My phone buzzes at 5:27 a.m. on a Saturday morning. As the on-call pilot, I knew this could happen, but sometimes we go all weekend without a Code 1 medical emergency call.

The flight follower, Pokello, tells me of a 16-year-old expectant mother whose labor is stalled, and the baby is in distress. The flight will be from Manamaneng to the district hospital in Thaba Tseka.

I inhale some coffee and my wife’s delicious cinnamon twists, and head to the airport to preflight the plane. I take off and touch down in Manamaneng just before 8 a.m. The young mother in labor and nurse Puseletso walk toward the plane. One look at the fear and pain on the girl’s face shows the seriousness of the situation.

I strap them into their seats, run through my checklists, and quickly say a prayer before we take off.

The flight to Thaba Tseka usually takes 15 minutes, but considering the girl’s suffering and the possibility of a birth enroute, I choose to fly the aircraft at maximum continuous power. Ten minutes later, we land and taxi to the waiting ambulance. The ambulance will take the girl directly to the OR for a C-Section. Mission accomplished!

After dropping nurse Puseletso off at Manamaneng, I make the 40-minute return flight to our base at Maseru. The aircraft is refueled and put back in the hangar.

As we depart, Pokello makes a joke about how we might meet again. I am home 20 minutes when the phone rings. It’s Pokello again! A critical patient needs a flight from the district hospital in Qachas Nek to Maseru for more advanced treatment.

Our friend, Tebello, who lives at our home and is also a private pilot, jumps at the chance to come along on the flight. I am glad to bring along someone who is familiar with aircraft and  a native Sesotho speaker.

Just before noon, we lift off from Maseru enroute to Qachas Nek. The joy on Tebello’s face as she serves as autopilot is unmistakable! I retake the controls for the landing.

My phone is ringing as I shut down the plane. Who could it be? You guessed it…Pokello! He has another Code 1 for me. A newborn baby in distress needs to get to the district hospital at Qachas Nek. The mother and baby are at Lebakeng, a 10-minute flight (but 5-hour drive) away.

Change of plans! We put the original patient at Qachas Nek on hold, fly to Lebakeng and collect the mother and baby, and bring them to Qachas Nek.

Despite a strong crosswind at Lebakeng, by God’s grace we have a stable approach and a smooth landing. It’s only 1 p.m. but already this is feeling like a full day.  

The baby needs oxygen, and fortunately our portable oxygen bottle is on board. After securing the bottle to the floor of the aircraft and loading the mother and baby, we are off again, back to the district hospital at Qachas Nek. Though we do not have a nurse onboard, the attentive mother constantly adjusts the oxygen canula to make sure it is flowing to her tiny newborn. Sometimes Code 1 flights bring great joy, and this is one, as I see the love in the eyes of this mother for her child.

Arriving overhead Qacha, the windsocks tell me to set up for a “downhill” landing. On final approach, I realize the wind has shifted and my groundspeed is over my briefed limit. Time for a go around! I power up, climb out, and land from the other direction. Everything is within limits, and we touch down smoothly. The “ambulance”—a truck with a canopy—is waiting to pick up baby and mom and give us the original Code 1 for evacuation to Maseru.

The patient from Qacha has ingested a poison and is semi-conscious, requiring a stretcher and oxygen. To load the patient, I reconfigure the aircraft by removing two seats and installing the stretcher.

Tebello, speaking Sesotho, helps coordinate the loading of the patient along with the attending nurse and a porter, while I secure seats, stow bags, hang an IV drip, route oxygen lines, secure tie downs for the stretcher, calculate weight, estimate takeoff distance, and complete checklists.

Just before I start the engine, Tebello prays in Sesotho for the patient and for our flight. After the pressure of all the preparation, I feel a wave of peace and gratefulness as we level off at cruise altitude with the beautiful green mountains sliding by underneath. I look back to see the patient sleeping peacefully. After a few minutes of mental rest, it’s time to regain my focus and prepare for my eighth landing of the day. It’s just under a one-hour flight by the time my plane comes to a stop at Maseru, and then the patient is loaded onto the ambulance.

As the siren of the ambulance fades into afternoon traffic, we get to work; the day is not yet done! Pokello, Tebello, and I prepare the aircraft again for another possible Code 1 by fueling and cleaning it. As we depart the hangar for our homes, I joke with Pokello that he is not allowed to predict another Code 1! And he doesn’t. About 3:30 that afternoon I arrive home with Tebello to a late lunch.

