Flying for Life - September 2015

Flying for Life SEPTEMBER 2015

The magazine

of MAF New Zealand

ALL PIECES

Play a Part What it takes to become a MAF Pilot

Four Months After the Earthquake in Nepal

Potters and Planes: Why We Fly the Planes we Do

Nepal: Four Months After the Earthquake

Immediately following the devastating earthquake in Nepal on April 25, MAF felt compelled to respond. However, we had no aircraft, staff or programme in Nepal...

Teamwork.

Partnership.

Things always work better when people work together.

As reports came in over the months following the earthquake in Nepal, I began to develop huge respect for all the MAF staff who rotated in from around the world to help. I saw such a strong spirit of teamwork and cooperation, both within MAF and between MAF and all the ministries involved. Everyone was willing to lay down their own personal rights and comfort in order to serve the Nepalese.

The question wasn’t, What’s best for me? but, What would be most helpful to the Nepalese people?

Partnership is important too. Planes wouldn’t work in Nepal (nowhere to land) so MAF quickly partnered with a helicopter company. Together they were able to do things neither could have done by themselves.

Little Fitia’s healing and treatment (page 13) was only possible because Mercy Ships and MAF worked together.

In “All Pieces Play a Part”, we see that pilots simply cannot fly without a team standing with them. For every pilot there are many “pieces” who make it possible.

And without you and your prayer and support none of it would be possible.

So, partnership and teamwork not only allow programs to happen, but I believe God rejoices when He sees people laying down their “rights” and personal preferences and working together in unity. Each person brings their own skills and expertise—and together everyone is stronger.

Thank you for partnering with us—you are part of the team!

Tim Houghton, Editor

The day after the earthquake in Nepal, two MAF staff were sent to assess the situation. Initial assessment determined that the best way MAF could help would be to use their expertise at the Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu.

However, at that point, with more than 14,500 people injured, 3 million in need of food and 24,000 living in makeshift camps, MAF quickly became aware that much of the aid was not getting to where it was most needed. Roads to remote villages were impassable and it was not possible for light aircraft, even those specially designed for short landings in rugged settings, to land.

The answer became clear: aid could only reach many of those in greatest need by helicopter.

Due to good relations with contacts in Nepal built over many years, on 7 May MAF was able to sign a contract with Fishtail Air, a Nepalese helicopter company for the use of two Airbus AS350 helicopters.

The helicopters have been used for a variety of purposes. A request was received from the UK government Department for International Development (DFID) to help rescue tourists stranded at a monastery near Lho. They have been used to fly a surgical team from the UK to a number of remote villages to perform life-saving operations, carry out search and rescue missions and run a survey flight in order to assess areas of greatest need.

Due to the success of the work and the clear and urgent need for helicopters to support NGOs and transport humanitarian aid and workers,

MAF is an international Christian aviation organisation serving around 30 developing countries to reach people living in some of the world’s most isolated communities.

Operating more than 135 light aircraft, MAF flies into 2,500 remote destinations, transporting essential medical care, food and water supplies, relief teams and church workers enabling physical and spiritual care to reach countless thousands of people cut off due to formidable geographical barriers, natural disasters and political unrest.

Flying for Life is the official magazine of Mission Aviation Fellowship NZ. Articles may be reprinted with acknowledgment.

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MAF New Zealand PO Box 76502 Manukau City, Auckland 2241

Phone: 0800 87 85 88 Email: info@maf.org.nz Web: www.maf.org.nz Editor: Tim Houghton Layout: Tim Houghton Printing: Roe Printing

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the UK government DFID agreed to significantly fund MAF to set up and run a coordinated helicopter facility.

More MAF staff arrived from around the world to support this programme, including New Zealander Vaughan Woodward. As MAF’s Disaster Response Manager in Nepal, Vaughan says, “The needs here are great. The second earthquake on the 12th May compounded an already desperate situation. Using MAF’s expertise in both remote area aviation and in high rotation operations has allowed us to facilitate aid delivery to many unreachable areas”.

In the weeks after the earthquake Jerry Clewett, Technical Director of the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) a Christian program that addresses the root causes of poverty in Nepal, called the helicopters “life savers”.

Diego Traverso, Director of Special Projects at Operation Blessing said, “Partnering with MAF is transforming days of driving and hiking into no more than 30 minutes by helicopter to reach stricken people. We hadn’t been able to reach so many communities because of the roads, the weather conditions, many days of driving or hiking. This was a game changer for us. Thanks to MAF we will be able to reach communities that haven’t been reached yet with medicine, clean water, clothes, food supplies so this is amazing”.

If you would like to see a great new video that gives a good overview of the type of work MAF is doing in Nepal, go to You Tube and type “One Flight at a Time”.

Prayer Map

“Prayer Map” is a FREE bimonthly publication of MAF New Zealand.

To subscribe to our print or email version, phone us toll free: 0800 87 85 88 email: info@maf.org.nz

For our latest news or to give a gift, please visit www.maf.org.nz or call us Toll Free 0800 87 85 88

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Four months after the

EARTHQUAKE

UPDATE The great news is that MAF’s fundraising groups have now raised over USD$ 1.2 million for Nepal, which is an incredible amount in such a short time!

We received more good news this week. Due to the great fundraising effort by MAF Resourcing Groups, and the fact we also secured further funding from the UK Department of International Development (DFID), MAF will be able to carry out a further 540 hours of flying. This means we are now able to continue our Disaster Response activity in Nepal until mid-September.

(Note: MAF NZ is one of these Funding Groups and we would like to thank all of you who prayed for the people of Nepal and supported our team working there).

With the arrival of the monsoon rains we have also seen an increase of landslides in new areas so we

Photo by LuAnne Cadd

are trying to schedule flights to meet the needs in areas that have become unreachable by road.

Monsoon weather has also begun to affect our flights and our statistics are lower, including the complete loss of one day of flying. Also, due to poor weather at high altitudes and the need for a manoeuvring margin, we are limiting sling loads (loads carried underneath the helicopter) to an altitude of 9,000ft.

At this time the Nepal team is looking at what the mid-to-long term future will be for MAF in Nepal and are working on a detailed paper exploring the options. We are officially in process with our INGO registration and all the documents have been submitted. We hope to be in a position to share more shortly.

We are also in the process of renting and moving to a new office location. www.maf.org.nz

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Responding to a Disaster

Dr. Gerda Pohl, Medical Coordinator with PHASE Nepal:

Helic for M in Ne

What struck me is that we Nepalese used to consider helicopters to be a luxury. They are usually used to get climbing teams up to base camps or for hotel owners to build a new suite for their guests. The average poor people who live in the villages never got a chance to use a helicopter in their life. But now they are completely dependent on air transport to survive, to get essentials like food, shelter and health workers.

Everything that needs to go up there (to the remote villages) now needs to go by helicopter, so that’s why MAF makes such a difference. (The village of) Kashingaun has about 500 households and each needs about 100 kilos of iron sheets (to rebuild). So do the math. It’s a lot of helicopter flights. MAF has enabled us to actually get those corrugated iron sheets to where they are needed.

“I knew those communities very well, and I knew that they were all struggling on the edge of going under with poverty. They all had an absolute minimum of possessions and an absolute minimum standard of living, and now they’ve lost even that. Now they don’t have “nothing”—they have less than nothing, because (first) they’ve got to take down the collapsed houses and dig through the rubble (before they can start rebuilding). They’ve all got debts anyway, and now they’ve got to borrow money to actually start rebuilding. A lot of families won’t recover.”

PHASE Nepal continues to use MAF helicopters to fly iron roofing sheets, food, and medical personnel into the remote villages cut off from all access in the high mountain area of the Nupri Valley.

As these photos show, there is turnover of staff on the Response Team in Nepal. Previous staff are urgently needed back at their home bases and recalled, to be replaced by new staff deployed to take their place.

The team in June. Back: John Woodberry, David Rogers, Laura Hibberd. Front row seated: Mark Liprini, Ron Wismer, Rick Emenaker, Daniel Geaslen.

Nepal earthquake estimate of individuals direc affected by destroyed houses.

Ref: Map Action

1,469 The current team. Left to right: Mark Liprini, Alan and Alrena Martis, Dave Wunsch, Robin Malherbe.

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copters “Life Savers” Most Remote Villages epal.

PRAY FOR NEPAL For safety and grace with changing schedules as the monsoon weather continues to cause disruption.

For wisdom as the plans for MAF’s ongoing involvement in Nepal after 15 September are discussed. For good relationships with the Nepali Government and that we get the approvals we need to register as an NGO in Nepal.

For stamina for the Disaster Response team members, many of whom have now done several rotations in Nepal. Pray too for their families at home.

Photo by Luanne Cadd

Praise for the continuing positive relationship between MAF Staff and the Fishtail Air staff and that God would work through these strong relationships.

ctly

Pray for the Nepali people as they start to rebuild. Pray especially for protection for those communities and people most vulnerable to landslides.

Each arrow indicates the total number of flights that have been carried out in each district from May 9 - July 31

Please uphold Kiwi couple Alan and Alrena Martis (below) in prayer. They have arrived in Nepal, initially for a month, to help the MAF Disaster Response Team in Kathmandu.

Alrena will have an Administration role and Alan will be initially on the “Ramp” helping with loading and unloading freight and passengers. Later he will move to scheduling and booking.

