'Abort Short Final' -Comics by Grant

So, I really enjoy drawing and playing around with design tools. Recently I have been playing with an iPad app called “Procreate (Not what you might think).” It’s a drawing app, and I’ve been messing around making some cartoons of things that happen at MAF. Some might only make sense to pilots. Some might only make sense to MAF people. But I figure I’ll share them here for the world to see. Here’s one to start us off, with some commentary below:

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Out of the 7 international families here, I am the only guy who is a pilot ‘only.’ Meaning I am not a mechanic too. So, I was feeling pretty bad a few weeks ago as the mechanics worked tirelessly on getting planes flying again, an it felt like all I did was bother them to get it ready faster. They did get it ready, and almost immediately I came back from a flight on one of the other planes that was now due for service! Poor guys.

Sometimes the fastest way to run uphill is to walk

We all want things done now. Not tomorrow or next week, but now. We are probably tired of hearing about how our culture ‘these days’ expects things instantly: fast food, music and TV on demand, and can your internet ever really be fast enough?

Pre-flight checks

I love running, especially far, and in the mountains. In fact, I have a race coming up just this week in Lesotho. It’s a 50km mountain trail race, but let’s just call it a ‘run,’ as the only person I am racing against is myself. The aim of mountain running is to move as quickly and efficiently as possible. Some people ask me ‘on a 50km race, do you ever walk?’ After an embarrassed laugh, I usually answer, ‘the question is “do I ever run?”’ The thing is, sometimes the fastest way to safely and effectively reach your goal is to take it slow, efficiently and deliberately. If you get your head down and keep a slow to moderate pace, before you know it you’ll be there.

Our first airstrip for the day, Nohana

I mention this idea because thats what I’ve been feeling over the past few months, as I slowly chip away at flight training here in Lesotho. It hasn’t been fast, and there’s a good reason for this: For me to get fully signed out as a safe and effective MAF pilot in Lesotho, its a process, and not a simple checking of the boxes.

I started with local flights around Maseru, working at making the airplane more of an extension of my body before taking it into the mountains. Then, our chief pilot Bryan and I headed out for an overnight mountain checkout session. The majority of our airstrips here require new pilots to practice at them with an instructor on board, to ensure we understand every intricacy of them before going at it alone. We had a successful time, and managed to get 7 airstrips completed, after sweating it out doing landings, aborts and emergencies until I dreamed about them.

One of the reasons we don’t rush this process is because a key element to our safety structure is something along the lines of ‘If you are unsure about something, then don’t do it.’ If you have doubts about the wind conditions and your ability to handle it then don’t go do it. If you have a doubt that the airplane is 100% set up to land during your final approach then back off, get out of there and try it again.

So, pretty soon I will get to start operating to those 7 airstrips. Building experience and confidence, and then slowly we will add on more airstrips, little by little.

Waiting out some storms at Kuebunyane

Sometimes it’s hard to not rush ahead and try and advance faster. Saying ‘no’ when the weather is marginal isn’t fun, or deciding to not land and collect a sick patient because the conditions aren’t safe, is a hard thing to do. Ultimately it means we can go out next time and try it again, day after day and year after year.

We couldn’t be effective in our mission here if we were unsafe, and to be safe, you have to take it slow. Like I said, the fastest way to run uphill is to walk.

Saving Lives, Serving Communities, Supporting Discipleship

“Saving Lives, Serving Communities, Supporting Discipleship.” These are the ministry thrusts of MAF Lesotho.

Over the last month I was able to be a part of 2019 ministry planning for our team. Our planning team was a mix of new and seasoned team members, international missionaries and local missionaries. Our goal was to set the trajectory for how Mission Aviation Fellowship in Lesotho plans to use our resources (human, technological, and financial) to help build God’s Kingdom in Lesotho in 2019. Of course, as one of the new guys I arrived, asking ‘Why don’t we do this?’ or “Why don’t we do that?” There is a world of possibilities out there. One of our tasks in ministry planning was to create a “filter” that will help our team as a whole to decide which opportunities are the best fit for MAF Lesotho. To do this, we used the three key phrases in the MAF Mission Statement. Namely:

• Share the love of Christ
• Using Aviation and technology
• To serve isolated people

That means, if there’s a job that can be done without an airplane, it doesn’t fit our focus. If there are places people could drive more easily, then MAF needs to be looking further, at places where people are isolated. Our job is very specific, and must fulfill those key points.

So, as we sat down to think about 2019, and put pen to paper on a clear, achievable plan, an important thing occurred to us: Our job is to focus on our core work, and do it well. Instead of pulling hundreds of ideas out of a hat and trying to do them all, it’s more important that we get our core job done to a high standard.

The core job of MAF here in Lesotho, is firstly to save lives. 90% of the flying we do is focused on transporting patients, doctors, and nurses. This is the primary reason why the Lesotho government welcomes us with such open arms. We have to keep doing this aspect of our job well. Next, is that we serve communities. We are in a position to use aviation to support local churches, villages, and other NGO’s (Non-government organizations) by transporting people and supplies.
Thirdly, we support discipleship. This means we aim to connect people, walk beside them, and assist them in their spiritual walks. People are in our care for a short amount of time, but we want that time to be spiritually impactful: visiting and praying at the hospital with the families of patients we transport, for example.

This idea of focusing and doing what we do well translates to every aspect of our lives. For me, it’s important right now to continue my training, and make sure that I am the best pilot I can be. For Emily, it’s about focusing on managing the Children’s Centre and doing that well. For Jane, it’s about learning which dinosaur is the coolest. (T. Rex, obviously).

We have had a great past few months complete with challenges, highs and lows, but overall we have a good feeling of knowing we are in the place we want to be. We continue to be excited about the work that both MAF and PCC are doing.

It’s currently the windy season here in Lesotho, a time where the flying becomes more difficult, with many airstrips often unreachable. As the weather calms in the weeks ahead, I’ll be moving more and more into a flying role, learning and focusing on how to do that to the highest level I can.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support.

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MAF Lesotho does about 200 emergency flights a year

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Our focus is isolated communities in the mountains

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