MAF Youth Magazine - Issue #31

Making dreams a reality

MAF Communications Officer Jill Vine, married to MAF Pilot Greg

partnered a determined teenager and helped her overcome adversity

It’s important to have dreams. What are yours?

When Jill first met Josephine, the teenager’s disability and challenging life had left her exhausted. That was back in 2013 at Bartholomew’s Orphanage in Kajo Keji, South Sudan.

It might be hard to imagine, but Josephine was literally crawling on the ground — her legs and knees caked in mud. She told Jill how her wheelchair was broken and that, without it, the only way she could keep her dream of an education alive was to crawl to school and back every day.

Even in such difficult circumstances, Josephine refused to give up, and used what strength she had to make the difficult journey.

Realising how easily MAF could change her situation, Jill knew she had to help. A few weeks and lots of phone calls later, MAF was able to fly her back to the orphanage. The cargo? A brand new wheelchair, kindly donated by a man who was deeply moved by Josephine’s plight and was a wheelchair user himself.

'I will never forget the look of joy on Josephine's face when I helped her into the wheelchair for the first time. Her smile was absolutely radiant!' Jill recalls.

With that chair — so generously donated — Josephine’s dream of receiving an education had a chance of coming true.

Further tribulation

We’d love to tell you that Josephine’s story continued smoothly after she’d climbed into her new wheelchair. Sadly, her life took another turn for the worse.

In January 2017, the brutal conflict that swept across South Sudan reached her town. In the chaos, Jill lost touch with Josephine.

With the help of MAF’s many partner NGOs

and humanitarian organisations, Jill searched for her but, with no idea where Josephine was, who was with her, or what had happened, she wondered whether she would ever find her.

Weeks turned into months until news finally reached Jill in 2018. Josephine was alive and living in a vast refugee camp in northern Uganda! Naturally, Jill was delighted — until she heard that Josephine’s wheelchair had been left behind in the desperate rush to leave South Sudan.

Mercy and goodness

For an orphaned refugee with a disability like Josephine — one of many throughout the developing world — the future would be a bleak place. But, thanks to the kindness of that same generous donor, Josephine’s future didn’t remain dismal.

Once again, the man came to Josephine’s aid with a replacement wheelchair, knowing that MAF would make another special flight to deliver it to the refugee camp.

When the plane landed, Jill said she caught a flash of God’s inestimable mercy and goodness. ‘Overwhelmed to see Josephine safe and sound, I was relieved and delighted just to be able to hug her again!

‘I feel so blessed that I could be there when the MAF family’s unfailing support enabled one of our aircraft to help Josephine for a second time.’

Almost every day, our aircraft fly organisations into refugee settlements that help thousands of displaced people in desperate need of food, medicine, counselling and — in Josephine’s case — education.

Many of the world’s poorest people are praying that their dreams will come true. Every day, such prayers help bring MAF planes into people’s lives with the potential to make their dreams come true, powered by gifts from generous supporters.

Josephine’s dream in 2018 was to finish secondary school — the passport to a brandnew life for many impoverished people.

Going the extra mile

Determined to help such a determined girl achieve her dreams, Jill then asked for support from MAF’s staff to contribute towards Josephine’s fees for vocational school in Uganda.

Enough money was eventually raised for her to attend school and have a decent shot at a better life.

Fast forward to 2022 and MAF staff were delighted to receive photos of Josephine thriving.

What a privilege to give a young woman the chance to determine her own future!

Josephineatvocationalschool!

Patrick Hendry

Jill and Greg Vine

Josephine with pilot Martin Zimmerman

More than just a job

WHEN MAF YOUTH MET RYAN CUTHEL

MAF YOUTH: Why do you love aviation?

RYAN: For me it’s about what you can do with a plane! I love meeting people, going to different places, and seeing the work going on there. And I like fast things!

MAF YOUTH: Tell us about your journey to MAF

RYAN: I went straight to flying school when I was 17 and wasn’t a Christian at that point. I got my Pilot Licence, then worked as a flying instructor and did charter flights.

During that time, I became a Christian. I’d started to go to church to impress my girlfriend Anna — she’s now my wife — and people told me about MAF. The doors just opened for my first role — it seemed to fit.

MAF YOUTH: Did friends and family think you were mad?

