“Go and Do Likewise”

WARNING: The content in this story may be inappropriate for children and/or disturbing to others.

She was only ten—just a young girl. But already she had experienced more than a lifetime’s worth of indescribable abuse and horrors. The man, who had repeatedly victimized her over several months, told her he’d kill her if she said a word to anyone. He’s still out there somewhere, having fled when the village school teacher realized what was happening. Her physical, internal injuries, and the disease he gave her, were such that the caretakers upcountry requested a medevac, so she could receive better care in the city hospital, here in Kampala.

The girl’s mom is young, and her second child is a nursing baby. Like many in Uganda, she lives day-to-day, without excess resources to deal with tragedies such as this. She certainly could not afford an ambulance trip by road all the long way to Kampala, let alone a medevac flight. But after some communications between our MAF Uganda office and key people at MAF International, it was decided that we (MAF) would medevac the young girl for free.

This girl was in a situation not too unlike that of the man in the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10. Jesus describes how several people, when confronted with the opportunity to help a dying and desperate man, instead went out of their way to avoid him, passing by on the opposite side of the road. Eventually the Samaritan came along and he not only went out of his way to help, he went the extra mile too—all at his own expense. Jesus then says, “Go and do likewise.”

It was a tough flight to do—knowing and seeing the suffering this young girl had endured. But it was also so encouraging to play a small part in the redemptive side of the story. In fact, this is exactly why we’re here, so we can indeed go and do likewise. Greg (the other MAF pilot assigned to the flight) and I had the opportunity to be the love of Jesus to this precious young girl and her mom that day, through the care and concern we showed them, through the time we took to pray with them, and through the flight itself. My wife Joy was later able to follow up with the family after they arrived in the city. This is what we do. This is what YOU help make possible.

So, on behalf of this young family, and the many others throughout the world who are helped and loved each and every day, in the name of Jesus, on the wings of MAF, THANK YOU! It’s making a difference!