After getting into a couple of situations where I was asked all about MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) I thought it would be really convenient to have resources on my phone which I could use to tell the MAF story.

I could use the phones browser to look up www.MAF.org, go to Youtube.com and search for some MAF related videos, maybe even use Google Maps to find the nearest MAF base.  But it would all be a bit fiddly and figured that I should try and make an app which makes all that easy.

I hadnt created any phone app before and havent done much programming apart from a handful of VB apps and some website development so it was a little daunting and there was a lot to learn and make sense of.

I found a site called Buzztouch which I could use to create the app that I had in mind to develop and using the features available set out to create “MAF Advocate” and get a tool into the hands of someone with a phone wanting to share what MAF is and does, with someone who wants to hear the story.

MAF Advocate in an Android version is available to download now from the Android Market.  This is the first version and is based on Buzztouch 1.4.  I have since been using Buzztouch 1.5 to develop the app and am working on iPad/iPhone and Android version using the upgraded development options, so more features are already available to me.

Nepal (MNN) ― It began a few years ago when Mission Aviation Fellowship hoped to start a flight ministry in Nepal. But that may not be exactly what God had in mind, says MAF Pilot Tim Chase.

Tim Chase: Bible dedication, Nepal

Speaking from Nepal, Chase says, “We came here originally to start a flight program, and about a year and a half into the process things weren’t going very well…. So my wife and I had to think. We asked, ‘Why did the Lord send us here?’”

It became clear to Chase when he visited the Nepal Bible Society. Chase says, “They wanted to have some electronic Bibles, but they didn’t have the ability to do it. So when I came in the door and said, ‘Do you want to try to do something like this?’ they were really excited.”

Chase had worked for IBM for 10 years before joining MAF. He says it took about nine months to convert files and customize software, but the project is now complete. Two new products were just dedicated: “A ‘Go Bible’ so they can have two Nepali Bibles on cell phone technology, and also an e-Bible program that [allows them] to have the Nepali Bible along with a commentary and a dictionary, all in Nepali.”

About 350 people celebrated as Chase demonstrated two electronic versions of the Nepali Bible on November 30, 2010. After the service, the enthusiastic crowd purchased 100 copies of e-Bible on CD and another 70 on flash drives. The number has since climbed dramatically. Go-Bible is available via download from the NBS Web site .

NBS leaders then honored Tim & Karen Chase for their role in developing these tools and presented them with a framed letter of appreciation. The NBS General Secretary Elder Tej Bahadur Jirel said, “With the generous help of Mission Aviation Fellowship, we are able to provide a software product that will greatly help Nepali Christians in the study of the Scriptures. This site will be updated with current information as we learn more from our users’ experience with the program.”

Chase says having an electronic version of the Nepali Bible is strategic. “A lot of Nepali people are living outside of Nepal. Some of them are living in the Middle East where it might not be popular to carry around a hard-copy Bible.”

This allows people to read the Bible in a less threatening manner. He also says the electronic version of the Bible allows them to share the Gospel by sending Bible verses to people via SMS text or e-mail.

Chase says the e-Bible for PC will have a specific target: “Pastors and Bible school students who, up until this point, have been doing a lot of their studying in English, which isn’t their first language. Having this tool available will give them a lot of power that they haven’t had in the past.”

Chase is now praying that a Nepali support team will be developed to maintain these valuable tools.

While MAF is known for aviation, MAF also provides distance learning technologies to help train indigenous pastors who otherwise would not have access to biblical teaching or leadership training. Through partnerships with other organizations, MAF supplies digital biblical reference and study materials, helps establish learning centers, and provides cutting-edge learning solutions that support the growth of the church. You can learn more about MAF-Learning Technologies.

Im really not sure how Matt Preece (MAF engineer, PNG) gets involved in these sort of events, but Im not surprised either!

Here’s a clip he filmed on a recent “adventure” with a group of guys  - including Dan Perrett (did his wife know?) – digging up an unexploded bomb from World War 2 in Papua New Guinea.  Matt’s blog is always interesting – http://mattinpng.com

During a visit to a village at the peak of Cape Wom. We saw many WW2 artifacts, one including a Japanese bomb being dug up.

The loving four-month restoration of the house that MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) missionary Nate Saint built on the edge of the jungle in 1948 is nearly complete. Hundreds from Ecuador and abroad are expected to attend the ceremony to dedicate the historic building at 3 p.m. Oct. 30.

Arizona volunteers formed a short-term work team that helped restore the Shell, Ecuador, home of MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) pilot Nate Saint, who was martyred with four other missionaries in 1956. Historic restoration of the house, built in 1948 by Saint and a missionary team, is nearly complete. The house will be dedicated Oct. 30.

