Day 8, Monday - the first day in the new office!

All the staff had to travel to Kajjansi for the first time today. A large convoy of cars were organised to collect all the staff from the main road near to the old office. We were lucky in that we didn’t have to walk anywhere as we were going with Mark. He was one of the designated drivers. We were in the Land Cruiser again and when it’s not being used for cargo, it has two fold-down benches in the back for 8 people, so on the way down we had a total of 10 of us squeezed in! Around 4 other cars were in the convoy which left the pickup point at 7.30am.

We were really hoping for everything to be up and running by Monday morning but there has been so many delays with the new power line into the office, and being unreliable when it was up, that we just couldn’t chance booting the servers up. They have installed a very complex power system that includes mains power, solar power, an inverter and a backup generator. They should switch cleanly between all of them when needed but it just doesn’t happen. A team of engineers are trying to troubleshoot and get it working correctly.

This meant that first on our agenda was to install a UPS. (Uninterruptable Power Supply) This would allow us to turn the servers on and protect them from any power spikes or outages. The batteries in these would only hold the charge for around 20 minutes but at least it gives us chance to shut the servers down properly.

Once this was up and running we started turning servers on. Part of the plan for the office moving location was to also change the IP address configuration for the network. This meant we had to manually log into every server and give it a new IP address and log each change we made. We ran into some issues with the firewall and the Internet not being connected. Not only that, but the main fibre link between the hangar and the office was not working. This meant that even if we did have Internet, it wouldn’t pass through to the office, as the entrance point for the internet is in the hangar.

We managed to get a 3G dongle into a router and got some internet that way in the office but we still couldn’t configure the firewall. Who ever thought that cloud managed firewalls was a good idea in Africa?!

 

 

We resorted to prioritising the local network and getting servers configured. We amended DNS records, pointed exchange servers in the right direction to carry on receiving and sending emails, got their databases online and amended the site location for servers. We gave all the servers new Static IP addresses so they can communicate on the network and this meant that tomorrow, when we finally get the firewall online, things should all be working. Fingers crossed!

We were lucky to have a quick response from the company who laid the fibre connection who, by the end of the day, managed to find the fault and fix the line. We felt so sorry for the guys who had to dig the cable up again after it was buried under the ground for 175 metres.

We also managed to finally get the IT office tidy and get a desk and some chairs in there so we can actually sit down and work. It’s all slowly coming together.

The outside of the new office is still very much a building site with a lot of ground work to be done but it shouldn’t be long before that is done. Maybe another week.

Another nice meal at the MCC this evening and back to the house to catch up on emails and chat to the family on Skype. It’s great when we have a working Internet! Family is what keeps you going.

Day 7 Sunday - a day off!

Today we were invited to go to church with Dave and Joy Forney. Dave is one of MAF’s pilots and Joy is the programme's visit co-ordinator. They are originally from California, USA and have 5 children. Again, another great family and great company to be around.

So they pick us up at 9.30am and one of the first things they say is, 'Oh thanks for getting the Internet up and running.' And we were like, 'huh'? It’s not working, we haven’t done anything. We then start hearing reports from other staff that theirs all came live this morning at 9am.

This has absolutely baffled us but hey, it's Africa! Anything can happen that doesn’t make sense so we got our afternoon back!

Kampala International Church

All the MAF staff are free to go to any church in the area they prefer to go to which is great as you can find the church that best suits your style. They took us to their church - Kampala International Church - which is in Heritage International School. Families are also able to put their children into whichever school they choose, and some of them come here.

The church service was great, it had a great atmosphere, and was full of people of many different nationalities. I particularly liked the worship. You could really feel the congregation come together in worship, it’s quite powerful. Martin Ekholm, our avionics expert from Sweden, was leading this service. It was great to see MAF staff participating in the local churches. We were even treated to a pastor from the UK leading the sermon, breaking into a rap! It was hilarious and very well delivered.

