Here at Zobia, MSF operates a clinic to combat sleeping sickness. Among its symptoms are fever, disruption of the sleep cycle, paralysis, neurological problems, and death. It’s a terrible illness, and the work MSF is doing here is saving lives. Running a base like this in the middle of nowhere involves a lot of logistical challenges. MSF has been using a system for basic email and phone calls over satellite to communicate with the outside world. The VSAT dish I will install here will give them broadband Internet access—right here in the jungle.

Unfortunately, we discover that some of the pieces to the dish did not get shipped to Zobia. I’ll be stuck here for four days. Worse still, MSF will have to wait a couple more weeks for their VSAT. Not wanting to make the trip a total loss, I decide to walk down to the clinic to get a firsthand glimpse of the work they’re doing.

At the clinic there are several patients. They happily agree to let me photograph them. They’ll each spend about a week and a half here in one of the small common area treatment rooms. However, they’ll eventually return home well, thanks to the work MSF is doing here.

To learn how you can join with MAF to bring medical help where it’s needed most, visit www.maf.org/gt.

The post Sleeping Sickness in the Congo appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

I say “paradoxically” and “recently reoccupied” because a decade ago it was the site of inter-tribal clashes that left many casualties, and forced MAF to make a long-term evacuation to Uganda. We only started basing staff there again a few months ago. Today rebel militias are getting closer to Nyankunde. Conflict wrapped in tranquility—a good picture of Congo.

Yet, this is a place where we serve. Having an MAF presence there again encourages the local church and community. Seeing the airplane come and go shows them we’re in this together.

Last month we installed a VSAT and antenna systems to provide Internet service to the hospital staff and missionaries living at Nyankunde. In an area where even phone coverage is sketchy, the Congolese and expats I talked to were all so grateful for the improved communications opportunities. I’m sure it will really help in their work.

In a way it’s another kind of paradox to see Information Age technology in a part of the world that still lacks the things Westerners would consider basic necessities. It’s really cool to see, though, and it’s neat to think I got to play a small part in the work that is going on here by connecting these workers to the world!

The post The New VSAT in Nyankunde appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Then, I became an IT specialist with MAF.

In this ministry you don’t always know what is waiting around the corner. One month you might get to fly over elephants and buffalo, or past an active volcano in eastern Congo. The next month you might work on a satellite dish in the middle of the Ituri rain forest, and take a hike with pygmies while you’re there. Another time in the year you might find yourself at a conference on the Kenyan coast. You might even find yourself in Kampala, Uganda…flushing a toilet on the Equator.

I know all these things don’t really matter. After all, our main purpose as missionaries—as Christians—is to glorify God, and point people to Him. God used my love of technology and desire to serve to draw me to Congo. However, when the day-to-day challenges and struggles that come with living and working in this part of the world become overwhelming, the joy that comes from occasionally living out some of my little childhood dreams is one of the ways God keeps me here.

Now, I’ve yet to make it to all seven continents, go to space, ride in a submarine, or live in a Swiss Family Robinson-style tree house, but you can’t do everything all at once! For the moment, I’m enjoying serving God where he has me—eastern Africa—and living out a few other dreams in the process.

The post Oh, The Places You’ll Go appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Last week in Bunia we changed over from our old satellite provider to our new MAF service. In addition to improving our Internet connectivity, it was a chance to share some knowledge with a couple of Congolese technicians. Sabato is an intern I recently hired to help out with the day-to-day IT work. He studied IT at UCBC (the bilingual Christian university in Beni), and has had some experience working for NGOs in town. The other guy who helped out that day was Eddy, who just finished up an IT program at Uganda Christian University. These guys both have some good IT knowledge, but had never worked with a VSAT system before. We had a few problems with the transition, so they really got a chance to learn through troubleshooting. It was great to have their help, because much of the work required more than one person; even that which didn’t went faster––many hands makes light work, as they say.

With more VSATs to change over to our new service in the coming weeks, new installations on the horizon, and other IT projects pending, it will continue to be important to have good help with the IT ministry! What better way to do it than by training Congolese technicians?

The post Installing VSAT Systems in Africa appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

In MAF’s eastern D.R. Congo program we are starting to make the transition to an “electronic flight bag” system, which will leverage technology to reduce the pilots’ paper load, and centralize information flow. While we’re just in the early stages of the project, the idea is that the process will work something like this:

Each of our pilots has an iPad. Flight documents are generated by our flight scheduler using Wingman, a flight operations planning tool developed by MAF. These documents are stored in a shared folder on our server. Additional documents including manuals, airport strip charts, airstrip photos, and other important references are available in electronic form.