Number of Flights 2,527

134

259 305 77 19 4

Solukhumbu 37,883

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It Takes a Team for MAF to Fly

All Pieces Play a Part Operations Manager

Reservation team

Families

Chief Pilot

Engineers

Finance department

Programme Manager

Stores

IT, HR, Communications

Ah, to be a MAF pilot, soaring above the clouds without a care in the world!

Well, actually there’s a lot more to it than that. The pilot can’t go anywhere without a whole support team. We look at how all pieces fit together in Arnhem Land, northern Australia to make MAF flights become a reality.

Story and photos by Peter Higham No flight carried out by MAF is a “one man show” as some would think.

The pilot flies the plane from A to B, but there is a whole team of people involved in making MAF operations possible and successful. Each flight is like a puzzle and it’s not complete until all the other team members do their part to supply the remaining pieces.

The Reservation Team Everything begins with a phone call to the Reservation Team at Gove Airport arrange bookings and deal directly with customers for MAF flights. They work out each individual flight, where it is

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going, how many seats are needed and the best way to utilise the plane for the day’s operation. They also deal with

as flying the planes. The reservation department works in combination with the Operations Manager to ensure that the day’s schedule is as smooth as possible.

The Finance Department Meanwhile, the Finance Department ensures that operational costs are properly paid for. cancellations, date shifts and the many queries about when a flight is departing or arriving.

Given the number of planes and flights arranged in a day, it would be quite impossible for the pilots themselves to handle such a complex schedule as well

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Finance plays an important role in any organisation and it’s vital to have people who ensure that effective financial planning and accountability systems are in place. When payments for flights or other costs are not handled correctly, things turn into chaos. Without the finance team, planes simply don’t fly,

staff don’t get paid, and fuel and aircraft parts cannot be purchased.

Engineers On the maintenance side of things, the engineers on the hangar floor ensure that each plane is safe to fly.

Manager, who takes all things into consideration before confirming a flight.

This vital job oversees the scheduling for both pilots and planes. The role covers not only flights made, but also the need for planned maintenance and for ensuring that pilots do not exceed

The engineering team ensures that the planes have been through vigorous checks and that repairs have been carried out, making the aircraft safe to fly. The engineers follow a complex set

Pilot monitors the pilots and airstrips,

The MAF families Without the support of their families, married pilots would not be able to stay

of procedures to keep up with aircraft maintenance standards. Given the number of planes that are managed by the engineering team in Arnhem Land, this is not an easy process. Aircraft checks have to be planned weeks in advance in order to work in with the engineering staff availability and to provide “buffer time” for unexpected maintenance issues. Without the engineers’ hard work, the planes wouldn’t fly, people and cargo wouldn’t be moved and the Gospel wouldn’t be spread so widely.

allotted hours in each duty cycle.

To do this effectively, the operations manager needs a good deal of inside knowledge on systems, regulations, safety standards and MAF policies.

They are also responsible for the good performance of reservations and for ongoing development where needed. Whilst the position does not include flying, it is infinitely preferable that the position is held by a pilot, and especially one who has flown the programme itself. This allows for the insight and understanding needed to deal with situations as they arise and to know what the pilots are facing every day. It is a vital role and without it, the programme simply could not run properly.

Stores

Follow up after flights

The engineering team relies heavily on the Stores staff, who are responsible for making sure that sufficient aircraft

parts are available in storage. These items include screws, nuts, tyres, oil supplies—you name it! As well as maintaining sufficient items for regular services, the Stores team makes sure urgent parts are shipped in due time and that the best price is found to keep costs as low as possible for MAF.

Operations Manager Another key role is the Operations

operation of these roles and the Chief

Even after flights are completed there is more work; Reservations Admin check flight information and then translate it into the invoices that are sent to clients.

The flights are checked for accuracy of detail and correct charging, and that the paperwork agrees with what has been sent. A smooth operation here means a good turnaround with payments etc.

Flight details must match accurate flight times, fuel consumption and actual passenger names etc. This information is accurately recorded for each plane and pilot. This is used both for CASA (Civil Aviation Authority) and also internal monitoring to ensure that all is as it should be and the present high standards are maintained.

flying with MAF. It’s the spouses and children who support and encourage the pilots—thus playing their part in keeping the work of MAF going.

IT, HR and PAs We also need to mention other key support staff; Internet Technology, Human Resources and Personal Assistants.

Finally, we must not forget the Resourcing Groups such as MAF Australia, UK and NZ who support the current field staff and recruit new people to keep the roles filled.

Every one of these pieces is needed to make the complete jigsaw. A piece missing means a part of the jigsaw goes undone and the whole suffers as a result.

Arnhem Land staff can be justifiably proud of the way the puzzle fits right now­­— long may it continue!

