Stuck in Mt Hagen

April 6th we were supposed to depart Papua New Guinea for Switzerland. However, due to a nationwide travel restriction and a major lockdown of airports along our intended route of travel, we never made it out of Telefomin. Only on April 10th did we leave Telefomin for Mt Hagen, but again it was not by our choice. With all international air travel still impossible we thought of staying in our home in Telefomin until things calmed down and we could journey to Switzerland. However, the PNG government decided to isolate the border provinces to Indonesia, which would have made it impossible for us to leave later on. So, Mt Hagen was a saver place to wait.
And now, 6 weeks later, we still are in Mt Hagen, with no prospect of leaving soon. Living out of a 23kg suitcase each we stay in an empty house at the Kagamuga compound close to the airport. Markus is working in his role as Crew Training Manager in the office, doing the occasional, State-of-Emergency approved flight, while Madeleine has resumed her role as a Family Manager, schooling the children and making sure we can survive on the few things we brought along. The kids are doing great, finding and making new toys (we had no space to pack any) with stuff they find in the surrounding gardens. As there is no complete lockdown, we can actually move about and had the chance to visit a nearby cafe a few times. Also, there is quite a bit of interaction going on on the compound itself, with Bibel study, morning/evening workout, and volley ball being just a few.
All in all we are doing well and hope to resume our travelling in June. By that time, most of Switzerland will be opened up again, too, so that we can actually do our home assignment as planned, including public speaking engagements.

Homeschooling for Joelle

Making friends with the compound guard

Niklas doing exercise with colleagues ...

... and Lucien joins in as well

Homechurch during lockdown

Building a plane with dad

Kathy's Walk to a Changed Life – Part 1

It all started with a visit from a YWAM team in Agali, one of the most spectacular places in PNG. Located in the Strickland valley, Agali rests on a plateau with the steep Strickland gorge in front and a high rising mountain range at the back. It is days from any other village and probably weeks from the next town – walking that is. With the plane it is 20 Minutes to Tari and about the same to Tabubil.

Agali looking towards the Strickland Valley

Micha Lucht is a young, enthusiastic German with a passion for Jesus. In 2019, he spent quite a bit of time in Papua New Guinea. First, he came for ten weeks as part of an outreach programme of the Discipleship Training School he attended at Queenstown, New Zealand. Later, he returned for a longer mission: to teach the Discipleship Bible School himself to young Papua New Guineans enrolled at Camp Kalina, situated on the outskirts of Mt Hagen. During a two-week outreach in Agali Micha met Kathy, a local woman, and decided to teach the Gospel in a practical way.

Click here to read the story as PDF

Strickland Gorge near Agali

The Blessings of Remote Bible Schools

February and March of 2020 were filled with training a follow pilot of Telefomin on the Cessna Caravan. Though already familiar with the area and the airstrips, a new aircraft type poses its own challenges as procedures need to be adapted to accommodate differences in things like approach speed and general handling. But even though the flights we did mostly targeted training purposes they still had an impact on God's kingdom.

Click here to read the story as PDF

Mission Aviation Fellowship, 75-Year Anniversary

This year MAF International celebrates its 75-year anniversary. For this occasion a video clip was produced. Most scenes were filmed in Lapalama, a village close to Mt Hagen, headquarter in MAF Papua New Guinea.

If you would like to read more about how MAF came to be, here is a short history: