Saving Lives, Serving Communities, Supporting Discipleship

September 13, 2018 Grant Strugnell

“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

A brief look at Lesotho

June 18, 2018 Grant Strugnell

Lesotho is a small country, surrounded completely by South Africa.

So small in fact, that its only 110 miles across. But...

...there are mountains. And that makes driving pretty slow. So, it's a days drive across Lesotho, or a 35-40 min flight. The mountain range is the Maloti range, connected to South Africa's Drakensberg. The highest mountain in southern Africa is in Lesotho, Thaba Ntlenyane. In fact, it's the highest point in Africa South of Kilimanjaro. So, it's name appropriately translates to 'nice little mountain.'

The source of one of South Africa's biggest rivers, the Orange river, is also found in Lesotho. When the river is in Lesotho, it's called the Senqu. That 'qu' at the end is a click sound. Good luck saying that correctly. I can't.

Lesotho is divided up into 10 districts, each one with slightly different cultural nuances. Each district has a few unique qualities, and these are often portreyed on that districts blanket design.

Here's a look at where all the airstrips are located. As you can see by the two examples, they range from about a 20 minute flight, up to 40mins, depending on wind. Thats pretty quick, considering its days drive across the country.

The Long Road to MAF- Part 3

September 8, 2017 Grant Strugnell

Back to the hut on the hill

On 30 March, 2015, Jane Marie Strugnell was born. As expected, she became the focus of our lives from the moment she was born. We spent all our time and energy learning how to look after her, how to change our normal routines to fit around this new and infinitely important being in our lives.

It’s recommended, for good reason, that you shouldn’t enter the mission field immediately after you get married. We took this to heart, knowing that Emily and I needed to work on our relationship and life together before we started thinking how our lives would reach outward into the world. We felt very strongly that the same should be true after having a child, specifically a first child. We needed to focus on her, and the rest of our lives just kind of rolled on by as we grew and adapted to life as a family.

I enjoyed the flight at the flight school, but needed to use it for something more

By mid 2016, however, we started to feel something changing. I was still a trustee of the charity that ran Pulane Children’s Centre, and knew that Jill, the director, was getting to a stage where she wanted to retire and start taking things a little more easy. With that in mind, and being at a point where I was growing weary of working in a corporate flight training setting, we began to feel more open to what might be next.

After suggesting to Jill that we would be willing to move to Lesotho for a few months, (I should have learned by now), she was supportive and happy to have the help. Our idea of being there to support her soon changed when she announced that she was stepping-down so that I could take over as director. Huh, Maybe I should have seen that coming.

Our truck fully loaded heading to Pulane

We were excited by this, rather than afraid. The chance to step-in and keep PCC going strong was energizing. The idea, still, was to do this for a set amount of time. We wanted to make sure that when Jane needed formal schooling, we were in a place that could happen.

One of the planes at the MAF Lesotho hanger when we visited to do our interview

One night, laying awake in our hut on the mountain, thinking deep thoughts about life, I found myself thinking again about MAF. And if I was honest with myself, that was what I really wanted to do in the long-term. The way I understood things, MAF USA and MAF South Africa were part of the same overall company, but they were responsible for different projects. Years before this, I had assumed that as I would have to go through MAF SA, that meant I wouldn’t be able to work at the Lesotho base. This, coupled with my desire to serve in Lesotho, meant that I had just about pushed all possibility of MAF out of mind.

But, I thought, why not just send them and e mail and see if it would be possible to at least try apply to the Lesotho project.

The e mail I got in response essentially said Sure, why not? The HR department in SA spoke with the fine folks in the US HR department, and said that theres no reason why MAF SA couldn’t lend me to MAF US.

This changed everything

Having worked in Lesotho so long, I had developed a love for the country, the mountains, and the people. I had seen firsthand the struggles they faced. I wanted to do something to help, in a practical and lasting way. Pulane Children’s Centre was part of that, but the dream of using my flying to help others, and specifically in Lesotho, was an opportunity I couldn’t turn away from. As a family, we chose, instead, to run toward it.

We started the MAF application process in December 2016, about 11 years after I first applied. In September 2017 we heard that we were accepted! And that’s were we are today.

The path ahead

One thing we want to make sure is clear, is that we are committed to Pulane Children’s Centre, and the move to MAF is made even more perfect in that we will be able to remain as the directors of the work at PCC, even if we are not living on-site. We have been working at PCC to set things up to run smoothly with the local Basotho managers in charge. They do a great job and fill us with more and more confidence each day. We know they can keep PCC going strong, with us providing them with the tools they need to do that. We are also moving forward with MAF preparations. This involves support-raising and training. Support-raising starts now, and training is scheduled for January 2018 in the USA.

The road for me to get to MAF has been a long one, requiring lots of patience. Looking back, I know that when I was 20 years-old, I wasn’t ready for that. But now, with Emily standing strong at my side, and Jane helping us keep perspective on what’s important, we are ready and excited for life with MAF Lesotho!

The Long Road to MAF- Part 2

September 5, 2017 Grant Strugnell

My treasure in a field

In 2008, while still working in Semonkong, a small group of American volunteers come to spend a few months at the Children’s Centre. One of the guys, also named Grant (but pronounced the American way), became a good friend of mine. When he left, he invited me to visit the USA.

In 2009 I was able to do that.

I arrived a few days before November in Salt Lake City, Utah, to spend a month doing a little fundraising for PCC, and also having some time off. On Halloween, Grant invited me to his house to hang out and watch a movie. Oh, and he invited his friend Emily too, was that ok with me?

As it turns out, it was more than ok with me

My first visit to Minnesota once we were dating.

That was the first time I saw Emily. And nothing groundbreaking happened that night. Our eyes didn’t lock in realization that we had both found our soulmate. But what did happen is that the foundation of our friendship formed in the joint activity of avoiding Halloween costume parties.

During that month in the USA, I spent time with Emily, and we started building our friendship. At the end of the month I left, as planned, and returned half a world away to Africa.

We kept in touch, and we didn’t grow apart. Things stayed on a friendship level for around 2 years. Through our continued connection as friends, I joyfully opened up an email from Emily one day to read the words OK, I’m confused about our relationship.

And she said it in a way that made my face light up. I had hoped for this to happen. I had thought of Emily for a long time as my treasure in a field. Jesus talks about a parable where a man find something of great value hidden in a field, and he goes out, sells all he has, so that he can buy the field. Emily felt like my treausre.

We started dating and from there things moved fast. During this same time, I decided to redirect my focus to flying, and accepted a position at a new flight school as a senior instructor pilot. Living in South Africa, earning a salary, and having a slightly more normal life, allowed Emily and I to develop our relationship and get married, which we did in 2012.

Lucky for me, Emily followed me to South Africa, having left her job in campus ministry a few months earlier.

We began our married life in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, where I worked at the flight school, and Emily adapted to life in Africa.

We knew at that stage that we wanted to move into mission-type work sometime in our lives. We didn’t know when, but it was something that stayed in the back of our minds.

I would still think about MAF from time to time, but I felt that I had an attachment to Lesotho, and if I served anywhere, I would ideally like to go there. MAF Lesotho fell under the US program, and if I applied to MAF SA, Lesotho wasn’t an option. Or so I thought.

Keep reading for part 3