Mission Aviation Fellowship May 2017
The magazine of MAF South Africa
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3D Printing in War Torn South Sudan
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A True Light in the Dark for a Remote Tribe
MAF South Africa
From the CEO As you read the stories about how MAF is helping to transform lives across the world please remember that we are able to do this work because of people like you, who have given generously and prayed continuously. So often we are asked how our work is funded and people are amazed to hear that most of the time it is by individuals who give sacrificially. Many times, we think that our little contribution is too small to make a difference but I am always reminded of the stories in the bible of people who gave out of their little. God always multiplies and the impact is even more than we could have imagined! The needs of the world are great. Sometimes it seems impossible to help everyone all of the time, but when we step out, the Lord takes our effort and He multiplies the effect. We might not see that impact now on earth but one day in Heaven we will and that is where it counts. There’s a story that tells of a boy standing on a beach surrounded by thousands of beached starfish. He’s picking up one at a time and throwing each back in the ocean. A man watching says, “What are you doing? Look at all the thousands of starfish! Do you really think you can make a difference?” The boy picks up another starfish and tosses it into the water, then turns to the man and says, “It made a difference to that one.” We continue to thank the Lord for the work that He has called us to do and for you, our supporters, who continue to give and pray for this necessary work of being the hands and feet of Jesus to the most isolated people in the world. Maxine Holman CEO of MAFSA and Flying for Life
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Request an MAF Speaker to present at your church We are always excited to share the work of MAF with new people. Many people have never heard of MAF and those that have are always so pleased to hear the most recent stories. If you think your church would like us to present on a Sunday morning or evening, or at the church’s Home Cell Groups or youth groups, let us know by emailing: fundraising@mafsa.co.za or call the office on 011 659 2880 We will be glad to meet a member of the leadership before we present!
Tanzania On 25th January, MAF pilot Kirstein Combrink flew a medical transfer for two male patients from Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Mbulu to Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar Es Salaam. The flight took 2.5 hours which would have taken 16-20 hours by road. In 1977, we began a permanent programme in Dodoma to meet the needs of missionaries. Today, our focus is on medical and evangelistic ‘safaris’. National and missionary staff fly to remote villages to provide medical care, including antenatal and mother-and-child checks, and one-to-one evangelism. Main Base Arusha Programme Began 1977 Staff from SA The Combrinks Aircraft Three Cessna 206s
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MAF South Africa
3D Printing in War Torn South Sudan
Not Impossible Labs relies on MAF to reach Yida, South Sudan to continue their 3D printing project. On this trip they print 5 prosthetic limbs for community members who have lost their arms due to conflict, specifically bombings.
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magine a 3D printer creating prosthetic arms in the middle of a remote village in Africa. No, this isn’t a scene from a sci-fi movie. It is really happening in Yida, South Sudan thanks to Mick Ebeling and the team at Not Impossible Labs. Not Impossible Labs’ mission statement is to change the world through technology and story. Mick shares, “We look for things that people need on the planet, especially things that slant to where technology can help to solve the problems. Then we will come up with low cost, affordable, pragmatic solutions, make these available to people.” It’s not only prosthetics they create, that’s just one of many things they do. The team is working on a wide array of projects include helping the deaf, those with cerebral palsy and so on. Three years ago the team came to South Sudan with MAF and launched the world’s first 3D printing prosthetic laboratory. They flew to Yida, travelled to the Nuba Mountians in Sudan and worked alongside Dr Tom Catena, an American doctor and the only physician working in the area. These passgengers truly have to rely on
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MAF to transport them safely across the country, through war torn villages. Their first recipient was a fourteen year old boy named Daniel. Two years earlier, Daniel’s village was bombed. During the attack he hid behind a tree which saved his life, but he lost both of his arms in the bombing. He lost the ability to do so many things that a regular teenage boy should do. He was at such a low point in his life that he said he would have rather died than have lost both arms. In 2013 Mick travelled to Africa to print a prosthetic arm for him and after two long years, Daniel could finally feed himself again, throw a ball again, be a playful child again. Not only did they deploy a prosthetic arm for Daniel, but they provided 3D printing training to ten young men from the village. They gave them printers, laptops, and supplies to continue printing prosthetic arms after they were gone. Fast forward to the present, and you will find Mick and his team on a MAF flight from Juba up to Yida and back again to continue the work. Mick explains “Three years have passed and we have refined the prosthetic arm,
Daniel and Mick testing out the new
Not Impossible Labs travels to Yida
prosthetic arm.
