MAF – Saving Precious Lives

  • 18 October 2022
  • Caroline Frykberg





SAVING PRECIOUS LIVES 

Mahak Baru is a village located deep in the jungle of Kalimantan, Indonesia. It’s a strategic location for MAF to have a small fuel depot.

Drums of Jet-A—the type of fuel used by the MAF Kodiak—get shipped from the coast upriver by boat until the river becomes unnavigable. Then the fuel is transferred to a truck where it’s driven over a rough road to Mahak Baru.

Fuel is a precious commodity in the jungle. The Kodiak will burn through about a drum of fuel—or 55 gallons—to make the one-hour, 200-mile flight to Mahak Baru.

The fuel depot there means the Kodiak can refuel and make short hops to nearby villages, delivering food, medical supplies for the clinics, and kerosene for generators. 

It also means medevacs can happen. Recently a truck slid off a muddy road and tumbled into a steep ravine, killing two of the occupants instantly and seriously injuring another.

MAF pilot Jeremy Toews was able to fly to Mahak Baru to pick up the injured man and his wife and take them to the hospital in Tarakan, where the MAF base is located.

After receiving medical care for a month, Jeremy flew the man, Yusuf, and his wife back to their village. “It’s always a joy to fly one of our medevac patients back home,” Jeremy said of the flight. “I’m so grateful for a happy ending.”

Fuel made all the difference for this happy ending. Without fuel, the airplane can’t fly and people like Yusuf can’t get the help they need.

 Thank you to all those members of our SHAP congregation who support MAF with your prayers and donations.