Eating a Rolex

We were invited back to Dave and Joy’s for lunch and were introduced to a Rolex. Nope, it’s not a watch! You buy them from street stalls for 1,000 shillings which is 20p. They are chapatti with an omelette rolled together. It’s a great mix of flavour and works so well. We didn’t just have those.
They put together an amazing mix of foods to add to it. The best way to describe it is like when you have fajita night! You have lots of bowls of different veg and meat and you can make your fajita the way you want. They had fillet beef, fried veg, cheese, salad, red onion and some spicy rice with some good old ranch dressing and tabasco sauce. It was a great mix of Ugandan and American food.

The Uglish language

We got onto the subject of accents and how they vary between states and also in the UK, and came across a term I thought was clever. Uglish. A mix of Ugandan and English. The locals do very well to speak English out here but they often miss words or get words the wrong way round. Sometimes they swap r and l and so grass and glass are the same.

It can make for interesting conversations and you often find yourself speaking Uglish subconsciously when having a conversation with the locals.

Dinner with a view

So now we very gratefully have the afternoon free because the Internet was working, we headed back to our house for a few hours' rest before going out to dinner. I had been recommended by a friend of my wife, who both have previously been to Uganda, to visit a place called Cassia Lodge for dinner.
We found it was only 10-15 minutes' drive and so headed there tonight. It was advertised as the best view in Kampala and they were absolutely right. Situated right at the top of a hill overlooking Kampala city and Lake Victoria, it was stunning.

We sat on the balcony enjoying the view as night fell with some nice food in preparation for another busy week ahead of us. 7.15am start for us tomorrow so I best get some sleep!

Luke

Day 6 Saturday - the joys of troubleshooting

For most of the staff, their work ended yesterday. Not for us…

On Saturday morning, we were in the office again at 9am. We had left some bits behind in the IT office on Friday and so we rounded this all up and loaded it into the Land Cruiser.

Our international staff families have their internet provided and managed by us and so, due to the office move, their internet was now down. Today, our priority was to install the new firewall at one of the houses and then link up all the other houses by a series of point to point wireless antennas. This is a completely new technology for me to be working with and so it was quite a challenge to get to grips with how it all worked and what was the correct way for us to wire everything up.

Frustratingly, 3 hours later, we still couldn’t get part of the network working. We had got the internet set up and working from the firewall but somehow this wasn’t passing through to the houses. Well so we thought… more on this later.

We then had to quickly drive to the hangar in Kajjansi because MTN - the ISP for the new office - was on site to install the satellite dish for the Internet connection. They mounted it on the roof of the hangar as this is the highest point with line of site to the receiving antenna at MTN.

They had their own engineers there and so we had some time to continue to troubleshoot the international families' wireless remotely. I started changing configurations and phoned one of the families, but no, still no internet. I then get a call from Steve to say the Internet has stopped working after being up from around 10.30 this morning.

This absolutely baffled us?! How can he have internet in his house which happens to be the furthest point from the house we installed the internet in, and yet the house we installed it in doesn’t have a connection? So I put the settings back again and he was up and running.

A hometown reunion!

We continued to be baffled through the night and so we agreed to try and troubleshoot some more on Sunday afternoon when we had a bit of free time. We spent the evening with the family we are staying with, Mark and Sarah Newnham. We had a great homemade dinner and then went outside in the garden to sit by the fire Mark had made.

 

We had marshmallows and toasted them on the fire! Mmm yummy!

We were also joined all evening by an old MAF UK employee, Gillian Withell. This is the first time we have met but it was great to hear her journey and now works for Medair.

We also found out that Mark, Sarah, Gillian and I are all from the same part of the UK within 15 minutes of each other! It was like a home town reunion in Kampala! What a coincidence.

Mark and Sarah’s 2 daughters, aged 2 and 6, wanted to show us their ballet performance whilst we were outside. It was so sweet! I was also recommended to try a Tangawizi by my wife while here and so had the opportunity tonight. It’s a non-alcoholic ginger ale. Very nice if you like ginger but I’m not too keen.

Day 5, Friday – moving day!

We were given the engineers' Toyota Land Cruiser. As we had a lot of expensive servers and large racks to transport, we had this as our dedicated vehicle. I was also assigned designated driver! Cool!

