Thank you for making it possible for MAF to respond to the people of Mozambique in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. We’re grateful for your partnership! Our crew has been busy on the ground and in the air these past few days.

Members of the MAF Mozambique team and disaster response (DR) staff, continue to do aerial survey flights for the many government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) joining the relief efforts. World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, World Food Program, and Red Cross are just a few that have arrived on the scene.

“A week ago today when we arrived in Beira there were only a dozen or so people,” reports MAF’s Jill Holmes. “Today, there are hundreds involved in the response. At this morning’s briefing meeting they announced that the UN has classified this response as a system-wide response, meaning it is their top priority crisis.”

One of the main roads between Beira and Chimoio is now open, and some aid can be moved by road and boat. But aircraft are still needed for areas that remain unreachable by road.

MAF is transporting food, as well as tents and “family kits,” while partner Mercy Air continues to do food drops of high-energy biscuits from their helicopter.

Rick Emenaker, a member of the MAF DR team, accompanied Mercy Air on one of its flights. He reports seeing a small camp set up at a farm on the north bank of the river. But on the south side, people were cut off.

Rick learned that the farm had lost 45 of its workers in the flooding. “They have been using a boat to rescue people and deliver aid, and today was the first day the boat was able to access the south side. One lady with a newborn baby had been stuck on the south.

“The farmers are anxious to get seed because they believe if they can plant within the next two weeks (still rainy season), they can still get a crop and prevent further food security issues in the future,” added Rick.

MAF’s ability to be there for people suffering because of Cyclone Idai is only possible because of generous donors like you. We can’t thank you enough!

Here are the flights you made possible through March 24:

MAF Flights
MAF flights: 31
Flight hours: 26.8
Passengers: 107

MAF-Assisted Mercy Air Flights
Mercy Air flights: 22
Flight hours: 16.5
Passengers: 67

Here’s a quick update on our team in Papua, Indonesia and the clean-up efforts there.

People are starting to dig out after the floods and landslides that devastated many in Sentani, Papua. The city water system is down and MAF has been taking a truck around with a 1,100-liter water tank, filling up containers and storage tanks for our local employees and their neighbors as well as for different mission agencies and the local church. We’ve also passed out several Filter of Hope water filters at various locations around Sentani.

Many of our local staff have been helping others dig out homes that have been buried, in some cases with over four feet of sand and mud! This is being done completely by hand and is a painstaking process.

There is a big need for cooking fuel and MAF staff members have been working on getting and distributing that. In the meantime, MAF has supplied about 100 liters of AVTUR (jet fuel) that can also be used in stoves.

Here’s how you can be praying for our staff and those affected by these natural disasters:

• [In Mozambique] Cholera and other diseases are starting to be a concern. Please pray that the people in the area will be protected.
• Pray that people will be able to plant soon to prevent long-term food insecurity.
• Pray that people won’t have to be long in temporary camps or shelters but will be able to return to their homes soon.
• Pray for the fortitude of our teams (in both locations).
• Pray for the local staff families in Sentani, some of whom experienced a great deal of trauma.
• Pray that the hearts of unbelievers will be drawn to Christ through the outpouring of love and help being shown by the body of Christ.

Thank you for your partnership with us to bring help and the love of Jesus to those who have lost so much. We appreciate you!

The post Bringing Hope to the Suffering appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Rick Emenaker of the MAF Disaster Response Team reports that the storm did damage, but flooding is the bigger concern.  At least another meter (three feet) of rain is anticipated to fall in the next couple days (18-19 March), adding to the already devastating flooding.

On Saturday, 16 March, MAF did a survey flight and was able to help Mercy Air and INGC deliver two loads (1,400 kg) of rice and flour from Caia to Marromeu. INGC is the Mozambique government disaster response management agency, Instituto Nacional deGestao de Calamidades in Portuguese.

Sunday MAF picked up three INGC officials in Caia and flew them to Beira. A survey flight for INGCis planned for Monday. As the situation evolves, MAF will be working with INGC and other groups to determine how we can best assist.

Here is a situation report from the UN OCHA.

Please pray that the people in the affected areas will be protected from flooding and other danger, and that they will turn to Jesus through this crisis. Pray also for the injured and those who have lost loved ones. Please ask the Lord to protect our MAF team in Mozambique.

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According to Mike Brown, MAF program manager in Papua, “Roads are getting cleared, but there are long waits to go just a few miles. The death toll I’m hearing is between 50 and 80 right now, but that will probably be rising. We are getting reports that at least five of our national staff have had flood damage to their houses. Some with a couple feet of mud inside their homes. Several others with just a bit of water that started to come into that house.”

“Today was a great team effort by all the mission orgs and the national church here in Sentani,” said Mike. “It was awesome to see our staff and their kids jumping in and helping out in any way they could. A lot of people in the community received shelter and food in their time of need. Christ’s love was shown by our MAF team and the mission community as they served tirelessly from early morning to well into the evening.” 

