Second week and I am now in Papua New Guinea (PNG). A real contrast to the spiritual darkness of Arnhem Land. In PNG most of the population would call themselves Christians. However the church is described as a mile wide and an inch thick. There are dozens of churches in Mount Hagen which is the main MAF base in PNG. The country is stunningly beautiful with high ranges of hills, lush vegetation where anything will grow. The colours of the flowers by the roads are like your local garden centre. Yet to get from A to B could not more clearly show the need for MAF. On a flight with pilot Michael Bottrell we flew to a remote community to pick up 2 ladies who were having complications in their pregnancy. It took us 6 minutes to take them to Mount Hagen where they could go to hospital. Can you believe that it would have taken them 2 days to walk if they had not gone by air! Made that long as they could not pass through the territory of a neighbouring community as they were at odds with them and may risk attack. Today I flew to a community on Aeu for a medical airlift. A lady had tried to escape from her husband but relatives had caught her and stabbed her with a machete. The result was that her arm was in need of urgent medical attention. We had a doctor on board who was able to check that she was OK to fly.
Pray for the MAF staff here who fly in a breathtaking country that hides deep valleys, unexpected cloud formations that can make flying a challenging ministry. Pray for Michael and Nicki Duncalfe (from UK). Nicki has a key role in inducting new MAF international staff and their families. Michael is the Crew Training Competency Manager and is covering for the role of ATC Manager involving the training of new pilots. I will be flying with him all day on Thursday in a Twin Otter, the largest twin engine plane in the PNG Programme.
Yours
Gary
