When a cholera outbreak forced a change of plan, MAF worked with a local church to bring bundles of clothes and the good news to three villages.
Rev Peter W Fumbi flew with MAF to an isolated community in Tanzania. As a result of a successful outreach, a group of mean were baptised with water from the plane.
Peter landed in the community of Mahaka with MAF pilot Mark Liprini. He immediately got chatting to members of the Sukuma tribe who had approached the plane.
Peter preached to them, explaining how God can be reached through Jesus, our saviour, and that we are not reaching God through our ancestors – we are worshipping and reaching God because we have the one way, who is Jesus Christ. They had a chance to ask questions, which Peter answered. By the end of the meeting, they were happy to be baptised.
“We had no water, but I asked the pilot. He had some water in the plane,” Peter said.
MAF pilot Mark was happy to help with the improvised ceremony.
“Baptism in the bush is quite an easy business,” Mark said.
“You grab a bottle of drinking water and the guys knelt down. Then he [the pastor] sprinkled them with the water and baptised them.
“So that was quite a novel way of doing it.”
It was a life-changing impact from a flight that nearly didn’t happen.
A cholera outbreak postponed the regular Kilimatinde safari. They couldn’t bring their full medical and evangelistic team to visit Mahaka.
The MAF team in Tanzania prepared the plane in anticipation of a cholera medevac, as they knew how dangerous it is when left untreated.
It was agreed that the medical clinic wouldn’t take place in Mahaka. But by the time the plane reached Dodoma, the outbreak was contained and appeared to be subsiding.
While the medical safari didn’t happen, the evangelistic outreach was still possible.
A church in Dodoma had collected 30-40kg of clothes for the three villages. The two pastors were able to pick up and distribute due to the extra capacity in the plane.
It was during this trip that the encounter happened with 13 local men who gave their lives to Jesus.
“We thank God because it was a very, very God chance meeting with them. It was like God brought them [to] speak to these people and baptise them,” said Peter, one of the visiting pastors.
Peter said one of the men wanted to be baptised with the name of MAF’s pilot. He believed that if Christians are good in this way, he wanted to have that love of the pilot. He saw the love of someone leaving his country and spending time to come and find them in these villages, and he wanted to be like this. He wanted to be the love that Jesus embodied.
“We are believing that through this love, more people will come to the kingdom of God,” Peter said.
“You have been a blessing for us. Those who are supporting MAF are doing a very, very big job.”
STORY / ELISABETH HALL PHOTOS / PETER FUMBI
This story was originally published in "Flying for Life - Autumn 2025". To view the full magazine, click here.