MAF Disaster Response funds will be available to address some of the immediate needs that the MAF team and community are facing.

MAF’s Linda Ringenberg wrote, “There are around 300 or so refugees who have been staying at the school gym since last night, and many more who have been staying at the Wycliffe complex where we hold church. Both areas have been quite busy today caring for the wounded, giving clothes to those who needed them and feeding them breakfast, lunch and dinner … The government, churches, and even local restaurants all were at the school today evaluating needs and bringing boxes of donated clothing, food, and other supplies for the people. Many of these people have lost loved ones, and tonight our school official has authorized the authorities to bring up the bodies of those who have been found from the local neighborhood to have a wake tonight and a mass funeral service tomorrow before they are buried. It is very sobering to see so much loss and sorrow.”

Prayer Requests

• Pray that God would comfort the hearts of all who have lost not only their homes, but their loved ones.
• Pray that God would be glorified as He fills and works through his servants who are providing aid.
• Pray for the whole disaster relief effort to run smoothly, even though there really isn’t one leader, but many working together to care for the needs of these people.
• Pray for the neighboring town of Doyo, where the Adventist Aviation complex is located. Most of their complex and runway and hangar are completely destroyed and many people on that complex lost their homes.

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MOUNT HAGEN, Papua New Guinea – Feb. 27, 2018 — Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has mobilized its disaster response team to provide assistance following a devastating earthquake in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Monday morning, Feb. 26, the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) experienced a 7.5 earthquake that caused many landslides and damaged roads, structures, power lines and communication systems. The ground continues to shake from powerful aftershocks.

Mission Aviation Fellowship and its associated ministry, Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship (CRMF), have been serving the people of PNG since the early 1950s from bases at Mt. Hagen, Goroka, Kawito, Kiunga (Rumginae), Madang, Tari, Wewak, and Telefomin/Tabubil. MAF operates flight services to remote and isolated communities, while CRMF provides radio communication, computing, solar lighting, digital audio bibles and other technology services.

Following the quake, MAF has received many requests for medical evacuation flights. MAF has also been doing fly-overs to check on remote communities, and on Tuesday, Feb. 28, carried PNG disaster officials on an extensive aerial survey.

While telephones are not working in many places, the CRMF’s radio network is still up and running and people can use it to call for medical assistance. The MAF/CRMF team is also passing along information about problems such as damaged air strips, road closures, and damage to clinics, schools and other important buildings.

MAF’s 150 staff in PNG are safe. Some MAF facilities and houses experienced minor damage, such as broken dishes and damage to water systems.

Mission Aviation Fellowship is a global family of organizations that uses aviation and technology to share the gospel and make life better for people in remote parts of the Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. In times of crisis, MAF’s disaster response team can mobilize quickly so that aid gets to those in need. Most recently, MAF has responded to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean, Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, and earthquakes that devastated Nepal in 2015.

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ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Sept. 21, 2017

Hurricane Maria has ripped apart homes and caused destruction across Dominica, Barbuda, and other islands already reeling from the effects of Hurricane Irma earlier this month. As families in the Caribbean struggle to recover, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has staff on the ground and in the air providing assistance.

“MAF is working with Samaritan’s Purse (SP) to survey the needs and bring help to the islands that have been torn apart by hurricanes Maria and Irma,” said John Woodberry, global manager of disaster response for MAF.

“On Wednesday we flew an MAF airplane to Dominica and so much there has been destroyed. About 75 percent of the houses are missing roofs. Dominica has mountains and rivers which caused horrendous flash flooding as Hurricane Maria passed over, so I saw warehouses that were just obliterated,” Woodberry said. “People were pulling things out of the rubble. Everything is chaotic.”

At the airport in Dominica, the team met Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of Dominica, who asked for assistance for his country at this critical time.

Mission Aviation Fellowship www.maf.org is a Christian mission and aid organization that uses airplanes and other technologies to reach the most isolated places of the world with God’s love. Disaster response is one of MAF’s areas of expertise. In times of crisis, the organization’s experienced personnel provide air transportation, communication systems, and logistics support so that disaster response teams can effectively aid the suffering.

MAF staff have been providing logistics support at a staging area established by SP in Puerto Rico. A second MAF team had been working out of Sint Maarten with an airplane to provide aerial surveys of hurricane damage from Hurricane Irma and meet other needs. Following Hurricane Maria, that team Wednesday moved its base to Antigua and Thursday completed an aerial survey of damage to Barbuda, and worked on repairing generators in Barbuda.

According to Woodberry, a crew from SP is expected to arrive in Dominica with relief supplies within the next day or so, though much is in flux. SP will provide tarps for shelter, as well as food, water purification units, hygiene kits, and other supplies.

MAF is also planning to deploy a GATR satellite communication system to Dominica to help get communications up and running on the island.

