March 2012
The quarterly magazine of Mission Aviation Fellowship
Walking with Maasai 8 Showing and sharing God’s love
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God is here
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INSPIRATIONAL FAITH: God’s provision
The vision remains MAF has reached countless thousands of men, women and children since the organisation was founded in 1945. But these multitudes were often reached by serving people in ones and twos. We read in the Gospels that Jesus had time for each individual, as well as feeding the 5,000. Although MAF is not about numbers, it’s a wonderful privilege to know that the Lord has blessed so many through our work. To paraphrase the words of Jeremiah, His grace knows no limit, His love no bounds and the desire of His heart remains to give His people a hope and a future. In the early days of MAF, many believed that one day we wouldn’t be needed in the developing world, that infrastructures would be built, and isolation and inaccessibility would cease to be problems. But today, parts of the world in which we live are not only without development, but are broken – where HIV/AIDS, strife and civil wars persist, and the problems of natural disasters are commonplace. In many parts of the world, the needs are even greater than when MAF started. And so the vision given to Stuart King and the early founders more than 65 years ago continues to be our vision today – to use aviation and technology so that the lives of isolated and remote people can be spiritually and physically transformed in Jesus’ Name. Thank you for supporting MAF and for looking forward with us. Your continuing support is much appreciated by many thousands worldwide!
Ruth Whitaker Chief Executive, MAF UK Above: Stuart and Jack Main: Stuart today contrasts old with modern MAF aircraft Right: MAF’s early days
2 Flying for Life March 2012 www.maf-uk.org
Showing and sharing God’s love ‘I have watched us leave our pioneering and experimental days and steadily move into more sophisticated operations. This has increased the quality of our work and services in every way. I praise God for staff and resources to accomplish this’ Story Emma Stewart Photos Geoff Crawford, Richard Hanson, Layton Thompson, Greg Vine
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his March, MAF co-founder Stuart King celebrates his 90th birthday. What a tremendous privilege it is to know him and to work with him. The world into which Stuart was born was very different from the one in which we live today. It was 1922; World War I was four years past. Not many people had been in a plane, let alone travelled across Africa and into some of the world’s undiscovered places. Most people had never been further than their nearest seaside resort. Stuart gave his life to God in his teens, but it was in his early 20s that he made a much deeper commitment and surrendered all to God, to go where God called him. And he really did go.
From RAF to MAF
Aged 19, the Second World War was in full swing and Stuart was commissioned in the RAF as an Engineer Officer. As the
war ended, he heard of an idea to use aircraft for life-giving purposes rather than for death and destruction. It was the early beginnings of MAF. With several career options available to him, Stuart trusted that God would lead him as He led Abraham in the past. Joining as a founding member of this fledgling missionary organisation, little did Stuart know that today, at 90, he would still be closely involved. As we reflect on his life, Stuart is excited about the future. ‘MAF is God’s vision, God’s work and has seen God’s provision. Without God, and without prayer undergirding all our work in the beginning and today, MAF would not be where we are now.’
Running on empty
On 9 February 1948, Stuart was recording the events in his diary as he and fellow aviator Jack Hemmings first explored the needs in Africa. In those days, they
By God’s grace they did make Juba, just as the sun set! They returned to the UK believing, without a doubt, that vast Sudan was the African country in most need of MAF’s services. Sixty-four years later, with modern GPS technology, the remote airstrips are easier to find. However, the immense needs of the people in this undeveloped and often troubled nation remain. Last year, South Sudan became independent. We’re still there and excited to play a part in helping build this new nation’s future.
Lifeline for thousands
had no effective navigational aids. ‘Set off from Malakal to Bor en route to Juba, 350 miles south. Had great difficulty in locating landmarks in the flat featureless terrain below us. When we should have been at Bor, there was no sign of it or the Nile, so turned 45° to
starboard. Reckoned we should at least hit Nile after 10 minutes. Nothing but wild, inhospitable country beneath, however. Fuel was getting low and so was the sun. 20 minutes went by and still nothing in sight. Sudan is certainly a difficult country.’
