MAF Youth Magazine #11 by MAF UK

// ION

A DAY WITH AN OTTER

MEET THE COUSLEY BROS

WINTER UPDATE

WIN this on page 4

A D AY I N T H E L I F E O F A Senior Communications Officer LuAnne Cadd talks about her first day on board one of MAF’s most popular aircraft ‘Since I was just four years old, I’ve sat in more planes than I could ever count – from the largest modern airliners to tiny two-seaters. I love seeing the unique way MAF uses their planes for ministry, humanitarian assistance and community support.

Te l e f o m i n We leave early in the morning, walking from the MAF houses to the airstrip. My first time on a Twin Otter! Pilot Brad Venter informs me that at take-off it will look as if he and Jason Marsh are holding hands… actually they are pushing up the throttle together, ensuring that no bumps in the airstrip cause MAF’s pilots to let go. We all laugh.

TABUBIL

TEKIN WOBAGEN

TELEFOMIN

MOUNT HAGEN

Jason and Brad not holding hands at take-off

Ta b u b i l t o W o b a g e n

Te l e f o m i n t o Ta b u b i l The first flight takes cargo from Telefomin to the larger town of Tabubil. The plane is loaded with heavy corrugated roofing sheets and metal pipes to help build a church in Wobagen. (The current one is old and made from bush materials.)

We land at the grassy Wobagen airstrip where a crowd of men and women meet the plane to help unload the heavy materials and replace them with bags of produce to sell in the town.

20 MILES

r e t t o n I tw W o b a g e n t o Ta b u b i l This is where Galcie and brother Hitton join me. It’s not only Galcie’s first time to fly, it’s also her first time – at 19 – to leave her village. She’s not enjoying the experience! Galcie grabs her brother’s wrist in a death grip, squeezes her eyes as tight as she can and cries, ‘Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!’ I can tell it’s a prayer, not a swear.

Galcie experiences her first-ever flight

Te k i n t o Te l e f o m i n The materials are again unloaded and Brad begins folding seats down for the next full flight – 20 passengers, including me.

Te l e f o m i n ( p a r t t w o ) We fly to Telefomin with another load of material, then head east to…

Loading building materials onto the plane

Brad doing what he does best

Brad checks each passenger’s seat belt and gives some reassuring words to a few of the younger passengers. In fluent Tok Pisin, he speaks to the group about safety procedures – making jokes and getting some laughs.

Mount Hagen …where I say goodbye. Jason and Brad barely have enough time to make it to their home, Goroka, before dark.

Ta b u b i l ( p a r t t w o ) We fly back to Tabubil, load the plane up once again with building materials, and fly to Tekin – an airstrip tucked up against a mountain in a long stunning valley.

MAF’s Twin Otter aircraft at Tabubil

MAF pilots Captai ns Jason Marsh and Brad Venter

COMPETIT GET CrEative Snap us THE POSTER & YOU

READING THIS ONLINE? Contact jonathan.ward@maf-uk.org to claim your poster and take part.

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W H E N M A F Y O U T H M E T //

t H e c ou s l e y BrotHers

Joshua and Benjamin are the sons of MAF UK personnel Glenn and Julie Anne Cousley. Josh is 14 and Benjamin is 13. The boys, along with their 10-year-old sister Esther, have grown up in a variety of countries including Tanzania, Uganda and now Mareeba, Australia. Becs got to chat with them recently…

Mum and Dad Becs: Tell us a bit about your family. Benjamin: My dad is a mechanic. He’s training to be an aircraft maintenance engineer. In Africa, he was a motor mechanic… Joshua: He was also a Dangerous Goods Trainer. Becs: A Dangerous Goods trainer? What do you have to do for that? Joshua: He trained people in other places about… well… fireworks can’t go in an aircraft because they might go off, or balls and inflatables, because they might explode because of air pressure. Becs: And what does you mum do? Benjamin: She helps with something called Mainly Music, which is for young kids – toddlers. They come with their mums. They sing and dance and play with musical instruments, and then they hear a Bible story. So, she helps out with that. Joshua: She was teaching before she had me and she taught in Uganda as well. She’s started teaching again now in Australia.

