The MAF Blog: Worldwide Pulse

Posts Tagged ‘aviation’

Avoiding Mission Creep

Posted on: August 23rd, 2011 by John Boyd | 2 Comments

When it comes to ministry, it can be challenging to stay focused on the unique mission to which God has called you. It’s quite easy to get distracted by other interesting ministry opportunities because, at our core, we all want to help people. But such a distracted mentality can create a haphazard approach that dilutes an organization’s effectiveness.

At MAF, our core competency is assisting others through aviation and technology services. We know airplanes and we know technology. We also know how to harness that knowledge into a workable action plan to help other mission organizations accomplish what God has called them to do. By focusing on what MAF does well, we enable other mission organizations to minister to remote people groups without having to worry about transportation and communication issues.

Robert Hodge wrote an interesting article about the penchant for Christian organizations to weaken their effectiveness through the phenomenon known as “mission creep.” In the article, he outlined six different ways this happens and how it can be avoided.

One of Hodge’s solutions is to have a clear and concise mission statement to keep organization members focused. I firmly believe that MAF’s mission statement is written in such a way that every team member understands our focus.

Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology
so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed

It’s that simple.

Sometimes MAF stumbles across ministry opportunities that fall outside our mission … outside our areas of strength. Though we might be tempted to say “yes” to such projects, we know there are plenty of wonderful organizations that are more qualified to help in these areas. So, we simply decline.

By clearly defining our mission (sharing the love of Jesus) and our strengths (aviation and technology) and focusing our efforts in those areas, MAF can avoid mission creep and most effectively meet the needs God has placed before us.

Reunited: From the Logbook of Chris Konop

Posted on: August 11th, 2011 by MAF | 1 Comment

It’s a Thursday morning, one of those rare days when there’s nothing on the flight schedule. So I’m over at the new MAF family’s house with our program manager, working on the electricity and preparing the house for their arrival. We’re making some good progress when the call comes in. Doctors Without Borders has an urgent medical evacuation, and I need to leave right away. It’s too dangerous and risky to transport the patient by road.

I drive home, put on my uniform, grab my flight gear, and head to the airport. Thirty minutes after the call, I’m airborne and flying north. As I approach the airstrip, I can’t help but wonder what has happened to the patient. Did he fall out of a tree? Get in a fight? Was there some kind of accident? As I hop out, my questions are quickly answered.

I hear horrible screams of pain as folks from the village carry a man out to the plane on a stretcher. Someone has forgotten about the IV bag, and it’s just dragging on the ground behind the stretcher. I run out to the road and quickly grab the bag, hold it up in the air, and walk the rest of the way to the airplane alongside the stretcher. We set him on the ground, and I take some seats out and rearrange the cabin to fit him inside. It seems like the entire village is two inches from my airplane. It’s hard to do anything, but I keep working.

Once everything is set, I hop in from the pilot’s side to receive the patient as they load him in from the back. I gulp, close my eyes and turn away; I can’t look. He has deep, deep lacerations to his head, shoulders, arms, and legs. They are somewhat bandaged, but it leaves nothing to the imagination. There is also a deep gash from one side of his throat, to the other. This must be from recent LRA attacks in the area.

Although he looks terrible, he seems to be doing better now that the IV bag is in the air. Suddenly, he bursts out laughing and singing and waving his hands around. It takes me a minute to figure out what’s going on; they’ve cranked up his IV drip to the maximum because they thought it wasn’t working (as it was dragging on the ground). But, when I hung it, he actually started to receive the medication…a lot of it. So I quickly grab the line and turn it down to adjust the flow. Then I secure the stretcher and the patient to the floor with cargo straps. I’m also looking for something to hang the IV bag on, as it doesn’t really work any other way. I quickly grab a carabineer from the back and think of the fish scale we use to weigh baggage. I secure it to the ceiling and slip the IV bag over the hook…perfect! I instruct the nurse to watch the patient carefully and hang onto the IV bag, as the takeoff is usually very rough from here.

After takeoff, I turn around and check on my patient…he seems content exactly where I left him. The nurse, on the other hand, looks terrified. So I reassure him with a smile and a nod, and yell to him that we will be on the ground in 10 minutes. I say a quick prayer for the man as we unload him at the hospital, and the doctors and nurses rush him away.

A couple weeks later, I’m surprised to see him waiting at the hospital next to the airstrip. He meets me as I get out of the airplane with a huge smile, shakes my hand and thanks me for saving his life. He even helps me load the airplane, and I am glad to reunite him with his family and friends.

This is one of many tangible ways our supporters are helping make a difference in the lives of the Congolese. Thank you!

Learn more about the Konop family.

What’s the Deal with Avgas?

Posted on: August 9th, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 2 Comments

It’s hard not to talk about gas without reverting back to my middle school days and snickering at the mention of the word – but in the world of MAF pilots, the discussion of avgas is no laughing matter.

Barrels of Avgas

So what is avgas? And why does it always seem to be in short supply?

The short answer is that avgas is aviation gasoline used to power airplanes with piston engines. (For a more in-depth look at avgas, listen to the MAF podcast where I interview instructor pilot Jason Risser.) These engines are used primarily in smaller aircraft or recreational planes. Commercial airplanes use jet fuel, which powers planes with turbine engines. MAF’s new fleet of KODIAKS has turbine engines, eliminating the need for avgas with those airplanes.

So why the short supply?

In the U.S., avgas shortages rarely occur due to the large number of private aircraft that require it and the suppliers’ financial incentive to meet those demands. Additionally, the infrastructure within the U.S. lends itself to easy distribution. But in the places where MAF serves, the demand for avgas is much lower and getting avgas to the MAF bases can be a challenge due to the relative remoteness of the locations.

