Paraparam 'Touch and Go' event

Last weekend MAF held a 'Touch and Go' event at Paraparam - my home aerodrome. Mark Fox, CEO of MAF NZ, came down for the weekend and it was great to catch up with him and work together promoting MAF to those who visited. I did quite a bit of flying on Friday and Saturday, taking local pastors and supporters for short scenic flights. It was great to connect with people and show them a tangible bit of MAF! On Sunday we had an open time for the public to come and look at the plane and talk to us, and probably had about 40-50 people come to visit. I really enjoyed it!

I have been borrowing the 206 for the past two weeks and have taken 80 people for flights in that time

Getting out of the plane after a flight

Mark and I talking with supporters after a flight

Minnie Kendon visited on Sunday afternoon

Hawkes Bay weekend

I'll be honest, when the invitation came to take part in a missions conference in Hawkes Bay for the weekend I had the 206 in Paraparam, I didn't really want to go. I'd waited for months to have the plane available to take my Wellington-based supporters for flights that weekend! But after discussing with my home support team, I reluctantly agreed to accept. However, it turned out to be an awesome time of connecting with people, and I'm really glad I went. When I was flying back on Sunday afternoon and reflecting on everything that had taken place, it didn't take much to see God's hand at work in the background bringing everything together in a way that far surpassed my original intentions. As always, His plan is the best and we would be wise to seek it out!

I want to thank everyone who hosted me - Paul and Elaine for their hospitality, the Women in Missions Hawkes Bay committee for inviting me to speak at their conference, and Riverbend Bible Church for allowing me to speak and arranging to meet with the missions committee over lunch. Everyone gave me a very warm welcome and I was greatly encouraged by the different conversations I had with a number of people.

Here are a few photos to sum up the various events:

Ready with a banner at the Women in Missions conference

Speaking at the Women in Missions conference

A quickly organised 'show and tell' with the plane

Giving a presentation at Riverbend Bible Church

Out and about in Hawkes Bay

This weekend I'm in Hawkes Bay for several events. The weather forecast for the Wellington-Kapiti region was pretty bad today and even worse tomorrow, but after the low cloud cleared this morning and before the wind got really strong (forecast 50 kts at 3000 ft), I managed to take off, headed up towards Palmerston North, shot over the Manawatu gorge, and got slightly pummelled in the lee of the ranges getting to Hastings.

The 206 safely on the ground at Hastings

Tomorrow (Friday) Mandy from the MAF office will arrive and between us we'll be holding an open time at the aero club for people to come and talk to us and look at the plane. There is also the possibility of taking some people for a scenic flight, but it will depend on the weather conditions - if it's too lumpy (like it was today) then we might call it off.

On Saturday I'm speaking at the Women in Mission Hawkes Bay conference. This event is held every year and features a range of presenters, both veteran missionaries and newbies like me.

Finally, on Sunday I'll be giving a short presentation at Riverbend Bible Church, before flying back to Paraparam in the afternoon.

Raewyn from my home support team is being my taxi driver/tour guide/personal assistant :) I really appreciate her willingness to help and her local knowledge - it means I can focus on the presentations and not have to worry about all the logistics as well.

It's 206 time!

This weekend we had our church retreat at Waikanae, about 10 minutes' drive north of Paraparam. Last Friday I got a lift down to Blenheim to collect the MAF Cessna 206 and fly it back across Cook Strait so that I can show friends, people from church and local supporters the plane and take those who are interested for short flights. I'll have exclusive use of the plane for nearly the next two weeks, culminating in an 'official' MAF promotional event from 16-18 November.

It's here! ZK-MAF at Paraparam airport

Friends from church checking out the plane - unfortunately it was too windy to go for a flight today.