into 2012

2012 is only hours away and we look forward to a New Year with new opportunities and inevitably new challenges. The challenges build character and prepares us to make the most of every opportunity. May we all grow through the challenges and make the most of every opportunity as we follow God's lead into 2012.

Keep company with God,
      get in on the best.
 Open up before God, keep nothing back;
      he'll do whatever needs to be done:
He'll validate your life in the clear light of day
      and stamp you with approval at high noon.
Quiet down before God,
      be prayerful before him. (Ps.37)

make me an instrument

I am patiently excited as time for my departure to Tanzania gets ever so close. In the mean time I’m enjoying the time with family and the opportunities to share with others about MAF’s ministry and my passion. Without a calling to ministry I set out to become a pilot more than 10 years ago. A dream that was finally fulfilled in 2008 only after God called me to ministry and taught me to trust Him completely. I’m sure that most pilots will testify that giving up command is not an easy thing; we enjoy being in control of a situation, or at least we like to think that we are. While I believe that this is a much needed characteristic of a pilot, personally I need to constantly remind myself that God is the ultimate Pilot-in-Command for my life. When I give Him his rightful place, He puts me in the best position to best serve Him and others, which in turn brings purpose and fulfillment to my life.

My application and preparation with MAF has been a continuation of this learning process. At every junction there is a lesson to learn in order to be a useful instrument in God’s hand. During my recent flight standardization course in Nampa, I had to learn that it is not about me doing everything I can and then trusting God to do the rest. It is rather about trusting God first, for everything and then doing my best. Besides all the excellent training I received, I had to realize that I will always be the instrument in the Maestro’s hands. No matter how polished or well tuned there will be no music without the Maestro’s input. The purpose of the training was not to turn me into a maestro but to make me a useful instrument for Him.

Now I’m looking forward to become part of what God is doing through MAF in Tanzania. I know there will be many challenges, but seeing people physically and spiritually transformed for God’s glory will be worth every effort behind me and every obstacle ahead. Thank you for all the faithful prayers and support, please continue as I finish off to move to Tanzania in January. By God’s grace and with you behind me we can overcome barriers, transform lives and build God’s Kingdom as MAF plays its part in The Whole Church taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World. 

Lord make me an instrument in your hands.

Kirstein Combrink

excited nervousness or nervous excitedness?

I'm sure nobody needs to be reminded that there are only 15 days left in 2011! For me 2011 had three main acts: 4 months preparation; 4 months training and orientation and 4 months final preparations. Besides some crazy (safe) flying skills, I learned to be patient, obedient and wholly dependent on God.

Now, 15 days means that I have 25 days before I leave Cape Town! So, for this phase I will not need that much patience, but obedience and dependence will come more into play. I'm sure the patience will be needed again once I'm in Tanzania.

We recently had a MAF stand at the Wings & Wheels Airshow at Ysterplaat Air Force Base. It was a great opportunity to meet new people, see old MAF friends and share with others how we serve God's Kingdom through aviation. Besides talking at churches and men's groups, I had some great opportunities to share at a local primary school, my old high school and the members of SAAF 22 Squadron!

It is funny how the mind works; I have known for a long time that I will be leaving early January, but when I received the official date to report in Arusha, it was as if it all dawned at once. The last week has been an emotional roller-coaster; I am extremely excited to go, but at the same time the reality of leaving is quite scary. 

Thank you for the wonderful support in many different ways, I know with your continued prayers and God's provision the move and transition will also go well and soon I will be able to effectively serve in Tanzania.

missio Dei

As Christians we are all sent out into the world to live out and proclaim the gospel on a daily basis. As the Body of Christ, the Church sends all of us to be missionaries wherever we go. However, sometimes we are called to go to a foreign country and become part of what God is doing there. Of course everyone cannot 'go', but we can all be part of God's mission locally and to the nations. Bellville Uitsig Church stood in to represent the Church by sending me as a missionary to Tanzania.

Thank you to everybody who is sending me as we all play our part in Missio Dei. The three wholes of the Lausanne slogan captures it well: "The Whole Church taking the Whole Gospel to the

Time is fast approaching! Just over two months until I move to Tanzania. I must admit that I am nervously excited, there are so many things that still needs to happen. The final stretch starts on Sunday 6 November with my commissioning service from Bellville Uitsig Church. It was here that I received my spiritual foundation and where I received my calling to full time missions. I am grateful for the partnerships with other churches and individuals that has already been made. And I am look forward to new partnerships that God is busy forging in order to fund the final 40% of the monthly support needed.

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? Rom 10:14-15

If you are in the Cape Town area come and celebrate God's faithfulness with us.
We look forward to see you 09:00 at Dutch Reformed Church Bellville Uitsig.

God bless

As long as we ever can

Someone recently asked me: "How long will I/we (MAF) do what we do...?"

When I look at the famine disaster in East Africa and the apparent chaos in many other parts of the world,  it almost seems hopeless, but as a Christian I don't believe that a situation can ever be completely without hope. Then again, can I truly say that I have every experienced something even close?

If our hope was based only on the here and now, I think this is as close to hopelessness as you get. Even in this the reporter mentions that the people look relieved "that finally they have reached somewhere, finally they have hope." Then imagine how hopeless it must be where they came from...

Often the problems are so many and seem so big, that we feel what we can do won't make 'n real difference. However, I believe that all God asks is that we do what we can, when we can, He will do the rest. John Wesley said it well: "Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can."

Paul said to the Romans: "Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us." We have a blessed assurance of a future destiny based on God's love, revealed by the Holy Spirit and demonstrated by Jesus Christ!

