Exam Update

Mark & Ronny were unable to take their exams a couple of weeks ago as some of the necessary paperwork was not in order. They have resubmitted applications and now have a new exam date for this Friday, 14th Nov.
Please pray for them as the studying has dragged on, that they  will be able to sit the exams this week.

In the mean time, both Mark & Ronny have had plenty to do...

Ronny and his wife welcomed their third child, a baby boy into their family so Ronny
has been taking some well earned paternity leave.

Mark has been busy continuing with maintenance preparations in order to get the 182 ready for service in S Sudan.  Last week he was busy re installing the propeller ( the original one had been lent to MAF Madagascar who needed it for their aircraft).
Mark is hoping all the work can be completed before we return to UK on Home Assignment at the end of the month.  I know he works hard but it always looks like he's having too much fun to me !

Scotty's avionics Upgrade complete

For those of you who read our recent newsletter, and heard about the avionics upgrades taking place in the aircraft, we had an exciting day today.
Scotty went for a successful Test flight following completion of its upgrade and a recent engine change.
It will now return to service as part of the MAF Uganda fleet and work will begin on the avionics upgrade of  FRM.

Testing time

Earlier this year we told you about the new little Diesel 182 that had arrived in Uganda.

It is the first Diesel 182 here in Uganda so Mark & Ronny (another engineer) headed off to France & Germany in March to receive training on maintaining this aircraft.

Since then they have been registering and preparing the plane for service in S Sudan.

This is a big week....On Friday Mark & Ronny will sit their oral exam in order to try and obtain their 182 type rating licence, allowing them to carry out maintenance on this aircraft.

Please pray for both of them as they study in these last couple of days (especially since Mark has not been too well this week) and that their exams would go smoothly.

Summer Sun and lots of Fun

I was unable to put as many pictures as I wanted, of the wonderful things we were able to do this summer in our newsletter . So as promised, here is a picture overview of many of the adventures we had. Enjoy...we certainly did!

Play Dates with Friends

Trip to Entebbe Zoo

Celebrated 15 years of Marriage with a weekend away

Bike riding fun

Swimming & splashing of course

Quad Biking in Jinja

African Sunrises are simply the best

Out on the Nile

Taking after his dad - this bike was loaned for a few weeks and he was sad to see it go.

My little monkey!

wacky science experiments - Giant bubbles day

We hope you were able to enjoy some special moments this summer too.  God has certainly blessed us with many good things!

Update on MAF response to Ebola

We thought you might be interested in reading this...

There is currently no timescale on when we might be able to continue our in-country efforts with our new programme in Liberia because of the Ebola outbreak.

We have deferred placing staff in Liberia and our focus is on making necessary planning arrangements outside the country.

The government offices are closed as the authorities deal with the crisis, which has halted the processing of necessary permissions paperwork to allow us to operate within the country. Two new MAF staff houses at the SIM/ELWA compound on the outskirts of Monrovia are almost completed and we are also working with local contacts to clear two containers from the Netherlands, of furniture for the houses plus staff personal effects.

The Cessna Caravan, which will be borrowed temporarily from MAF’s work in East Africa, is being repainted in South Africa and next month will be flown to Uganda for final preparation and re-registration.

Emil Kundig will be MAF’s Programme Manager in Liberia. He had been due to arrive there with wife Margrit this month, however, they are travelling to Uganda this week for the time being to continue essential preparations.

Emil said: “We do wish we could be setting up camp in Liberia. The visit to Uganda is not unexpected as I need to convert my licences to the new aircraft. We are part of God’s plan nevertheless and we trust Him for His planning and working out. Our hearts and prayers go to the people in Liberia and West Africa where our hopes are that soon things will be under control.”

We are continuing to closely monitor the changing situation with our ministry partners and have been invited to be a part of regular inter-agency meetings.             

We have been working with the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Health Organisation and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office together with other health specialists and non-governmental organisations and have subsequently developed a management plan to govern MAF’s work in Africa in respect of the Ebola virus.

It is designed to mitigate the risks and ensure good preparation if there is a confirmed case in an area where we are based. This includes organising supplies of personal protective equipment and operational procedures in affected zones.

The new policies have been drawn up in conjunction with MAF’s Disaster Response Manager, John Woodberry.

There have been confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where MAF-US has a programme.

MAF has other Africa operations in Uganda, Chad, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mali, South Africa, Lesotho and Angola.

We are treating the situation seriously and approaching it with a calm and organised response.

We ask for your prayers for the ongoing situation in Africa. We pray against fear and panic, we pray that the church may remain strong and be a true witness.  And we seek God’s wisdom and direction.

Proud Mummy Moments

It is the last week of the school year for Amy & Joshua.

Both have worked hard and done very well at school this year. Amy is always enthusiastic about school and Joshua has even admitted to enjoying school this year!

This week has been a time for celebration and some proud moments as a parent.

