‘What can be more special than walking through the front door of your house and being leapt on by a nine-year-old girl and given a great big hug?'
Especially when that nine-year-old girl probably wouldn't have survived if you hadn't done a medical evacuation flight nine years ago,’ shares Michael Duncalfe, a senior pilot with almost 25 years experience of flying in Papua New Guinea.
‘Nine years ago,’ Michael explains, ‘Peggy was in trouble with a difficult birth. I flew her to Mount Hagen from her home village of Koinambe, and she gave birth to Nicki - named after my wife Nicki who visited and helped Peggy while she was in hospital.’
‘We saw Nicki and Peggy on a recent visit to town. Peggy was supporting her father who was waiting for an operation. Nicki is living with Peggy's sister so that she can go to a better school than would be possible in her home village.'
‘This story gives you a glimpse of togetherness: A man from the UK, skilled as a pilot, is able to save a young mother in childbirth.'
If I hadn't been able to do that flight nine years ago...?
Nine years ago we shared Peggy's story with supporters across the UK. It inspired people to give, pray and become supporters so MAF could continue saving lives. We turned Peggy's story into a simple film to show at churches, events, and meetings with donors. People were moved by the tragic reality of lives lost in childbirth in Papua New Guinea, the medical need that comes with isolation, the value of a MAF flight - in lives.
It was Peggy and Nicki's story but also the story of hundreds of mothers each year whose lives are saved because they reach hospital in time. ‘This story gives you a glimpse of togethernes' Michael explains. 'A man from the UK, skilled as a pilot, is able to save a young mother in childbirth.' 'Every year MAF PNG does somewhere in the region of 400 medevacs, Each person has their story. Each one is a life. Each one is precious in God's sight.'
1 in 120 women
Nine years ago, in 2009, the situation for many women and children in the world was bleak:
1,500 women were dying every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
10,000 babies were dying each day within their first month of life.
In 2018, the situation is improving:
830 women die each day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
6,850 babies within their first month of life die every day.
While maternal mortality rate continues to fall worldwide, Papua New Guinea remains one of the most dangerous places on earth to give birth for mother and child. It is estimated that, in 2018, 1 in 120 women die in childbirth (in the UK it's 9 in every 100,000 each year).
Despite the progress, 99% of all maternal deaths still occur in developing countries. The target, between 2016 and 2030, is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
Stopping for the one...
Please continue to uphold our ministry in Papua New Guinea.
Pray for MAF's fleet of 12 aircraft and 126 staff.
87% of people live in rural areas in Papua New Guinea and MAF flies to 217 airstrips. Pray for the unique needs of these communities where health, education, and livelihood opportunities are often limited.
Lift up the mission hospitals at Kompiam and Rumginae where many patients are flown for treatment. Praise God for the medical outreach flights MAF is facilitating so villages with airstrip can receive healthcare. Pray for the remote clinics that are the first port of call for the sick and injured.
Praise God for every life saved through a medevac flight.
On 21 February, the United Nations marks International Mother Language Day to recognise the importance language plays in education, development and social integration.
Two German medical students recently spent their semester break volunteering at the Kompiam Hospital, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Magdalena (Leni) Bonleitner recalls their experiences of rural clinics and flying with MAF.
World Radio Day is celebrated on 13 February. Radios are a vital form of communication for remote areas, helping them feel connected to the rest of the world. In late 2019, Lukas Schadegg installed a HF radio for Biadi, Papua New Guinea.
MAF Papua New Guinea (PNG) pilot, Ryan Cole, explains the role which MAF plays in promoting education - just one of the responses to the question, 'what does a MAF pilot do?'
Support Raising and Training Manager Adam Pope speaks to Michael and Nicki Duncalfe
on their return to the UK, following an incredible 25 years of service with MAF Papua
New Guinea (PNG)
Clare and Paul Woodington are based at Wewak, where Paul is one of our experienced Caravan pilots serving the communities in the northern part of mainland PNG
Bonifas P.Korangia, known as Boni, served as a technician missionary for 22 years, until last year when he felt called to take a year off and reconnect with his village.
While husband Neal is hard at work in the MAF hangar, Lois Semanison spends her time blessing the community in Mount Hagen where they live. Many have come to faith through her witness and care.
Many of Papua New Guinea's 800 languages are spoken by just a few hundred people. The Ende language has 700 speakers in three villages around the Upiara airstrip in the South Fly, Western Province.
