Flightwatch 2015, Vol 3

A Publication of Mission Aviation Fellowship 2015 Vol 3

Hope for the Oppressed

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from the

PRESIDENT’S DESK

a publication of

Mission Aviation Fellowship

Our Mission

Dear Friends, “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.” —Psalm 146:7 Our Lord cares deeply for those who are hurting. And if we claim to follow Him, how can we not love those whom He loves?

At the core of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is a desire to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to places it has never been—to people the world might consider the least of these. Fulfilling this mission often leads us—and could lead you—into contact with people like the severely mistreated Pygmies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the victims of the tragic earthquake in Nepal.

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

Managing Editor: Tracey Werre Production Manager: Jackie Heilman Art Director: Colby Dees Writers/Resourcing: Chris Burgess Jennifer Wolf EVERY GIFT YOU SEND, every prayer you offer for MAF, helps change lives through aviation and technology.

We enjoy hearing from you!

You will read in this edition of FlightWatch accounts of how you are helping bring the love of Jesus Christ to people who need it most. It is my wish that as you read, you will be struck by the real impact you are having in the lives of people around the world.

Please send comments and

Because of you, MAF can follow the Lord and love those whom He loves— the oppressed, the hungry, the forgotten. If you feel so led, I ask that you consider a gift so MAF can continue reaching people in desperate need of the freedom that only comes from our Lord.

Nampa, ID 83653-0047

Thank you for your continued partnership with MAF. Thank you for having a passion to reach the isolated with Christ’s love. We absolutely could not do it without you.

For His Glory,

John C. Boyd President and CEO

questions to MAF-US@maf.org.

MAF PO Box 47 208-498-0800 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623) maf.org MAF maintains the highest standards of financial accountability and public disclosure to donors, the government, and the world at large. MAF is a member of ... Accord™ (formerly AERDO) • CSC Christian Service Charities • ECFA Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability • IAMA International Association of Missionary Aviation • Missio Nexus.

All Scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

On the Cover: Pygmies have long been mistreated, but that is changing, thanks to a fighter, a university, and MAF. Photo by Agung Fauzi of Seize The Day Photography.

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Hope in the Aftermath Reaching Nepal’s remote villages

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n April 25, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal, killing over 8,000 people. The capital city of Kathmandu was devastated, but that damage paled to what was sustained in remote areas of the country.

The small village of Tenchet was particularly hard-hit.

When the earthquake struck, a landslide sent all 23 homes of Tenchet over a mountain abyss. By some miracle, only four of the 105 people of this village lost their lives.

Those who survived, however, lost everything.

As news of the earthquake spread, the international community responded quickly in a massive relief effort. Yet upon reaching Nepal, many aid workers found themselves unable to get to people in areas cut off from help due to impassable roads.

“Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were standing by ready to help—fully equipped with supplies and personnel, but lacking one significant element: transportation,” said Dave Forney, one of the first members of the MAF Disaster Response team to arrive in Nepal. “The villages tucked into the deepest mountain canyons, on the edges of the steepest slopes, and on the peaks of the highest ridges—these are some of the hardest-hit villages.”

Within days of the initial quake, MAF staff arrived in Nepal to evaluate the situation and determine how to best help. MAF chartered the use of two Airbus helicopters along with experienced pilots, and began coordinating flights into isolated mountain areas. As soon as MAF had this service set up, relief groups began lining up for flights.

“When I received the call that MAF had arrived, it was a game changer for us,” said Diego Traverso, director of special projects for Operation Blessing International (OBI). “We hadn’t been able to reach so many communities. Thanks to you guys, we have been able to get to communities that hadn’t been reached with medicine, clean water, clothes, and food supplies; so this is amazing.”

Christ’s love during this tragedy.

Villages similar to Tenchet received food and aid because of the people who are giving to this effort.

“What MAF does is help agencies serve—bring help and hope to remote areas—places you can’t get by truck. We help them go to where the needs are. That is what we uniquely bring to these situations.” said John Woodberry, MAF Disaster Response coordinator.

“Without those helicopters, we could not reach those villages,” said Jerry Clewett, technical director of United Mission to Nepal. “Without the helicopters, those villages would have nothing.”

Tremors and more earthquakes continued to rock Nepal during the relief effort—a 7.3 and a 6.7 earthquake each struck within two weeks after the initial quake.

