‘Choose now. Do you want to be your pilot, or do you want to be my missionary?’ About three days later, I guess you can say in frustration, I decided, ‘Okay, fine, God. I’ll just go and do missions. I’ll give up being a pilot.’
“I caught up with my missions pastor and told him about my decision. He knew about this dilemma… We had a conversation in the church office making plans, preparations for me to be sent on missions. But halfway through that conversation, he suddenly remembered about my dilemma between the call to missions and my dream to be a pilot. He asked what had happened to that dream, to which I responded that I’m giving it up.
At that very moment, he recalled that he received an email from MAF that very same week, and suggested ‘Why don’t you go and take a look at this organisation first? It might be a better fit for you.’
Ezra attended a MAF Singapore event where Chad Tilley, a MAF pilot who previously flew in Bangladesh, was speaking and sharing stories of MAF’s work.
“The ministry blew me away. It was the perfect middle ground between being a pilot and serving in missions,” Ezra said. But Ezra was angry at God, having already made up his mind to give up flying. He asked his pastor why God hadn’t revealed such a ministry earlier.
“My pastor responded, ‘God is often like that. He waits for us to put to death our own desires first. Then he reveals more.’
“That struck me, particularly the words ‘put to death’. Because at that same season, I was also dealing with the words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.’
“I know it sounds crude. ‘Come and die.’ But it’s actually an echo of Christ’s words. When you want to follow Him, you have to carry your cross daily.
“It was at that moment I realised—if I didn’t reach that altar of surrender first, before knowing about MAF, then I would be pursuing this mission organisation for all the wrong reasons. I’d be pursuing it because I get to fly aeroplanes, because I get to be a pilot, and I’d completely miss the missions heart behind it.”
Ezra continues to move forward in his training and has just flown solo in Mareeba.
“Upon successfully completing that first solo flight, as the engine finally rumbled to a stop, I felt a sense of reaffirmation and peace that I am indeed aligned with God’s plan for me. And that traditional drenching of water after one’s solo flight somehow felt like a washing away of the many years of lies and discouragement from pursuing a ministry in missions. I am going to fly for life, preferably for life!”
Interested in becoming a MAF Pilot?
We are looking for pilots who have an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) based Commercial Pilot Licence with an instrument rating and Class 1 medical certificate. This is the minimum licensing requirement for all pilot positions.
In addition, you must already possess a minimum number of flight hours, with a portion of these as a Pilot in Command (PIC). Finally all Pilots must pass the MAF capability and Psychological assessments.
Minimum flight hours
500 hours total flight time with 300 hours as PIC for all other programmes. With this level of hours, you will be classed as a Basic Pilot.
1,000 hours total flight time with 500 hours as PIC for all other programmes. With this level of hours, you will be classed as an Experienced Pilot.
Scan the QR code to learn more and express your interest today!
STORY / MATT PAINTER
PHOTOS / MATT PAINTER & JANNE RYTKONEN
Flying with Purpose
Celebrating life with the people of Papua New Guinea
From a plane filled with laughter and vegetables to solemn funerals in remote villages, experience the unique flights and rich customs of Papua New Guinea through the eyes of Kiwi MAF Pilot Bridget Ingham.
“Balus i pulap tru!” I remarked (‘The plane is really full!’) - and the nine ladies on board laughed. They were joining hundreds of other women from Baptist churches throughout the Min area for their annual ladies’ conference at Tabubil.
Telefomin, Eliptamin, Oksapmin, Wobagen, Ok Isai - the response was the same when I got out of the plane and people saw that a lady pilot had come to take the ladies from their village to Tabubil. “Ooweee! Meri pailot! Meri balus! Ooweee!” (‘Ooweee! A lady pilot! A ladies’ plane! Ooweee!’)
Since these were special charter flights, the women weren’t limited to the usual 16kg assigned to seat fare passengers. The weight limit was a combined one for the whole plane, so they brought bags of vegetables to share at the conference - sweet potato, taro, kumu (leafy greens), spring onions, bananas. Most of the time there was too much to fit in the cargo pods, so I ended up strapping a lot of it down in the cabin. Balus i pulap tru!