“Nate Saint and a team of missionaries helped build this house for Nate’s family, facilitating the pioneering outreach that eight years later led to his martyrdom,” said John Boyd, MAF president. “Its restoration means that his home will continue to be a center of ministry and witness of Christ’s hope for generations to come.”

The dedication will include sharing the Nate Saint story, a presentation of the gospel and a prayer of dedication. It will be conducted in English, Spanish and Waorani, the language of the people group that the five missionaries were visiting when tribal warriors killed them on Jan. 8, 1956.

Chris Nevins, president of Fuel the Mission, the nonprofit construction ministry that restored the home, said that a core crew of eight Ecuadorian workers with two short-term work crews from the United States have labored 90 construction days. Since June 15 when work began, 350 college and high school students and families from Europe and the United States have visited the house.

“We are grateful to God for Fuel the Mission and the many ministry partners who have given their time and other resources to the restoration project,” said Boyd.

Visitors during the restoration included Mincaye Enquedi, 75, one of the last three survivors of the Waorani warriors who martyred the missionaries. Mincaye, who speared Saint, became a Christian. Today he serves as a church elder while his grandson is associate pastor of an Ecuadorian church that some MAF families attend.

Nate Saint’s son Steve visited in August, and retired missionary Frank Drown, 89, who helped build the house, stopped by with his wife, Marie. Drown broke the news of the men’s martyrdoms to their wives in the kitchen, a scene documented in a famous Life magazine spread. Drown helped recover the bodies and bury his friends in a driving rainstorm. Drown family members Richard, Roger and Joelle helped with the renovation this summer.

Flying termites had nearly eaten the whole house. Without intervention, Nevins estimates that the structure would have collapsed within a year. The foundation, all but one foundation pier, the radio room, all doors, first-floor beams and 20 percent of the lumber are original in the renovated house. The kitchen will look mostly as it did in 1956. Some rebar remaining from construction of a trailer roof for Rachel Saint, Nate’s sister, was also used in the reconstruction.

Nevins, of Scottsdale, Ariz., founded Fuel the Mission to help mission groups worldwide with their construction needs. His team is raising the $75,000 needed to complete the restoration.

MAF Pilot Paul Woodington tells a story of a community dealing with Cyclone Paul in Arnhem Land, North Australia.

On Saturday, 27th Mar 2010, the weather forecast predicted Cyclone Paul would hit Elcho Island around 10pm. MAF pilots on Elcho evacuated and flew their aircraft 90 miles to the new MAF hanger at Gove. At 11pm Saturday night, Cyclone Paul hit Gove, not Elcho Island.

Two days ahead of forecast and missing Elcho completely, the category one Cyclone passed overhead sending debris everywhere. Windows rattled, trees came down, and anything loose became an airborne projectile, but no real damage thankfully. The next day, Sunday 28th Mar, Cyclone Paul continued to develop into a category 2, hugging the southerly coastline, and eventually settling for two days over Yilpara, a homeland of 150 Yolngu people, 80 miles south of Gove.

The previous Wednesday, 24th Mar, was a big day for Yilpara. Yilpara launched the Garrangali band (http://garrangali.bandcamp.com/) a Yolngu band, playing to raise money for the homeland. It was to be a big day; Yolngu came from everywhere. We were to fly in everyone important, and “not so” important, for this big event. The Cyclone however built up near Darwin and despite being over 300 miles away at sea, the Yindi Waltjan big winds – and rain was building up. At 10am and half way to Yilpara, I turned the plane around and headed back to Gove. The rest of the fleet did likewise, there was too much rain.

The leader from the Yilpara homeland, oblivious to the bad weather conditions in Gove, called the office and said, “Send all the planes down now. We are waiting for you. I’m in my long trousers and it is getting hot”. At 11am, two planes set off again: Brett Nel and me. We were off to Yilpara with full passenger loads. At the halfway point, where just an hour ago we turned around, there was enough visibility to pass through and onto Yilpara. That was to be the last opportunity for the day; the rain came in over Gove closing the airport all day. Brett and I were to enjoy the Garrangali band, so we thought.

The atmosphere at Yilpara was electric. The band was tuning up their Didgeridoos; people huddled together with excitement, speakers getting ready, leaders dressed in traditional clothes rushed around. Then the rains came, followed by the winds. A desperate attempt to save the band’s gear stopped all festivities. Temporary shelters built as a sunshade bulged with rainwater to near collapse. Our passengers were ready to go home. Two hours later a speck of blue sunlight gave brief hope of getting back to Gove.

I was first off the chocks in the Airvan followed by Brett in the Cessna 206. However, ruin was in store for Brett. Water had crept into the tubes which measure airspeed, forcing him back to Yilpara to make repairs. I made steady progress until reaching Garthalala homeland, where rain and cloud forced us to land.

