Welcome to our january enews!
– and thank you for stepping into a new year with MAF!
As we begin 2026, we pause to say thank you. Because of your partnership – through prayer, encouragement and support – lives are being changed, communities remain connected and hope continues to reach some of the world’s most isolated places.
The impact doesn’t stop over christmas
Even during the Christmas season, the need for MAF flights doesn’t slow down.
MAF pilot Matt Kaye, serving in Papua New Guinea, shares what life on the field looks like – and what your prayers and support make possible.
On Christmas Eve, Matt was called to evacuate a man bitten by a deadly Death Adder. Just days later, on New Year’s Day, another emergency followed – a man speared in the chest, who had already travelled hours by boat to reach an airstrip.
These life-or-death flights, carried out in extreme conditions, are a powerful reminder of just how vital MAF’s work is in remote communities.
Read the full story in Matt’s own words below:
A snake bite and a spear in the chest
At around 10am on Christmas Eve, we received a satellite message telling us that there was an urgent medical evacuation out of Wipim, a short 10-minute flight away from the village that we had just landed in. A man had been hunting at 1am the night before and had accidentally stepped on a Death Adder and had been bitten. Realising that time was now critical, I quickly planned our flight via Wipim, to pick him up and take him to Daru – the closest hospital with anti-venom. Thankfully, I had enough fuel to do this and I planned to drum refuel by hand in Daru to then continue the rest of my day.
We were able to make the short flight across, take out a number of seats and lay a stretcher harness down on the ground. The picture (top right) was taken at Wipim as I was preparing to coordinate the lift of the very unwell man into the plane.
The flight to Daru was quick and uneventful and after a short wait we were able to unload the man into an ambulance that took him to hospital.
On the ground, ambient temperatures are in the 40ºCs and very humid, this often makes the “feels like temperature” well upwards of 50ºC. I like to joke that some people pay for a sauna experience – I get to work for free in it every day!
After hand pumping 200 litres of fuel into the plane, I closed up the plane to depart and fly the rest of my planned program. Just as I was putting on my seatbelt, my shoulder harness stopped working. Despite trying to fix it, I couldn’t get it to work, and so with a few calls I got out the toolkit to switch the front two seats around. To do this you need to take out a number of passenger seats, undo a number of bolts and then slide each seat out and swap them over. This took over an hour to do so, all in the high temperatures.
In the midst of the delay, I am very grateful that my seatbelt harness decided to break at Daru once I had got the patient to medical help. If it had broken in Wipim before I got the patient to medical help – he may not have survived. God works in the details!
A few days later, I asked a contact in Daru about the patient. He said that the patient had made a full recovery and was now preparing to head back to his village by boat. Thank you for enabling me to help get sick people to where they can get life-saving treatment!
A CHRISTMAS REUNION
During our Christmas Appeal, we shared the story of Nyabuom, a 16-year-old girl caring for her siblings alone in Uganda’s Rhino refugee settlement.
Thanks to the generosity and prayers of supporters like you, MAF continues to partner with the Khayamandi Foundation to support families like Nyabuom’s.
We’re delighted to share that Nyabuom’s family has now been reunited! With her stepmother returned to care for the children, Nyabuom can focus on her education – and the family can begin a new chapter together.
Read the full story below.
How timely support helped restore a family’s future
From us here at MAF and from our friends at Khayamandi Foundation, the success of seeing a refugee child-led family reunited with their parent is nothing short of a miracle.
Six months ago, MAF joined Khayamandi Foundation to support a struggling family at Uganda’s Rhino refugee settlement. The children were then cared for by their eldest sister, 16-year-old Nyabuom Puok.
The children had been abandoned in a house with a leaking roof. They slept on a dusty floor and went hungry for days.
The community saw the family’s plight and alerted staff from the Khayamandi Foundation. The children appeared pale and unhappy, suffering from conditions including malnutrition and severe ear infection. Attending school was not a part of their daily life.
MAF staff joined Khayamandi Foundation to provide some food, clothes, shoes and bedding to Nyabuom’s family and to other refugee families at the Rhino camp. There was now some relief for the children who had lived on their own for over a year.
But when the children’s lives improved, and Khayamandi took them back to school, word reached their mother, 23-year-old Nyajal Matik, who had relocated back to South Sudan to search for her other missing child.
The tears rolling down Nyajal’s face are a clear testament that she has faced big challenges early in life. At the age of just 15 years, Nyajal was forcefully married off by her father.
In recent years, with her husband absent in South Sudan, she cared for her three stepchildren and four biological children, including a set of twins.
“I used to collect firewood to keep the family going, but there was no more firewood to pick. I was struggling to feed the children,” she said.
For an entire year Nyajal handed the family responsibility of four of the children to her 16-year-old stepdaughter Nyabuom. “I’m pleased with Nyabuom for keeping the family and taking care of the children. I pray that God will bless her for that,” said Nyajal.
During this interview, Nyajal and all the children broke down in tears as they remembered the tough year it had been – but these were also the tears of relief as the family has been reunited and has been supported by the Khayamandi Foundation and MAF.
“I’m grateful that mother is back here,” Nyabuom said.
With the presence of Nyajal, Nyabuom can now focus on her academics, and does not have to worry about fending for the family single-handedly.
As MAF continues to support non-government organisations with their flights to remote refugee settlements, our prayer remains that as many parents as possible are re-united with their children.
For now, join with us to celebrate the reunion of Nyabuom and her family, and to appreciate the efforts by Khayamandi Foundation to see this happen.
A prayerful start to the new year
As we step into 2026, we invite you to pray with us.
- Please pray for every MAF team member and their families serving in remote communities around the world. Ask God for safety in the skies, wisdom in decision-making and His grace over every flight.
- Pray that God would raise up the right people to fill vacant roles across MAF’s global programs – calling, equipping and sending those who will help this ministry grow so more isolated people can be reached with help, healing and the love of Christ.
- As MAF International continues its journey toward becoming a single, integrated global organisation – with the vision to double our impact and reach over 5,000 isolated communities by 2045 – please pray for clear vision and steady provision. Ask that the right resources, people and partnerships would be supplied at the right time.
Make a difference with your prayers in 2026
Your prayers for MAF truly make a difference.
To help guide your prayers at the start of the year, we invite you to download our short devotional, Here I Am: Joining God’s Work Through Bold Prayers.
This free, three-day devotional offers Scripture-based reflections to help shape thoughtful prayer – moving from recognising the need, to listening for God’s leading and responding with a willing heart. It’s a practical resource to help you pray intentionally for God’s work through MAF and the people we serve.
… pray with us as we begin 2026.
If you’d like to continue praying MAF throughout the year, you can also register to receive monthly prayer points or join our quarterly prayer Zoom.
*By clicking download, you’ll be subscribed to receive our monthly prayer points. You can unsubscribe at any time.
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