News for Prayer Issue 496
20 March 2014
Rumginae reopens Rumginae airstrip in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was first opened in the 1960s, but has been closed for over a year as its surface had become too boggy and slippery. Although Rumginae Hospital applied for funding, the money they received wasn’t enough to complete the repairs and the strip fell idle. Fortunately, Chris Mattinson, a missionary who has flown for years with MAF and built many airstrips, was able to help. With assistance from local youth and women’s groups and other hired workers, Chris was able to complete the remaining work on the airstrip in just two weeks. Enthusiasm was high and many people from the community came to help, including children. Praise God that we can now fly patients to and from Rumginae. The newly reopened airstrip will enhance the hospital’s ability to serve communities in the region more effectively, and means ill or injured people will no longer have to endure a painful 45-minute journey on a rough dirt road to reach the Hospital (NfP 477).
Chris opens Rumginae airstrip - now the community can reach their hospital
MAF flies the BBC
Saved!
Feeding the hungry
When a BBC film crew wanted to report on the plight of mothers in South Sudan, they realised the best way to get around was to use MAF. According to BBC journalist George Alagiah, who reported on the challenges facing mothers and healthcare workers, South Sudan has only 300 midwives for a population of 10 million. Nine out of ten women live nowhere near a medical clinic or hospital, and no ambulances exist to rush those suffering from pregnancy complications to a doctor or midwife. It can take days to walk for help which, tragically, is often too late to save an unborn child. Some 5,000 babies, the journalist says, die before making it through their first 24 hours of life every year. ‘For too many children,’ George concludes, ‘the first day of life is their only one.’ During the filming, BBC cameraman Duncan Stone tweeted: ‘In South Sudan… in [an MAF] plane where the Captain prayed for us and I manned doors at the rear’, while BBC Foreign Affairs Producer Daniel Fisher wrote, ‘Traveling on a wing and a prayer with MAF, like 30 years ago, is still the only way to get anywhere.’ Give thanks we were able to fly the film crew and that MAF planes are often used for medical emergencies. Pray for embattled and war-torn South Sudan which, according to Save the Children, is one of the most dangerous nations on earth to give birth.
Please pray for a lonely young Yolŋu man in Arnhem Land who is desperately in need of love and acceptance. After a major row with his estranged wife, he felt he had nothing to live for, and decided to commit suicide. Providentially, a Yolŋu man who had converted to Christianity from a life of drugs, alcohol and violence thanks to MAF personnel, was maturing in his faith. He heard the heated argument, sensed the man’s desperation, and felt led to follow him. Later, two MAF pilots heard screaming and saw two men struggling by a tree. One had an electric cable round his neck while the other was frantically trying to stop him from strangling to death. Fortunately, the young Yolŋu believer was able to save him. By the time our pilots reached the scene, they were able to hand the desperate man over to some nurses who had also rushed over. As the adrenalin subsided, everyone praised God that the man’s life had been saved. This incident has highlighted the hopelessness that Yolnu men can feel without Jesus, and although not everyone chooses suicide, many are still living close to the edge. Praise God that death was defeated, and the man was taken to Darwin to receive medical attention. Pray that, like his Yolŋu rescuer, Jesus’ power would overcome the darkness in his life.
MAF personnel KeA and Birgitta Arnlund, based in Lokichoggio, Kenya, ask us to pray for the food shortage there. They write, ‘Some elderly people have died and water is a problem for people and livestock. ‘Through friends in Sweden and France we have been able to release £3,500 worth of food to the community. People are very thankful for the little help they get.’ KeA and Birgitta also mention that Linda Vestermark, a volunteer and tailoring expert, has finished a 4-week series of sewing seminars where 2 men and 4 women were shown how to use sewing machines – while 15 others were given the opportunity to improve their skills at sewing by hand. KeA concludes, ‘Many people have asked, “Do you notice anything of the conflict in South Sudan?” Yes, sadly so! UN buses and trucks pass almost daily with loads of refugees on their way to the large camp in Kakuma, some 90km east of here! A new and gruesome tragedy in a country that was just emerging from years of conflicts. ‘Many more relief flights depart from Lokichoggio these days and a number of NGO staff have relocated here. MAF in Juba is also very busy responding to flight requests from many organisations, but some areas are still not accessible due to conflict.’
Prayer points • AUSTRALIA Our Flight Training Centre is moving from Coldstream to Mareeba. Pray that construction of the new building is successful and the relocation goes smoothly (NfP 484). • CHAD Pray for our aircraft maintenance engineers as they work to resolve some unexpected maintenance issues affecting our two aircraft. • DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC) Praise God that, as a result of MAF personnel showing the Jesus film in western DRC, many people are becoming Christians. • HAITI Give thanks that our aircraft enabled a medical team from Village Partners International to treat over 500 patients. • PAPUA Many of our staff are unwell. Pray for God’s strength and healing. • Some MAF personnel are still waiting for their visas. Pray they arrive soon so our staff can return to Papua, Indonesia.
• PNG Our Learning Technologies team have now run out of Tok Pisin Bibles to sell at low costs to remote villages. Pray a reliable source of Bibles can soon be found (NfP 495). • Pray that the urgent need for more pilots will be met so our team can meet the overwhelming needs in PNG. • TANZANIA Uphold the team as our programme is restructured. Although our bases in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma will be closed, MAF will continue to support our partners with a base in Arusha and through our work with SIL International in Mbeya. Pray for personnel affected by these changes, and that staff in Dar and Dodoma will find new work (NfP 495). • TIMOR-LESTE We have been told that we will need to move our hangar. Pray that a favourable arrangement with the airport authorities and the Transport Ministry will soon be made.
MAF UK Castle Hill Avenue FOLKESTONE CT20 2TN T 0845 850 9505 E supporter.relations@maf-uk.org www.maf-uk.org/prayer
MAF UK
@flying4life
MAFUK
MAFUKFILM
Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107)