we’ve made it better. The arm we can 3D print today has advanced dramatically in terms of what it can do, its functionality has improved greatly. But what is really advanced is that we have created a way for the arm to deploy, from nothing to a fully wearable arm, in less than four hours. Before it used to take 16 to 20 (or even more) hours, but that was only if electricity was consistent and if you didn’t lose any prints. Now we have cut out those factors that made it more challenging.” On this particular trip the team served people from both South Sudan and Sudan. There is a big need for prosthetics in Yida and Nuba Mountains. People in these locations are suffering from conflict, there is a high degree of amputation here. Hence there is a great need and a great yearning for deploying these prosthetics into refugee camps. Over the course of their time in Yida the team deployed five prosthetic arms. They also trained two guys from the Nuba Moutains and were able to send them back with additional arms for them to deploy.
One of the recipients this time was Saida. She lives with her husband, two sons and her daughter, along with her daughter’s husband and their two children. Saida is originally from Nuba and lost her arm many years ago due to the violence still plaguing her region today. Another one of the receipts was Abrahim, who comes from a very large family in the Nuba Mountains. Abrahim recently required an amputation which was performed by Dr Tom Catena, along with two anaesthesiologists Isaac and Mandi. What was encouraging to the team was the Isaac and Mandi are locals who were first trained by Not Impossible in 2013 and again in 2016 to deploy the prosthetics. Lesley from Not Impossible shares “It was quite serendipitous for everyone to meet again in this way!” The team also printed a new prosthetic for Daniel. It was a real honour for MAF to be able to fly the team. Imagine 3D printing prosthetics in the middle of Africa for amputees who need a new limb. What an innovative and advanced way to reach and transform isolated people.
Abrahim enjoying his new life.
Story by Photos By Karyn Ball MAF May 2017 53
MAF South Africa
Serving Orphans in Kenya Story and Photos by LuAnne Cadd
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ive-year-old Elizabeth lives in a remote village in the far northwest of Kenya, one of the most isolated regions of the country. The people from this dry desert area on the west side of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest alkaline lake, have repeatedly experienced severe drought and famine in recent years. Elizabeth lost her parents to HIV/AIDS. Her aunt could no longer care for her. Four-year-old Ilaar bears the same pain as Elizabeth, having lost both parents to disease. The two children recently joined four other new orphans at SERV International’s House of Hope orphanage based in the town of Lodwar, capital of Turkana County. In October SERV will bring five more children to the orphanage which began in 2008. By October they will have rescued and cared for 61 children. Beginnings In 2006, SERV’s founder Steve Kasha and another team member flew to Africa for the very first time. They were looking for what God would have them do. Two years later they opened an orphanage in Lodwar. In response to the region’s famine and drought, SERV started a large-scale feeding program that has now distributed over 12 million meals in Kenya while sharing Christ with those who had not yet heard the Gospel. “We’ve been flying with MAF since my very first trip, and that was 10 years 6 MAF May 2017 www.mafsa.co.za
ago,” Steve Kasha remembers. “The relationship that we formed with MAF is unbelievable, really.” At the end of August & early September this year, a team of 12 came to Lodwar to pick up the six children who would make their new home at House of Hope. Over the 11 days, they also distributed approximately 60,000 meals and shared Christ. The meals consist of 2.2-pound bags of dehydrated food. Sharing Jesus “We brought the Jesus film up here in May,” Steve adds, “and they’ve shown it in these remote villages about four times now. We have trained our staff on a new projector, and they are showing it twice this week. It’s already working. The word is getting around. The first time we showed it, we had about 80 people. Three days later we showed it again, and there were about 220 people and about 35 of them gave their lives to Christ.”