Prog. Manager & Chief Pilot The Programme Manager and Assistant Programme Manager manage the entire

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Why We Fly the Planes We Do

“Potters and Planes” or; Why we fly the planes we do

Story by Callum Turrell The Bible uses the image of a potter several times, both in the Old and New Testaments, to convey the idea that God creates with a purpose in mind. Just as a potter molds the clay to produce a certain type of vessel suited for a specific use, so God molds and shapes us. This is also true when we create things. We mold and shape things so they work for specific purposes. We make a dining table the right height for people to sit and eat from it. We make shoes that fit our feet, phones that fit our hands and hats that fit our heads!

I was thinking about this as I looked at MAF New Zealand’s newly arrived Cessna 206, ZK-MAF.

1: The Cessna 206 Why has this particular aeroplane been so successful in mission aviation service? MAF and other mission aviation organisations around the world have used the C206 extensively. What is it about this plane that has made it so “fit for the purpose”? And what about the other aircraft in the worldwide MAF fleet? Why do we operate the Quest Kodiak? The Twin Otter? The Airvan?

When my family and I were serving with MAF and came home on leave supporters would sometimes ask; “Why don’t MAF have planes that are faster or bigger or more sophisticated?” Having flown different types of aircraft, I’ll attempt to explain why some aircraft are fit for the purposes we have for them— and why you won’t see a supersonic MAF jet any time soon!

2 : The Concorde The Concorde was specifically designed to fly across the Atlantic Ocean between the USA and Europe as fast as possible. This was to allow

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business people to leave their homes and get to the other side of the Atlantic and still have a full day of productive work ahead of them. The Concorde was a successful design inasmuch as it did exactly what its designers wanted it to do: it made its north Atlantic journey in 3½ hours as opposed to 8 at about 2100 kph. That’s 10 times faster than our Cessna 206! But the Concorde designers had to compromise in a lot of areas to enable the aeroplane to achieve its purpose.

If we look at any particular aircraft we see the same principle at work.

3: The GippsAero Airvan The Airvan is designed to be a rugged, simple to maintain, short-range bush aeroplane. It has to be able to operate without a lot of ground support and it must be as efficient in its use of fuel as possible. It has to land on short rough airstrips and it has to be easy enough for one pilot to fly by him or herself. (The Cessna 206 was designed under similar criteria a few decades earlier). These little bush planes, just like Concorde, were designed with their purpose in mind.

4: Let’s look at wheels Neither the newer Airvan nor the venerable 206 have wheels that fold up (or “retract”). At first glance that is a problem—because they cause a lot of drag hanging out there in the breeze and slowing the aeroplane down. That means that the aeroplane uses more fuel and can’t travel as far for each litre of fuel it does use. So did the designers make a mistake? Should we redesign it to have wheels that fold up?

No!—because wheels are a lot stronger when they’re welded in place. They are simple to maintain and the space and weight they would use in the body of the aeroplane (if they did retract) can be used for extra freight and passengers.

The designers referred back to the

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purpose of the aeroplane and realised that it was more important for these planes to have very strong wheels to cope with the rough airstrips than travel fast or far. There was not a lot to be gained by retractable wheels.

5: What about wing design?

Wings are like people: they can be long and thin or short and wide! They can be thick and carry a lot or they can be built for speed! Every aeroplane wing is a series of design compromises because they are built with their purpose in mind too.

The Twin Otter is an MAF plane that is a great example of this. If we look at this aeroplane compared to our little Airvan we see it has a very long skinny wing. That’s because the Twin Otter is designed to operate into airstrips as short as the Cessna and the Airvan do—but to carry up to 4 times the smaller plane’s payload. To land on these short airstrips the Twin Otter must be able to fly as slow as the Airvan, or even slower because of its greater momentum—so it can’t have the same type of wing. It has to have a wing designed to support a much larger weight than the Airvan’s wing at the same speed. This design compromise has meant the Twin Otter wing isn’t much good at high-speed flight. But once again, that’s OK. It isn’t supposed to go anywhere really fast. (Besides, you could never land a Concorde on one of the short MAF strips even if you wanted to!)

6: Pilatus PC-12 MAF planes do need to go fast or fly long distances in some contexts. When MAF operated a program in the central Australian deserts, the distances between the communities we serviced really needed an aeroplane that could span greater distances. So we turned to aircraft that did have retracting wheels and we sacrificed payload in order to

Aircraft design is a series of compromises. Just as the potter shapes clay for a specific purpose, aircraft are built for a specific type of flying. quickly get to as many communities as we could in a day. The same program requirements exist today in Kenya, so MAF use the swift Pilatus PC-12 there because it’s the best aeroplane for the job. It’s “fit for the purpose”.