As the number of MAF operations has increased over the years, so God has provided – often miraculously. Our first aircraft crashed, the second one was destroyed, as was the third. But God always provided. At one point, there was no money – the period Stuart describes as ‘the seven lean years’. But God in His time provided and multiplied again. Stuart and others like him have followed God’s call to serve those living in isolation and need. In the 1960s, the March 2012 Flying for Life 3
INSPIRATIONAL FAITH: God’s provision
Above: Remote communities in Sudan are still best served by MAF aircraft Top right: Showing the Jesus film Far top right: Pastors in Chad Right: Joel preaching to the Maasai
American missionary couple Harvey and Lavina Hoekstra moved to Ethiopia to bring the Gospel to the remote Majangir people. Harvey recalls, ‘MAF was vital to our mission in Africa. It took us more than a week to make our first trek into the rainforest. Once our airstrip was finished, MAF covered that same distance in a matter Harvey Hoekstra of minutes.’ He translated God’s Word into the local language. We flew in evangelists bringing cassettes with messages in the local language sharing the Good News. There weren’t any Christians when the Hoekstras arrived. Today there are an estimated 26,000. Harvey and Lavina are among thousands of people for whom MAF has been a lifeline. Innumerable people have received medical help, education, food and an opportunity to hear the Gospel. And it all began with just a few people, one of whom was Stuart, who stood up to be counted and said, ‘Lord, I’ll go wherever You send me.’ As Harvey shares, ‘Thank God for giving that original vision to men He blessed to make the dream come true. Thank God for the
4 Flying for Life March 2012 www.maf-uk.org
sacrifices they made as they obeyed Him to make it happen.’ Today, we’re seeing a great increase in national missionaries and local churches reaching their own people. One of these organisations is Chad for Christ – Chadian church leaders bringing the Gospel to their own people in a country of much spiritual darkness. In Tanzania, we’re partnering with Maasai evangelists who are also sharing the Good News with their countrymen. We think of Joel sharing with his fellow Maasai, or Ugandan Sam Tsapwe who is travelling around Uganda to show the Jesus film and others in local languages. They are bringing God’s Sam Tsapwe message of love, healing and forgiveness. MAF puts great priority in helping these national outreaches.
Needs continue
The need for MAF is as great as ever, as we seek to help meet the needs around us. At 90, Stuart is excited to see what God will do next. ‘We see some terrific changes coming. There has been a massive growth of churches and
‘At the heart of all we do, we want to show and share God’s love’
Christians in the Global South (Africa, Asia and South America). They have a strong desire to reach out to other parts of the world with the Good News of God’s love. There’s tremendous potential here.’ But how do we react to that? Stuart continues, ‘Many of the Christians from the Global South don’t have the same resources that traditional western missionaries had. They may be able to contribute much less to our operating costs. To serve them effectively, we’ll need increased funds. But God has always been faithful.’ And, as we’ve always done, we continue to
rely on God in prayer. We celebrate with Stuart as he reaches a milestone in his life, and give thanks to God for this humble servant. Our past shapes our future and, as we’ve looked to God and let Him lead us in the past, so we look to Him for our future. ‘We still have a concern to meet the needs of people without hope. At the heart of all we do, we want to show and share God’s love. We must go on reaching those areas where the use of aircraft is the most effective way and often the only way. ‘This was our original call. It remains our call today.’
Send a birthday greeting If you would like to add your own message to Stuart’s online 90th birthday card, visit www.maf-uk.org/sk90
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SOUTH SUDAN: far reaching ministry
God is here! Having heard God’s call to Sudan, Vicky Bentley discovered that less than 10% of women could read. With a passion for literacy, she shares about the women’s work of Far Reaching Ministries in Nimule Photos LuAnne Cadd
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’ve always loved literacy and passionately wanted the women to be able to read the Bible, rather than just hear it. Initially, I worked with local churches – teaching, sharing and listening to women’s stories. Most had children at home but they hadn’t seen their husbands for ten years. The able-bodied men had left to join the guerrillas and were hiding in the bush, fighting for independence.