Radio: a constant and reliable communication channel. Reaching across high mountains and treacherous landscapes, radio communication has been used as a tool to penetrate some of the most remote areas.
When reports began to circulate of a move of God in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, Judith Dupuis, wife of MAF Pilot Michael Dupuis, just had to see for herself!
Almost 3,000 families in the communities surrounding Simbai make a living growing coffee. Frequent MAF flights serve the community's needs and fly the precious cash crop to market.
In the beginning was the cocoa pod – the beautiful, freshly picked, raw product – grown in tropical equatorial climates around the world, including Papua New Guinea (PNG).
What can you do with a cargo of solar lights and tarpaulins, Bibles, guitars and tambourines, soccer balls and volleyballs, hinges, padlocks, saws, and spanners...?
Much of the food flown by MAF to remote communities after the recent earthquake was donated by local churches motivated to help their countrymen in need.
Aid has reached remote communities in Papua New Guinea following the recent earthquake. Pilot’s Mathias Glass gives an account of a relief flight he flew to Muluma and Bosavi
Pilot Steven Eatwell flew a medevac and earthquake relief flight to the remote communities of Huya and Bosavi. He brought relief supplies and assessed the condition of the airstrips while he was there.
Recently in Papua New Guinea, short-term Swiss staff member Remo Ruegg's plans for the day took a different turn when one of his neighbours knocked on his door.
Story Remo Ruegg. Photos Remo Ruegg (RR) and Nawi Mabo (NM)
At MAF, we know that when we provide access to remote areas those areas are helped, resourced and receive medical assistance. However, sometimes it is when access is withdrawn for a time – often for unavoidable reasons – that it brings home the reality of our absence.
Paul Woodington, a pilot with MAF Papua New Guinea, recalls a medevac flight which happened just before Christmas 2017. Thanks to quick thinking, good decision-making and trust in God, Paul managed to help two severely ill patients, including the son of a missionary partner, reach the medical care they needed.
In August 2016, Geoff Boer was having a normal day. Just after dinner, disaster struck as he experienced a heart attack. he was flown for treatment the following morning and after surgery, has made a full recovery. Without the quick thinking and acting MAF staff and partners, Geoff may not have survived.
Kompiam Rural Hospital in Papua New Guinea is at the end of a road, inaccessible except by walking or flying, to the people it serves. The area is troubled by tribal skirmishes which have claimed more than 40 lives in the last six months.
As exam season the UK comes to an end - to the relief of children and parents alike - Glenda Giles shares how students in Tekin, Papua New Guinea nervously awaited the arrival of their exam papers.
What's it like to date on the mission field in a culture drastically different to your own? British Siobhain Dales and Canadian Ryan Cole discovered just this...
MAF Pilot Paul Woodington displays professional dedication and personal sacrifice as he battles the jungle to bring the Jesus film to an isolated corner of Papua New Guinea. We hope it encourages you to continue fighting for the Gospel.
A workshop in Papua New Guinea teaches women how to be free from the fear of sorcery and magic through a deeper understanding of who God is. Story and photos by LuAnne Cadd
The mountain village community of Megau came together to build a life-saving medical aid post in just 24 hours. Everything down to the last nail was flown in by MAF
Michael Duncalfe has been flying Twin Otters since 1998, clocking up over 6,500 hours in the process. MAF Partnership Manager – and resident aviation enthusiast – Olly Nunn asks him to share with our supporters why this aircraft is so special
A 23-year-old woman is experiencing labour complications, but as she lives in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, she needed an MAF aircraft to get the urgent hospital care she needs.
MAF women in Papua New Guinea come together a few times a year to pack Care Bags for women we fly for emergency hospital care. Madeleine Bischoff, wife of MAF pilot Markus, shares the joy of blessing two new mothers, with bags and shares their stories.
No more killing: When a young schoolgirl heard that 17 innocent people were about to die, she decided to do something about it. Story and photos Anton Lutz.
Gebrau airstrip in the highlands of Papua New Guinea is finally open, after twenty years! It will be a huge benefit to the economy of this remote community.
MAF's scheduled flight from Wewak was cancelled at the very last minute. But then the phone rang! An urgent medevac flight was required. And Agatha's village was in the opposite direction. (Photos: Ludmer Meiko)
Mandy Glass, our Communications Officer in Papua New Guinea, shared her love of reading recently with 80 high school students through the gift of books.