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