7: Amphibious plane in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh the countless rivers of the huge Ganges Delta often make travelling to receive help impossible. In fact one third of the country is covered in water! MAF’s amphibious Cessna Caravan makes use of Bangladesh’s vast network of waterways to reach people, many in poverty, who would otherwise be completely isolated.

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Photos courtesy of MAF. Photo of Concorde used with permission.

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What it Takes to be a MAF Pilot

What it takes to becom On Saturday Pilot Mike and Pilot Mary heard about MAF at an airshow. Two weeks later they were soaring above PNG, serving MAF and…Wait!

Time out! Reality check!!

The journey to become a MAF pilot is a challenging one. It takes determination and commitment— and the prayers and support of friends, family and church.

Sam Johnston, a current Candidate, started the application process about 2 years ago. Pilots like Sam are able to persevere through the recruitment process because they have a deep sense of a call from God to serve in missions with MAF. MAF pilots also need to operate with confidence in situations not faced by many pilots in the world, and to do so they need specialized training and preparation.

This is a step-by-step look at what it takes to become a pilot with MAF. q

Initial Contact Some pilots have known since they were young that they want to fly with MAF. Others hear about MAF for the first time at an airshow, through our web site, magazine or a church presentation and contact us to find out more.

Information is sent that provides a general overview of the steps to becoming a MAF pilot.

If, having read this, the pilot wants to go ahead, they fill in an Expression of Interest (EOI). From this we get an idea about their flying hours and aviation experience. Some may not have fully realized that we are a Christian missions

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MAF pilots in Arnhem Land, north Australia (photo by Peter Higham)

organization. It also gives a picture of their Christian background and experience. q

The Initial Interview If things look good, an informal interview is arranged to evaluate the applicant’s level of interest and identify their motivation for wanting to fly with MAF. (MAF offers some of the most challenging flying in the world, and we need to be sure that people are not applying just for “the adventure” or to build up their flying experience).

By the end of the interview it is clear whether it will be appropriate to start the application process 

Application Process If its “thumbs up”, an application form is sent to the pilot so he or she can officially apply for MAF. The application form includes questions about church involvement, family life, personal history and their thoughts about living in a developing nation. (Some people have a romantic, “Indiana Jones” view of living overseas!)

They are reviewed to identify any areas that need follow up.

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The pilots then nominate four referees (one their pastor or minister) and each completes a reference form. 

Further Bible College Training MAF is looking for missionaries who have both the technical skills required as well as mature Christian faith and a clear sense of God’s leading into missions. To this end, MAF may recommend that some applicants do further study at a recognized Bible training institution. If additional Bible training is required, MAF will guide the applicant to an appropriate college. 

Fight Assessment The next step is a flight assessment.

The applicant goes to Blenheim to spend time with John Neal, MAFNZ’s Chief Pilot and Flight Assessor. John takes them up in MAF’s Cessna 206 aircraft to put them through a number of scenarios designed to test their ability to fly in typical MAF settings.

John looks for a candidate's ability to analyse flight situations and make quick, confident and, above all else, safe decisions while taking into account everything that is happening both in and around the plane. A typical scenario

me... A MAF PILOT is arranged. Each individual and family needs to be cleared to live in a developing country, which can include working in situations where there are different parasites/diseases, heat and humidity.

Any preexisting conditions are explored and discussed for management in a developing country.

All paperwork from this exam goes to our medical assessor, who looks through it and gives the pilot clearance as “Medically fit” to live and work overseas.

might include flying in difficult terrain with the added challenges of bad weather and an unexpected emergency.

MAF assesses pilot candidates on a competency framework that requires certain standards to be met. Sometimes MAF will suggest an applicant gain further experience and training before continuing with their application.

(Incidentally, Engineers are also assessed as to their suitability for MAF deployment, but in this case they need to travel to our Engineering base at Mareeba, inland from Cairns, Australia). 

Global Pilot Selection System (GPSS) If pilots have done well to this point, a Global Pilot Selection System (GPSS) test is arranged. This involves the completion of a full day of online tests. The first set of tests evaluates a pilot’s flying aptitude, including their ability to multi-task, manage heavy workloads, their short and long-term memory and situational awareness. A second set assesses their responses in different situations. Finally, an aviation psychologist who is supervising the test does an interview and writes a report which provides helpful insights. 

Psychological assessment Psychological assessments are now set up. If married, both adults fill out online questionnaires and then have an interview with a psychologist to explore their family dynamics. If they have children, the psychologist will also talk to them to get an idea about how the whole family interacts together (since they will all live together on the mission field). A report is prepared and feedback provided to give recommendations for ongoing growth, health and development. 

Behavioural Event Interviewing (BEI) The BEI provides an overview of how the applicant manages things in life.

From describing at least two significant life events the goal is to identify the applicant’s key competencies, including emotional performance, leadership, influence, thinking and capacity to achieve. 