Steve Forsyth, the Programme Manager, took me out for a brief driving assessment to check I was safe driving and advised me of the driving laws out here in Uganda. He also gave me helpful tips such as indicating left can mean many things out here other than turning left. It could mean, I want you to pass me, it could mean don’t pass there is oncoming traffic or I am stopping on the road. It’s crazy!

I passed my test and was allowed to drive. Woohoo.

We loaded up the vehicle with all the servers and rack and cleverly packed it with mattresses. Of course, we were transporting them via the roads of Uganda, very bumpy! 'Bumpy' and 'servers' do not go hand in hand and so the mattresses were great at absorbing all the shock to protect the servers.



Meanwhile, the rest of the office were loading up their departments' office furniture and computers into cars and trucks. There were lots of people helping, so many, an entire office was loaded into cars and trucks in 3 hours. We were the first ready to leave the office, and so we went to report in to Steve, only to find he had in his office a bubble bath… no not really, it’s just a bad joke! He had a load of bubble wrap stored in the bath tub.

Driving... Kampala style

So off we set in the Land Cruiser. This was a big vehicle. So big it had 2 fuel tanks. It was quite exciting but at the same time quite nerve-racking. Firstly I had ‘precious cargo’ - all the data for MAF Uganda is on those servers - and secondly driving in what is quite dangerous conditions. There are all sorts of obstacles in the road: people who just run out in front of you, cows in herds or strays, dogs and chickens, cars who pull out from all directions, drive on the wrong side of the road, Boda-bodas swerving in and out from all directions... your attention has to be everywhere. It is quite an experience.

 

Oh and by the way, I learnt why they get the name 'boda-boda'. So boda-bodas are motorcycles that take 1 passenger, well, 1 passenger legally but it can be up to 3 or with the strangest of loads like a window frame or 6-foot lengths of wood width ways. Their original purpose was carrying people forwards and backwards across a country border. It became very popular as opposed to walking and the journey was called 'border to border'. Over time, it was shortened to boda-boda.

Server racks and switches

When we arrived at Kajjansi, we were lucky to see that our Cessna 208 'BIL' was firing up for a flight so we were able to watch it take off. It’s such a great privilege and exciting to watch our planes flying in action, knowing they are bring help, hope and healing to people in hard-to-reach places.

 

We unpacked the Land Cruiser into the IT office and first on the agenda was to build the rack and fit the servers in. I set up a camera to capture us building the server rack in time lapse so I am looking forward to looking at the final result. I also set up a camera to do a time lapse of the main office. This should be really fun to watch!

This took us most of the day, including rearranging some of the switches in the hangar to make room for the new internet modems and phone servers.

The rest of the office did really well to completely move in and most people had set up their desks and computers by around 3.30-4pm.

We finished around 4.30pm after configuring the firewall for the new network and headed home. At that time of the day, rush hour traffic is heavy and so Kalumba showed us some back roads. I can’t say it was quicker but at least we were moving the whole time. These were dirt tracks the whole way and the amount of dust was incredible. It has obviously been that way for so long that all the trees have actually turned orange from being covered in thick layers of dust. It was testing but pretty cool taking a 4x4 off-road! We were able to pass some of the slower vehicles that weren’t quite cut out for the off-road which made the journey more interesting, some would say I left them for dust.

A fun family

We had dinner with the Rogers that evening. Dave and Amy with their 6 children. The eldest 2 were actually at a youth group, but it was great to get to know the others. They are a fun family, originally from America and have served with MAF in Uganda for over 9 years!

I was introduced to Mountain Dew and love it! Amy apparently thinks it is better in Uganda than it is back in the States. Most things here are quite the opposite.

It was a great end to a very busy day!

Day 4: The big pack-up

Thursday was all about packing up! Today was the day servers were being turned off and everything packed away ready for the big moving day on Friday.

We made it to the office by 7.30am and started packing things into boxes. Most mornings the office will have 10 minutes' prayer and worship as a team at 8.20am, so it was great to be apart of that time together.