The conference, the mountains of vegetables I flew, and the reception and gifts I was given at the different airstrips (including a bird-of-paradise headdress by the ladies at Wobagen), were a celebration of life. This is one of the foundations of Papua New Guinean culture. If we’re going to have a party, let’s make it a big one! The ladies’ enthusiasm was contagious, and I truly enjoyed flying them to Tabubil.
In a different kind of celebration of life, I flew three body charters in four days. In PNG culture it is important for a person to be buried in their home village.
The more status the person had, the bigger the haus krai (funeral), to show respect, so often the coffin will be accompanied by hundreds of kilos of food.
When I land at a bush airstrip with a coffin on board, there is usually a big crowd waiting. Different places have different customs - some are subdued, while others mourn loudly and publicly. If it’s the latter, the passengers in the plane often start wailing just as I am preparing to land - a distraction I don’t need at that point!
At Wanakipa, a group of ladies wearing white tunics were singing and waving tanget leaves as I taxied up to the parking bay. After shutting down, I did what I needed to in checking over the aircraft, removed the cargo straps holding the coffin in place (and the other cargo accompanying it), then opened the door and moved away from the aircraft to allow the community to do their thing.
One of the locals approached me to shake my hand. He often did this when I came to that airstrip, so I obliged.
“This is one of the foundations of Papua New Guinean culture. If we’re going to have a party, let’s make it a big one!”
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Like the other mourners, he had smeared his face and arms with mud. I suddenly found I was turned from observer into participant, as he grasped my hand, pressed his face into my shoulder and started wailing. He continued for a minute or so, then let go and proceeded to the next person, as others lifted the coffin out of the plane and carried it up the hill to where a noisy crowd was waiting.
“It’s just their custom,” explained a teacher standing nearby, who I would be flying out.
“I know,” I replied, feeling a little awkward but also honoured, in a way, to have been included.
STORY & PHOTOS / BRIDGET INGHAM
Ruth Hitchins writes from the perspective of a Timorese mother of twin girls who needed extra care in hospital. Her story shares how MAF is helping to care for patients beyond the plane.
You came to us. You understood our need. You provided what we needed before we asked. That meant we know we can turn to MAF because they care.
We are often too scared to talk to the nurses & doctors, but we are not scared to call MAF. You gave us your phone number and phone credit to call you, and whenever we have needed anything, we can call you and you will bring it. You also know what we need here in hospital. You also ring us up to check on us. You have accompanied us all these weeks.
It’s so much easier to fly home than go home over dangerous roadsespecially now that my tiny girl twins have just been discharged from hospital. They’re still not even 2kg each, and I gave birth to them in my village over 3 months ago.
I’ve hardly slept in the hospital, trying to feed them anyway I can, and my husband is doing his best to help too. He’s a rare Timorese husband, supportive and caring, and he’s riding his bike for many hours over bumpy tracks to our village, while my mum and I take the MAF plane home. The price is the same as if we’d had to take the noisy bus home over washed-out roads: it would have taken 8-10 hours, and the MAF plane is just 30 minutes!
It’s Easter Monday, and we fly over the cross of Jesus on the Letefoho mountain. Resurrection.
My twins have survived birth and hospitalisation. I’ve been given bags of clothes for them to grow into: some ladies in Australia who I’ll never meet have sent them for our family. We’ve got some provisions from the MAF team too, and my mum even smiled as she got into the plane! No scary emergency flight this time. It’s home over the mountains, the smoothest flying the pilot says he’s had all wet season, and my babies don’t even stir.
The deep peace of Christ that MAF prayed over us in hospital must be accompanying us home…
“Ate
logu, Timor-Leste”
A note from MAF Kiwi’s, the Hitchins Family, as they say “Ate logu” (see you soon) to Timor-Leste.
After three years serving in TimorLeste with Nick as the Country Director, the Hitchins family are relocating to Cairns, Australia, where Nick will take up the role of Business Analytics and Innovation Manager with the MAF International Strategic Development Department.
Leave a legacy with MAF
“As we share our baby lemon-grass plants, moringa tree-food, and hibiscus cuttings with those we are leaving behind, and sell other “plant babies” to raise funds for the schooling of one of our Timorese sons, we are so grateful for lessons learnt and relationships cultivated in the particular soil of poverty and richness that is Timor-Leste. We’ve seen that suffering of all kinds is no barrier or limit to finding true contentment.
