Yakona - The Joy in the Airplane’s First Landing
We both had the privilege of taking part in a first landing at Yakona airstrip. The community have been building this airstrip for over 30 years and finally they saw the plane come in and bring God’s Word to this remote community!
Eliptamin Women’s Conference
The Women’s Conference in Eliptamin at the end of June was a wonderful experience. I praised God with bush women from 14 language groups and, with help from some friends, gave out education, encouragement and “Days for Girls” Sanitary kits to 100 young women.
A Pilots’ Start to the Day
It’s 5.45am on a flying day, before he even has breakfast Ryan has logged on to check the weather forecast for the day ahead. Koda is also trying to make the most of Ryan being at home wanting snuggles and to play. But Ryan only has a few minutes to spare whilst he gets ready to fly through some of the most challenging terrain in the world…
September Cole Communiqué
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Sharing about our work in PNG
Our time in the UK and Canada has been very busy but a real blessing. If you were unable to hear us share about our work, here is a video of one of our presentations.
We’re back in PNG!
It was an emotional journey, but we made it on 4 flights and we’re in Mt Hagen, where MAF’s HQ is. Thank you so much to everyone who spotted our urgent call for prayer, God answered, we made it all the way with all 7 of our suitcases!!!
Farewell Canada…
This evening we start our long journey back home to PNG. We take off out of Calgary just before 8pm and are due to arrive in Mt Hagen late Monday night Alberta time, which will be Tuesday lunchtime, PNG time, after 4 flights! We can’t wait to get home!
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July 2021 Newsletter
Our July Newsletter has been in inboxes for a week, but here is a link to it and our video Newsletter, in case you don’t personally receive it yet…
Vanimo Base Visit
Shiv did her first ever Base Visit to Vanimo, on the north coast of PNG, about an hour’s flight from Telefomin.
New Neighbours!
We spent a lot of May preparing the house next door for our new neighbours, so it’s great to have them here!
Munbil
Munbil is a village with its own airstrip and some Missionaries who work for “New Tribes Mission” on a Bible Translation and literacy project. Ryan recently has a flight in there where he took in a new Community Health Worker (CHW) and brought out a couple of people who had to go to hospital, they were unwell but not emergencies…
More Telefomin Rainbows!
Ok, so I (Shiv) do a lot of blog posts about rainbows, but they really are quite spectacular here in our home of Telefomin!
Sadly, our cameras will never fully capture for you, the beauty that our eyes can see. You will just have to come visit us and see for yourselves! Or click on this blog post for a peek…
Books for Bak Primary School
In our Easter Newsletter, we included a story about Mr Donifry, the Principle of Bak Primary School. Ryan also took a video of his short interview with Mr Donifrey, so we thought we’d upload it for anyone who may be interested to “meet” this bush-man who has a vision to improve his community at the grass-roots level through education of the children!
By supporting our work with MAF you are enabling books and teachers to reach some of the world’s most isolated communities so their children have a chance at a decent education! Thank you.
2021 Marks 70 Years of MAF in PNG!
The first flight of an MAF aircraft happened in May 1951, 70 years ago next month! We had planned many celebrations to mark such a milestone, but sadly COVID has gotten in the way. But we will still be doing some celebrations via social media and news outlets in PNG to remind this country, which we are privileged to serve, just how long we have been here for…
Training Ground Staff in Telefomin
Last week was super busy as we hosted 7 members of the Ground Operations Department (Shiv’s new/old department) who came to Telefomin to do some refresher training. Everyone had previously passed each course they were receiving a refresher in, but to squeeze 5 courses into just 1 week was quite a challenge for Nawi. Shiv even took an hour of their time to share a devotion and explain the latest PNG COVID prevention measures.
Everyone passed each of their courses, so the week was a great success, even if it was very busy!
Telefomin’s Ambulance
Last month a helicopter lifted a new Ambulance into Telefomin. Previously, the closest thing that the Telefomin hospital had to an ambulance was a flat-bed truck. Although the vehicle, pictured, is not what you might imagine in the UK/Canada, for PNG this is a fit-for-purpose Ambulance, complete with stretcher, oxygen, 4-wheel drive capability, siren and flashing lights.
Ryan took these photos on the day he brought in a Medevac patient, the first time the ambulance was used for it’s true purpose.
Washing the Balus
Even when he’s on the ground and not flying, Ryan is busy.
Although Mondays are his “office” day, he doesn’t usually spend more than a few hours sitting at his desk doing paperwork and emails. His aircraft (Balus) has to have its engine washed once a week to keep it in good working order. This takes about an hour or so, with the help of our trusty Traffic Officer, Steven, pictured.
Today he also climbed up the tree next to our water tanks to chop its top off again.
Last flying before Christmas…
On their last flying day before Christmas, Ryan and his fellow pilot Mathias, stopped to pose for us in front of their airplanes!
Click on the picture, left, to watch a video of our friend, Nurse Rhema, one of the local health care workers who MAF supports and we fly out of Telefomin.