At 10.30 we headed back to Kajjansi to finish off a bit more networking, wiring up switches and putting cables into trunking. Short of tools again, I suddenly had a brainwave (amongst the many improvisation brainwaves). Across the airfield is the biggest man shed any guy could dream of in his garden! It is of course the hangar. Aviation spec SnapOn tools and equipment, masses of open space enough to fit a few planes, there is not a tool, screw or nut you could want that they don’t have! So I borrowed a saw…… Hmm, maybe I’ll find something more interesting to borrow and use next week.

We managed to finish at 1.30pm and travelled back to Makindye ready for all the servers to be turned off at 4pm.

 We ended up working until 7.30pm shutting down servers, taking them out the rack, using a high powered blower to blow all the sand and dust out of them, dismantling the rack and pulling all the cameras and Wi-Fi points out ready to me taken to the new office on Friday.

We were so knackered by this time we came straight back to our house and cooked some pasta with tomato sauce! Mmm, reminded us of home, even though it’s an Italian dish, but hey.

Moving day tomorrow! Wish us luck!

Luke

Day 3: a long day at Kajjansi Airfield

So Wednesday was our first full day at the new office on the airfield in Kajjansi. Because all the international staff housing is located near the current MAF office in Makindye, a lot of staff travel to Kajjansi every day. After the office move, almost everyone will have to do this journey.

We had planned to go with the engineers on the first run down but after finding out one of the pilots were travelling down slightly later, we thought we would go with him.

Unfortunately, the message didn’t get to Mark who’s guest house we are staying in, that we had changed plans and so at 7.15am he was banging on the door! Ooops! Yes, after a late night working I had forgot to set my alarm and so this very quickly woke me up!

The engineers all travel down in 1 vehicle very early to beat the morning rush on the roads. A 45 minute journey and they are working by 8am most mornings. But don’t worry, they do have some good coffee before tweaking bolts on the planes.

Greg Vine, MAF Uganda’s chief pilot, drove us down to the airfield. It was great to meet one of our British pilots and try to understand more what it is like living and working outside of the UK. He shared his experiences with schooling his children, adjusting to the culture, being away from friends and family and also the role of being a pilot. All of which was very interesting, and very positive, as he knew that this is where he was meant to be and was being led in faith by God.

By the time we reached Kajjansi, we caught the tail end of the coffee around 8.45 in the hangar with the engineers and pilots. I must admit, they have some really nice coffee here. A lovely dark roast ground coffee starts the day well!

It's our Cessna 182!

I walked out into the hangar and was interested in what Geoff Linkleter (an engineer) was working on. He showed me how he was mounting lots of little fins to the wings and tail of a Cessna 182. He goes on to describe that they improve stability at low speed so it can have a safer landing on a short runway where airspeed needs to be very low.

Fascinating. And then it clicked!!

*gasps*

'This is the 182 that MAF UK toured in the UK last year and I was lucky enough to see it and take a short flight!'

I was right. At first I didn’t recognise it, until I noticed the new fuel-efficient engine. The registration has now changed to a Ugandan registration 5X-MON. Since being in the UK, it has had an updated RF radio, a new heavy-duty nose wheel to give the propeller more ground clearance, new folding seats in the back to allow for more cargo and a new wooden floor. And now, the wing and tail fins. It was so great to see it again, and to actually see it out in a programme having work done on it.

Network cabling and broken ladders

Our main job today was to complete the installation of the network cabling in the office by connecting them all up into a switch cabinet in the server room. We also had other switches to install in 2 other locations in the building. It was a great challenge to work on a building site, without the tools you would expect to have in the UK. Improvisation was on overload!

I asked someone for a ladder and they came back with a few tree branches cleverly nailed together. The only problem is, I am slightly heavier than most and so I think I broke one of them. Apparently that happens all the time. And they make scaffolding out of these?!

I do have to hand it to them though, their craftsmanship is amazing. We saw them making concrete tops to the walls all by mixing cement and moulding it all by hand. In the UK, we would buy concrete tops and stick them on top of a wall with a quick set cement mix.

Loving my matooke and posho

Lunch break was such a great experience. MAF very kindly provide all the staff and site workers with a free lunch cooked fresh by a cook on site.