It was a full day of bringing help, hope, and healing through aviation to isolated people. I am tired, but joyful to be part of an organization that allows me to use my gifts and talents in a tangible way to share the love of Jesus Christ with the people of Lesotho.

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Educating the whole child in remote Papuan villages

By Linda Ringenberg 

Ibu Liza and I carefully picked our way around muddy patches of ground as we headed from the Siloam Clinic toward the Lantern of Hope School in the remote Papuan village of Nalca. Ibu Liza (Ibu means Mrs. in Indonesian but is used before the first name) works as our church relations representative in the MAF Sentani office. She joined our family on this trip to Nalca to see firsthand the life-saving work of Dr. Atik, a doctor from Jakarta who oversees the seven Siloam Clinics in interior Papua. Next, we were going to see their school in action.

We climbed the wooden stairs up onto a deck that extended outside of the elementary classrooms and peered through the chicken wire used to cover the open windows. Classes were decorated with brightly colored posters and drawings. The kindergarten students were sitting cross-legged in neat rows on a mat as their teacher spoke to them.

Entering the second-grade classroom to take some pictures, we observed numbers written in orderly columns on the white board. The teacher pointed to each succeeding number as the students chanted the name. Then, she did something different. She started pointing at numbers randomly, out of order, and calling on individual students to say the number’s name. The students answered flawlessly.

Joy and satisfaction welled up within me as we watched this scene unfold.

In most isolated villages there is not a viable school, and children do not receive an education at all. These teachers with Lantern of Hope Schools, or SLH (Pronounced Es-El-Ha), are changing all that for the children of Nalca, as well as the six other remote villages where there are sister SLH schools.

These students were also learning beyond the level of rote, or memorization. The regular schools teach mostly at this level only. These SLH students were being moved to the levels of understanding and correlation, or problem solving. They were being taught higher thinking skills, which will open up many more vocational opportunities for them.

I spied my husband Dave and son Ryan in the fourth-grade classroom. Ryan was sharing some encouragement with the children about school, and Dave taught them the English phrase, “school is cool!”

Ibu Liza and I continued on to the sixth-grade classroom where we presented each student with a children’s story Bible that had been donated by a Christian organization. One of these students, a girl named Klister (Klee-ster), wants to become a pilot. After class Ibu Liza sat down with Klister and another student and had them read to her from the book. I noticed that they read Indonesian very well.

SLH also teaches from a Biblical worldview and educates on hygiene and health care in addition to the regular subjects.

Later that afternoon, I walked with Dave and Ryan down the Nalca airstrip. The village children followed us, helping carry the supplies to install a cement base for the new metal windsock pole that MAF was providing for the village. Ryan mixed up the first batch of cement while Dave tried to get the kids to repeat the phrase “school is cool!” The children looked at us with big, shy eyes. Dave tried several more times, and finally Klister said in a loud voice, “School is cool!”

I told Dave that Klister wanted to be a pilot and he invited her to help mix the next batch of cement. Often the village children are very timid with outsiders, but Klister confidently set to work, helping with the whole process.

That evening we gathered together with the clinic and school staff. We enjoyed a delicious meal of nasi goreng (fried rice) and a worshipful time of singing before Dave shared from the Word of God. They were hungry for that kind of encouragement. What a blessing to be with these teachers and nurses to encourage them in the good, hard work that they are doing in a very isolated place. They are so thankful for MAF and the service we provide, helping them not feel so alone.

Siloam Clinics and Lantern of Hope Schools are one of MAF Papua’s priority partners. Not only do we fly in much of the materials to construct their buildings, but MAF also brings much-needed supplies to the seven villages where these schools and clinics are located. The teachers and nurses count on MAF to transport them to the city for their breaks. We are blessed to serve such dedicated individuals who sacrifice so much to make a difference for Christ in the lives of these isolated people.

This is the second of two stories by MAF missionary Linda Ringenberg on her family’s visit to Nalca in Papua, Indonesia. To read the previous story, visit A Faithful Doctor | MAF Story Hub. 

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Wano evangelist Liku takes the good news of Jesus to Puluk

By Natalie Holsten

In many ways, Liku lives the life of a typical Wano (WAH-no) man. He has a wife and children. He tends a garden of sweet potatoes. He walks the trails and shares stories by the fire.