Despite continued challenges faced in the country, MAF supporters made it possible to share Jesus

After multiple earthquakes struck Nepal, MAF was ready to help. Photo by Dave Forney.

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Fighting for the Forgotten Pygmies With MAF’s help, an American fighter works to free an enslaved people

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fter carrying a 120-pound bag of charcoal attached to a strap wrapped around her forehead through the jungle for three miles, the woman held out her hand to receive her wages, her food for the day—a small square of goat fur. One man worked a grueling 10-plus hours in exchange for two small minnows.

For the Mbuti Pygmies living deep in the Ituri rain forest of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), these are real examples of how they’re being exploited by their “masters,” the Mokpala (non-Pygmy Congolese). Forced into slavery, the Pygmies farm the very land that rightfully belongs to them. They are often treated as second-class citizens, and many in the DRC believe the Pygmies are half animal.

They call themselves the “Forgotten People.” But they’re not forgotten.

God is making sure of that.

A Champion for the Pygmy People In the USA, mixed martial artist (MMA) Justin Wren wanted nothing more than to become an

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter. He won several Texas state championships, was a two-time national champion, and competed in season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. But his success in the ring only masked his depression and addiction.

He hit rock bottom right around the same time a friend invited him to attend a Christian men’s retreat in 2010. Uncharacteristically, he accepted. It was there that he met Christ … and his life was forever changed.

Wren went on a short-term mission trip where he encountered the Pygmies and realized they had no one to help them. He developed a vision to buy their land back and dig wells in their villages—and ultimately to set them free.

It was a grand scheme, one that Wren couldn’t accomplish alone.

Fortunately, God brought him together with members of Shalom University of Bunia. Working together, Wren and Shalom have acquired over 2,400 acres of land in 10 different Pygmy villages and successfully completed 14 wells.

The Pygmies call Justin Wren “Eféosa”—the man who loves us. Photo by Agung Fauzi of Seize The Day Photography.

The Pygmies are learning how to grow their own food on their own land—plantains, corn, and beans.

They’re also transplanting trees to bring new growth to the forest, and a coffee project has recently been started. Being responsible for their own land and food production means they are no longer under the oppression of the Mokpala.

But the work has not been without setbacks.

In November 2013, Wren contracted a bad case of malaria.

After six days of fever, vomiting, and not eating, he had lost 30 pounds and was near death.

MAF was called to perform an emergency medevac, and on Thanksgiving Day flew Wren to Entebbe, Uganda, to a waiting ambulance. Doctors discovered he had typhoid fever and malaria; 70 percent of his bloodstream contained parasites. Had he waited another day, or even hours, he could have been in a coma … or worse.

“They said I had blackwater fever, the end stages of malaria. I don’t

know of an airline, or any pilot, who would just drop everything on Thanksgiving Day … I owe you guys a lot.”

After recuperating, Wren returned to the DRC to continue the work, and found himself in need of MAF once again. While transporting the final pieces of a well through the jungle in 4x4 vehicles, Wren and his fellow workers encountered a washed-out bridge. The bridge was the only way to reach the Pygmy village.

“We couldn’t get the final pieces to our well drillers that were completing a well,” said Wren. “And if they wouldn’t have finished it, the hole could have started collapsing.”

Two weeks’ worth of labor would have been lost.

Redoing the well would have meant paying the well drillers’ wages again and feeding them for an additional two weeks. But fortunately, MAF was able to help.

“MAF pilots flew us over the broken bridge and into the jungle!” said Wren.

The Path to Victory Wren returned to the U.S. in November 2014 but plans to continue fighting for the Pygmies—both from the States and in the DRC. (He visited the DRC again this past May.) Shalom staff and students continue to monitor the work in the villages and have been handling the day-to-day logistics. They’re also trying to mobilize local churches to conduct Bible studies in the forest areas.

While all of the above are positive steps, the road to freedom for the Pygmies will not be an easy one.

Raising and selling their own crops means they’re free to blow their earnings on things like hemp and alcohol, by which the Pygmies are also enslaved. For them to truly be free, they need to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they will be free indeed.

And MAF will be in Wren and Shalom’s corner every step of the way, ready to support them in this fight.

Justin Wren (center right) and Benjamin Liringa of Shalom (center left) are helping Pygmies in the Ituri rain forest regain their freedom. Photo by Agung Fauzi of Seize The Day Photography.