She cooks all types of local food in a hut on the airfield.

Steve and I sat amongst site workers, also accompanied by Jay, the project manager for the office building, originally from Vancouver, Canada.

We had some true local food and absolutely loved it!

Matooke - a starchy savoury banana mashed up, kinda like mashed potato; posho - a white starchy mash made from maze or corn, and accompanied by 3 small pieces of beef and lots of rice and cabbage.

Towards the end of the meal, we were joined by a guy called Uriah from New Zealand. He is a Civil Engineer working for EMI. They are the company moving in upstairs in our new office. It was great meeting him as I have never really understood what a Civil Engineer does. He explained how they have a lot to do with bridges, canals, roads, railways, all in an engineering perspective. It was very interesting.

A different world

After a long day's work, getting home around 7pm, we headed for the Makindye Country Club not far from the MAF office for some dinner.

It was strange to walk into a place and get totally confused as to where you actually were?! It was like stepping into a different part of the world. Everything had suddenly changed from dust and dirty, noise and busyness, into peace and quiet, a posh clean restaurant looking onto tennis courts and a swimming pool.

Nevertheless, it was great to unwind and enjoy a lovely beef wellington pie with fresh veg and potatoes.

 

We soon made it home to get some well-earned sleep!

Luke

Entry log 5942, stargate… no only joking.

Day 1 and 2…

Travel was pretty good. We left home around 8.45am got to Heathrow at 10am. Flight was departing at 12.35 so we had time for a Pret sandwich and a coffee. Of course, being the IT crew, I just had to pay at the Kiosk with Apple Pay on my iPhone, no scrambling for the wallet at the bottom of my hand luggage. We both also had our boarding passes on our phones for quick and easy boarding! #Geeks

The flight was on time and we had a nice 8 hours on-board British Airways flight BA0063. A Boeing 767. I won the bid over the window seat and got some great views of the Sahara desert mid-flight. Flying into the night, darkness came upon us so quickly but gave a beautiful deep orange glow through the plane during the 5-minute sunset! I managed to catch 3 movies and enjoy a little snooze, as did Steve. During dinner service, Steve even managed to persuade the crew for an extra sandwich! Brilliant. She then came back to wind him up that he had taken her lunch and made him feel guilty!

A very distinct African smell

Once we had landed at 11pm, the first things that hit you when walking off the plane were, ‘Oh, its not as hot as I thought’, and a very distinct African smell. Something that is hard to describe but not unpleasant. Its like a burning hay smell mixed with a presence of earthiness and abundance of vegetation.

We had a very reasonable experience at customs, paying $100 US for an entrance visa and getting our fingerprints scanned! Slightly scary, I don’t think anyone has my fingerprint other than my iPhone!

We were greeted by Lawrence at arrivals who took us back to our accommodation, Mark and Sarah Newnham's guest house. Roughly 1 hour's drive.

The house was located on the bumpiest dirty track ever known but very well gated and guarded.

The house is HUGE! And we have the granny annex. We have all the facilities we need, a working toilet, hot water and a bed with your standard mosquito net! It reminds me of being a kid again and hanging a sheet over the bed to create your own fort! We both very quickly just crashed out in bed at what was 2am local time by then, ready for our first full day in Makindye.

We were very grateful to find some cornflakes and coffee in the morning (it’s the little things) that set us up for the day.

We walked to the MAF office, roughly 5-6 minutes enjoying the wonderful scenery.

MAF's 'oldest letter ever'

The MAF Uganda office is a converted house. There are lots of rooms, I think I counted 14? A Lovely house, very African, magnolia and brick walls, white metal floral bars in the windows and a lovely orangey-red sandstone tiled roof. We met a lot of the staff working there, all very lovely people.

First greeted by Kalumba, the local IT technician for MAF Uganda. They were in the middle of clearing out the building by going through old documents no longer needed. This is where I met a guy called Dave. Dave Rogers, the Operations Manager is hilarious. A great personality and sense of humour. So he comes in and says, 'I have just found the oldest letter anyone has ever written to MAF'. 'Oh really?' a few of us replied. 'Yes, it starts by saying, "I am delighted to write this letter to you after the resurrection of Christ from the dead."'

Brilliant.

After a tour of the office and meeting the staff, we got our heads together and looked over documentation regarding the big office move. We made sure we understood what was moving and where/when, what was staying, what changes to be made and any gotchas! We then took a trip to the new office at the airfield in Kajjansi.

Beautiful Kajjansi Airfield

This is a truly beautiful airfield, like none I have ever seen. The new office is looking absolutely amazing. Still unfinished, but we have a couple of days to go so we are hopeful. You can see right over Lake Victoria and the beautiful hills behind it. We toured around the new office to get our bearings and clarify we knew where things were going on moving day. We also had a look at the hangar and a few of the planes and met more of the staff there such as engineers and logistics staff.

Unfortunately we had to put on our IT caps straight away as there were power fluctuations, we had to shut everything down until the electricians sorted the issue. It wasn’t long before we were up and running again.

The whole airfield is great. The hangar is HUGE! And the new office will really pull the whole MAF team together working more efficiently.

After finishing our working day around 6pm, we were very kindly invited to dinner with Steve Forsyth, MAF's Programme Manager in Uganda. We had a very nice chicken curry with rice, fried courgette and fresh avocado.

A great way to end the day, especially being able to enjoy the amazing views of Makindye and Lake Victoria from his balcony/porch area.

Now back at the guest house and ready to sleep! Tomorrow we start on installing switches and cabling in the new office.

More soon.

Luke

IT Officer Luke arrives in Uganda!

Luke's blog starts here!

Not by Words

It’s early. 4:45am in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. The sun is slowly beginning to transform the world with light. But life has already begun here in the MAF hangar.

Passengers begin to arrive and the Cessna Caravan is prepared for departure. Coffee is poured and I sit to hear one passenger’s story. Her name is Hilde, and she looks very alive – even at this unearthly hour. I already sense God’s love within her.

Hilde Vlaminckx is a nurse. Origionally from Belgium, she first came to Madagascar in 1997, with a deep sense of God’s calling and a yearning to follow His plan for her life. Having worked for many years in a government hospital with pleasing benefits, a comfortable salary and a convenient proximity to her family, she began to feel God stirring her heart. Change was on the horizon, and Hilde didn’t feel comfortable any more.

Her first visit brought her to the Good News Hospital in Mandritsara, approximately an hour and a half's flight north of Antananarivo, the route we are flying today. This trip would take two long days by road. Her journey in Madagascar had only just begun, but it ended abruptly when she reached the hospital; Hilde knew this was where she would stay.

Since then, Hilde has never looked back. After initial stays between one and two years, she now lives permanently in Madagascar. Sponsored as a missionary by the international Christian NGO Tearfund, Hilde feels completely settled in this remote town. She shares a house with a Malagasy doctor who now feels like her sister. ‘And Mandritsara feels like my home.’

Although she began as a practicing nurse at the Good News Hospital, Hilde now trains Malagasy to become nurses. 'They come to Mandritsara for three years, then leave fully qualified,' Hilde told me, once we were in settled in the aircraft.

'It's a very practical way of sharing Jesus. We may not speak about Christ with every word, but in our actions we do. Many have come to the hospital and have been trained, helped and healed. It's our way of doing the Gospel work.'

Hilde says that it is the Malagasy people coupled with God's call on her life that keeps her going. 'Yes there are challenges, but I know I am meant to be here,' she says.

'I'm not trained as a teacher but I am teaching - so this job can be challenging sometimes. But so many come from far away to be treated, I know it’s worthwhile. Women can give birth safely and babies are saved. Major wounds are treated. That's what keeps me going.'

Hilde says that a lot of the patients they treat come with injuries suffered on the road, because travelling overland can be extremely dangerous.

'Taxi-bus accidents happen a lot where vehicles turn upside down. Also people get injuries from cow horns, or they can lose an arm during tree-felling. Sometimes people walk for three days carrying others on a stretcher. The next hospital is 250km away.'