Five year old Elizabeth when we first met her
Through the work of SERV International – providing a home for orphans, feeding the hungry, and other projects such as clean water and safe shelter – the gospel is shared. “We’ve started seven churches now out in the bush and it keeps getting further and further out,” Steve says. “Some of those churches have planted churches and it just keeps on going. We share with whoever will listen.”
Ilaan, before he is brought to the House of Hope
Kenya: 5Y-EST by numbers for 2016
Uganda: 5X-SCO by numbers for 2016
South Sudan: 5Y-EST by numbers for 2016
100 flights
129 flights
61 flights
39 destinations
39 destinations
28 destinations
313.6 hours flown
499.9 hours flown
169.1 hours flown
894 passengers transported
1277 passengers
400 passengers transported
77 774 km flown
118 997 km flown
42 686 km flown
12 827 kg of cargo
7616 kg of cargo
24 646 kg of cargo
Being part of something bigger MAF South Africa is part of MAF International. We contributed two Cessna 208 aircraft, Esther and Scotty, to MAF Programmes in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan. They are flying hundreds of passengers and thousands of cargo to reach the isolated and be part of adventure, hope, transformation and rescue. God is using these aircraft to change lives. Find out more about their use. Go to www.mafsa.co.za/annual-report MAF May 2017 73
A True Light in the Dark for a Remote Tribe Story and Photos by LuAnne Cadd
L Gerhard and Brigitte Stamm take a MAF plane, a canoe, and trek to reach the Bikaru people deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea where some have now come to know Christ.
ight and darkness are generally synonymous with good and evil. But in the Bikaru tribe of Papua New Guinea (PNG) it has an interesting twist. At night the people hang lights under their huts built on stilts, believing this will ward off evil spirits wanting to kill them. Some in the small tribe have become believers in Jesus and turned off their lights. Nights have become darker as light has entered the hearts of a terrified people. It’s been two years since Gerhard and Brigitte Stamm, missionaries for 28 years with Liebenzell Mission, have visited the small people group of approximately 120, considered a dying tribe as numbers dwindle due to unusual superstitious beliefs. Reaching this tribe requires an expedition involving a flight, a canoe trip, and walking into an extremely remote area. By Plane As Michael DuPuis pilots the MAF Caravan heading toward the starting point at April River in the Sepik region, Gerhard’s excitement is tangible, his smile and exuberance infectious. He tells the story behind the white pith helmet he wears, adorned with a plume
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of black and red feathers, a humorous gift from a friend that is now his trademark attire. Mostly he talks of his excitement to go back to see the Bikaru people. “Without MAF we couldn’t do this,” Gerhard says. “In this Sepik area, there’s nothing else. We need MAF for the remote airstrips.” The Stamms worked for a time at April River and the village of Niksek where Gerhard says his ‘heart got stuck’. Once, he stood with an old missionary looking up at the mountains to the southwest and asked if people lived there. The missionary said no - only pigs and muruk (the PNG ostrich-like bird). “Years later,” Gerhard remembers, “I met two strange guys and they looked really unique. From that same spot I asked them, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘We are coming from these mountains,’ they said. David Attenborough made a documentary about their attempt to find the elusive Bikaru people but the expedition failed. Even the old colonial patrol officers didn’t manage to find them. The men invited me. It took us two days. So I met these people and they were so close to Stone Age. It was
Some of the older people from the tribe have found peace through Jesus for the killings and other terrible things that have haunted their sleep.
a thrill for me because it was always my dream to meet some people quite close to their origins.”
final trek to the village, the team arrived the same day they set out, grateful and wet.
That was 12 years ago. Samuel, Gerhard’s translator, had become a Christian through a New Tribes Mission ministry years before. One of the ‘Stone Age’ men, Daniel, came to the Lord near the end of that first visit and remains strong in Christ.
The Bikaru were once a strong warrior tribe with traditional enemies living down river and elsewhere. “The warriors are still there,” Gerhard says. “They can tell you how many they’ve killed.”
By Canoe and Walking Joining the Stamms on the journey was Peter Mathias, Bible School teacher and colleague, and Annika Schmalzhaf, daughter of a previous PNG missionary. The trip’s scheduled departure was delayed for lack of a working canoe engine, though the team eventually set out using an engine with a damaged propeller. The incessant rain for two days prior to departure caused the Niksek and Setifa rivers to swell. A high water level is preferred over an engine propeller stuck in mud, or hitting tree trunks and boulders. But the high water level also meant hiking across a mountain rather than following an easier path next to the river through a gorge. After engine breakdowns and repairs, wading across rivers, and the
On a visit six years ago, an older woman came to Brigitte saying she couldn’t sleep at night. She could see the faces of the people she had killed. Women fought with bow and arrows mostly, and later with axes. She couldn’t find peace and Brigitte led her to Christ. A few days later, Simo, an elderly man came to Gerhard. It was the woman’s husband, although he didn’t know this at the time. He told Gerhard he was a bad man, describing how he had killed many people, raped girls, mistreated women, and had killed people through witchcraft. Gerhard wasn’t impressed.
Gerhard and Brigitte Stamm, Peter Mathias, and Annika Schmalzhaf, fly to April River airstrip, piloted by Michael DuPuis, where they meet old friends from the village of Niksek
“I said, ‘Are you trying to show off? What do you want?’ He also saw the faces of the people he had killed. He said, ‘I want to come to Jesus. According to what you’ve said, he accepts me too.’ I said, ‘The door is MAF May 2017 93
Steve Eatwell flies over Rumginae A house at Bikaru
The group canoes up the Niksek and Setifa Rivers heading toward the Bikaru tribe. Philip, one of Gerhard’s first friends at Bikaru, with an audio Bible
open.’ We used an interpreter to make it clear. You should have seen him when we prayed together, how he walked out at this time. He was almost flying out, like a butterfly. This old man. You could see a burden was off him.” The elderly couple wanted to be baptized, so the local Christians from April River obliged and gave them new names: Gerhard and Brigitte. Freedom from Fear of the Dark On the previous visit to Bikaru, Gerhard had seen many discouraging and negative signs in the tribe. The young people had been drawn into the gold rush and influence from outside: immorality, pornography, alcohol, and drugs. They were not interested in coming to church, but the old people remained strong. “This time, the situation in the village was much better than at the previous visit,” Gerhard said. “The people came, young and old, to attend the many gatherings and all were very attentive.” The team had decided to bring Christmas to the people. After all, it was coming up on December, and 10 MAF May 2017 www.mafsa.co.za
these people understood more deeply than most cultures in the West about the darkness and evil that Christ came to destroy. Fear of demons and evil spirits is a terrifying reality for them but Gerhard taught them that the Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. “Fear not, for the Savior is born unto you today” – a perfect and appropriate message for the Bikaru people. For such people Jesus came into the world: to bring freedom from fear and the terror of the dark. “My old friend Daniel, like many of the old men and women, told me that he belonged to Jesus, that he clings to Him, and is not leaving Him. ‘I’ll see Him soon,’ he told me. ‘I am not afraid and I listen to His words every day on my solar powered audio Bible.’ These are moving moments, making up for all the hardships of the journey,” Gerhard described. “What a privilege to be an ambassador of Christ to bring people God’s offer of peace,” Gerhard says.
Thank you
Because of the generosity of our donors we have raised R60 000 for the Cessna 208 for Papua New Guinea. We are over 50% of the way to our target. We are so grateful for your support!