Medical Once MAFNZ feels confident that everything is proceeding well to this point a full medical examination

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(Before they go overseas, the pilot and their family will also need to be vaccinated for the country they are going to). 

Formal Interview A formal interview is arranged to determine whether MAF can go ahead and formally accept the applicant as a candidate. A group of people with a range of backgrounds and experiences in MAF review the paperwork and discuss what has been learned so far.

The final decision to accept or decline a pilot is made jointly between MAF New Zealand and MAF International. (This is because when the pilot starts work overseas they are seconded to work with MAF International (MAFI), MAF’s operational arm). For this reason, MAFI staff (based in Cairns) are briefed and included through the process.

If successful, pilots are duly notified.

They are now candidates with MAF! 

Candidacy Course and Ministry Partnership (CCMP) This is a preliminary one-week course held in New Zealand. The Candidacy Course (CC) provides candidates with a more complete introduction to MAF as an organization. The Ministry

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What it Takes to be a MAF Pilot

Partnership (MP) course covers practical aspects of how they can build a strong base of prayer and do the fund-raising necessary to go overseas.

candidate is given an allowance. Tough decisions may need to be made about what to take and what to leave behind— the coffee machine or the books?

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Ministry Partnership

Orientation Course

Following this, the real work starts!

Because MAF is a charitable organization, all staff who will serve overseas need to be involved in fund raising to help offset the costs of them working overseas.

Over the next months they build a team around them of people committed to seeing them succeed in their call to missions. These are friends, family and church supporters who will stand with them in prayer as well as help them raise the money they need to go overseas. Candidates do presentations about their plans to join MAF and call to missions in churches or home groups that express interest in their work. 

Transition Training This is an intensive ten-day, live-in course that addresses the issues involved in making an effective transition to another culture. If married, the whole family attend since the trainer’s talk to both adults and children about their expectations, hopes and fears about living in a new crosscultural setting. The course also covers preparing to say goodbye to friends, church and school. 

Getting Ready to Go! At this stage pilots prepare to move overseas. They begin to say goodbye to family, friends and church.

Some may choose to sell their home and most of their possessions.

Another challenge is packing. Each

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Once a candidate gets close to their overseas deployment they attend a two week Orientation course in Cairns, Australia. Designed to orientate them to “everything MAF”, including what they need to know about serving on staff with MAF and how to successfully live in a cross-cultural context. 

Commissioning Service It is very important to MAF that staff are commissioned and sent out with the blessing and support of their local congregation.

The Commissioning Service is a very significant time in the whole process of preparing to go overseas—as the local church gathers around the pilot and their family to pray for them before they go. 

Standardization At this point non-flying staff go straight to their first assignment overseas.

Pilots on the other hand, go to Standardization, a five-week course of specialized training that prepares pilots to fly in the specific country they will be going to. They fly everyday, while being instructed, mentored and taught everything they need to know about “flying MAF planes the MAF way”.

They learn how to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations, how to handle stressful conditions, poor weather and dangerous terrain.

The pilot’s flying skills are reviewed thoroughly and from time to time they

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will require some extra flying time to get up to MAF standards. 

In-Country Language and Cultural Orientation All programmes provide language and cultural orientation. Newly arrived staff attend an intensive language course that teaches them basic communication in the local language—starting with “yes, no, hello, and goodbye”. 

Village Experience In PNG, new staff spend one week in an isolated village for an immersive cross cultural experience. They live with the local people in order to gain insight into life in a remote setting without newspapers, Internet or contact with the outside world.

To help them settle in, they are also linked with a host family who walks them through the first weeks in their new country, shows them around and introduces them to their new living conditions. 

Cleared to Fly Each country where MAF flies has its own particular set of challenges that new pilots need to become familiar with.

The newly arrived pilot flies with the Chief Pilot until the CP feels completely confident that they are ready to fly in that part of the world.

They are then cleared to fly solo!

At this point the journey towards becoming a MAF pilot has come to an end—and a new journey, of service as a MAF pilot, begins!

Story by Tim Houghton with major contributions from Tessa McGeorge (Recruitment Manager) and Mark Fox (CEO).

Fitia is the smiling, giggling, living embodiment of the partnership between MAF and Mercy Ships in Madagascar.

Photos courtesy of Mirjam Plomp at Mercy Ships: Fitia with her mother, well on the way to healing.

Inset; shortly after being burnt.

Mercy Ships is an International ships-based ministry providing free health care in 57 developing nations around the world.

Little Fitia pulled a pot of scorching water onto herself last year and suffered a serious burn to her chest.

The family, who live in Mahajanga in the north of Madagascar took her to the doctor for help, then bought some antibiotic ointment which proved ineffectual. They could not afford to do anything else for their baby girl.

