The MAF Blog: Worldwide Pulse

Posts Tagged ‘missionary’

Homeward Bound

Posted on: April 3rd, 2012 by MAF |

Waiting to board an MAF flight out of Bunia to Entebbe, on their way to the MAF program in Kinshasa, our resource team encountered this traveler who had a change of heart.

The young man stands in the shade of the wing of the MAF airplane. The airport ramp is hot and dusty. He waits in a new safari hat and quick-dry adventure wear for the flight to Uganda and then on home to Europe.

Nearby, the hulk of a Russian cargo plane deteriorates in the equatorial heat; the blades of its propellers curled from a ground strike that ended its usefulness years ago. The airport terminal’s faded paint announces you are in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo, home of a large UN peace keeping force. Tribal conflict and suffering have long characterized the region.

When you step off the tarmac you have left the only pavement in this town of nearly one hundred thousand people. Skirting the ramp are a dozen humanitarian planes serving various NGO projects throughout northeast Congo.

The young man in safari wear came on contract to fly for one of the air groups. He had arrived the day before, surveyed the airport, driven in to town and decided to return home. This kind of change of heart is not unusual here.

Since the 1960s, MAF has supported the work of mission and humanitarian groups in this area in good times and bad. Evacuations and air ambulance flights saved hundreds, probably thousands of lives. Medicines, vaccinations and epidemic kits flown in to small grass airstrips have saved many thousands more.

Why do MAF pilots stay, when others leave? Is it because the missionary families view their service as more than a job? Is it because MAF staff are more thoroughly prepared to face the obstacles of living in developing countries? Or, is it because the pilots and families have a bigger picture in focus?

Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that––to the MAF people living and serving here––it isn’t about them, it’s about others. As they meet the people and see the needs, they respond with compassion. And they stay.

Bound for Africa

Posted on: October 3rd, 2011 by MAF |

Follow some of our newest MAF members, Nick and Jocelyn Frey, as they relocate from Canada to Kinshasa, Africa. Three days of travel, 11 bags of luggage, and one chaotic baggage claim area.

Hop on over to their blog, Following the Way, for the full story.

A Day In The Life of an MAF pilot in Mozambique, Africa

Posted on: September 26th, 2011 by MAF |

From delivering the MozMed doctor team to a remote village to conducting wildlife surveys, it’s all part of a day in the life of … an MAF pilot in Mozambique, Africa.

[Piloto – Portuguese word for pilot]

Warren Veal, Program Manager for the MAF Mozambique program, recounts some key flights recently.

• A flight to Derre in the Zambezia province of Mozambique with the visiting parents of a New Tribes missionary. These parents came all the way from Australia to visit their daughter and family. It was a pleasure to provide transportation to this remote location.

• A flight to Blantyre, Malawi, to help Good News for Africa missionary to get two of his children to the orthodontist there.

• A flight to deliver an airplane mechanic from South Africa out to the Niassa Reserve along the border of Tanzania to do maintenance on the Reserve’s ultra-light plane.

• Many flights to Tupuito with Dr. Pim and Dr. Ida, the MozMed doctor team. We fly them out for five days of clinics and then back every other week. Dr. Pim sees around 500 people a month; Dr. Ida (a dentist) sees around 200.

• Many flights for Kenmare, the titanium mine that helps fund the MozMed project, flying company personnel in and out.

• Wildlife survey flights to count wild game and ensure that numbers are increasing. A growing wildlife population means a better source of food for the people, while improving the local and national economy through game reserves.

After 12 years of serving with MAF, Warren and his wife, Julie, say that it’s not just about flying airplanes. “It’s not even about serving missionaries and church workers. It’s about people, and being Christ to those He brings across our path, whether they’re passengers in our airplane, airport officials, or the man selling veggies at our car window. We praise God for the many ways He allows us to use the airplane for His glory in Mozambique, but we are even more grateful for the opportunity to simply be Christ where He has placed us.”

Testimony of Tears

Posted on: August 25th, 2011 by Natalie Holsten | 2 Comments

I hate goodbyes. Especially the goodbye-we-probably-won’t-see-you-again-this-side-of-heaven variety with a little (ok, a lot) of blubbering and crying thrown in.

Last month we said that kind of awful goodbye to our home of almost 10 years in Tarakan, Indonesia, as we departed for furlough and an eventual move to the MAF base in Papua.

In the weeks leading up to our departure, I anticipated the goodbye being hard. We allowed our roots to sink deep in Tarakan, and I knew it would be painful to leave. I figured I would shed some tears (on top of the normal ridiculous amount I cry; I cry like I sweat – involuntarily and profusely). But I was not prepared for the depth of emotion that swept over me as I said goodbye to friends.

And I was also not prepared for the outpouring of emotion from my Indonesian friends. On the morning of our departure a group of neighbors came over for one last hug.

My neighbor clung tightly to me. “You can’t leave us,” she choked out as I stroked her hair.

Her elderly grandmother chided her softly, “Ibu isn’t dead, she’s only moving to Papua!” And we laughed through our tears.

Later at the airport a group of friends gathered for one last farewell. A few, per local custom, brought parting gifts – a beaded necklace, photographs, a jeweled brooch.

Our longtime house helper Orpa wrapped her arms around me, and with tears in her big brown eyes said, “Ibu, you were the first person who really loved me.” I want to cry right now, just remembering that moment.

But as difficult as the goodbyes were, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My tears, my heartache at leaving beloved friends, are a testimony to God’s faithfulness in giving me a love for the people he called us to serve.

Blessings for Free

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011 by Christine Harms |

Sometimes, the cost of living overseas is hard to quantify––and then there’s this. A bologna loaf cost me 99 cents in the U.S. In Haiti, it’s 90 goud, which is about $2.25. That’s about representative of the kind of prices we pay around here, depending on the item.

We have it pretty good as MAF missionaries, financially. Our pool system of support raising keeps the IRS happy and keeps the missionaries happy, because it allows the organization to adjust our pay depending on the cost of living in each country where we serve. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the best one I’ve heard of so far.

But some things are still out of my reach. I look with longing at the artichoke hearts. I sigh as I pass the soy milk. I groan at the price of granola. And yet, I’ve been munching on fresh pineapple all week, and Haitian avocados are just coming back into season. Fresh limes are coming down from the villages too, and I had so many mangoes falling from my trees last month that I finally started giving them away.

The cost of living overseas impacts us in all areas of life, but God always gives us reasons to be grateful … and the best of His blessings are still free!