In the morning before a pilot takes off on his first flight he connects to the wireless network with his iPad, and synchronizes it with the file server. In mere seconds he has all the flight documents he needs for the day. He taps a link, and pulls up the latest weather satellite photos. Maybe he even fires off a last-minute email before heading to the plane.

Throughout the day, all the flight documents are filled out electronically. Signatures are captured by signing on the iPad touchscreen with a finger or stylus. If an airstrip chart needs to be updated, a proposed change can be annotated in the document. If the plane has a mechanical problem, the pilot can type in a search term and quickly find the relevant section of the manual.

At the end of the day the pilot connects his iPad to the wireless network, and syncs again. All the completed documents are sent to the server where everyone who needs to work with them has access, and where they will be backed up.

You might be wondering what the point is in all this. Well, it’s our hope that by implementing new information technologies–wireless networks, servers, databases, and iPads—our operations will become more streamlined and efficient. With the electronic flight bag system in place pilots will spend less time doing paperwork, information will be more easily accessible, and records will be stored securely. It will also free up a bit of weight and space in the cockpit. Ultimately we hope it helps us to better serve the partners we fly, and the people of Congo.

The post Information Management for Aviators appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Here in Congo, linguists serving with SIL International (a field partner of Wycliffe Bible Translators) are working with local churches to promote Bible translation, literacy, Scripture use, and local language development. However, these Western missionaries aren’t the ones doing the actual translation work. Rather, they are training and facilitating the work of Congolese translators.

“My department specifically supports the Université Shalom de Bunia’s Bible Translation degree program by focusing on writing systems for languages represented by current and prospective students in that program,” said Kent Rasmussen, Linguistics Consultant. “We also work with other Congolese who show themselves willing and available for this work. As was said in our Resolution for Sustainable Movement at our last international conference, ‘We want to position SIL in each context for contribution to sustainable, locally driven movements for Bible translation and language development.’”

The Bible translation office in Bunia is just one of the many clients who use MAF’s across-town wireless network to access the Internet. I’ve also had a chance to help them out with a variety of IT issues. For this team, Internet access and IT support mean more than just being able to check email and browse the web.

“IT is necessary for every phase of our work, from administration and planning to teaching and translating,” said MaryAnne Augustin, head of the Language Research and Development Department. “Owen has stepped in a few times to trouble-shoot our office network, individual computers, and our battery back-up system. Because of our staffing shortage, he’s almost the only locally available IT support we have.”

As SIL continues to train and develop local linguists, the need for technology will continue to grow. In the past, translation was either done by a single highly trained linguist, assisted by one or two members of the community, or with large numbers of community members using pencil and paper. This is not the case today: on today’s mission field, IT has become a game changer that’s allowing translation teams to spread God’s word more quickly and effectively.

“We are developing ways of working with newer tools, which both lower the bar of entrance to computer use, but also allow a broader collaboration for workers in a single project,” said Rasmussen. “The result is that each team member can contribute from his place of work, see other team members’ contributions, and have a continually up-to-date copy of all project files. This is particularly important as teams become geographically separated… All of these new tools involve heavy correspondence and collaboration with developers in other countries, which would not be possible without the MAF internet connection.”

The post Technical Tools To Equip Bible Translators appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

When I met Victor he was tearing into an Outback power inverter—a piece of equipment which converts battery power into AC power. Evidently the box had sustained some damage from a lightning strike, which is not surprising since Congo is the lightning capital of the world. He seemed a bit dismayed by the whole ordeal.

“We just had the same thing happen to two Outbacks in Bunia,” I explained. Just the day before I’d helped remove a damaged unit from the wall in MAF’s office. There had been a big storm, and one of the pilots who lives near the office lost his inverter too.

“You are like an angel to me!” said Victor, his face lighting up a little. “I’m so glad to know I am not the only one dealing with this problem.”
We spoke a bit about his plans and challenges doing IT for the university. One of the problems he faced was a difficulty configuring a certain piece of equipment. We were out of time for the day, so we agreed to meet the following week at my office in Bunia.

