Discovery Prayer Journey - Jan-Mar 2024 by MAF UK

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

I love ‘love’. I’m not talking about a ‘couple whose eyes met across a crowded room and then lived happily ever after’ type of love — although that is good, too Instead, I mean the other-centred, self-giving, sacrificial love portrayed by Jesus. The older I get, the more this type of love captivates, motivates and releases me. I’m talking about a love that doesn’t react ‘like for like’ when faced with aggression or fear, but a love that finds a reason to ‘hold on’ in the midst of the messy situations which life brings. Love that sits quietly beside those whose questions have become too big for answers. Love that congratulates, encourages and champions the smallest of wins. Love that lays down personal wants for the greater good. Love that restores, refines, heals and holds. Love that forgives and redeems. Love is not a manmade endeavour. It isn’t defined by red hearts and Cupid’s arrow. Love isn’t conditional or bargainable. It doesn’t come with a price tag waiting for the highest bidder. Love is neither jealous nor selfish. It doesn’t bully or control. Love isn’t insecure or threatened. It doesn’t keep score or gossip. Love isn’t a choice, it’s a response. We love because He first loved us. So, let’s love well this year. God bless you as you

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Rev Victoria Fagg Prayer Communications Leader, MAF UK

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

At the dawn of 2024, give thanks and praise to God for a New Year and new opportunities to share the hope we have in Jesus with our friends, colleagues, neighbours and families. With every new day, let’s pray that we’ll receive prompts and nudges from the Holy Spirit, and will respond accordingly. Take time today to remember Nomad Mougulu High School in the remote Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Built with MAF’s support, the school can only be reached on foot or by plane and is a beacon of hope to local inhabitants. Maika Yabua, a science teacher at the school, originally wanted to be an MAF pilot but realised God was calling him to help those who don’t have access to education. Please pray for Maika and for the 25 students currently studying in the school’s equivalent of the sixth form. Half of MAF flights in Arnhem Land support education. Students of Dawurr Boarding School in Nhulunbuy are very grateful that our pilots reduce what was a 6-hour drive to a mere 40 minutes. Give thanks for the unique way in which the MAF fleet enhances the education of students in many countries. PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for Francis who heard the Gospel while he was working to clear an airstrip in Kenya and has now been ordained! Pray that his faithfulness will bring many more people to know Jesus and accept His gift of salvation. May Francis’ wife and their six children continue to grow in their faith as they support his ministry. Consider how MAF’s support for NET Foundation helps provide theological training for pastors in Amudat, Uganda. Among two of the Foundation’s major achievements are the increase in numbers of men in church, and the number of women now being able to take up leadership positions. Pray that those who’ve graduated from its training course will bring hope and joy to their communities as they share God’s Word. Pray for all aspiring church leaders and those who feel God’s calling to minister to people in their communities. We recently flew 27 women in various stages of involvement in church ministry to complete their training in PNG's remote Highlands. Pray that everything they learnt will transform their work, and that good Christian resources will always be available to those called to church leadership.

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Give thanks for the immense skill and dedication of the MAF aircraft maintenance engineers who keep us flying. Our aircraft are a complex combination of hundreds of mechanical and electrical parts, and they require an incredibly high level of attention to detail. Pray for our engineers’ continued expertise when repairing our planes and improving general maintenance procedures. While thinking about our UK staff, please remember our Communications team which skilfully prepares video, print and social media content to advertise our constant need for more overseas staff. Please pray that the Lord will bless the work of their hands to call many more people to His service and establish MAF’s future through recruitment in the present. When it comes to funding our work, MAF couldn’t achieve anything without the generous donations of our supporters. However, we also need those who are gifted in financial administration and management for our worldwide operations to be efficient and effective. Please pray that MAF International will be fully staffed in all its finance roles across all its programmes and support offices this year.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for those who have gone before us, like MAF missionary Nate Saint who chose to take the news of God’s saving love to unreached people in Ecuador. It’s amazing how many of our new recruits cite Jungle Pilot — the book that tells the story of his martyrdom in 1956 — as a significant step in their desire to serve with MAF. Pray that these stories continue to be shared with a new generation, especially through our legacy events. ‘MAF is God’s idea,’ was the oft-repeated phrase of our late co-founder Stuart King. Reflect on the countless lives that have been transformed thanks to Stuart and his fellow founders putting this idea into practice nearly 80 years ago. This year sees our 25th year of service in Mozambique, 35th in Angola, 55th in Guatemala and Kalimantan, and our 65th anniversary in Kenya! Give thanks for these important milestones, pray that we’ll go from strength to strength in each of these programmes, and that we’ll never fail the countries and communities we seek to serve.