Living in Australia

products. The fruit and stuff is more expensive, but you get more variety. Joshua: You couldn’t get very much chocolate in Africa; so, a good change. Becs: What do you love most about living in Australia apart from accessible chocolate? Joshua: Everything’s really close. Everyone has a bicycle. I ride to school four days a week… Benjamin: There is a downside [to living in Australia]. Everything’s trying to kill you! Joshua: Australia has ten out of ten of the deadliest snakes and eight out of ten of the deadliest spiders.

Favourite food Becs: What food do you like best? Joshua: My favourite dish from Uganda was ‘rolex’. Becs: Rolex? Joshua: A chapatti. It’s like an oily pancake, really. They get the chapatti and put egg in it and they roll it up. Benjamin: And my favourite food from Tanzania was ‘chipsi mayai’. They get a bunch of egg, almost like an omelette, and you let that cook. Joshua: You have the omelette cooking in one pan and you have the chips cooking next to it.

I get to choose. And in grade ten, there’s three different PE subjects. I wanted to take them all, but my parents don’t want me to. Becs: Are the opportunities good where you are? Joshua: The school we’re at probably has some of the best opportunities in FNQ (Far North Queensland).

Aspirations Becs: Do you have any ideas about what you want to do when you’re older? Benjamin: Join the army. Becs: Why do you want to join the army? Benjamin: You know in America, they have the Navy SEALs? I want to be like that. They can do underwater missions or missions on land and you have to be really fit and qualified to go do it. I want a challenge like that. Joshua: I’m not sure anymore. A little while ago, I thought I wanted to be a pilot and an engineer, but I’m not sure anymore.

Most bizarre thing you’ve ever seen Becs: What’s the strangest thing you’ve encountered?

Benjamin: And, before it goes solid, you put the chips in and cook with it.

Benjamin: When we were living in Uganda, they had this thing called a ‘boda boda’…

School

Joshua: Indian motorcycles. One of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen on the back of a motorbike would have to be another motorbike.

Becs: Do you enjoy school? Joshua: Yeah, it’s fun! Benjamin: It’s all right… Becs: Ha ha! Mixed response. What are your favourite subjects?

Becs: What do you like most about living in Australia?

Joshua: PE.

Benjamin: We get more fresh

Joshua: Now I’m going into grade ten,

Benjamin: Drama and PE.

Benjamin: They just strapped one on. I’ve seen one with a sofa on the back and people were sitting on the sofa! I’ve seen a bathtub and lots of chickens. Joshua: They can get up to ten people on them!

Please pray for these guys as they are currently living in Northern Ireland due to visa issues in Australia. Pray too that, once they’re back in Mareeba, they’ll be able to make lasting friendships, despite the many house moves they’ve had to make over the years.

l l a W H t u MAf Y CompetiTiOn WiNners ANNA & KATELYN CongratulAtions!

What Christmas looks like for MAF Lesotho (ap parently).

prayer legend s

flight ley rides the ther watch Joshua Cous amin and Es nj Be as or simulat

! y A R p Y a R p y PrA

Blue Sky Aviation in Mongolia is part of the MAF family, but its a small programme in a vast country. Please pray for the team to work well together and for them to continue to have a huge impact in Mongolia.

TSETSERLEG // MONGOLIA

PHOTO MURRAY BENN

WInter u p Dat e ‘Tis the season to seek out your wackiest Christmas jumper, eat too many mince pies and begin the festive countdown to Christmas day!

Want MAF Youth to come to your youth group? Snap us the name of your church and your youth leader’s name and we’ll get in touch!

Here at MAF Youth, we’re aware of the many youth groups and teens we met in 2017, and we have a lot to be thankful for. We’ve had such an incredible response from you guys on Snapchat, to MAF Youth competitions, and have received some amazing messages in response to the prayer request snaps we sent out. MAF Youth visited around 60 youth groups this year, challenging young people to think about the barriers isolated communities face throughout the world. In doing so, we looked at how MAF planes and airstrips can make a difference not just to one person but to whole communities. (We’ve also tested out the various youth groups’ flight skills!)