Struggling to survive
As sole providers, the women would be up at 5am getting water, washing their clothes, looking for firewood and working to put just enough food on the table for the family. They were literally struggling to survive. If we held a Bible study at 2pm, they’d fall asleep! Combining training in literacy with an income-generating activity would give the
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women freedom. The result was ‘Rabuna Fi’ (Arabic for ‘God is here’), a discipleshiptraining programme for women, where they also make bark-covered journals, jewellery and bookmarks. The income they receive from the crafts, which we sell in the USA, enables them to provide for their family, while also reading and studying Scripture.
Main: Christine Lawa shows some women a passage in the Bible Far left: A woman places tiny beads on to a needle and thread Left: Vicky joins in the worship Above: Prayer follows teaching and worship Below: Cessna Grand Caravan on loan from FRM
Joy in their hearts
Since 1999, ladies spend nearly 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, in a large open-air building inside our compound. We have a different language group each day – about 100 women in total. These women particularly love to worship the Lord in song and dance, to the strong beat of a drum. The joy on their faces reveals their hearts as they worship God. Teaching follows the worship, and then there’s prayer. Each prayer request is written in a book, and a handful of women gather around the recipient and pray with passion. After this, the women settle down to do their craft work.
Transforming lives
Many women have come to know Jesus in a personal way, and tell how their lives have changed. Christine Lawa was a witchdoctor. But when she came to Rabuna Fi and participated in the Bible study and adult literacy, the teaching started to change her life. When she finished the literacy training, she received a Bible and started reading it by herself. Christine shares how ‘God opened my eyes.’ Her children had all died and Christine herself was planning suicide. ‘But now, I don’t have any interest in witchcraft. I can only pray. I have a calling now. I was in the world, but now I’m in the hand of God,’ she says. Bitter, angry, destructive and wanting to kill people, Cizarine Foni’s parents took her to many witchdoctors to find a ‘cure’. But then she attended church, where a group prayed for her. Cizarine felt released, and joined the Rabuna Fi Bible study group. Eventually, she became a leader. Recently, an incident in her family gave Cizarine the opportunity to talk to them
about Jesus. Her parents again intended to consult a witchdoctor, but Cizarine wanted to stop them. She asked her Rabuna Fi sisters for help. ‘They all gathered together and prayed for me and, because of the prayer and the little faith I had, when I explained things from the Bible to my mother, she accepted it.’ Cizarine’s mother asked for prayer for the family. A group of Rabuna Fi women made the hour-long journey to pray and preach. Both Cizarine’s mother and father accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Partnership
We use MAF for everything! Food, materials and pastors are flown in for our different projects, because it’s too dangerous to travel by car. A few years ago, God told us to buy an aeroplane. So we bought a Cessna Grand Caravan. Since 2007, this has been on loan to MAF’s Uganda operation. MAF also uses the plane to fly many other organisations. Without MAF, I don’t know how we’d transport our things, and our ability to support the women in Rabuna Fi would be very limited. We love MAF. It’s a great privilege to work with you.
Other FRM ministries in Nimule include: �
A four-month tailoring course where women learn to sew, ‘earning’ their own sewing machine when they graduate
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‘Love Covers’ provides children with a backpack containing a mosquito net, blanket and a school uniform and supplies. The uniforms are sewn by ladies in the tailoring school.
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KENYA: holistic ministry
Development in a traditional culture Walking with Maasai (WwM) works with a dispersed community of 7,000 of the world’s most remote and traditional Maasai people in the Loita Hills region of south-eastern Kenya Story and photos Gareth Barton
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he airstrip at isolated Entasekera is considered by MAF’s pilots in Kenya to be their most challenging. At 7,000 feet, it perches on the top of a range of hills and is not much more than 500 metres. Dry, barren and windy – with MAF’s partnership, it is an essential gateway to enabling access. WwM staff and trustees are Christians and meet with local people every morning to pray, study Scripture and worship. The Maasai people themselves hold the responsibility for the delicate decisions that are made regarding appropriate development in a traditional culture. This and the Christian foundation are important factors for Hennie and Becca Marais, who have committed their
8 Flying for Life March 2012 www.maf-uk.org
lives as missionaries to the Maasai people, and for WwM’s founder Andre Brink who runs the eco-camp that sits at the heart of the vision. This beautiful eco-camp provides visitors with an opportunity to stay in a wilderness location, close to African wildlife, on land that includes an ancient and still active elephant trail. Run on a not-for-profit basis, there is another important element – it funds a wide range of both community development and environmental projects.