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for the ministries of Harriëtte Knigge and Helen Symmonds, who are married to pilots in our PNG programme. Their commitment to the women of Boram Correctional Institution continues to bring the Gospel to those living at their lowest ebb. ‘The ladies give me so much love. It’s so rewarding,’ says Harriëtte. Please pray for her as she seeks to ‘bring light into a very dark place’, showing female prisoners that they are ‘loved and are daughters of the almighty God.’ Take a moment to reflect on the emotional commitment made by MAF families working in our programmes. While Pilots Wilfred Knigge and Andy Symmonds use their exceptional skills to serve PNG’s people through the power of flight, they must also trust that the Lord is keeping their wives safe in a potentially dangerous environment. Please pray for the security of all PNG staff.

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Pray for God’s blessing on MAF PNG. Our programme is expanding rapidly to help meet the vast need in this amazing country. The prayers and gifts made by our supporters towards MAF’s Future Footprint project have the potential to build a nation in His image.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Give thanks for the Bible translators dedicated to making Scripture available for all. Last year, some 4,000 people attended the dedication of the Budu Nita language New Testament and the book of Genesis. Three other New Testament translations have also been dedicated in areas where MAF operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with translators soon to continue work on the Budu Nita Old Testament. Pray for success in sharing God’s love in their own language. Please pause for a while during your busy day to lift up MAF partners Eddy and Amanda Simmons. This dedicated couple provide medical care, Bible teaching and clean water to the Samburu people in Kenya. They also encourage members of the community to lead one another in worship. Pray that the veteran missionaries will continue loving the Samburu for years to come. Pray for the valuable work MAF does to assist in making the Bible accessible to all. Thanks to our flights, people in Mokndoma, Papua, now have Bible teaching materials as well as their translation of God’s Word. Remember those who teach others about Scripture and pray for those who study it.

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Praise the Lord for the courageous men and women who choose to respond to God’s call. People like Fraser and Tracy Norbury who, with their two children, left the New Forest to serve with MAF in PNG. Pray for their work as Head of Finance and Training Officer respectively, and for the families, friends and churches back home who are committed to supporting them. A crucial factor for mission families is the quality, or simply just the availability, of education for children in our programmes. The lack of education has caused staff to return home in the past, and can even be the main factor which stops people serving overseas in the first place. Therefore, we ask you to pray for more Christian teachers to go and serve in PNG and South Sudan. Ed and Kathy Burrows have waited patiently to serve the Lord with MAF. Ed flew helicopters in the RAF and Kathy has taken part in various short-term mission trips. Together, they have spent the last seven years training and preparing for MAF. Please pray for them as they head to Liberia later this year.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for MAF pilots like Dominic Villeneuve who travelled for two weeks with a mission team as they visited several villages in the DRC. Thanks to his flights, new strategies were developed in order for the Gospel to reach more communities — something our pilots will, again, make possible. Thank the Lord, too, that an old, derelict airstrip was successfully reopened — making access to these villages much easier. Take a moment to think about MAF flights that take students to school which, in addition to playing a crucial role in children’s education, often bring extra benefits. A teenage student in Arnhem Land who dreams of becoming a pilot recently enjoyed a trial flight with an MAF flying instructor. Pray that those who dream big dreams for God will trust Him to turn them into reality. Please pray for trainee MAF pilots Luke, James and Josh as they continue their extensive preparations to serve overseas. It is wonderful for us to see them develop their gifts and abilities under the expert guidance of MAF staff. Pray also that we will wait patiently for them to attain all the many qualifications they need to begin serving isolated people in remote communities.

