Gera Landslide

Hello friends. Sorry it has been so long since we wrote on this. Life is ever busy. One big item of news, a landslide in the town of Gera on the major freeway between here and the coast is causing chaos for people in this region. We are fine, having time and money to stock up on supplies. Many local people have not been so fourtunate.

The following report was in a local newspaper…

" Papua New Guinea ministers are calling for a state of emergency to be declared after a massive landslide in the Highlands region caused chaos for four provinces. The PNG government has declared a natural disaster zone on the Okuk Highway, at Gera, outside Kundiawa town in Chimbu Province in PNG's Highland region, where businesses have begun controlling food and fuel distribution as panic buying sweeps the region.

Thousands of people directly and hundreds of thousands indirectly are suffering in the regions, PNG officials said. Hospitals in the Enga, Chimbu, Eastern and Southern Highlands Provinces now fear vital oxygen and other gas supplies will run out within days. Enga Province's, Mt Hagen Hospital Medical Services Director Dr Michael Dokup said lives were at risk as every hospital in the region was affected by the landslip. "It's not good, all hospitals are feeling the pinch," he said. "Our gas supplier told us they have run out of oxygen. "We've got enough gas for two more days, and our fuel is gone down too," he said. "We've told all surgeons to only conduct emergency procedures," he said.

The weekend landslide was triggered by rain and falling limestone which caused a large volume of soil to crash down and cover 150 metres of highway. PNG Transport Minister Don Poyle surveyed the destruction that displaced 3000 people and crushed 80 homes and gardens.

Electricity and the supply of other essentials have been cut off along the Highlands' main transport line, he said. "It's a big mess and difficult because the earth is still moving and the area is very unstable," he said. Polye said a team of experts had flown up to examine the area while an alternative road for light vehicles was being re-opened.

"We need a state of emergency because it affects four provinces, mining and oil fields," he said. "Thousands of people are hurting, but the whole region is suffering due to the landslide," he said. Authorities believe it will take a month before the road is passable again. Landowners and regional representatives have attacked the PNG government for ignoring their past concerns over three previous landslides in the area. "

Thanks Derrick Buntrock for the pictures.

Home School Camp

Last weekend we had a MAF PNG Home Schoolers Camp. It was a great three days full of fun activities. We had daily devotions and worship times, played games, went on bush walks, arts and craft’s, a movie night – a great time of community fun and learning.

Wom Beach

Our last day in Wewak was spent at the beach.

Beautiful Pasam Falls

On Saturday we hiked through the bush down to a place called Pasam Falls. It was so beautiful - waterfalls with these gorgeous water holes. Everyone swam, and we had a picnic. The big people hiked further down the valley to big falls down the bottom. My poor knees were protesting (i had to literally crawl on my bottom down the mountain), so i stayed with the kids. An amazing place. We were all so sore the next day, but it was SO worth it!

Wewak Fun

This was the approach into Wewak. We got there just in time to see the Wewak churches Good Friday march from the air. Dinner with the MAF ex-pat families in Wewak.

Easter in Wewak

For Easter this year we decided to go and visit friends in a town on the north coast of PNG called Wewak. We had a fantastic time with our friends, and got to enjoy some of the amazing little spots in that part of the world.
Thanks Lisi and Phillip, and Nick and Paula for looking after us! We love you guys!

Dentist Trip - MAF style

Rachel has had a nasty abscess on her gum for a few weeks. After a course of antibiotics, the abscess hadn’t healed up so a trip to the dentist is in order. There is a national dentist in Mt Hagen, however we were told that he does not have equipment to do x-rays, and more often than not he lacks basic equipment. We were advised to go to a Mission station at a place called Ukarumpa. Fortunately, three other MAF families from Mt Hagen also needed to go to the dentist, so we charted a plane and flew out.

We were up early, and at the airport by 6.30. We had a fantastic flight in the little Cessna 206, it was such a beautiful morning. We arrived at Ukarumpa in time for our appointments by 8.30am. Ukarumpa is a SIL mission station, with its own school for ex-pat mission children (both day students and boarders), hospital and dentist. Apparently it is the largest Christian Mission Station of its kind in the world. It is used as a base for mission families who are translating the bible in remote parts of PNG.

Poor Rachel had two teeth pulled out. They were both babies and both had bad infection in the roots. We had a lovely gentle American missionary dentist who took x-rays, and talked us through the whole thing. Rachel was very brave, and coped okay with the three injections, and two extraction's...although she is exhausted tonight and she will never again believe her mothers promise of ‘it wont even hurt!”

We were all finished at the dentist by 10am, but the three other MAF people who were with us all had appointments as well (including our pilot!) So we walked around the town for a few hours, and had fun doing some shopping in the mission supermarket (that had lots of fun American products that cant be found in any other part of PNG...marshmallows, chocolate chips, corn chips - you know, the essentials :)

We took off at 3.30, and almost had to turn back due to a fantastic storm, but Geoff (our pilot) was able to get ahead of it to get us home safe and sound by 4.30.
And that was our trip to the dentist.

Megans 8th Birthday

Last Saturday we celebrated Megans 8th birthday with a Island Princess party! Loads of fun. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGY XXX

Latest Prayer notes...

Dear Friends.

Life is very full and busy here in Papua New Guinea. The work (like most) is never ending, and the challenges often appear insurmountable. Thankfully, we have a very big God who sees the potential for good in everything and everyone and who walks with us each day, helping us through the tough stuff. We simply couldn’t do it without his grace and empowering.