Expert advice
An important feature of WwM’s work is the ability to provide expert help from the UK in order to develop each of the projects. Medical specialists regularly train the nurse and equip
the mobile clinic. Teams of educators enable the primary school to perform at the highest standards. And a beadwork project enjoys the benefits of links to wholesalers in the West. The investment of these experts is an influential tool in building sustainable development, and it is here that MAF’s services provide the key to success. Without the 35-minute flight to Entasekera from Nairobi, they simply could not come. It is not possible for them to take the time and energy, or the risks, to travel by road.
Main: The Land Rover ambulance alongside the MAF plane at Entasekera airstrip Top: Becca with local Maasai Above: Hennie and Becca Marais Left: WwM Land Rover
Mobile clinic
I join Florence, the nurse running WwM’s mobile clinic from a Land Rover ambulance high in the Loita Hills. The ambulance goes out every day to serve the widespread population. During the postnatal clinic and associated inoculation programme, I ask her about her work. ‘It’s not just basic care we can provide, but more difficult things as well. Medics from the UK have extended my training and I can now prescribe powerful drugs, deliver babies, pull teeth and perform
minor operations.’ As we speak, Florence is checking the health of seven-month-old Dennis, held by his mother Norkileku. Florence explains that Dennis has now received nearly all of his vaccines, including a new one for bronchial March 2012 Flying for Life 9
KENYA: holistic ministry
Thanks to expert input, all the students at the Academy are likely to qualify for secondary education
pneumonia. He has just one more to go for measles in two months’ time. Norkileku gives a local perspective. ‘We are very happy because three-quarters of our children were not being immunised as we could not walk all the way, and many were worried about sleeping outside with their babies. But since the ambulance came here, everyone is getting immunised.’
Change for good
Florence explains, ‘Before the mobile clinic came to this place, the women had to walk two days to come to see me. They are very happy now that they can get their treatment near their homes and are not having to worry about hunger and thirst on the path and where to sleep. ‘We used to see many cases of malnutrition and anaemia among the babies and children. But now when we see those things, we intervene with education. We show them how to cook the food and to mix it so that they can provide a balanced diet with the food they already have. Now it is rare to see these problems. ‘Until the ambulance came here, many of the children did not make it past five years old, because when they are malnourished, something like measles becomes very serious with only a 50% chance of survival. The provision of the ambulance and the training I get when MAF flies in doctors to train me is life-changing to these people. Many deaths
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have been prevented through clinics like this one. And it’s not just baby clinics – I’m now a dentist, a nurse, a pharmacist and a midwife!’ The next mother in the queue has a small child who was born blind. Florence continues, ‘When he was diagnosed by the clinic, we referred him to an eye clinic in Nairobi. The mother now tells us that the child has some sight and is due to return to Nairobi next month. Without this project, that child would not have received any help. In this kind of remote place, it would have been very hard. A few years ago, they would have abandoned the child but, thank God, today they realise that they can care for such a child and we do what we can to assist.’
Student success
Like the mobile clinic, St Francis of Assisi Academy benefits from experienced advisers from the UK flying in. The school has three primary age classes and is preparing to build a fourth class for a new intake. Thanks to input from these experts, all the students at the Academy are likely to qualify for secondary education. The teachers are excited that two experts will be flying in for a week to improve their techniques in phonics and numeracy.
Great atmosphere
In the space of 2 years, the school has grown from 24 pupils crammed into a single tiny classroom to 60 pupils in 3 new classrooms.