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for the many medevacs that help save lives on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste. One such flight enabled a 34-year-old mother needing emergency medical treatment to reach hospital safely. Another MAF medevac enabled a maxillofacial surgeon to provide 76 people on the isolated island with vital dental care. Think about the nature of our medevacs which, by definition, require speed of reaction under extreme pressure. Please pray today for the safety of MAF pilots who demonstrate courageous love as they fly in and out of some of the world’s roughest, steepest and remotest airstrips — keeping to the very tightest of deadlines in order to save lives. Pray for the continued generosity of our remarkable supporters whose heartfelt gifts enable MAF medevacs to remain free of charge. In one year, we perform more than 50 of these flights in PNG alone — like that which saved the life of 12-year-old Ruth, who was shot during tribal fighting while playing with her friends.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Give thanks and praise that the Prince of Peace sends people and cargo to communities ravaged by violence. Where death and danger are a barrier to many aid organisations, God uses the MAF fleet to save precious lives against seemingly impossible odds. Consider the darkness that routinely engulfs Haiti — a country once again beset by chaos, carnage and confusion. Uphold the newly created working groups that are faithfully preparing for MAF Haiti staff to return at the earliest possible opportunity. Pray for careful planning, wise decision making, and for the long-term psychological health of those temporarily removed from the carnage who may return this year to serve the people again. Please continue to pray for those affected by unrest in Sudan, where sporadic fighting between the two factions inevitably causes civilians to be caught up in the conflict. Last year, we flew one of the victims — a woman who’d been caught in the crossfire while fleeing Khartoum — to hospital. Pray for her complete recovery and for the healing of all those suffering when violence breaks out.

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God for our partnership with Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) and the regular MAF flights that take teams of doctors, dentists, vets and missionaries to the most isolated people in Kenya. These medical outreaches, which are crucial to the health of so many individual people and their livestock, are also bearing spiritual fruit with hundreds of souls turning to Jesus. What a joyful privilege it is for all of us in the MAF family — staff, volunteer, donor — to be part of salvation in remote communities! During showings of the Jesus film in Olturot, more than 1,500 people watched enthralled as His life unfolded on the screen. Pray for all those eager villagers, including the 150 who became Christians after CITAM missionaries shared their faith. Please pray for God’s blessing on our MAF Kenya programme which was established 65 years ago. It has played a crucial role in making disciples and is also a magnificent example of how the love of our steadfast supporters has helped build Kenya’s Church over the decades. Pray for the 26 members of the team, who reduce road journeys of 10 or more hours to around 100 minutes — saving time, energy and precious lives.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God that MAF’s partnership with GlobeWorks International Ministries enabled their staff to spend four weeks teaching oral storytelling to pastors in preliterate South Sudanese communities. Pray for their continued learning and that their Bible stories will inspire many more people to come closer to God. Since its inception, MAF has been creating an ever-widening network of diverse partners in order to maximise the reach of our fleet. For more than 50 years, MAF has brought God’s healing touch to isolated communities in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and we ask you to pray that we will maintain our good relationship with its Ministry of Health. Please also pray that patients and their families will experience Christ’s love at our guesthouse near the regional hospital. Please remember our partner Real Mission Movement in your prayers. Its staff share Jesus' message throughout the vast island of Madagascar and also encourage churches to preach the Gospel. Pray for people’s lives to be transformed as they learn the Good News about our Lord Jesus Christ. 14

PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024

Praise God that Jesus’ love never fails! It took Him willingly to the cross — the Creator killed by His creation — and saved the world by overcoming death itself. In Easter week, as we reflect on this and the glorious victory through Christ’s miraculous resurrection, let’s ask Him what His unfailing love requires of us. Take time to reflect on how, without the cross, people would be without God’s help, hope and healing. Why not jot down some of the blessings brought about by Jesus’ obedience to His Father — giving thanks for MAF and the other Christian organisations that seek to make the world a better place? It takes time to plant a church or see earthbound souls find salvation and take flight. Let's pray for those who don’t always see the fruit of their labours. Pray that the Christian partners we fly will never give up on taking the Gospel to the furthest reaches of the planet. And give thanks to God that their faithful service will eventually reap a rich harvest for His Kingdom.

PRAYER JOURNEY: JAN-MAR 2024

In Timor-Leste, your prayers translate into hundreds of emergency flights that end with people reaching hospital in the nick of time. The mum featured here is just one of many passengers who are relieved and grateful for your heartfelt support.

Paula Alderblad, Lobitos Alves, Jean Bizimana, Siobhain Cole, Concern South Sudan/RCC, Jenny Davies, Lungpinglak Domtta, Annelie Edysmyr, Dave Forney, Zachary Francois, Mandy Glass, Rachel Gwole, Mark & Kelly Hewes, Damalie Hirwa, Tajs Jespersen, Landen Kelly, Dave LePoidevin, Tricia Matheson, Laura Beth Moses, Jaqueline Mwende, New Apostolic Church Canada, Real Mission Movement, Isaac Rogers, Amanda Simmons, Jeremy Toews, Dominic Villenueve

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PRAYER JOURNEY JAN-MAR 2024