News for Prayer 18 September 2014
Issue 509
Renewed
Give thanks for a recent MAF women’s prayer retreat weekend in Nhulunbuy, Arnhem Land, which provided a rare chance for our missionary wives and mothers to rest from their daily responsibilities. One MAF missionary shared, ‘No matter how disciplined we are, it’s really hard to be filled, through quality teaching and quality time with God, when we live remotely.’ ‘God spoke to me in a very real way,’ said another. ‘I have a whole new hope, strength and passion to live and work for Him. Burdens I carried have now been put at the foot of the cross.’ The local Aboriginal community struggles with alcoholism, depression and suicide. Part of the retreat addressed some of the challenges our missionaries’ friends face. Many of the women left renewed, refreshed and restored. Although MAF personnel rarely mention it, many find serving in physically demanding places like Arnhem Land tiring and stressful. Please uphold our team consisting of 34 staff families including relief staff, as they continue to serve the indigenous people and provide an essential lifeline in over 100 locations.
Renewed strength at an MAF women’s retreat
One plane, four babies MAF Pilot Luke Newell has been busy making emergency medevacs for women facing difficult pregnancies in Papua New Guinea (PNG). ‘On Friday afternoon, I got a call from the doctor at Rumginae Hospital requesting a medevac for a mother in Balimo. She’d been in labour for some time, expecting twins. The first baby had been born and was doing well, but the second was refusing to face the outside world.’ Unfortunately Balimo airstrip was closed. The nearest airport was Kawito, but flying there wouldn’t leave Luke enough time to reach Rumginae before dark. All he could do was pray that the mother and child would be kept safe. ‘The next day,’ says Luke, ‘the doctor was back on the phone. The baby was still alive but now two more mothers needed to get to hospital, so they all made the trip to Kawito by dinghy. ‘At Kawito I refuelled and removed seats ready for the patients. When all three mothers arrived, they were on stretchers. Fortunately, we found that one was able to sit, and we had room for two stretchers on the floor. ‘When we arrived at the airport, staff from Rumginae Hospital met the plane and unloaded the ladies. Tunibato, who was caring for one twin, had the second delivered by caesarean. She named the second girl Sharon after Dr Sharon who delivered her. ‘The other mothers both had high-risk
pregnancies. But thankfully, Elsie was induced, and gave birth to Ezra – a healthy boy. The other, Solowayato, gave birth naturally to a little girl.’ Give thanks that when the final girl was born, staff at Rumginae were able to treat the baby’s clubfoot. If Solowayato hadn’t given birth there, her daughter would have been left with a lifelong disability.
Safe water
Our pilots in PNG praise God for MAF’s partnership with WaterAid. The NGO regularly uses our planes to fly staff to clean water initiatives in seven provinces. Samuel Cleary, WaterAid’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene adviser in Wewak, says ‘PNG has the lowest level of access to safe and adequate water and sanitation in the Pacific. ‘A total of 4.3 million people don’t have access to safe water, and 5.8 million don’t have adequate sanitation.’ Tragically, over 900 children die every year in PNG from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. But thanks to WaterAid and MAF flights to remote and forgotten areas, 2,900 more people now have access to safe water – with 7,179 people enjoying improved sanitation. The organisation is now working to increase access to clean water and adequate sanitation to 70% of the population by 2030. Tenkile Conservation Alliance, one of WaterAid’s local partners, works with isolated communities in the Torricelli Mountains. Although their camp in
Sundaun Province can be reached overland, it’s a 12-hour journey from Wewak – assuming the road isn’t flooded after heavy rainfall. Thankfully, MAF aircraft enable staff to reach Lumi safely and increase the effectiveness of their work. Give thanks that hundreds of families are having some of their most basic human needs met. Pray that as WaterAid and its local partners continue to improve people’s lives and living conditions, MAF can also help isolated villagers find the living water only Jesus can provide.
Serving Tanzania
Following the restructuring of MAF’s Tanzania programme, we now operate out of Arusha with two aircraft, two international families and two local staff, and out of Mbeya with one aircraft and one international family. We are also assisting Heri Shekighenda, MAF’s former Chief Engineer in Tanzania, as he sets up a new aviation maintenance business, Central Aviation Services, in our old maintenance facility in Dodoma. Pray for our remaining staff in Dodoma as they facilitate the handover to Central Aviation Services. Pray too that the business will soon receive formal approval from the Civil Aviation Authority. Praise God for Central Aviation Services and that a number of former MAF Tanzania local staff may soon be employed in this new venture. Uphold our remaining international families, especially those moving on to new locations.
Prayer points • ARNHEM LAND Pray that our Kids Club will continue to reach children with Jesus’ love. Attendance has been down, so pray that the team won’t be discouraged, and more children will come along. • BANGLADESH Give thanks that the status of our Approved Maintenance Organisation certificate has been resolved and we are now flying again (NfP 506). • LESOTHO Praise God that MAF staff are safe following recent unrest, and pray for peace and stability in the country. • PAPUA Pray for good weather. Flights have been cancelled or rescheduled because of dangerous conditions. • PNG Remember the remote community of Nankina, where 6,000 people don’t have access to vaccinations or medical treatment. We recently flew Dr Günter Kittel and his team there to provide vital medical care. • SOUTH SUDAN Give thanks for the opening of Juba Christian Academy.
Pray for the teachers and students of this new school, 80% of whom are MAF children. • TIMOR-LESTE Praise God that we were able to land on the recently reopened airstrip at Maliana to evacuate a young man with a fractured skull. Pray the community will continue to maintain the strip. • Our partnership with church planters is a great encouragement. At a service in Dili, Oecusse-based missionaries thanked MAF for the difference we make by enabling them to serve in Timor-Leste, and rejoiced at those who’ve become Christians as a result. • UGANDA Give thanks for our flight for Watoto Children’s Ministries which enabled donors to assess the work they support in the north with vulnerable women, children and babies. • WORLDWIDE There are many opportunities to serve with MAF in the developing world. Pray that people with the right skills will come forward.
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