MAF communication for family and ministry partnership team

Dear All

What we are globally experiencing in relation to the Corona virus is unprecedented, and we’re all affected by it in some way. The same goes for our dedicated staff working in various countries worldwide.

I want to reassure you that we have teams working around the clock to review, assess and make decisions about how best to respond as this situation continues to develop. It is a complex task with so many different countries involved, but I have every confidence in the ability and commitment of the teams overseeing our response. One of our greatest priorities is the welfare of all our staff around the world, whilst simultaneously taking steps to mitigate possible transmission of the corona virus to beneficiaries and partners as well.

You have no doubt been in contact with your family and friends serving in MAF, concerned about their welfare. I wanted to update you on measures taken by MAF to date:

• We have established a Crisis Management Team (CMT) to lead our response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Each country programme has an Immediate Response Team (IRT) to evaluate the situation in their location and feed that information to the CMT.
• Acting on the advice of various authorities, travel restrictions now exist to keep people safe. Until further notice (to be reviewed fortnightly), international travel is prohibited unless approved by our CMT.  This includes visits to home countries or visitors to our programmes.
• We have assessed which staff and families may be in higher risk categories, due to underlying health conditions and/or age, and considered the most appropriate action to keep them as safe as possible.
• Staff are being advised to keep local travel to a minimum where possible.
• Risk assessments are being constantly reviewed and updated to help us make wise and responsible decisions about staff welfare.

As well as taking good care of our staff’s physical safety, we are committed to looking after mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. MAF has a good system of pastoral care for our field staff and this will continue to operate, albeit in slightly different ways for the time being as our pastoral carers are also currently unable to travel and visit programmes in person.

You’ll appreciate the situation is constantly changing. Please join us in offering whatever support you can to your family and friends serving with MAF through regular contact, encouragement and prayer.

MAF is an organisation committed to reaching and serving isolated people all over the world. We couldn’t do this without the faithful commitment of our staff supported by their families, friends and partners like you. Thank you for the part you play in making our work possible.

Psalm 46 reminds us to take refuge and find strength in our God. Though the whole world is shaken at this time, the Lord Almighty is with us. He is our fortress and our sure foundation.

Forward in Faith,

Dave

Dave Fyock

CEO

Mission Aviation Fellowship International 

Family

Once again it has been a while since I have posted an update, so just in case people are starting to forget what we look like. Here you go...

As you can see, the boys are growing up quickly. Johann really enjoys learning and Amelia does a great job and puts in a lot of effort with home schooling. Louis is active (as most boys, I guess), he's adventurous and loves being outdoors.

We were blessed with a Christmas and New Year visit by my sister and brother-in-law from Abu Dhabi and Grandma visited at the end of January for a couple of weeks (it was like having Christmas twice!).




This was a great time to rest and recharge with family after a busy end to 2019. 

2020 is in full swing and a new pilot family has transferred from MAF Arnhem Land to Tanzania to replace our pilot who is leaving in July. They are settling in and we are working on pilot's licenses, language learning, orientation and flight training to get him operational.

The short rains at the end of last year was not so short and we basically went straight into the long rainy season. This carries with it the blessing of potentially good crops and beautiful green landscapes, but too much rain can also be bad for the harvest and of course the danger of flooding is very real. As always the rainy season brings with it some challenges to our flying operations and the conditions of some airstrips can deteriorate quickly if not maintained properly. We continue to do our best to reach the village with medical care and to share the love of Christ, but sometimes it is just not possible. 

Please continue to pray for our family, our team and the other families who serve with us here in Tanzania.