When I ask her about her experience with MAF, she doesn’t hesitate. ‘There is a lot of coming and going with MAF! People have become so used to seeing the aircraft that at the hospital people say, “Look! There’s our plane coming!” I hope no one thinks it’s really ours – we don’t have that kind of money!

‘But the MAF pilots – they are so flexible, helpful and always kind. Today I almost didn’t have a seat, but now I’m here! They work hard to find a solution and fit everyone in. I’m very thankful.’

Hilde and the rest of the team at the Good News Hospital are certainly humble. They have followed God’s call to work in a very challenging and deprived part of the world.

‘Sometimes I feel like such a small part of God’s big plan,’ Hilde says. ‘I even think, “Oh, other people are actually doing much more for the Gospel than me!” But then I realise that we can all believe that. Perhaps you do it in your office, or in the plane, or in the hospital – but we are all part of God’s big plan. We must each do our small part, be part of a project but also know our own personal vision and faith within ourselves. As long as we are giving to the poor, feeding the hungry and visiting the prisoners - together we can all make a big difference for Christ. It’s not our words. It’s what we do with our lives.’

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

It was all incredibly formal, yet extremely pleasant. The room of roughly 150 guests stir softly, waiting. Great men and women of God’s Kingdom, and those whose lives are spent serving the poor sit shoulder to shoulder, crisp suits and delicate dresses, a joyful offering to honour the work of the King. That’s why we we’re here. It’s for God’s Glory.

Twenty-five years is almost my lifetime. For the last quarter-century, Mission Aviation Fellowship has been flying help, hope and healing across one of the largest, least developed islands of the world. And Madagascar is grateful. The imminent arrival of our most distinguished guest is a warm affirmation of this.

A few more minutes and cameramen arrive. Low murmurings begin to hush. Then enters the Minister of Economy and Planning; General de Division Herilanto Raveloharison. All stand.

But today’s formalities are not stifling, they are honouring. It’s a privilege to be here. The Minister opens with a smile. ‘I am here as your friend, your colleague – as someone who has known you not as a Minister, because being a minister is a nomination which passes through sooner or later. But friendship – that lasts forever.’ What a testimony of MAF’s mission; physical healing, practical help and relationship with people.

This room is a living, breathing testimony – many partners old and new, gathering to celebrate God’s achievement through the joining of our hands.

Then a reflection from Proverbs three: By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place. ‘Our God is great, He only does great things,’ the Minister reminds us. ‘And an organisation blessed with the Wisdom of God can only do great works. That is the blessing of MAF, and many other missions of which we are a part.’

Pastor Serge Razafitsambaina, a remarkable man of faith, has been serving Madagascar’s poor since before MAF’s arrival. He prayerfully proclaims that our God always keeps His promises. And MAF is part of that promise on this island. ‘New spiritual life is being born through the Gospel, and MAF is bringing hope to us who are working here, right where He has called us to be. People are hearing of a life that endures through Christ. And one day we will all enter His promised land.’

More reminders from grateful friends follow – days of driving and walking saved by MAF’s little plane;, gracious service of MAF staff; pioneering achievements through technology and aviation; the milestone achievement of 25 years.

Before vibrant buffet and cocktails, a short overview of MAF’s history in Madagascar from Programme Manager Bert Van den Bosch. Families that have come and go. Airstrips that have opened up life in remote areas. Aircraft that have flown hours of vital service. Thousands that have been reached with God’s love.

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy (Psalm 126:3)

In this joy, the colourful throng of guests spill onto the patio and enjoy fellowship together. Colourful triangles of ‘bunting’ are strung around – each one carrying a personal message from MAF supporters in the UK. These festive decorations offer a reminder that today is a result of many prayerful hearts, open hands and generous gifts from around the world; joining together to make MAF’s work possible.

God’s Kingdom is extending across the globe, and so many have played a vital part. Those who are present share the joy of honouring one another today. But those who are not must also be celebrated for being obedient to God’s call. Thousands of missionaries, pastors, medics, volunteers and families, scattered across the globe serving the poor and downtrodden.

Twenty-five years on one island is a magnificent achievement – but today we are all sure there will be many more.