We enjoyed mixing with the local Yolngu, sharing stories and predicting if we would make Gove that day. God opened up clear skies once more, giving us one opportunity to get into Gove. Sadly, for Brett, the storms south of Garthalala forced him back to Yilpara where he was to spend the next few days. We squeezed into Gove at low level, giving all passengers great material for a good yarn.

The weather the next day, 25th Mar, did not improve. I had two tries at getting off to Yilpara before success, but yet again, the remainder of the fleet could not get out of Gove due weather. I met up with Brett, who seemed to have survived an overnight with the weather; he flew to Groote Island for more fuel and to drop off passengers. I flew people to places nearer Gove. The cloud was very high and very low at the same time, creating a clear middle corridor. We were flying at 6,500 feet to drop passengers just 20 miles away. Usually we stay at about 2,500 maximum for these short journeys. Again, I could not immediately get back to Gove and once again stayed at Garthalala before a late dash home. Yet again, Brett could not get out of Yilpara after his flight to Groote Island, so he remained a second night at Yilpara.

The next day, Friday 26th Mar, the weather worsened, but Brett did get back from Yilpara, the only flight he made that day. As the Cyclone approached on Saturday, flying became impossible as was for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday 31st Mar, Yilpara was devastated by two days of whipping by the category-two Cyclone, which had remained overhead. Over forty trees came down over the access track; the local billabong overflowed creating a lake. The once vegetable garden became a vast water feature. Sewerage had mixed in with drinking water, and the diesel generator’s electrics had blown on the Sunday leaving them without power for four days.

Wednesday morning, 31st Mar, while flying an Airvan, I headed off towards Yilpara. I had no idea what to expect or what the weather would be like. Everything on the aircraft was at maximum; I had full fuel, four emergency engineers: a diesel engineer, a water engineer, an electrician and another “all sorts of jobs” man. With every spare cavity stacked with emergency food for the Yolngu, the plane was heavy.

On the way down, we flew low-level passes over other homeland airstrips to assess their condition. We inspected vehicle tracks for water and fallen trees. We had to close several airstrips and impose restrictions on others. We found many roads blocked. At Yilpara, the airstrip looked half-underwater, but on closer inspection, much of the water was in the turning area, leaving three quarters of the runway available. At the other end was a washout, where water had eroded the runway. This was also full with water, reducing the runway length to half- just enough.

People lined the centre of the airstrip as we came in on final approach. The Cyclone had moved on just a few miles, and the rain had stopped for the moment. However, the wind was still creating problems. As we flew over the “new water park”, turbulence and windshear made a landing difficult. The increase in speed for these conditions meant a longer airstrip was required, and with the aircraft at maximum weight and the airstrip much shortened and uncertainty about the actual surface condition for landing, I chose to go-around and have another go.

With full power at low level, the noise would have been deafening on the ground. We could see the anxious Yolngu panicking at the thought of the aircraft not able to land, meaning no water, no food, and no electricity. I felt for them. I could imagine the disappointment and was pleased to give it another go.

This time the wheels touched down, the crowd surrounding the plane wanting food and news was extraordinary. Our immediate task was to unload the food and provide some protection for the consignment until local leadership could organise an orderly distribution. My first reaction when looking at the homeland was, “that’s new”, pointing to an enormous lake which once had been a field with a flagged lined path though it for the Garrangali band visitors. I remember a drop-dunny toilet around here too – I did find it later. It had been blown away to the other side of the homeland.

A house/shack had blown down. People were milling everywhere, fixing things, moving trees, tending children and searching for the next thing to do. It seemed to me that at times like this the Yolngu people really do work well together for a common good, in what is usually a dry hot shanty style township, with not a lot going on.

The engineer worked on the generator without much success. An electrical circuit had blown and a new one from Darwin would be required. We would fly this new part in the next day. Nevertheless, they managed to fix the water supply. We could see Yolngu scurrying away from the distribution point with food and water, and the people felt more confident after the plane had arrived.

More planes now came in, more food on its way. Medical supplies arrived, as did doctors and nurses. We now started evacuating the sick and the elderly back to Gove.

The devastation caused by Cyclone Paul continues three months later. More rain has come with tracks getting worse rather than better. Transport vehicles attempting access to the homelands have ripped up the otherwise good roads into boggy swamps. Once the rains stop, there will be much needed repair work done before the tracks are back to normal. Damaged airstrips keep several homelands closed. MAF continue to provide essential service flights, reaching out to the remote people of East Arnhem Land.

Please pray for these amazingly resilient isolated people.

Paul Woodington, MAF Pilot, Arnhem Land, North Australia

www.maf.org.au