Smile
The FFL team report about their trip with their wonderful partners, Dr Moloi and Smile of Joy Story by Gabriella Szabo Photos by Anthony Churchyard
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he rain threatened to cancel our flight schedule for the day. We stood at Lanseria Airport waiting for the weather to improve. There was so much to be done. The Flying for Life team wondered about all the people in the Vhembe District of Limpopo who would be walking for hours to reach the clinic. They imagined them waiting, hopeful that the pain they experienced would be taken away. Toothache is something many of us can relate to. We live in a community where physical pain can be dealt with almost immediately. We can visit a dentist without much hassle. Even if the day is just too busy to sit in a dentist’s chair for an hour, the chemist down the road could supply us with a healthy dose of painkillers. For people who live in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, it is not as easy. Dentists are not readily available when you live in an isolated village. Chemists are too far to access. This flight meant that people could find some respite. An opportunity like this does not come every day. People across each village would make every effort to reach the clinic, no matter the cost. Clouds began to disperse, the rain lightened and smiles reappeared at take-off. This flight carried Dr Moloi,
a dentist who practices in Pretoria. We had organised with Makuya clinic in Limpopo to communicate with the surrounding villages about his visit. We also flew, Smile of Joy, who work with HIV infected and/or orphaned and vulnerable children to give them total oral health. They would be visiting the Disability Centre. We arrived later than expected. Forty people had come to the clinic. The long line included people of all ages. Some had travelled for two hours by foot, in pain, to reach Makuya. The examinations began. The hours past. Dr Moloi and his nurses continued without a break. In Limpopo, we have to make sure that the sun is still up for us to return home safely. It is too dangerous to take off in the dark. Especially with the chance of an animal crossing the airstrip. Every person who had come needed at least one extraction. The hours were passing and the sun was nearing the horizon. But Dr Moloi refused to let one leave without being seen. A few kilometres away from the clinic, the Disability Center that we have been working with for a few months was filled with the team from Smile of Joy. They were there to give a bright smile to each person. Twenty-Four disabled
people were able to experience their teeth being cleaned, some for the first time. Some of the people had infections. Some experienced their gums bleeding. Some needed an extraction. The team gently cared for each person and they showed it in every way possible. By the end of the day, each person in the disability centre received a report with a record of each person’s oral state. We find it normal to own a toothbrush. This is not the case for everyone. The team labled each toothbrush, and created holders that enabled them to remain clean and uncontaminated. The caregivers at the clinic, and the mothers were guided through how to maintain their child’s oral health. The sun was still shining by the time Dr Moloi saw his last patient. All forty people had been seen. The team were examples of living sacrifices and only God knows the impact that it has made on the lives of those who were served. At the end of the day the team boarded the plane, knowing they had given many people a smile.
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MAF South Africa
Skip tuck for Dad this Father’s Day and help fuel the life saving work of MAF! Buy a R20 Jerry Can Key Ring for Dad and help Esther and Scotty, our two Cessnas, fly in Kenya and South Sudan. R500 helps cover the cost of fuel for an MAF aircraft for 20 minutes. No matter how big or small your donation is - every cent counts! And it’s the same with Dad. He appreciates every gift you give him, no matter the size! We’ll visit your Church Youth Group for a fun filled evening for Father’s Day! Email fundraising@mafsa.co.za to check out how to get involved. Buy your Jerry Can at www.mafsa.co.za/shop
Mission Aviation Fellowship is an international Christian organisation whose mission is to fly light aircraft, and to use other technologies to bring help and hope to people in some of the world’s poorest communities. Every three minutes a MAF plane is taking off or landing somewhere in the world to assist missions, churches, aid and development agencies, and other local groups to transform lives and share the love of God. Operating 140 light aircraft, MAF’s pastor-pilots fly to roughly 1800 remote destinations. Whether landing in deserts or jungles, on lakes, rivers, tracks or roads, MAF planes transport essential medical care, food, water, relief teams, and church workers to those in desperate need. MAF is flying for life. 12 MAF May 2017 www.mafsa.co.za
MAF South Africa
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