Joshua has just completed Yr 2 (Infant School) so the whole year group performed in a special celebration assembly to mark this milestone.  They performed dances from celebrations/festivals around the world and each received a certificate.  Joshua is pictured with his best friend Jona.

Amy is completing Yr 3. She was thrilled last week to finally receive her pen licence.

She is been working hard to improve her handwriting for several months.

This week she also received an award for creative writing at the special assembly to mark students achievements this year.

While not at school, Abigail is always working hard to keep up with her big brother and sister. Physically, she will attempt almost anything!  She has just started talking with more and more words that we can recognise….communication has been frustrating on both sides for a few weeks.

She is a lover of animals…any animals… fascinated by ants & cockroaches and affectionate with cats and dogs. Here she is having a special hug with Spinner, our pet dog.

New diesel 182 update.

Since the new diesel engined Cessna 182 arrived we have been hard at work on it.  As well as the physical maintenance to be done there is a lot of paperwork and preparations to me made as well behind the scenes.  It has been assigned to me to manager the introduction of the aircraft into our fleet.  So far I have:
- attended training on the engine and propeller in Europe,
- put in applications for the Registration of the aircraft,
- researched and determined what parts we need to stock in order to keep the plane flying,
- ordered specials tools we need to maintain the engine and propeller,
- ordered the Maintenance Manuals and Parts Catalogues we need to maintain the aircraft,
- written and sent reports to update the donor of the aircraft of the progress of the work,
- liaised with the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) to find out how to get the type ratings we need to certify work on the aircraft.  Due to this engine being the first of its type to be registered in Uganda it is new to everyone!

Aside from all this desk work, work is happening on the aircraft to:

The aircraft as it looked this week:

Training and Licencing.

Following a couple of days of online theory training Myself, Ronnie (our Ugandan engineer) and one of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) Airworthiness Inspectors attended 3 days practical training at the SMA engine manufactures facility in France.  This training covered;
- replacement of cylinders,
- replacing components of the fuel management system and the setup that follows and;
- downloading engine data from the Engine Control Unit (ECU) and uploading new software.

Myself and Ronnie then went onto Germany to visit the Propeller manufacturer to receive training on carrying out a Service Bulletin required by the manufacture to re-torque the prop blade preload nut.

Having done this training we will now be applying for the Type Ratings required by the UCAA to certify work carried out on the airframe and engine.

Maintenance and Modifications.

On Friday (4^th) we received the shipment of parts for the remaining modification that we are to install.  These are; a heavy duty nose gear fork and large tyres, a brace to add rigidity and reduce vibration in the cockpit area; hand holds and steps for the pilots to get to the wing fuel tanks for checking fuel levels.

Old (right) and new nose gear fork

Old (left) nose wheel tire and new size tire

The installation of the rear seats is progress:

Fitting up for installation of rear folding seat.

Whats New with the Newnhams?

  I thought it would be good to give an update before we get too far into the New Year.  It's still January, I have friends whose Christmas trees are still up, so I can still safely say Happy New Year.
I hope you had good times with your family over Christmas.  We had a very special Christmas together as a family and with friends and enjoyed a few days holiday in the new year.

However, It was also an eventful time in which we were reminded how much we value your payers for our families health and protection.
In December, Sarah was involved in a traffic accident when a small petrol tanker rear ended our vehicle.
The vehicle thankfully sustained only a little damage to the rear bumper and the door which was a little dented/bent.  Although, Sarah felt some pain in her spine at the time of impact there has been no pain since.
Also, on Christmas Day some thieves attempted to break into our home. Thankfully Mark interrupted them, they fled and nothing was stolen.

For the MAF Uganda program, Christmas was busy, as our pilots in particular flew extra hours to assist in the evacuation of many expats from Southern Sudan when political tensions triggered fighting there. We are seeing some missionaries now returning to Southern Sudan but the political situation continues to remain tense.  Please pray for this fledgling country and its leaders....that there would be peace.  Pray that the church would be salt & light at this difficult time.

Mark & I continue to keep busy.  I shall be doing a fair amount of work overseeing the care of MAF visitors in our program for the next few weeks.  This involves shopping for their food, planning meals and making sure the 'empty' home they are staying in is prepared for them.
As of today, we now have two new planes in the program. The diesel 182 arrived from the Netherlands this evening. Our new caravan was recently licenced and has just started operational flights......so Mark is definitely not bored.

I shall leave you with some pictures of the children doing some of their favourite activities.
Amy (now 8 yr) has been doing ballet lessons for 6 months . She is quite a dancer and this picture was taken at her first performance in December.
Joshua (6) is turning into  a caring and thoughtful boy. A favourite past time of his is lego....you can never have too much lego and it's even more fun when Dad is there to build with!
Abigail (15 month) is a cheeky little monkey who keeps us all on our toes and gives us something to laugh about every day.