Since we last wrote, we have had a wonderful two weeks holiday in Cairns (North of Australia) in early February. This was probably the most restful and refreshing holiday we have had ever had as a family. Narelle’s parents (Kath and Kev) flew up from Melbourne to be with us for a little of that time, a fabulous treat. We thank God for this time away. We came home to PNG full of energy and ready to get back into the work God has given us.

As already mentioned, our MAF program life seems almost ridiculously hectic of late. Partly this is due to the fact that it has been holiday time, and many families go away for well-deserved breaks, but it means less people around to carry the load. Fortunately, everyone is back home now and things are getting back to normal.

We have also been operating without a Program Manager, our manager had to resign due to illness in December. Since then, we have had our leadership from our Cairns office commuting up here a couple of weeks of each month to fill the role.
Please pray for our leadership as they are looking for a new person to take on the role of Program Manager for the PNG MAF program.

Another reason it has been so crazy, is that we have had a run of unexpected maintenance work needing done on several aircraft, so our engineering teams are working long hours to get planes back into the air. They work as quickly as they can, but it is important that they don’t rush jobs, and keep our aircraft safe. When maintenance problems develop, planes are stuck on the ground, program schedules get backlogged (our pilots are flying on Saturday to compensate), passengers get cranky and sick people who should be moved to be where there they can get medical treatment can die. There is an awful lot of pressure on everyone.
Worldwide, M.A.F is in desperate need of more engineers. We can only fly if we have people on the ground willing to work to keep our planes in good shape. Please pray that God would prompt the hearts of qualified engineers into overseas mission work. Pray that our team would cope with the extra pressure that we are experiencing at the moment.

Please also pray for our M.A.F families who were evacuated out of Chad (in Northern Africa) a few weeks ago due to rebel attacks on the city of N’djamena. Thank God they got out safely, but please pray for our local staff that could not leave the country and for peace in Chad.

Some personal news. After much prayer and discussion, we have decided that when we finish our contract term in PNG in July (08), we will be resigning from MAF and returning home to Australia to live. This has been a hard decision to make, as we have enjoyed our time with MAF immensely. However, we feel strongly that it is time to go home. After 12 years away, it is going to be a huge adjustment, but we are excited as we step out into a new way of life.
Please pray for us as we seek Gods direction regarding work, and where we should live when we go back. Please also pray that in our remaining 5 months here in PNG, we would keep focused on the job at hand, and finish well. Please also pray for our little girls that they will cope with leaving good friends, and starting over again.

Please continue to pray for safety in the air as our pilots fly, and for wisdom and energy for those supporting us on the ground, and our leadership as they run whole operation.
With love and thanks,
Sandy, Narelle, Rachel and Megan Wilson
PNG, Mt Hagen,
Papua New Guinea

Chad Evacuation

This is the press release that MAF UK issued following the evecuation of MAF staff from NDjamena, Chad last week. Please pray for peace in Chad.

4 February 2008
Mission Aviation Fellowship evacuates from Chad
Following evacuation from Chad to Cameroon on Friday, Mission Aviation Fellowship families are now preparing to return to their home countries.

On Saturday, rebel leaders advanced on Chad’s capital, N’Djaména causing thousands to flee. Following two days of heavy fighting, the government claims they have driven the rebels out. However, rebel spokesman Abderamane Koullamalah said rebel forces made a tactical withdrawal from the capital to meet up with reinforcements coming from the east with fresh ammunition and supplies. Rebel leaders also say they are giving civilians a chance to flee before launching another attack.

Aid agencies have reported many dead bodies on the streets and hundreds of people being treated in hospitals.

MAF’s team remained in safety in Cameroon over the weekend. But with Chad facing much instability, MAF’s Country Director Mike Riley wrote to say that families would be returning to their home countries.

Reporting on the last few days, pilot Mark Liprini shares, ‘Obtaining reliable information is extremely hard. Sources are often contradictory, and when things really hot up the cellphone network is switched off and often the landlines are cut as well. Driving on the streets becomes extremely dangerous.’

Our team slept at the hangar on Thursday night as the most reliable reports indicated that the rebels were very close to N’Djamena and planning an attack. On Friday, the situation appeared to calm and the families returned to their homes on the MAF compound.

Mark continues, ‘Suddenly it flared up again. And violently. One of the Chadian staff rushed to the compound and urgently informed Mike that we had to evacuate immediately!

‘The families grabbed a few items and the bags that were already prepacked, piled into their cars and made their way through the streets of N’Djaména back to the hangar. The four-mile drive bypassing the presidential palace seemed to take forever. Heavily-armed soldiers were everywhere, blockades were going up and things were unbelievably scary.’

Within an hour, our team was airborne for Garoua, Cameroon. By Saturday morning, it became clear that it would be too dangerous to return. N’Djaména airport was closed to civilian flights and there was intense fighting around the airport and in many parts of the city.

MAF staff will return home, leaving behind in Chad all they possess except the clothes they are wearing and a few small items in their bags.

Mark concludes, ‘Yet despite all this, the Lord’s presence and comfort has kept the team in good spirits and a sense of calm has been present. There is already talk by some of the team members that they want to return to Chad to complete the work God has called them to.’

Home Again

After a fantastic two week holiday break in Cairns, we are back home tonight in Mt Hagen. We are happy to be home and feeling wonderfully refreshed and rested, and glad to hear that things have calmed down considerably since last weeks violence in town. Thanks for the prayers!