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TECH CORNER

GATR Ball

How an inflatable can impact a disaster response effort

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t looks like an eight-foot beach ball. But when a disaster strikes—like an earthquake or typhoon— this inflatable device is much handier than its simpler cousin.

In fact, it can be a game changer.

When a major disaster occurs, like Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines or the 2010 Haiti earthquake, communications are one of the first things disrupted.

A loss of telephone and Internet access can cause the aftermath following a disaster to go from bad to worse.

That’s where the GATR (Ground Antenna Transmitter and Receiver) comes in. It is essentially a portable, inflatable satellite dish. Many MAF field programs use rigid satellite dishes to provide Internet access in remote areas. The problem with a rigid dish is that it is not easily transportable. The GATR is stored in three small footlockers and can be deployed around the world and quickly assembled at a moment’s notice.

Thanks to very generous donations from Wickenburg Bible Fellowship in Wickenburg, Arizona, and GATR Technologies, the company that makes this product of the same name, MAF now has a GATR, which is stored at headquarters and ready to be sent to a disaster site as the need arises.

BE A VOICE FOR ISOLATED PEOPLE. maf.org/advocate

Photo by Paul O’Brien.

In layman’s terms, when the GATR is inflated, a fabric stretches across the inside of the ball. This fabric serves as the dish that sends and receives the signal from an orbital satellite. Electronics that accompany the ball turn that signal into usable Internet access. And it can be set up virtually anywhere, in about 30 minutes.

“The great thing is that we could provide 100 people with Internet access,” said Laura Hibberd, a member of the MAF Disaster Response team. That means communications abilities for MAF but also the capacity to enable the efforts of partners like Food for the Hungry International, Samaritan’s Purse, and Baptist Global Response. “It is huge to be able to offer that to partners in a disaster response situation.”

Most importantly, the GATR is another way MAF can share Christ’s love with people in need.

“The GATR allows MAF to be one of the first on the scene to reenable communications,” said Laura, “and that is a great help for victims and responders.”

CHANGE LIVES THROUGH WORKPLACE GIVING. maf.org/workplace

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NEWS BRIEFS

MAF and Lightspeed

MAF has been selected as a finalist in Lightspeed Aviation Foundation’s Pilot’s Choice Awards. This is a wonderful opportunity to earn a grant of up to $10,000, which will fund flights that share Christ’s love with isolated people around the world. You can help! Grants are awarded based on the number of online votes each finalist receives.

So, please VOTE for MAF at maf.org/lightspeed, and tell your friends to vote too. Thank you!

and they got to work the next day.

The Cannons and Ogasto made a few other stops in the floatplane to encourage pastors in riverside villages. MAF is dedicated to supporting these Indonesian pastors who are living in difficult and spiritually dark areas, trying to share the Gospel.

A Job Well Done

Sean and Rebecca Cannon heading to Tumbang Tohan with a local pastor, Pendeta Rony. Photo by Sean Cannon. visited with the local pastor and other leaders of the community.

Sean let them know they needed to clear trees from the riverbanks,

• For the people of Nepal who are still recovering from the devastation caused by multiple earthquakes.

• That the work among the Pygmies in eastern DRC will transform lives as the Gospel is shared.

Survey Trip

For years the people of Tumbang Tohan in Kalimantan, Indonesia, have asked MAF to come to their community. So in the spring, MAF pilot Sean Cannon, his wife, Rebecca, and Ogasto, an MAF employee, conducted a survey for a new water landing site. To get to the village, the group flew to the nearest water strip, then took a motorized canoe three hours upstream. While there, they

Join us in prayer ...

MAF’s John Gorenflo (left) shown here with Avuta Simeon.

Photo by Marilyn Gorenflo.

A longtime MAF employee in the DRC, Avuta Simeon, has been offered a new opportunity to use his IT skills with one of MAF’s partner organizations, IMA World Health. Avuta says, “MAF has been a blessing to me and developed my spiritual and technical framework through the leadership of different program managers. I really thank them.”

In his new role, Avuta will still interact with MAF’s IT staff, so it’s not goodbye. We appreciate his commitment to MAF and hard work through the years, and wish him God’s best in his new position.

• To praise God for certificates for MAF to operate in Liberia, and for continued progress toward the opening of a program in Myanmar.

• For the Indonesian pastors who live along Central Kalimantan’s rivers on the island of Borneo, that their message of hope would be accepted.

“Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.”

—Hebrews 13:18 (NIV)