In my discussion with Jason Risser about this, he related the story of how getting avgas to some MAF bases in Indonesia sounds like something you would see in an expedition movie scene – guys floating 55-gallon drums of avgas across the river, tied together with a rope. And that’s after a long trek to the interior over challenging roads. It’s not like there are fuel trucks cruising down a nation’s highway to deliver avgas. Sometimes it is simply shipped in drums and delivered in the crudest way imaginable.

So, what does this mean for MAF?

It means a few things:

Avgas Delivery Truck

Avgas is expensive. If suppliers don’t have a substantial demand, it’s not as lucrative to produce, meaning the cost of the fuel is driven upward. Because of these challenges, MAF has to order avgas in bulk for some bases, adding to the difficulty of the avgas delivery.
Planes can be grounded, limiting MAF’s impact in a particular area. When there is no gas, there are no flights – it’s that simple. Some programs have grounded their piston-powered planes for weeks while awaiting the arrival of a new shipment of avgas.
MAF is actively seeking solutions. The ongoing transition to the KODIAK aircraft gives MAF access to remote areas without the worry of fuel shortages. However, that is a costly endeavor and will take many years to complete. But as Jason explained to me in the podcast, there are also companies working to create new piston-powered engines that run on diesel fuel and can replace the avgas engines.

If you’re geeky like me and you want to learn more about airplane engines, check out this site explaining all about turbine engines. And you can learn more about avgas from an MAF pilot’s perspective in my podcast interview with Jason Risser.

Fill Us Up

If you’d like to help MAF make a global impact and keep our planes in the air, you can take action through our Facebook Fill Us Up campaign.

God in Action: Horn of Africa Famine

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011 by MAF |

Reflections from John Woodberry
MAF Disaster Response/Security Manager

At 8:30 this morning the MAF PC-12 arrived at Dadaab for a medevac flight. A teacher in one of the refugee camps had an extreme reaction to a tetanus shot. He was in quite a bit of pain and had a severe rash as the medical staff laid him down in the aircraft. Soon after landing, the aircraft was off to Nairobi and a hospital that could help stabilize him.

John Woodberry making friends

A half an hour later, MAF’s Caravan was landing with a delegation from Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to oversee some of the work in which they are involved. LWF is in charge of managing and coordinating much of the activity at the three refugee camps that dwarf the area view around Dadaab when you fly in. They are also involved in schools. Over 13,000 kids attend small schools in the camps.

As we drove home from a trip to the camps, my mind is still etched with images of people waiting in long lines to register so that they can have a small tent in the camp and food. Once processed, a ration card allows them to get food for their family twice a month. People arrive with mostly nothing, but they still have dignity; the dignity that God has given all of us made in His image. God is calling us to love our neighbors. There are still 1,300 arriving each day, but the camps only have capacity to register about 800 per day. Some 70,000 refugees have arrived since June 6th. They come hoping for food and security from the drought, famine, and evil facing so many in Somalia. Many people make small huts out of sticks, bushes, and pieces of tarp and live outside of the camp until they can be processed in.

God what are you asking me, one so blessed, to do? Miles and miles of huts and tents. The original camps started in 1991 and are rapidly increasing. A new camp extension has just been opened with new, shining white tents that look so different from the older camps. Saving life, physically and spiritually, is truly God’s work. By doing this work we are showing the love of God in action.

Blessings,
John

Photos

Refugee Camp

Long, hot wait space and tent in the camp

Constructing a Beautiful Tent

MAF Employee Thomas with Refugees

White-Knuckle Flying with MAF

Posted on: June 28th, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 2 Comments

Last Monday, I was enjoying a beautiful flight over the Owyhee Mountains in an MAF Cessna 206 with Aaron Hoffmann, a new MAF pilot undergoing field flight training, and Scott Channon, an instructor and seasoned veteran. To write a story on MAF’s rigorous flight training program, I figured it was best to see it in action.

Then it happened.

Scott: “OK, Aaron, we’re going to simulate engine failure. [Throttle back to idle, engine noise dies down, plane begins descending.] So, where would you put down?”

Through my Lightspeed noise-canceling headset, I heard Aaron begin going over the best possible places to land as he gestured to open areas below.

However, I was in the back with a racing heart, trying to come to terms with what a quieter engine and the phrase “engine failure” meant at that moment. I’m a writer by trade, so I already know about the importance of misplaced or missing modifiers. In this case, the modifier “simulate” is an all-important one that I didn’t recall hearing. It’s also helpful to be in the front where you can actually see flat space below as opposed to the craggy rock faces that loomed large out both sides of the plane.

About twenty seconds later – after what felt like a harrowing five minutes to me – the engine roared back to life and we zipped through the scenic canyon. Aaron’s pet flamingo, Pinkie, and I both sighed in relief.

On the ground, I expressed to Scott how it would’ve been nice to know that an engine failure simulation was coming.

“But that would’ve ruined the whole ‘surprise’ factor for Aaron,” Scott said.

I also suggested that maybe it didn’t need to happen in that particular canyon.

Scott’s response?

“We train for the worst-case scenarios,” he said. “If the pilot can figure out how to safely put the plane down when they’re in this situation, they can figure out anything.”

Aaron passed his test beautifully. Had there been actual engine failure, he explained exactly where and how he would’ve landed the plane safely. And that was the point. Never mind me in the back with my pale face and even whiter knuckles.

MAF’s works tirelessly to ensure all its pilots are equipped to handle whatever curve might be thrown their way while out on the unpredictable field of missionary bush flying – and it shows. Just keep that in mind if you ever have the opportunity to go on a training flight with an MAF instructor and pilot. Motion sickness might cause you to lose your appetite, but you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

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