Desperate, they went to a traditional healer who advised them to spit onto the wound each day. Three months of doing this and the infection was devastating. The two-year-old was in agony. At best, the prognosis was a burn contracture. At worst, sepsis and death.

It is the responsibility of Mirjam Plomp, screening supervisor for Mercy Ships, to find and elect appropriate surgical patients for treatment while the ship is docked off Madagascar. She met Fitia and her distressed mother late in the day during the team’s last clinic in

Mahajanga.

She said: “We knew what needed to be done—surgical debridement, antibiotics and skin grafts. Because of the complexity of this case, we had to discuss with the ship if this would be possible. It was, but we had to get her there quickly.”

Mirjam contacted MAF pilot Josh Plett to see if the mother and daughter could travel back to Toamasina with the Mercy Ships team to save time. And that is what happened.

Fitia underwent surgeries to clean the burn and apply skin grafts. She has received antibiotics, good nutrition and the exceptional love and care that characterises Mercy Ships.

At the start of April, Mirjam wrote to Josh and fellow MAF pilot Patrick Keller, who was also on the flight: “Wow, she has really changed from this suffering child to this playful, cheeky girl. She has been discharged from the hospital

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and is at the Hope Center, coming back for exercises with physiotherapy and wound checks. I think she will soon go back home.

I know you guys played a big part in her story. And I’m sure her mom will never forget that. This girl really survived because of the opportunity that we have to work together to reach the poorest of the poor.

In February, she was very sick. Today she is a happy two-year-old. Her wounds are healing, her health is improving and her future is bright”.

What a privilege it is to find patients and bring them to the ship. I see many patients. A lot of them we cannot help.

But the Fitias make my job the best job in the world.

Mirjam Plomp, Screening Supervisor, at Mercy Ships said, “What a blessing to be able to work together with MAF to make these things possible “.

September 2015

Flying for Life

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Pioneering in Liberia

Yet Will I Rejoice Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labour of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Emil Kundig and Pilot Arjan Paas (inset) and the Cessna 208 on its way to Liberia.

Photos by Dave Forney.

Habbakuk 3:17-18

The Challenges of Pioneering a New Work in Liberia Pioneering a new programme is often preceded by delays, set backs and challenges that test the resolve of those involved. But as the Liberia team found out, “A time of barrenness doesn’t have to be a curse from God. It can be a season of reflection or a time of putting things into order.”

On Monday 17 August two MAF Liberia team mates, Programme Manager Emil Kundig (Swiss) and Pilot Arjan Paas (Dutch), completed the 5 day trip to ferry a Cessna 208 aircraft, registration 5X-OPE, from Uganda to Liberia.

The aircraft was previously at work in our Tanzania programme and over the last year had undergone a complex overhaul and re-registration including a repaint, the interior replaced, the avionics brought up to date, in preparation for deployment to become our lifeline in Liberia.

The ferry journey took 20 flight hours in total, arriving in Monrovia in Liberia after passing over 11 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Accra in Ghana.

There were challenges over the days before the flight, especially waiting for countries to grant the necessary

overflight permissions, but Emil and Arjan’s patience and planning paid off.

Emil and his wife Margrit were driven by a clear sense of knowing that, one day, they would be called to help open a programme within MAF somewhere.

Their time had come to an end serving in Bangladesh due to age restrictions and they decided to move to Liberia in 2013. At the same time, Arjan Paas and his wife Artje were happily living in Australia when they heard that MAF hadn’t had any applicants for Liberia.

They too felt a peace about moving to this far distant, West African nation.

Arjan explained, “We wanted to start in a new programme. We felt at home in Australia after 2 years of living there.

We thought many people would want to apply for Liberia when the positions opened up and were surprised that no one had applied….we thought, ‘Maybe we should go.’”

As Emil and Margrit were preparing to leave for Liberia last year the Ebola crisis erupted.

They were watching the news unravel and could see everyone was being evacuated. Emil’s initial role as programme manager would have been to work on all the necessary

permissions to enable operations to start and that have would have involved a lot of work with government departments. But as Ebola took hold all the day-to-day government business was being shut down.

“In light of everything we needed to do towards setting up the programme, we made the difficult decision to delay going”.

So the Kundigs and Paas families came to Uganda instead—waiting for the right time.

Once the Ebola crisis came under control the Kundigs were able to move to Liberia in February and were joined by the Paas family in June this year.

Emil commented, “Things have been falling into place….Liberia is very different…West Africa is completely different to East Africa. It’s also had war just 10 years ago, then Ebola…it’s a very broken country. Liberia needs help.” When I asked Arjan what advice he would give anyone considering moving to Liberia. “If you’re thinking of moving to Liberia, then follow your heart and go”.