RYAN: They’ve always been supportive, but I remember it being a tough conversation to try and explain what we wanted to do. I was 22 at the time and we said we were only going for 2 years. But once they’d been out and seen what we were doing, they were actually very proud and excited. They’ve visited us four or five times.

MAF YOUTH: Was working for MAF a huge shock?

RYAN: No. I’ve always been a bit easy-going, rolling with the punches. I love it! It’s a huge adventure. The biggest shock was the remoteness and underdevelopment of the places we landed – places that felt like the end of the earth. There were days when I thought, ‘How did I end up here?’

MAF YOUTH: What’s Kenya like?

RYAN: The equator runs across the centre, and north of the equator it’s extremely arid, harsh and underdeveloped, with very few roads. The people there are often nomadic, and move around a lot. They rely on their livestock to live, though the rains are very erratic.

MAF YOUTH: How does MAF meet their needs?

RYAN: No other airlines do humanitarian work in the north, so it’s really essential work. MAF regularly flies organisations that provide water and sanitation, education and healthcare. We also fly for medical safaris and mission hospitals.

MAF YOUTH: Give us a quick overview of MAF’s programme in Kenya…

RYAN: We have our own hangar at Wilson Airport, built about 30 years ago by MAF. We currently have 28 staff — 23 of them Kenyan. And we help to maintain seven Cessna Caravan aircraft from the Kenya and South Sudan programmes.

MAF YOUTH: Tell us more about the work?

RYAN: It ranges from shuttling people to Uganda’s vast refugee settlements to sitting in the baking heat of rural Tanzania while a team of medics run an open-air bush clinic. Knowing that the Gospel is at the heart of everything we do is what makes this job unique — and that is the most satisfying part.

MAF YOUTH: What does your role look like on a day-to-day-basis?

RYAN: It’s different every day. I get to work early to check emails and then the entire team starts the day with devotions at 8am.

I meet with organisations, work on the vision and mission of the programme, conduct risk assessments, communicate with other Country Directors or the people at head office, and oversee all the departments.

I really like the variety. I might be having a meeting with our finance department about something to do with the budget for next year and then go straight to a meeting with our Head of Operations about scheduling flights, followed by talking about the parts we need for an aircraft with our maintenance department.

As Country Director, that’s one of the most exciting things. I love jumping from one thing to another and trying to come up with solutions to problems. I love thinking outside the box!

MAF YOUTH: What myths about missionary work would you like to bust?

RYAN: I thought being a missionary meant a fairly boring life. I have a wild side – I like to do fun things and joke around a lot, but there’s a really adventurous side to MAF. People have the same purpose and calling, and it’s a really fun place to work.

We go on a lot of medical safaris and hang out a lot with the guys in our team.

MAF YOUTH: What would you say to anyone wanting to join MAF?

RYAN: Everyone I know who’s worked with MAF has loved their time there – not just the job but everything it encompasses. It’s like your purpose, career and passions all in one place!

MAF YOUTH: Any final words of wisdom?

RYAN: If you’re considering mission and feel like God has stirred something up in you, then chase after it because He’s probably calling you. Hopefully God will take you on a journey — one which, like ours, is amazing!

Ryan in flight

Hard at work

LuAnne Cadd / Sergey Pesterev

Chad Madden & Jennifer Pallian (Unsplash.com)

NAIROBI

Mark & Kelly Hewes

MAF responds to a major earthquake in PNG

We are fortunate in the UK to be pretty much earthquake free, and most of us would have no idea what it’s like to experience one. But one of the reasons MAF exists is to help people in times of natural disaster

So, when an earthquake hit Papua New Guinea (PNG) recently, MAF got busy right away. Here’s what happened…

Initial impact!

You may have heard in the news that eastern PNG was struck by a huge earthquake on Sunday 11 September – 7.6 on the Richter scale. It shook Markham Valley in Morobe Province at 9.46am local time.

worst affected areas were Morobe Province, Eastern Highlands and Madang Town.

Because these areas are so mountainous and remote, it was impossible for relief efforts to take place overland. Enter MAF!

Initially, dense cloud cover prevented us from flying, but exactly three hours after the first earthquake struck, MAF was airborne – our aircraft undertaking aerial surveys to assess the damage and work out the greatest areas of need.