Mission Aviation Fellowship—a global family of organizations—operates a fleet of some 130 airplanes across Africa, Asia, Eurasia, and Latin America. Since 1945, MAF has enabled the work of churches, relief organizations, missionaries, medical teams, development agencies, and others working to share God’s love and make life better for those who live in the most isolated parts of the world. In recent years, MAF has responded to disasters in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew, in Nepal following two deadly earthquakes in 2015, and in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

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MAF disaster response staff are on the ground in St. Maarten, an island nation in the Caribbean that has been devastated by Hurricane Irma. They are assessing the situation to determine how MAF can use its aviation and communication services to best help those in need. An airplane from MAF-Suriname is headed to St. Maarten to join the relief efforts aiding islands in the area.

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KUTACANE, Indonesia — A massive mudslide occurred on Wednesday, April 12, at 6:00 a.m. in the district of Kutacane on the island of Sumatra, about a 1.5 hour flight from Banda Aceh, where an MAF base is located.

MAF’s Aceh program conducted a flight for a group from Banda Aceh that is aiming to provide temporary shelters as well as a kitchen in order to feed people who have evacuated their homes. This NGO is doing assessments to determine how they can recruit workers to help the people of Kutacane.

Corey Kirkwood, MAF’s manager in Aceh, reports, “Initial estimates were that roughly 400-500 homes were either destroyed totally or sustained significant damage. As of Friday afternoon, that count had risen to 657 homes. Most of the homes that were damaged significantly are made of wood. There are roughly 2,700 people currently homeless and finding refuge wherever they can … Four churches were destroyed and one mosque. Up to this point, three people have been found dead.

“There are significant challenges being faced in clean up. There are portions of town where the elevation has literally changed. Some villages are now close to 10 feet higher than they were. Some homes are buried up to the roof. Where does one start when everything in the village is buried to that extent? That is not everywhere but it is in a few locations. Other villages are primarily flooded with debris, which is less complex. Another challenge is that new sources of water have popped up all over. Because the mountain naturally has many streams of water flowing, those have since been moved and now water is flowing in the middle of town.”

MAF is maintaining communication with those organizing aid efforts and is providing subsidized flights for relief organizations.

Corey said, “The truth is, there needs to be a lot of people there with shovels and earthmovers right now. The road from Medan to Kutacane is completely covered in mud and is not usable. What would normally be a six-hour drive has now become about 25 hours as they are forced to use another route.”

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Time after time I was amazed at the team’s level of thought that had gone into being prepared for some of the worst imaginable scenarios. We went through the various “go kits” that allow someone to get out the door quickly with the necessities for basic living and to organize a response as soon as feet hit the ground. I was able to receive some hands-on experience with the communications equipment available to keep a response moving forward when cellular towers and internet service is down. We examined past responses and how partnerships were formed, chaos was turned into order, and amazing things were accomplished. We also discussed what lessons were learned so that things could be improved upon for the next time. Always there was the caveat: just because something worked a certain way in one situation does not mean it will work that way in the next. Because of this, the Disaster Response team has gone far beyond the motto, “Always Be Prepared,” and stressed the importance of always being flexible. In day-to-day life, we like to have a Plan B, but in disaster response one must be okay with moving on to Plan C, Plan D, etc. I learned that it is not always about having the right answers, but being able to ask the right questions and change course as necessary.

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Priorities for Prayer

• Monday, October 31

  We as Christ-followers are participating in His unshakable kingdom! Give praise and heartfelt thanks to the Grace Giver for making this possible for us.

• Tuesday, November 1

  MAF expects relief flights in Haiti to increase this week, as US military helicopters that were delivering cargo withdrew last week. Pray for extra wisdom and protection as the MAF staff work to help those in need. The scheduled elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been canceled until 2018 by the president. Please pray for peace. Militias continue to bring violence and insecurity to the area.

• Wednesday, November 2

  Pray for the health of the MAF Papua team. There has been a lot of sickness including bouts of malaria, dengue, and other viruses in the recent weeks.

• Thursday, November 3

  The Aviation Training department in Nampa, ID, has a number of back-to-back Technical Evaluations during this season. Pray for wisdom for the training instructors and for the ability of those being evaluated to perform to their best.

• Friday, November 4

  The MAF affliliate in Suriname has recently applied for an Air Operators Certificate. Please pray that the AOC will be issued soon.

• Saturday,November 5

  In Mozambique there is a new flying doctor project in the Niassa Reserve. Pray for the logistics to work out, and for funding to sustain the ministry. Pray for people to be open to receiving the love of Christ through the medical team.

• Sunday,November 6

  Praise the Lord for the 5,000 Tok Pisin Bibles MAF PNG has been able to distribute in remote areas this year. Please pray that each Bible will bring about change in the communities they were sent to. Please also pray for the ability to source more Bibles in order to fill the continuing demand.

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