PCM News: March 2021

18 March 2021

Mozambique Cyclone Relief

Last week Paul flew a team up to Beira in central Mozambique to help repair roofs and a bridge that had been damaged by the recent cyclone.

We used our Cessna 310 which was its first big outing since having a new auto-pilot fitted. The Mercy Air helicopter also joined us after having spent the previous week working in the Zambezi Delta.

The site where we spent most of the week had been developed to a Brazilian dentist who had set up a mission station at Namasenguera north of Beira. As the area was still inaccessible due to the flooding and damaged bridges, we flew in each day with the helicopter.

One of the first things Paul got busy with was fixing the brakes on a motorbike...

..while the other guys started on the roof.

Then we went down to what was left of the bridge.

Fixing that involved cutting some trees down..

..clearing a landing space for the helicopter...

..and then transporting the trunks to the bridge about two kilometers away.

Once there we used the helicopter and a tractor to position them.

..and then a lot of man power to get them into exactly the right place.

The route that the bridge serves is the main thoroughfare for many villages deep in the bush.

Some of the issues faced by the locals without a bridge before we arrived...

..and the most often used solution - if you don't have a bicycle or a heavy load.

The helicopter waits between drops while supplies on bicycles wait for the bridge to be completed

Finally, after a few days hard work - the almost finished article!

The poles the guys are holding up will be the cross members on top of the bridge.

And as we saw it from the air as we left..

In-between all of this the heli also found time to do some food drops to a community across a river 30mins flying away.

And the reason all that was required was...

..the main bridge wasn't in any state to be used.

There were other activities that took place this week, children's ministry, pastor training etc. I even managed to fly some YWAM missionaries from Beira to Marromeu on the Zambezi River and the 40 min flight saved them the best part of a day's overland travel. Altogether there were six or seven organisations that were involved in someway or another. One of the enduring comments overheard by the Brazilian dentist was of a group of people saying 'there was a time when we were just no-body. But now these people have come to help, we must be somebody'.

Thank you

Paul and Cathy

A short history of us

Not long after we were married we felt that God had some full time work for us overseas. This initially began with a move to Sheffield in 1992 to work for a Christian management training company. Three years later we felt the Lord's prompting that another change was imminent and this led to a move to Africa where we helped set up a youth program with the Lesotho-Durham link in the capital Maseru. An initial three year commitment turned into four after which the youth work was handed over to the nationals.

Then, after feeling God was moving us into mission flying Paul enrolled at a flying school and completed his South African commercial license with an instrument rating in December 1999.

We moved from Lesotho to White River in South Africa in June of 2003 where we now work with Mercy Air. Mercy Air was borne out of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and is a sister, although smaller organisation to the more well known Mercy Ships. We are situated near Nelspruit and provide a service to missions and the development/aid community in the southern African region but mainly serve Mozambique.

We operate four aircraft at present - a Quest Kodiak, a Cessna 310 and two Airbus 350 helicopters which are often used for the relief flights.

When not flying Paul is responsible for flight operations and is Mercy Air's Safety Officer.

Cathy, who is a registered Nurse and Midwife works part time at Africa School of Missions which is a bible college preparing missionaries for overseas service. She teaches in their School of Health and is part of a team which visits a number of rural clinics during the week. She is also helps with the hospitality ministry that Mercy Air runs.

Matthew spent four years at Rhodes University in Grahamstown where he studied photo journalism. He has now flown the nest and is living with his wife in Durban. They have a young daughter named Isabella.