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.

The smallest and youngest passenger I ever flew...

Last week I flew teams for mobile clinics in the Haydom area. After dropping off the first team at Matala on Wednesday, I was just about to start the plane to go to Haydom for the second team, when a guy approached on motorbike and signaled that he wanted to talk. He explained something about a mother and baby who needed a lift to Haydom. I didn't understand exactly what the problem was, but I told him to bring them and we'll talk with the nurses...

While I was waiting for them to return, one of the nurses came to the plane saying there was a lady who started labor more than 4 days ago and needed to go to Haydom.

When the others arrived, the patient was a premature baby born during the night at 24 weeks pregnancy! The smallest little person I have ever seen and the youngest passenger I have ever flown.

In Haydom I held the bundle of material in which the baby was wrapped and could hardly feel any weight, but some movement inside confirmed that there was a life in my hands.

I completed the rest of the day's flying, taking two more teams out to villages for clinics and back to Haydom at the end of the day.

At the end of the day, I went with one of the nurses to find the patients we flew in. The lady with the prolonged labor had a c-section and the baby and mother were both doing well. Some family from the village made it up to Haydom by that time (more than 6 hours later), a journey that would not have been easy for her or survivable the premature baby.

We also found the premature baby in the neonatal unit., wrapped up in blankets with warm water bottles and connected to CPAP machine for breathing. Looking at her chart, she only weighed 700 grams and had extremely low O2 levels and pulse rate when she arrived. They were only able to record a measurable temperature on her by 3pm.

Over the next few days, we checked up on her and there were positive signs, but it would be a long recovery process for her.

I left Haydom on Friday, but one of the nurses would stay in touch with the family, monitor her progress and keep me updated. When my phone rang on Monday morning with a call from the nurse, the news was that the little one had passed away. It's hard to understand these things sometimes and evaluate what difference we actually made, but it's safe to say that the transfer by plane gave this baby the best possible chance of survival. We showed to the mother and family that we value them and the chance of life of the baby. 

MAF impact in Tanzania

Johann's video update

Video update

Tanzania Flight Reel