Life before beadwork Sitting in her dung-walled hut, Noolnkokua describes her life before joining the beadwork project: ‘My husband never provided food or clothes for us. He beat me and did terrible things to me, so I had to leave. ‘After I left, he kept coming back to try to steal my goats or take some of my children to sell them as wives. But now I’m able to feed my children and send them to school. I used to have lots of problems and had to beg for food. Now I’m comfortable. I’m happy.’
Renowned skills
Class two teacher Joseph came to teach at the Academy because the class sizes are more manageable. ‘I have 19 children in my class here,’ he says. ‘In my old school, I had 70 or more, with no resources, books or anything.’ The classrooms at the Academy are clean, bright and well-equipped. The children and teachers work well together and there’s a really great atmosphere. ‘The teams that come to our school,’ says Hennie, ‘pass on the very latest teaching tools, and contextualise them in a way that works in the classroom here – helping us to provide a far better learning environment for students and staff. ‘If MAF didn’t fly the teachers in, it would take them a day to get here and then a day to recover at each end of the week, giving us only three or four days’ actual teaching. But thanks to MAF, we have the benefit of highly skilled experts for a full seven days – and that’s worth a lot!’
Pelua Siloma helps organise WwM’s beadwork project. He manages the ladies, helps with the payroll, acts as translator, carries out quality control and sometimes finishes making the jewellery in the office. ‘We ensure that everything we make here is really excellent and can be sold in the UK,’ says Pelua. ‘The Loita Maasai are known for their beadwork skills, so it’s good to have Becca here to get this project going.’ Pelua currently has ten ladies doing the beadwork. Others, who realise that the women are now able to clothe, feed and send their children to school, are interested in joining. Noolkitoip has been working with the project since it started two years ago. ‘It’s really important to us and helps us in so many ways. Thanks to Hennie and Becca, my children will be able to look after me when I am old. Because of my wages and the school, they now have the chance to be doctors or teachers.’
Sustainable farming To find out about how Walking with Maasai is working with farmers to ensure sustainability, visit www.maf-uk.org/wwm
Holistic ministry
Andre, Hennie and Becca, along with the WwM team, are pursuing an extraordinary vision. When I put all these projects together, I see a truly holistic and community ministry. For WwM, the 35-minute MAF flight from Nairobi is an essential alternative to the exhausting 8-hour overland journey, and a crucial element underpinning their ability to work with the Maasai in this region.
Far left: Becca at the village Main: Teacher Joseph at St Francis of Assisi Academy Top left/above: Maasai beadwork Above left: Outside the Academy
March 2012 Flying for Life 11
AFRICA: help for children
Happy Mother’s Day Story Gary Clayton Photos Courtesy of Watoto
W Below: Children enjoying themselves at Watoto village
hen Jovia is asked what Mother’s Day means to her, she says, ‘It’s a day to remember that my mum is there for me, and to show my appreciation for the way she’s cared for me over the years. It’s also an opportunity to thank God for my mother’s love, because I hadn’t had any in the past.’ Jovia has lived in Watoto’s Suubi children’s village since she was eight. ‘I’ll never forget how my mother sat with me for 24 hours a day when I had an operation on my appendix,’ she says. Watoto helps vulnerable women and also orphaned children to escape poverty, abuse and hunger. Watoto’s holistic programme also provides healthcare and education for those who have AIDS or are HIV-positive. MAF regularly flies team members to Gulu, northern Uganda, where Watoto has built a new children’s village. The village has a nursery, kindergarten, primary and secondary school, vocational training centre, water project, medical clinic
12 Flying for Life March 2012 www.maf-uk.org
and multipurpose hall for use as a church and as a community centre. Each Watoto family consists of a housemother who cares for eight children. Babies and children up to the age of two are cared for at Baby Watoto. Mother Flavia, housemother to ten-year-old Esther, came to Watoto in 2005. ‘I thank God the children love me,’ she says. ‘Last year, they held a celebration for me on Mother’s Day. They cooked food, bought soft drinks and gave me a card they’d all signed. I had such fun!’ Like Jovia, Esther loves her Watoto mother. ‘She takes care of me and loves me lots. This Mother’s Day, I want to do something really special for her. I’ll also write mum a letter and wish her a wonderful day.’ Like mums throughout the world, Watoto mothers play a key role in their children’s lives, teaching them values and skills that will help them throughout their lives. Thanks to the love and care of Watoto, Uganda’s orphans can have a good start in life – one that will enable them to take their place as the future leaders of their country.