Victor came up the following Thursday. For the next several days I had an opportunity to work with him and answer some of his questions. He earned the distinction of becoming our first over-night house guest here in Congo, and stayed a total of four nights with our family. Aside from the technical discussions, we talked about culture, family, food, and many other things. Victor has a real understanding of his country, his call to serve, and the ministry of UCBC, which is working to bring Christian values back into education in Congo. He will have more influence on Congo than I ever will, but it is great to partner with him, and make him more effective in the work he is doing! Partnership is what MAF is about: nationals ministering in their communities, MAF partnering with nationals, donors partnering with MAF—each of us working together to transform the world for Christ.

The post Partners in Congo appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Here in Bunia, MAF provides Internet access to a number of missionaries, humanitarian organizations, and churches through a wireless network connected to our satellite Internet system. To connect clients to our system we put up a pole in their compound with a WIFI antenna on top that communicates with our base station antennas. In this way we are able to provide critical communication opportunities to homes and offices which are scattered across the town. The ability to communicate is paramount to the doctors, pastors, pilots, and aid workers ministering here in Congo, and I’m thankful I can serve them with my IT skills.

Yesterday I needed to go to a client’s house to troubleshoot a connectivity problem. The cable that ran from the antenna to the house had been damaged. Water had been leaking down through the inside jacket into the house and had actually shorted out the antenna’s power supply. Both the power supply and cable needed to be replaced.

The adventure began when one of our Congolese staff members picked me up to take me to the house.  I don’t speak much French or Swahili, and he doesn’t speak much French, so when we ended up going to the wrong place initially it was quite the circus. After two phone calls, conversations with three different people, and five minutes of driving around (there are no street signs or house numbers here) we finally made it.

Well, after the guard ran next door to borrow a tall enough ladder, we shimmied up the steep tin roof.  It crackled noisily beneath our feet as we tried desperately not to fall off; the conduit crashed to the roof; when we put it back up the antenna was facing the wrong way; and we had to fire up a generator just to test the power supply because the house had no power. Not so simple. In the end the client was happy to be back on the network, and I got a great story to tell about doing IT for MAF in Congo.

The post Congo IT Adventures appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

My wife Stephanie and I felt called to missions, but we didn’t know how we would be able to serve. Neither of us was trained or experienced as a teacher, pastor, church planter, or other “typical” missionary occupation. My schooling, military training, and work experience involved working with computers, networks, and radios. Stephanie was enjoying being a mom. How could we serve? A little searching on Google led us to MAF’s website.

MAF flies doctors, missionaries, humanitarian workers, and teachers to parts of the world they might otherwise never reach. Have you ever stopped to think about the needs these workers have once they get there? Doctors need to research diseases and treatments. Bible translators need to submit their translation work for review. Humanitarian workers need to submit supply requests. Teachers need access to teaching material. These workers get lonely, and miss talking to friends and family back home. Often the resources we take for granted every day are not available on the mission field.

This is where MAF steps in with IT as a ministry. We provide tools like satellite Internet access, consulting, and technical support, which allow all these ministries to carry out their work more effectively. With communications technology in place, these workers can order supplies, conduct research, collaborate on projects, access online learning resources, and stay in contact with loved ones more easily than ever before. As with the airplane, the technology MAF uses is overcoming barriers and bringing new ways to teach, serve, and communicate to the ends of the earth.

The post IT as a Ministry? appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

The cost of attending the school was very expensive for Alex and his family, and it appeared that he would not be able to complete his program. Through one of the MAF wives, the man in charge of MAF’s IT programs in Africa learned of Alex’s predicament and contacted him with a proposition:  MAF would pay for his second year of schooling if he would agree to work for MAF’s East DRC program when he graduated.

For the last year and a half Alex has been working for MAF in Bunia as an IT Technician. His day to day tasks include troubleshooting network and computer problems, keeping our partners connected to our network, doing system maintenance, and installing anti-virus software. He has assisted with the installation of four VSAT satellite Internet systems in eastern DRC, and recently performed his first solo installation. He is a great asset to MAF’s ministry in Congo, and has a passion for the work we are doing.

“We are glad to serve, and we are glad to bring tools like VSAT Internet that give people access to the outside world,” he recently told me. “Being part of MAF technology…I wake up every morning and say, ‘No matter how hard it is, I’m going to do it!’”

One of the ways MAF seeks to minister is through training and development of the nationals where we serve. It’s clear to me that Alex is one of the success stories! I look forward to working with him once again in a few months, and teaching him what I know about IT. I also look forward to what he will teach me . . . about the culture, languages, and serving God in Congo.

The post Capacity Building in D.R. Congo appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.