Imagine this: you’re a missionary living in a remote jungle village, relaxing as you comfortably read a book at night. Suddenly the power goes out, robbing you of your joy and instantly plunging your world into complete and utter darkness. Of course, there are no streetlights, so your surroundings have been entirely swallowed up by the blackest blackness you’ve ever known.

Disorientation sets in, and your ability to see clearly and regain your bearings has been reduced to exactly zero. In times like this, the darkness can almost feel like a physical force, threatening to smother you within the void as you try to make your way. Perhaps you begin to feel lost, alone, or even afraid.

Sometimes life can be like this. Things are going great just before sudden darkness descends. A loved one becomes sick. A relationship fractures. A job is lost. A dream shatters. The light, hope, and comfort you’ve been walking in gets snuffed out, leaving you fumbling about in confusion and despair, grasping for answers. How is this happening? Where do I go from here? Why would God ever allow this?

Jesus walked a similar, albeit even more difficult path. In the final hours of His crucifixion, He was thrust into the most profound darkness of His life: complete separation from the Father. The brilliant illumination of Their perfect communion winked out the instant He took on the weight of our sin. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He cried from the cross (Matthew 27:46). From His perspective, the Creator had turned His back on Him in the hour of His greatest suffering.

Sometimes all hope appears lost. We might feel as if God Himself has abandoned us in the dark night of the soul to fend for ourselves. We cry into the silence, suffocating in the sense that we are both forgotten and forsaken.

But your darkness is not The End. Likewise, we as believers know that Jesus’ sacrifice and death are not the end of His story. We know that Sunday is coming. There is hope because Jesus overcomes death and darkness, and someday we will live with Him forever.

Whatever you might be facing today, God’s plan for you is always good. Ask Him to renew your perspective, to reveal how He is working even in the silence and shadows.

We know that the Lord loves us with an everlasting love, and He showed us how much by sending His son to die for us. So if you’re in the dark at the moment, I pray that it’s only temporary, just as Jesus’ unbearable darkness was temporary. 

Hold on, because Sunday is coming!

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An airstrip overhaul reestablishes a vital lifeline for a remote African village

As he stood at the edge of the abandoned airstrip at Gwendjé in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), MAF pilot Stephen Hale imagined what it had once been and what it would take to reopen it.

“The forest had overgrown the airstrip. The trees at the end were incredibly tall; it just looked very daunting. The amount of work required would be significant,” said Stephen.

Forty years ago Gwendjé (aka Ngwenzé), was a thriving mission hub, with a hospital, a Bible school, and a bustling airstrip. Political instability in the 90s caused many missionaries to leave the country, and the strip soon fell into disrepair as Gwendjé became increasingly isolated and neglected.

When missionary Jay Shafto with the International Mission Board (IMB) first visited Gwendjé in 2017, reaching the village required a commercial flight combined with a grueling five-hour drive on deteriorating roads. After experiencing two incidents on the treacherous route, Jay was inspired to make a change. He spoke to village leaders and proposed working alongside MAF to revitalize the abandoned airstrip.

The Power of Helping Hands

Moved by his vision of a brighter future, the Gwendjé villagers spent two years rehabilitating the airstrip.

Jay continued to visit regularly and shared photos with MAF, along with detailed progress reports of the various improvements taking place.    

The obstacles were numerous. The Gwendjé people faced constant delays due to the global pandemic and fuel shortages in the DRC. Some in the local community were adamantly opposed to having a missionary presence in the area again.

It was slow going and at times discouraging, but the villagers didn’t give up. Their persistence was soon rewarded when MAF sent Stephen Hale to help Jay assess the airstrip.

Reset and Rewind

After a six-hour delay, Jay and Stephen and two Congolese pastors and a missionary took off on a commercial flight from Kinshasa to Gemena, DRC. Upon their arrival, they discovered that torrential rainstorms had washed out the “good” road to Gwendjé, making it utterly impassible; they had to take a backroad. After five hours of non-stop bouncing and jostling over terrible road conditions, the men finally arrived.

As Stephen and Jay inspected the airstrip on Sunday, they became increasingly worried. It was supposed to be ready for an MAF flight arriving in two days, but it wasn’t finished by a long shot.

“Oh boy,” Stephen said, recalling his initial assessment of the area. “The surface was not flat; it was pockmarked with holes and uneven areas of overgrowth.”

The ground was too soft, the landing strip too short, and entire sections were littered with footpaths or covered in patches of tall grass.

They gathered the community and explained the gravity of the situation. Banding together, the village got to work. Men cut down grass and rolled barrels—weighed down with water—to pack the earth until it was firm. Women filled soft spots and ruts with a mixture of crushed termite mounds, rocks, and crushed bricks. Children used the village’s one wheelbarrow to move dirt and rocks.

Even with the villagers’ enthusiastic help, both men knew it would take a miracle for the strip to be ready in time.

Obstacles at home

Meanwhile, back at the MAF hangar in Kinshasa, the pilots and mechanics were encountering their own roadblocks.

The airplane that was needed to pick up Stephen from Gwendjé on Tuesday was having mechanical issues. It took two days before the team found a solution.

While these problems were happening, the Kinshasa team considered calling off the flight and having Stephen take a commercial flight home. But there was no cell service in Gwendjé so they couldn’t reach him.

Without the ability to communicate with each other, both groups—those working on the plane in Kinshasa, and those working on the airstrip—were racing the clock to finish. Only God knew how it would turn out. 

Stephen described the dedication of the villagers to complete the work. “They were literally running into the forest to get more material. People were really moving with pep in their step,” Stephen said, smiling. “It was very moving, seeing the entire community come out to help.”

From Vision to Reality

Through everyone’s hard work, by Wednesday afternoon the new airstrip was restored to its former glory. Elation erupted in the village when the residents first spotted the MAF airplane overhead. Gwendjé’s connection to the outside world had been reestablished. After being isolated and completely cut off for decades, a reliable lifeline to medicine, education, and transportation, as well as continued discipleship by visiting pastors had been firmly launched through MAF once again.

Today, Gwendjé’s formerly forsaken airstrip stands as a testimony to the power of partnership in overcoming vast distances. And for a nearly forgotten community, it means the world.

“MAF is already in contact with other partners to plan further trips to the area,” Stephen said. “We experienced opposition and obstacles, but God overcame it all. We don’t know the full extent of the ways that He is going to work in this area, but we are thankful to get to be a small part of it.”

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