God’s provision Story Tim Vennell
God provided so many things to meet our immediate needs Main: The Vennell family (Courtney, centre)
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y work as Operations Director in Kenya took me to Juba, South Sudan, with my family. While I was working in the office, my daughters Courtney and Natalie played on a homemade jungle gym. Unfortunately, within a few minutes, Courtney somehow managed to cut off part of her finger. We drove our shocked daughter to Juba Medical Centre, but there was no doctor. I felt sick! Fortunately, one of our planes had landed, so we asked a pilot to refuel for a flight to Nairobi. To keep her mind off her finger, Courtney spent nearly the entire flight singing praise songs. When we arrived, we were met by MAF colleagues who helped us through customs and drove us to the hospital. In less than 12 hours, we had gone from enjoying our time in Juba to seeing our beautiful daughter in severe distress and facing a painful recovery. But as we help Courtney with her new challenge, we’re reminded of God’s provision. An MAF vehicle just happened to be there. The plane had just returned. MAF had just hired a former emergency medical technician who just happened to have a huge first aid kit. There was a fresh pilot available who hadn’t flown that day. And MAF personnel were able to meet us at the airport and drive us to the hospital. God provided so many things to
meet our immediate needs. Since the operation, I keep seeing the faces of the patients in the Juba clinic – all waiting for a doctor who wasn’t there. Sadly, like those waiting in the South Sudanese clinic, not everyone receives the help they need. But that’s what MAF’s about – meeting the needs of people in inaccessible areas who can only get to hospital or receive aid – spiritual or physical – because of our planes. The work is huge, the challenges are great, but together we can overcome! March 2012 Flying for Life 13
ARNHEM LAND: hope in Jesus
Gumatj Good News Y Story Shaun Oliver Photos Brett Nel
Below: Good News DVD and booklet Main: Watching the DVD
olŋu people living in remote parts of Arnhem Land, northern Australia, have been celebrating the translation of a Christian DVD into their own language. Manymak Dhäwu (Good News) is an illustrated DVD of the whole Gospel message and how to live a Christian life. But its real strength is that it is produced in Gumatj, a Yolŋu dialect spoken and understood by many people in Arnhem Land. Pilot Brett Nel and his wife Michelle have faithfully worked on the project for over three years. Manymak Dhäwu was originally two CDs with two hours of audio translated in the 1980s by two ladies Mutilnga and Gulumbu. A 40-picture booklet telling the whole Gospel message and what it means to follow Jesus accompanied the CDs. It is now an illustrated ‘movie’ with 969 pictures. A second DVD with testimonies, teaching, Scripture and music has also been produced. The Manymak Dhäwu DVD proved to be a valuable resource with Yolŋu evangelists Gerard and Eunice in a series of outreaches
last year. Pilot Brett, who flew them to the remote communities, shares, ‘The most exciting thing about these trips was watching the response from the people hearing and seeing the story of Easter and what it means to them in their heart language! ‘Whenever the DVD was shown, Yolŋu people sat in silence. This included kids who were glued to the screen, amazed to hear and see a message like this in their language.’ Both DVDs have also been converted on to Micro-SD cards, which means that Yolŋu can watch the videos on their mobile phones. With many local people now using mobiles, this could prove to be a very effective way of distributing this resource. MAF will be further trialling ‘broadcasting’ technology that will enable other Gospel resources to be delivered by mobile phones. In a region where depression and alcoholism are very serious issues, it is our prayer that, through aviation and technology, more Yolŋu people will hear, understand and respond to the hope offered by the love of Jesus.
