News for Prayer 16 October 2014
Issue 511
Arnhem Land outreach
Uphold Programme Manager Craig Fulton and his wife Red as they lead our programme in Arnhem Land. Our team consists of 33 staff families (including relief staff) and 13 aircraft, as well as MAF Technology Services and Homeland Outreach Ministry. Unless we can recruit more staff (NfP 510), it’s unlikely there will be enough aircraft maintenance engineers in 2015 to keep MAF’s lifeline in Arnhem Land running properly. Pray that the right people will respond to God’s call and join our team in this remote corner of Australia’s Northern Territory. Despite their staffing concerns, our personnel are encouraged by the response to a movie night they recently helped run in Yirrkala, and praise God that 50 people gathered on the grass to watch an animated version of the Ten Commandments. Pray that those who saw the film will turn to Christ, and that our staff will continue to witness to their indigenous friends and neighbours who they serve through aviation and technology. Give thanks also that work is well underway on the MAF Training Centre in Mareeba, northern Australia. Pray there will be no holdups during construction and that this training facility will be a fantastic resource to trainee pilots and engineers when it opens next year.
Together: MAF Families serving in Arnhem Land
Ebola response
The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on 26 August. According to a report from the World Health Organization (WHO), by 21 September, 68 cases of Ebola were confirmed in the Boende area of the DRC, including 41 deaths. This particular strain of the virus is different from that currently spreading in countries like Liberia. All Ebola cases in the DRC have been located in Boende territory in Equateur Province – 1,200km north-east of the capital Kinshasa. Instances have also been reported in Watsi Kengo, Lokolia and Boende Moke. Our western DRC team has been offering logistics support and flights from the airport at Kinshasa to Boende, with occasional stops in Mbandaka or Semendua to refuel or pick up passengers. We’ve been working with the World Food Programme, Ministry of Health, WHO and other agencies to co-ordinate efforts to combat the disease. By the end of September, we’d made 8 Ebola-related flights to Boende – carrying 61 passengers, 3,292kg of essential supplies such as protective suits, syringes and quarantine equipment. Praise God that we’ve been able to help other organisations, working together to fight Ebola. Pray for health, strength and safety as our pilots and personnel continue to serve the needs of the DRC
– a high-risk country for the Ebola virus. Pray too for the many people infected with Ebola in countries like the DRC, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and especially for those treating and communicating the public health message to those at risk.
Rescue from Renk
In the middle of September, the town of Renk in northern South Sudan exploded in gunfire and shelling. Although Renk is accustomed to violence, the latest attack came without warning for the Medair staff working in their office and clinic. ‘On Friday 19 September,’ writes MAF Operations Manager Daniel Juzi, ‘the phone rang. A voice asked, “Can you do an evacuation flight for Medair? There has been fighting in Renk and we need to get our staff out.”’ MAF Pilot Andrew Parker immediately set off for Renk, but after flying for 1½ hours, he received an urgent call telling him the security situation had deteriorated so he couldn’t land and would need to return to Juba. Two days later, it was finally safe to approach Renk from the air. ‘As we flew there,’ MAF Pilot Chris Ball says, ‘we made sure the Medair team showed up at the airport just before the plane landed. We agreed that, if it was safe, they would signal for me to land. Thankfully the signal was positive, so I landed the plane and got the team on board. They were relieved to escape the insecure situation.’
A day later, MAF Pilot Reinier Kwantes airlifted the remaining Medair personnel from Renk while two South Sudanese carrying AK-47 assault rifles looked on. When our Juba office received a card, thanking us for the emergency evacuation, it read: ‘MAF Wonder Fliers! God created your organisation for a purpose, and you are acting according to that purpose by risking yourselves for us. Thank you so much for your hard work and faithfulness. Long live MAF!’ Give thanks for the safe evacuation of the 17 Medair workers, and pray that peace and stability return to this war-torn country.
Learning for life
MAF Learning Technologies (MAF LT) has staff in eight countries and works throughout the world to make tools, resources and training available to isolated Christian leaders – enabling them to create Gospel materials in their own language. Pray for a successful integration of the IT and LT teams into one department, and ask that the team’s visit to India to train several ministries on the use of mobile technologies and oral communications will help them in their work with Muslim and Hindu communities. Pray too that StoryFire, a new training series for reaching people with God’s Word through aural storytelling, helps meet the need for appropriate Bible training worldwide.
Prayer points • BANGLADESH Praise God for former MAF Pilot Rune Karlsson’s willingness to serve MAF. Pray as he and his wife Maria prepare to leave Sweden next month to fill a critical pilot vacancy. Pray that our need for a Chief Engineer in Bangladesh will also be met. • CHAD Pray as our team work to reopen Bebalem airstrip. It will provide many opportunities for MAF partners in the area. • KALIMANTAN It’s smoke season in Palangkaraya – caused by dry-season forest fires – so pray for wisdom, health and safety when flying. Pray too for good relationships with the Indonesian authorities. • MADAGASCAR This year we celebrate 25 years of working in Madagascar. Give thanks for God’s faithfulness over the years, and uphold Bert van den Bosch, who leads our team of 5 international families and 22 national staff.
• MOZAMBIQUE Our planes are currently grounded. Pray we will soon receive our Air Operators Certificate and can resume flying (NfP 508). • PAPAU NEW GUINEA (PNG) Pray for healing for medevac patient Nikos, who we airlifted from a remote airstrip to the well-equipped hospital in Tabubil. He was attacked by a wild pig while out hunting and has a badly broken leg and a suspected broken back. • Pray for patience and wisdom as staff at various MAF bases in PNG are trained in the new computer systems, Hornet and Wingman. • SOUTH AFRICA Give thanks for a dental safari to Thsitereke that enabled 100 children to receive dental hygiene education. • SOUTH SUDAN Praise God for the reopening of Udier airstrip. It will enable us to bless many people in need by serving the Medair programme there.
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