http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.maf.org.nz en-us Sat, 31 Oct 2026 05:32:34 +1300 Rocketspark http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171771/they-will-now-spread-the-gospel-maf-brings-bible-training-within-reach/ “We had a big gap for most of us to travel to Juba by land—or for the trainers from Juba to Torit,” said Canon Peter Oduha, a pastor at the Diocese of Torit in South Sudan.“It was a very great challenge because of insecurity, finances and the bad roads.”For local church leaders in distant counties and villages, accessing basic pastoral training was once a nearly impossible task—with treacherous road journeys taking four to six hours. Today, a vital partnership between Agape Mission S... Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:47:52 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171771 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171656/nick-pays-school-fees-with-the-gold-he-finds/ It’s time to board the MAF flight in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea. Sitting down on the small plane, I greet the passenger sitting next to me, a man wearing a heavy red jacket on this fresh highland morning.Meet Nick Samson. He is returning to his home village of Kaiam, one of the most remote communities that MAF serves.“I’m not sure of my age,” Nick says in Tok Pisin, responding to my questions. On further probing for even an approximate age, he simply says, “I’m not able to be clea... Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:31:45 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171656 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171586/protecting-all-creatures-great-and-small/ The isolated nature of Lantoto National Park should be the perfect sanctuary for African wildlife to thrive, but that same isolation also creates opportunities for poachers who are putting those creatures in danger.The site, co-managed by the Enjojo Foundation alongside South Sudan’s Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, sounds like a ‘Noah’s Ark’ that is home to antelopes, leopards, ostriches, hornbills and turacos.But this vast wilderness, which shares a 98km border with the D... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:55:31 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171586 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171585/education-reaches-hewa-children/ When you land at Yifki airstrip, you can’t help but notice the smart-looking buildings of Yifki Christian School, in stark contrast to their rugged surrounds.This is something special: it’s the first school ever in this particular area of the Hewa tribe.The vision for the school grew from the community’s hunger for education, starting with a teacher and a few children meeting in the church. Since then, it’s progressed into a well-equipped permanent learning centre, through the vast effor... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:44:01 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171585 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171584/safer-births-bring-new-life-to-yifki/ “You’ll be quite surprised when you land. You will see hundreds of babies and children!”These are the proud words of Susan Kopf. She and her husband Jonathan have served in the roadless mountainside community of Yifki, working to translate the Bible into the Hewa language. But having seen the high number of childbirth deaths in the area, they took action and helped to introduce safer delivery practices.“We started the midwife programme in 2012,” Susan says. “MAF flew in a team from S... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:41:12 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171584 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171583/hope-for-the-hewa/ In the year 2000, missionary and Bible translator Jonathan Kopf moved with his wife Susan, a nurse, to Fiyawena, a remote village in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province.“For years they lived with us in the village. Jonathan started preaching the Word of God, but we were only a few who listened,” remembers Yanis, a teenager back then.But existing tribal tensions rose during this time, and then calamity struck in 2006.“One of my tribal friends got killed in my front yard,” says Jonathan.“... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:30:26 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171583 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171582/from-killing-and-fear--to-hope-health-and-education/ For generations, the Hewa people lived in violent conflict, cut off from medicine and education – and the Gospel.The following stories and testimonies reveal how the arrival of missionaries and the construction of an airstrip have transformed the Hewa people.Father of eight Kepson Pokiau tells us how his people used to live and what the transformation means for his own family today:“We killed people, we fought other men, that’s how it was.My ancestors, my father, my mother, it was like tha... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:21:31 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171582 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171580/behind-the-lens--my-most-challenging-photoshoot-by-far/ When Bob Ditty agreed to take his camera on board with MAF and fly to Renk – the fragile northern tip of South Sudan – he began researching the isolated region.Every US travel advisory warned against visiting the town under greatest pressure from deadly conflict raging across the border. With around 80% of refugees entering South Sudan through Renk — one million desperate people who have fled the Sudanese war — it is a place steeped in suffering, and a temporary home for over 12,000 peop... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:07:04 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171580 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171578/when-isolated-is-not-a-choice/ Papua New GuineaCraggy mountain peaks and steep river gorges surround Sikoi, a small village in Papua New Guinea. There are no roads to the nearest town, and when a child contracts severe asthma, village health workers quickly run out of treatment options.“It would take three days’ walk to reach a road, plus an extra day for stops along the way,” said Ani Aipe, a mother of four whose daughter Iprio was saved by an MAF flight.For Iprio, those four days of walking would have been fatal. Inst... Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:48:02 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171578 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/post/171398/its-our-first-week-of-flight-operations-but-stevens-already-flown-with-us/ “I used to charter MAF from Arawa to Buin,” says the white-haired 73-year-old. “It was a five-seater single-engined aeroplane — I used to give ten dollars, and they would take me to Buin.”From the age of 18, Steven Kopana worked for Bougainville Copper Limited at the mine in Panguna, 50 kilometres as-the-crow-flies from Buin.“I played so many roles there. I was employed in many sectors,” he says. “At that time, there was no road system — the roads were useless. The only means o... Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:39:02 +1300 http://www.maf.org.nz/blog/#post171398