He’s experienced the fear that comes from being enslaved to evil spirits and animistic traditions. But he also knows the true freedom that comes through faith in Jesus.

Liku, an evangelist and Bible teacher working in the Wano village of Puluk in Papua, Indonesia, is a bit of a poet, using examples from everyday life to express deep theological truths.

When the airstrip opened in his home base of Mokndoma in 2014, he wanted to illustrate to the MAF pilots what the airstrip meant to him.

So he smeared himself with dirt and told them the dirt was like sin. Then he held up a mirror and said it was like the Word of God that missionaries Tim and Mike gave them, making them aware of their sin. Then he pulled a shirt over his head and said it was like Jesus, covering his sin.

“God placed me into Christ, like me putting on this shirt. When God sees me, he doesn’t see my sin anymore,” he explained. He said the new airstrip would allow him and others to pass on the truth of the “mirror and shirt.”

Since then, he and others have done just that, traveling by MAF plane to carry the life-changing news of Jesus to other Wano villages, most recently to the hamlet of Puluk.

Liku knows how difficult the trail linking Puluk to Mokndoma is. He knows what climbing the mountains in a downpour is like, he knows the danger of crossing the vine bridges that span the river, and how challenging it can be to come to the bridge, only to find it’s been slashed by a neighboring tribe.

He also knows the difference the MAF plane makes, reducing the three-day trek to a 10-minute flight.

Liku, in his poetic way, describes it in Wano terms: “This airstrip is a trail. It can bring medicine. It brings Yahweh’s word.”

The people in Puluk were anxious for Bible teachers to come from Mokndoma and share the good news of Jesus with them. This motivated them to work on the airstrip, to get it safe enough for an MAF plane to land.

“It was by MAF that we were able to come here,” Liku shared. “They (people of Puluk) sent lots of letters asking for us to come and teach them. But how would we be able to bring our wives and children and hike this long distance? There is no way. As soon as the airstrip was complete, we were here within a week! So they are super grateful for the airstrip.”

In June of last year, MAF pilot Nathan Fagerlie flew Liku and two other Bible teachers, along with their families, into Puluk. They built houses there and settled into the full-time job of the chronological teaching of Creation to Christ.

The people of Puluk were hungry for God’s Word, and eagerly received what the teachers shared, with 78 people sharing clear testimonies of faith in Jesus. Now the body of believers is growing in their understanding of what it means to follow Him.

“They put their faith in Jesus,” Liku said. “So now it’s with great joy that they continue to learn. And we love living with them.”

The transforming power of the gospel is evident in the lives of the people in Puluk, Liku said, with many of them giving up the old ways, which involved appeasing evil spirits – be it how they planted their gardens, or how they reacted to a “bad omen.” They were bound in fear.

“All that they left behind them,” Liku said. “And now their lives are very new.”

Nathan, who frequently flies into Puluk, has heard testimonies from new believers there, including one man who used to call himself a “pastor” even though he realizes now he didn’t know the truth until hearing the teaching from Liku and the others.

Nathan shared, “He was giving his testimony and he said, ‘Look, I’m an old man. I’ve expected to die now for many, many years. But if I had died yesterday, I would have gone to hell. I know that now. But just like Simeon, just like God kept him alive to see the Christ, God kept me alive to hear His Word,’” Nathan shared.

The Puluk believers have been so impacted by the airstrip in their village that a group of them hiked over to Mokndoma to help do improvements on that airstrip, extending it so that the MAF Kodiak could carry out heavier loads.

“This airstrip is important,” Liku said. “If the airstrip is functional, God’s Word can go out super quickly. Medicine can quickly go out. And other supplies that are needed, can quickly be brought via the airplane. With this in mind, some of us from here left to go help our friends in Mokndoma work on the airstrip.”

Liku and the other teachers will continue to teach through the New Testament epistles, and there are plans for literacy workers to come to Puluk. Eventually they will identify the next generation of leaders and train them.

And if the call comes to go to a new place to teach, Liku is ready: “While I’m alive, I will continue to do my work.”

Meet Liku in this short video: Wistia

You can see Liku and the story of how the airstrip in Puluk opened in the MAF documentary ENDS OF THE EARTH. For streaming or purchase options, visit Ends of the Earth – Mission Aviation Fellowship (maf.org).