Nick is excited at the possibilities of taking his strategic ideas onto a more global level within MAF, and Ruth can’t wait to see how her ongoing research collaboration within the Timorese emergency healthcare sector plays out. Our now predominantly Timorese MAF team is well placed to continue and strengthen the Closing the Loop programme and other initiatives and partnerships we’ve established.
We’ve been so aware of your invisible presence alongside us, amidst all the intense loves and losses on this tiny island at the edge of the world, and can’t wait to take you with us on the adventure as “the road goes ever on and on” (thanks, Tolkien).”
- Nick & Ruth Hitchins
Like the Hitchins family, you can leave a legacy that carries on for generations by including MAF in your will. Today, one in five MAF flights worldwide are made possible by gifts in wills. If you would like to talk to our team for more information, please scan the QR code, go to www.maf.org.nz/legacy or email info@maf.org.nz
“I was already dead; my life ended on that day, but I was granted a second chance in life, so thank you, and may God continue, and your work here with MAF,”
Scan the QR code to watch a video of the reunion on Instagram, or search @mafnz_
The Pilot Who Saved My Life
John Boss was left for dead on a remote jungle track after a brutal attack by bandits. Now, he has recovered enough to thank the MAF pilot who flew him to hospital.
It’s an emotional moment as John Boss meets Glenys Watson, the MAF pilot involved in the medevac that helped save his life.
The man from Habai, a remote community tucked under the Rocky Mountains of Papua New Guinea’s Nomane district, was viciously attacked by bandits and left to die along the bush track that connects Habai to the nearest township of Kundiawa.
Glenys, a Kiwi MAF pilot, happened to be flying near Nomane when she received the call to medevac John to Kundiawa General Hospital. John was rescued just in time, giving him a chance for survival.
Several months after the shocking incident, John was able to meet Glenys again. He was able to express his gratitude to her in person for giving him a second opportunity in life.
“I was already dead; my life ended on that day, but I was granted a second chance in life, so thank you, and may God continue, and your work here with MAF,” John said.
Glenys was elated to see that John was alive and well, and says she was grateful for the chance to respond to this medevac call to bring him to safety, as she noticed he required immediate medical intervention. “I saw your head was fractured and you were in a critical condition that’s why I flew you to the hospital. I am delighted to see you are well and alive back in your village,” the MAF pilot said.
John and other Nomane villagers were returning from a two-day trip from Kundiawa town, in February 2024, after sending their children back to school, when he was ambushed by bandits near the Waghi river. “They took my money, my store goods and even the clothes that I was wearing, and they told me to walk. And so, when I started walking, they started attacking me with their bush knives from the back,” John said.
The bandits slashed John three times on the head and shoulder with an attempt to end his life there.
He collapsed on the ground unconscious as they fled the area. “The others I came with fled from me, terrified by my wounds. I noticed I was covered in blood from my head to toe, but I vowed myself I was not going to die there,” he said.
“So, I hurried up and down the hills towards the nearby community while shouting out. ’Jesus! Jesus! You tasol Yu stap!’ (Jesus! Jesus! You alone exist!).”
A pastor from the nearby Baptist Church heard John’s cries and helped him to the health centre. Community Health Worker Jeffery Lucas responded and was trying keep John in a stable condition. “I didn’t think he’d make it because the bush knife wounds were so bad he might lose consciousness from the blood loss, yet he remained conscious” Jeffery explained.
He knew that if John’s knife wounds were not treated properly, he would die, thus making a call for a medevac the best hope for saving John’s life.
Andrew Yalbai, John’s relative, said that after several attempts to reach various health authorities, he was able to get a MAF response with just a call.
“That was unbelievable, and I couldn’t believe how instantly MAF responded,” he said. “And it’s something I could value; it has never been negotiated, but it was a quick call to the MAF Goroka base, and one of the MAF pilots flying nearby rescued John Boss.”
Community spokesman, Jonah Obel, believed that the Lord had protected John’s life while they waited for MAF to arrive in Nomane in time to save him. “He should have died along the bush track but fought all the way because he had a clean heart, and he is a man of good deeds,” he said.
“We also didn’t expect MAF to arrive on time because of our isolated location, but they did and that saved John.”
STORY / SEAN ATKINS PHOTOS / KOWARA BELL