Emil went on to say something poignant about the wind changing for both Liberia and Uganda in the last few weeks. “It feels as though we’ve entered into a season of things finally moving”.

Edited from a story by Jill Vine

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Flying for Life

September 2015

www.maf.org.nz

LISTEN UP! Have you our radio ads on Life FM, Star and Radio Rhema? Listen out for our esteemed CEO Mark Fox on all three channels promoting MAF NZ.

VACANCIES

Go to our web site www.maf.org.nz for full listing of all jobs and complete job descriptions.

Tree Tops Lodge in Cairns is looking for a husband and wife team to be ASSISTANT MANAGERS. MAFI (Africa Region) is advertising teaching positions on behalf of international Christian schools that provide education for some of our missionary children.

MAF also needs: We’re proud of our Kiwi staff, and it’s not often you see so many in one place at the same time looking so good!

Left to right: Gordon Bland (Property and Projects Manager, PNG), Kevin Nicholls (Regional Quality Manager, Asia Pacific), Dallas Patten (Pilot, PNG), William Nicol (Director of Aviation, MAF International), Emma McGeorge (Executive Assistant, PNG), Doug Miles (Operations Director, PNG), Godfrey Sim (Program Manager, PNG)

An Engineering Manager, PNG A Home School Support Teacher, Arnhem Land.

An Airfield Developer, to be based in MAF’s newest programme, Liberia.

As always MAF is looking for: Experienced Aircraft Engineers, Programme Managers, IT and HR staff.

lNFLIGHT EVENT

On 17 July we had a great time catching up on “all things MAF”. Our special international speakers were Bill and Angela Harding, based in Cairns. Bill is the International Development Director and Angela serves as Communications Officer.

ART COMPETITION WINNER: Caleb Forman, Age 16. “The picture is relating to the recent Pacific storms”, explains Caleb.

Photos by Tim Houghton

Look for MAF at Promise Keepers!

Photo by Remi Van Vermeskerken

Wellington 11-12 September Auckland 2-3 October

Our fearless Recruitment Manager Tessa is having the time of her life visiting sister Emma McGeorge, who is serving with MAF in PNG as an Executive Assistant.

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September 2015

Flying for Life

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Faces & Places Mandy (Office Administrator and Donor Services) will be the “point of contact” when you phone the MAFNZ office. She started working with us in June 2015.

She provides support and assistance to donors and field staff, particularly in the area of donations and queries, and takes care of the mail, banking and general administration. She also helps with the mail outs and other promotional events.

Outside of MAFNZ, Mandy continues her administrative skills at Manukau City Baptist church. Mandy has a passion for travel and is excited about bringing God’s love to all parts of the world.

I love to fly in big planes, but you won’t catch me in the Cessna!

Ryan (Candidate pilot) was born in Napier and has spent most of his life in Tauranga, New Zealand. He has been a member of his church from a young age and went to a Christian school and graduated from Faith Bible College in 2013.

Ryan originally trained as a ballet dancer and now works as an aircraft mechanic and pilot for a regional airline based in Tauranga.

At age eleven a missionary came to speak at his school. The stories the missionary told filled the class with horror and wonder. After having an interest in MAF for a number of years, Ryan believes God is calling him to this vital work, where he will take up a missionary/pilot position, “to not only save lives physically but also spiritually”.

Kerry Hastie (Candidate Aircraft engineer) was born in Hastings and Marie in Pahiatua. They met in Palmerston North, married in 1992 and have been blessed with three children, Johanna, Ethan and Jesse.

Upon leaving school, Kerry became an Automotive Engineer. In 2001 he became an Aircraft Engineer. Marie worked for 15 years with LTSA, then became a full time Mum. Kerry has had a desire to serve with MAF ever since hearing a MAF speaker at their church. Kerry and Marie believe that the Lord has called them to serve MAF in Mareeba, Australia and has challenged them to reach out to people in physical and spiritual bondage.

Sam Johnston (Candidate pilot) was born and bred in Northern Ireland but at the age of 16 moved to New Zealand along with his parents, two sisters and the family dog Meg. I thank God for being raised in a loving Christian home, and for parents that taught me to value what was most important—my relationship with God. Working for MAF is a passion that was planted in me nearly 4 years ago. Not long after I began training as a pilot I heard about MAF and ever since that day God has impressed on my heart a desire to share the hope and love that is in Jesus as I work day to day.

Rachel Goodfellow has returned to New Zealand after serving with MAF for 6 years in Arnhem Land in the remote north of Australia.

Over this period she worked as both a pilot, Operations Manager and HR Manager. Some of Rachel’s highlights include living and working in remote areas of Northern Australia for extended periods of time. Please pray for Rachel as she settles back into life in New Zealand. We thank Rachel for her hard work and dedication to MAF and the people of north Australia over the last 6 years.