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Limpho (pronounced Dim po) is a baby girl who was born with a severe cleft lip. It was so extreme that it reached vertically up her right cheek, up to her eye. Her operation would not be a simple one—neither was getting the South African doctors to agree on where to start—Limpho’s lip or eye. Their indecision delayed the process and caused Hlalefang, the mother, to worry about her child even more. She wanted what was best for her daughter, so she could have a chance at a normal life.

The little Cessna 206 was glad she was able to help with some of those doctor visits, by taking Hlalefang and Limpho from their isolated mountain village of Bobete in the Thaba Tseka district of Lesotho to the capital of Maseru. And from there, the pair traveled the rest of the way by ambulance.

Finally, on April 8, 7P-CMH rejoiced to see mother and daughter approaching on the tarmac at Maseru. Ten months old now, Limpho’s face was bandaged and swollen, so CMH knew she had received the long-awaited life-changing surgery. The little airplane rejoiced that she was able to return mother and daughter home, where Limpho could continue to heal.

Every week, 7P-CMH travels into Lesotho’s mountains to retrieve patients and bring them to the capital city for further treatment, oftentimes saving a life—or in Limpho’s case, changing a life.

You can adopt this airplane through a one-time or monthly recurring gift. By partnering with MAF and 7P-CMH you will help change lives, like Limpho’s, and bring hope to Lesotho’s mountain communities.

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In March MAF’s Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMP had the wonderful privilege of flying for two New Testament dedications in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

9Q-CMP spent several days transporting church leaders and other guests to and from the villages of Todro and Isiro for the dedication ceremonies of the Bible being translated into the Logo and Mayogo languages.

The MAF East DRC program has supported the work of the Bible translators for many years—taking them into and out of these very remote places. Some of the MAF staff were able to attend the Logo celebration and said it was a true highlight, “for MAF… for God’s glory and Name!”

Now the Logo and Mayogo people will have God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their heart language. Think of the transformation that will happen in their lives because of this!

Did you know you can adopt 9Q-CMP through a one-time or monthly recurring gift? Your support of this airplane will help make flights like these possible and enable work that is making an eternal impact.

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“We are trying to reach the Koti people, and it is in their own language that they respond to the Gospel,” said the local translator working in Angoche, Mozambique.

Recently John Iseminger, of The Seed Company, was on MAF’s C9-AAL, a Cessna 206. The Seed Company is funding and managing the Bible translation program and John was traveling to Angoche to encourage the team, check on their progress, and make plans for the year ahead.

John has been working in Mozambique, overseeing the Koti translation work, for the last 20 years. While he doesn’t always get to fly with MAF, he appreciates it when he does. “It’s the best way to get around,” he explained. “It’s time efficient. It’s cost efficient.”

There was an unexpected benefit of MAF starting-up in the country shortly after John arrived there. He says trying to do a language survey and mapping out the area was difficult. “One of the questions that the mappers would ask us was, ‘Where’s the border? Where does this language group end and where does the other one start?’

“Well, all we had to do was get up in the air!” said John. “Flying has really helped to get perspective and see what people are living with and dealing with. You can’t see that stuff on the ground.”

John went on to say that the group should be done with the Koti-language New Testament in about two years.

While Bible translation is a long process, C9-AAL is happy to speed things along whenever she has the opportunity. By adopting this airplane you, too, can play a supporting role in flights like this and many others that bring hope to the people of Mozambique. All it takes is a one-time or monthly recurring gift to make C9-AAL part of your family.

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Lately, the MAF Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMO has sensed that her flights encompass the full cycle of life—from beginning to end. Two recent flights serve as examples of this.

MAF pilot Kevin Spann recently received his “checkout” in the Caravan, which means he can now fly the airplane solo and land at any number of airstrips throughout the vast country of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He says his checkout couldn’t have come at a better time.

Usually, flights are so long that a pilot will do one leg out and then one leg back per day. But on this particular day, Kevin fit in two complete flights—two polar opposites, as far as the reason for each flight.

The first one was to take the body of a recently deceased man, and his family, back to his home village. Several thousand people waited for the arrival of the airplane, ready to mourn for this man.

On the second flight, Kevin brought an MAF family out to the mission hospital in Vanga to get ready for the birth of their fourth child—the first MAF expat baby to be born in-country in 18 years. (It’s a girl, by the way!)

“It was an honor to pray with my passengers before takeoff on each trip, as they were going through a significant life event,” said Kevin.

Life is precious, and God has called MAF families and 9Q-CMO to serve people during many of life’s significant events—good or bad, happy or sad.