With a scale of 1-10 for measuring the size and power of an earthquake, quakes over 5.5 on the Richter scale are seen as more destructive

The first tremor left at least 12 people dead, with many more missing or buried under landslides.

It was so immense that, according to the US Geological Survey, tremors were felt 310 miles away from the epicentre, in PNG’s capital Port Moresby. That’s like there being an earthquake in London and people in Scotland or Paris feeling it!

According to the PNG Disaster Management Team, which is made up of UN agencies, PNG’s National Disaster Centre and various NGOs, the

Landslides damaged the region’s power grid, internet cables and health centres were also damaged, along with major disruption to the Highlands Highway, which connects several of PNG’s main cities.

The information, supplied by MAF, helped inform the UN’s disaster response.

MAF medevacs to the rescue

MAF aircraft flew a total of five people injured by landslides to hospital. Most of the casualties were flown from Mibu in Madang Province –more than 18 miles from the epicentre – to Saidor, so that they could receive medical care. Another patient was airlifted from Andakombe to Goroka.

Injuries ranged from open wounds, damaged legs and a puncture wound from a broken tree branch. (Ouch!)

In addition to the medevacs mentioned above, 117kg of food aid was flown from Goroka to Mibu by MAF.

Port Moresby

FIRE DAMAGE LANDSLIDES

Aftershocks

As is often the case with major earthquakes, there was more destruction to come. Two smaller earthquakes (aftershocks) of 5 and 5.2 magnitude hit hours later near the original epicentre, causing further damage.

Over 450 houses collapsed in Madang Town, Leron-Wantoat and Umi-Atzera, injuring around 30 people. More than 50 families were displaced in Morobe Province alone and several schools were closed.

Many of the collapsed houses were ‘semipermanent’ structures made from lightweight materials, elevated on wooden posts, typical of rural PNG dwellings.

The immediate needs included emergency shelter, access to clean water, bedding, and basic kitchen and household items, with traumatised children needing psychosocial support.

At the University of Goroka, lessons were postponed for two weeks, with more than

1,600 boarding students needing to stay in classrooms or with relatives after their multistorey dormitory was damaged. Five injured students had to be taken to hospital.

Thrown in at the deep end

Dom Sant, MAF PNG’s Programme Safety Manager, helped co-ordinate MAF’s immediate response. Having only moved to PNG in January this year, it’s the first disaster with which he’s been involved – scary stuff!

Dom shares:

'I received an early call on Sunday 11 September on my emergency phone from our MAF base in Madang and was asked to take the lead on mapping communities that were affected by the earthquake. This is the first disaster I've supported since moving to PNG and I hope it will be my last!'

Aftermath

Fortunately, this latest earthquake and its aftershocks caused significantly less damage than the 2018 earthquake in Hela Province, western PNG, which sadly claimed more than 150 lives and caused some 20,000 people to lose their homes

In comparison, according to a Disaster Management Team Flash Update dated 16 October, a total of 21 deaths and 30 people with injuries were reported across the regions of Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands, with 1,076 permanent, semi-permanent and traditional houses damaged or destroyed

MAF PNG Country Director Todd Aebischer explains why:

‘The 2018 earthquake occurred during the wet season when the ground was very susceptible to landslides. This time, the ground has been quite dry, so it’s more stable. We are grateful that no injuries or major damage to MAF staff or property have been reported.’

Although no MAF staff have been harmed, water tanks, appliances and supplies were damaged in MAF’s hostel in Aiyura, Eastern Highlands.

Since the earthquake, MAF has continued to offer surveillance flights and medical assistance where required. It brings home again just how important MAF planes are in remote places and what a privilege it is to fly there.

Surveys in action!

„

John 1:5 (NLT)

P le ase pray

That the parents of the twins will be comforted as they grieve.

„ That the surviving twin will fully recover her health.

„ For Josephine to flourish in her vocational training.

„ For Ryan Cuthel and his family.

„ For all those in need following the earthquake in eastern PNG.

Conjoined twins update

Since writing the last magazine, we were saddened to hear that one of the conjoined twins born in the Democratic Republic of Congo has died, and that the other twin is struggling with her health.

Any prayer needs? Snap us your requests — we'd love to pray for you !

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it