Latest News from Lesotho
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Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) provides vital aviation and radio communications services to national churches, the Flying Doctor Service, Christian missions, and non-government organizations (NGOs) ministering in Lesotho.
THE NEED
One could easily name this small African nation “the kingdom in the sky.” The lowest spot in this rugged country rises 4,583 feet above sea level. Smaller than the state of Maryland and completely surrounded by the nation of South Africa, Lesotho is a mountainous country made up of tiny, often inaccessible villages.
The few available roads are poor, rendering transportation insufficient and unsafe. The communications system within the country is inadequate at best. Nearly half of all the native Basotho people are unemployed. More than one-third of the men have left the country seeking employment as miners or agricultural workers in South Africa.
Due to persistent drought and resultant famine, the people of Lesotho are dependent upon food aid for their survival. In 2007, the grain harvest was ravaged by one of the worst droughts in 30 years. The World Food Programme predicts continued food shortages, with some 400,000 people—a fifth of the total population—needing food assistance during the first three months of 2008.
Even with favorable weather conditions, less than 10 percent of the land is arable. The lack of roads and ruggedness of the terrain make it nearly impossible to provide farmers with fertilizer and seeds at the ideal planting time. There is no irrigation farming or agricultural infrastructure. Assessment teams suspect the country’s cereal production is in a downward trend caused by long-term soil erosion, erratic weather, and the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
As much as 32 percent of Lesotho’s population is infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, and 100,000 AIDS orphans live in mountain villages with little or no access to medical services. Households caring for orphans and chronically ill family members frequently have nothing to eat.
While AIDS continues to be an alarming threat to Lesotho and its people, land degradation, capacity depletion, and economic decline hinder the assistance efforts of humanitarian, development, and missions organizations.
Although some 90 percent of Lesotho’s population considers itself Christian, traditionalism and nominal Christianity is widespread with little understanding of the truth of the Gospel.
THE SOLUTION
Since 1980, MAF has provided safe, efficient air transportation for Lesotho’s Flying
Doctor Service. Currently, MAF serves 12 rural mountain health posts from 27 dirt
airstrips carved into the nation’s rugged mountains. Nearly 200,000 people depend solely on the Flying Doctor Service for medical care.
MAF services enable the work of 38 partner agencies, including Africa Inland Mission
(AIM), Southern Baptist Mission, William J. Clinton Foundation, Catholic Relief
Services, Partners In Health, Samaritan’s Purse, and Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM).
IMPACT 2007 HIGHLIGHTS
In the past 12 months, the MAF program in Lesotho ...
- Saved Christian and humanitarian workers 4,327 days of travel time—or 17.9 work years redeemed for roductive Kingdom work!
- Executed 2,759 flights, transported 6,494 passengers, and delivered 398,251 pounds of cargo in order to provide access to the Gospel and to basic services such as health clinics, medical emergency evacuations, and ducation—services otherwise unavailable in this mountainous region.
- Increased flight services by seven percent to accommodate the growing number of requests from local NGOs who provide AIDS/HIV-related services.
- Sustained the Lesotho Flying Doctor Service, providing medical care to some
200,000 people.
- Supported an evangelistic, home-based, patient care project, teaching families to care for their critically ill relatives infected with HIV/AIDS. Distributed Bibles to patients and their families.
- Provided safe, efficient aviation services to missionaries reaching mountain villagers with the Gospel.
- Facilitated new and ongoing mission endeavors to show the Jesus film in remote villages. Presented the film at a local prison. The film also plays continually in the MAF patient waiting room.
- Assisted NGOs and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in providing proper healthcare and HIV/AIDS training in very remote areas of Lesotho.
KEY GOALS 2008
- Acquire two additional aircraft and an additional hangar to meet increasing flight requests.
- Sustain the Lesotho Flying Doctor Service with air transportation to 12 remote mountain clinics. Continue to meet increasing flight needs, estimated to rise some 30 percent over the next 12 months for this agency alone.
- Provide flight services to support the Partners In Health tuberculosis research project.
- Continue collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse on the home-based care project,
teaching families how to attend to relatives critically ill from AIDS or infected
with HIV.
- Coordinate with ministry partners to incorporate a minimum of nine Jesus film
showings into the MAF flight service.
- Continue providing hospitality to missionaries and other visitors to Lesotho. On an as-needed basis, continue transporting supplies to mountain missionaries, and look for ways to uplift and encourage these isolated Kingdom workers.
- Assess the feasibility of equipping Baylor Medical Center’s new remote clinics with a VSAT system.
- Install and manage a VSAT system for Partners In Health, connecting seven of
their remote sites.
- Provide flights to support the work of Catholic Relief Services in caring for over 2,300 orphans and vulnerable children in the Bobete area.
- Recruit an information technology specialist.
MAF STAFF SERVING IN LESOTHO
ADOPT "7P-CMH"
Learn more about 7P-CMH, a Cessna 206 Turbo airplane serving in Lesotho.