Would you like to help 9Q-CMO be there for Congolese people in their time of need? You can adopt this airplane with a one-time or monthly recurring gift and play a role in life events happening throughout the DRC.

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MAF KODIAK PK-MEA is very busy serving the people of Papua, Indonesia. Looking back at one of the MAF pilots’ flight logs shows a variety of ways she has served.

One day she was called for a medevac flight, to pick up a child in Nipsan village who had a piece of wood stuck in his eye. She flew to the village and whisked him away to get medical care. He has healed well after receiving medical treatment in Wamena.

In December she brought a Pioneers missionary couple back to the Nalca area where they had served for so many years before. They spent Christmas with the local churches there and encouraged the people in their Kingdom work.

PK-MEA also helped train one of the new MAF pilots so he could get “checked out” at the remote villages of Sumtamon, Paro, and Kenyam, which means the pilot can now fly by himself and safely land or takeoff at these three villages. The new pilot flew PK-MEA along with the chief pilot and together they tackled each day’s schedule, handling medical evacuations, church flights, or general community flights.

On another day the KODIAK took a load of building materials and food supplies to Soba. From there, she traveled to Obukain where she picked up a missionary family. Then there was a stop to pick up six adults and two babies at Welarek before the airplane continued on to Sentani.

Whew! As you can see, PK-MEA gets a lot done on any given day. From training pilots to helping people stay healthy to transporting missionaries, villagers, and basic necessities.

Did you know you can adopt this KODIAK with a one-time or monthly recurring gift? By doing so you’ll play an important role in sharing Christ’s love with the Papuan people through this airplane.

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Your adopted airplane, the Cessna 185 floatplane, PK-MCB or “Charlie Brown,” has not been doing anything particularly glamorous lately, but what he has been doing is necessary in order to be an effective and safe ministry tool. And while he may not have enjoyed it too much, a major inspection was in order.

Charlie Brown’s wings were opened up and ailerons were removed (the flaps on the rear of the wings). Special attention was paid to the cabin area, the fuselage. Even his tail area with its pulleys and cables got a checkup.

The control cables were replaced. These connect the pilot’s steering yoke to the actual control surfaces on the airplane. And a patch of corrosion was fixed. This involved cutting out a section of the “skin” of the airplane and patching it up with a brand new skin. The team changed out the engine starter and even gave Charlie Brown a brand new pilot’s seat!

While time consuming and detailed work, it’s crucial to keeping him in the best shape possible. So when the emergency call comes or a pastor wants to reach a village that needs to hear about Jesus, Charlie Brown will be ready to go.

Along with the all of this maintenance work, the floating hangar had to get ready for a major government inspection. The Palangkaraya hangar is in the process of being registered as a private MAF water base, or airport, for float planes. This will enable MAF to meet government regulations and allow flights from this base well into the future.

So whether it’s maintaining the airplanes, or ensuring that the hangar meets all the necessary requirements, your support is a huge help.Thank you for adopting and caring for Charlie Brown, so he can carry hope to the people of Central Kalimantan.

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How is it possible that I did the following?

• Spent three days and nights with the Lesotho Flying Pastors as they hiked out to remote villages to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
• Experienced MAF flights in a small Cessna 206, including one Code-1 medical flight for a baby boy with an intestinal blockage.
• Visited the new MAF Lesotho Patient House to see how MAF staff are caring for the patients they’ve flown from the mountain villages and who are receiving care in Maseru.
• Enjoyed morning devotions with the entire MAF Lesotho team before the start of work.
• Got to know our local and expat staff and felt I was part of an extended MAF family.
• Went mountain biking around Maseru with one of our pilots.
• Experienced what life is like for the MAF missionaries and saw firsthand all the daily stressors they face.
• Saw the hearts of the MAF staff to reach the Basotho (the people of Lesotho) with the hope of the gospel and new life in Christ.

My purpose in spending time at the Lesotho program was to gather stories and do interviews, along with my co-worker, Lem Malabuyo, MAF’s video producer. Over the next several months we’ll be putting together stories and videos about how your partnership is making a difference in the lives of the Basotho. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, I’ll be writing a series of blog posts about our experiences—some comical, some sweet, and some holy moments as well. I hope it will help sear those memories into my brain, so I’ll never forget amazing Lesotho.

To follow along on my weekend trip with the Lesotho Flying Pastors, click here.

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