We can only bring temporary physical hope to people, but we have a message of God's love that brings eternal hope and we have a mandate to take it to the ends of the earth.

So, to answer the question: We will do all the good we can... as long as we ever can until our eternal hope in Jesus Christ is fulfilled. And with your partnership we can do the best we can.

full circle

My previous post ended with me on my way to New York, where I spent a couple of days exploring before I left for the UK. Although I enjoyed the US very much, London was a nice change of scenery.

Ashburham Place

I saw some of the sights of London before taking a train down to the beautiful Ashburham Place, where we had the first week of our Facts & Friction course. Luckily the facts were good and the friction was not too severe. The second week of the orientation was held at the MAF International: Africa office in Ashford, Kent. This was a great opportunity to get to know many of the people 'behind the scenes' and learn how everything (and everyone) fits together. I left there feeling very orientated...

With the new Tanzania Program Manager and his wife

Thank you for all the prayers during this time. I learned a lot, improved my flying skills, trusting in God for even the smallest things and especially for those things I so often think I must do by myself.

You can see some of the photos of the UK trip here and here.

January 2012 has been set for me to start in Tanzania. Please continue to pray as I now set out to establish prayer and financial partnerships in order to serve as a full time MAF missionary.

God is on the move...

Owyhee Bend 1200ft/365m

So much has happened since my previous post, and it happened so fast! As I said; things would intensify in week 3 & 4 of the standardization course, and it did! We had to work through some tough times, but with the patience of the amazing MAF instructors and through God's grace, I achieved the standards required! I learned a lot, not only improving my own practical abilities and understanding limitations, but also to rely fully on God for all things, all the time. Even, and perhaps especially, for the things we so often think are our own responsibility.

After completing the training, I drove a car for someone from Nampa to Minneapolis (1500 miles in 36 hours with 3 hours of sleep along the way). Perhaps a little crazy in retrospect, but I wanted to see a couple of things, visit some friends and make it to Boston in time. So, I got to see some of the friends I met at Cape Town 2010 from Bethlehem Bible Collage in Minneapolis. Then I went on to Chicago and visited with my old landlord from Florida for a couple of days. After that I came to Boston to serve as a steward for the Biennial Lausanne Leadership meetings. We worked hard to organize logistics for the 150 leaders who gathered. In between we had great opportunities to interact with some great men and women serving God throughout the world. With them we discussed sections of the Call To Action of the Cape Town Commitment. What a brilliant document; laying out the role and the purpose of the Church. I firmly believe that this is our Call To Action as the Whole Church takes the Whole Gospel to the Whole World.

There is so much more to share, but this will have to do for now, I promise to add some photos soon.  (In the meantime maybe you can see some of them here and here?)


What next? I drive down to New York city tomorrow morning, spend a couple of days there before flying to London next week for the Facts & Friction course starting in July.

Thank you for your prayers and please continue as I realize more and more each day how dependent I am of that.

Praise God as we serve Him alone and He provides in ALL things!

two weeks of Flight Standardization

It's been more than a month since the last post, after 48 hours of planes and airports I arrived in San Francisco two weeks ago. During a quick stop over I saw the Golden Gate Bridge before getting on a 26 hour bus trip, bit of a different experience but I arrived safely in Nampa Idaho. I quickly made friends with other incoming missionaries all in different stages of the intake process. It is wonderful to learn how God works uniquely in each of our lives to get us to a place of complete surrender so that we can best serve Him.

Our first week was filled with ground school lectures; learning procedures, checklists, methods and theory why things are done the way they are. In order to serve God best, we must do our part by showing good stewardship of what we are given to serve with.

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle but safety is of the Lord." ~Prov. 21:31~

Although our final safety is in the Lord, we are not to go into battle unprepared.

Practicing Air Drops

During the second week we started taking the principles to the air as we learn to get the job done while staying within our own limitations and that of the plane and the conditions. We are progressing well and I am learning a lot. Things intensify as we now start to take the principles into more challenging terrain and airstrips. Please continue to pray as I learn and apply the skills in increasingly difficult environments.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

on the move and licensed...

What a feeling to get airborne again after more than a year of no flying!!
I came up to Johannesburg last week to prepare for my commercial license and instrument rating renewals. It also served as good preparation for the upcoming flight standardisation course. I got some valuable time in the Cessna 206 and some heads up from an experienced MAF training captain. All went well during the test with the South African Airways training captain and active MAFSA board member. There is always room for improvement, but everything was up to standard to revalidate my license.

Thank you for the prayers, I must say I was quite stressed, but a sense of calm came over me and checklists and procedures returned to memory, it can only be an answer to prayers. Please keep on praying, for safe travel and more calmness and vigilance as the flying will only intensify from here onward. Visit the blog for updated prayer requests.

Thank you for your partnership as I prepare to help MAF overcome barriers, change lives and build God's Kingdom.

Marco (MAF TC), me, Andrew (Examiner & SAA TC)
after the test in ZS-ANA, MAFSA's C206

and so it begins

Well, actually it continues... I officially started the application process with MAF in January 2010, I got approved in November and got assigned to the MAF Tanzania Program today! And it will be at least another 7 months before I actually get there. But a lot has to happen...

March/April I will be doing my license renewals at MAFSA at Lanseria.
9 May I start the 8 week intensive Flight Standardization Training in Nampa, Idaho USA. 3-15 July it's time for Facts & Friction (cross-cultural preparation) in Ashburnham Place, UK.
Up to then and until I leave I will be actively busy meeting people and starting partnerships through which we can "Overcome Barriers, Transform Lives and Build God's Kingdom."

Exciting times ahead, Praise God!!