“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.

MAF Lesotho does about 200 emergency flights a year

Our focus is isolated communities in the mountains