This is MAF Mission Aviation Fellowship is a worldwide Christian organisation operating over 135 light aircraft in more than 30 countries. Around 280 flights every day transport patients, relief teams, medical supplies and Christian workers in the world’s remotest regions and places of deepest human need. Places where flying is not a luxury but a lifeline. Normally, passengers contribute a highly-subsidised fare towards the true cost. The balance comes from people concerned that others should have a better life spiritually and physically. In the UK, MAF is a registered charity funded by voluntary gifts which help finance MAF’s operational work and support services.
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Mission Aviation Fellowship Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone CT20 2TN 29 Canal Street, Glasgow G4 0AD FREEPOST ADM4164, PORTRUSH BT56 8ZY Dept AA1818, PO Box 4214, FREEPOST Dublin 2 Telephone: 0845 850 9505 Email: supporter.relations@maf-uk.org Website: www.maf-uk.org
Flying for Life Email: editor@maf-uk.org Printer: Headley Brothers Ltd Ashford, Kent Printed on sustainable paper produced from a managed forest ©MAF UK March 2012 fflh
Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107)
MAF UK NEWS
Church in Trowbridge, raised the truly magnificent sum of £1,053 for our work, a substantial part of which was pledged online. If, like Geoff, you wish to raise vital funds for MAF, it is very simple to set up your own page by visiting www.justgiving.com
Postcards wanted Keep on running ‘I know it’s mad, but I’ve just finished running five half marathons in five consecutive days – a total of over 65 miles; 13.1 miles at a time.’ MAF Supporter Flight Lieutenant Geoff Heard (third from left), along with three other RAF personnel from MOD Abbey Wood and RAF Brize Norton, set off on a ‘5 in 5 challenge’, which meant running five half marathons in five days, to raise money for MAF. Geoff started with the officially organised Chippenham half-marathon in Wiltshire on Sunday 11 September. It took him 1 hour 54 minutes. Then the following day, he ran from Chippenham to RAF Lyneham in 1 hour 57 minutes. The next three days saw him running through parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, making it from Lyneham to Ashton Keynes in 1 hour 56 minutes. ‘My fourth marathon,’ says Geoff, ‘saw a personal best of just over 1 hour 51. But I somehow managed to complete the last one 16 seconds quicker, taking just 1 hour 50 minutes and 54 seconds.’ He came to a halt at RAF Brize Norton on Thursday 15 September. Geoff, who is a member of St Thomas’
Have you ever wondered what to do with all those picture postcards you receive every year? Perhaps you have kept them for years, but now no longer need them and would love them to go to a good cause. Ken Thom has been collecting cards from churches and Supporters and, with the help of a small team, has been selling them to collectors or on eBay – raising thousands of pounds for our work. The postcard shown below sold for an amazing £150! Perhaps you’d like to put a postcard collection box in your church or home group, or would be willing to use eBay to help Ken sell some of his cards. Or maybe you have some unwanted cards you’d be willing to donate to MAF. Contact serena.crook@maf-uk.org for more information, or to arrange for us to collect them.
I want to help MAF bring God’s care and compassion to needy people
The flying farmer Ted Richardson was a man who was shaped by his era. He was brought up during the 1930s and will be remembered for his godly qualities such as contentment, generosity and a desire to serve. A countryman at heart, Ted spent most of his life farming, apart from a brief stint in the RAF. At the age of 18½, he passed the flying exams and earned his wings in February 1944. He was despatched to India, and it was during his time there that he learnt to appreciate other cultures and understand about world inequality. Ted became a Christian in his mid-50s and served the Lord with great devotion. Because of his flying experiences, he began supporting MAF. Ted maintained an interest in small aircraft, and appreciated their value in reaching poor and needy people with the Gospel. As Ted considered God’s goodness to him, he decided he wanted to continue supporting the work of charities like MAF – his generous legacy enabling the Good News to reach many beyond his lifetime.
Legacies totalled £1,352,946 in the second half of 2011, for which we thank God. To learn more about supporting MAF in this way, please contact our Legacy Co-ordinator on 0845 850 9505, or email miriam.wheeler@maf-uk.org
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