A Biblical View Of Gratitude – A Quick Overview

To begin to understand how important it is to be thankful to God and to express gratitude towards him we must come to understand the extent of the grace that he has poured out on us all. Not only do we see and experience the tidal wave of grace that is evident in the Gospel by way of the Cross, we also encounter an ‘every day’ day kind of grace – a more common grace.

Hebrews 1:3, speaking of Jesus, says “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Zooming in on the end of the verse we can see that Jesus is the one who ‘upholds the universe’ – Jesus is the one sustaining the universe, stopping it from completely packing up! If Jesus has this much control, then surely the very breath in our lungs is something that is guided by his hand.

Jesus allows us to live and to breathe and that is a form of Grace in itself. Have you ever taken the time to reflect on the fact that you’re living because Jesus is allowing you to? If you have, and have allowed this truth to stir your affections towards Jesus, you’ll not only come to realise what deep gratitude is like, but you’ll also begin to find a satisfaction that can only be found in Jesus. This ‘common grace’, when truly reflected on, leads to contentment.

However, the purpose of Godly gratitude is to bring glory to God Himself. If we truly love God, we’ll want to see others make much of him! Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Being openly thankful to God draws attention to him, it can act as ‘your light’ that ‘shines before others’ so that they might be drawn to God themselves. God gets the glory in this! So with this in mind, let’s begin to reflect on the simple aspects of grace and be thankful to God for them with the aim of not only experiencing contentment in Jesus but, through our gratitude to him, show others his goodness too.

A Baby Fights For Survival

Angela Harding, MAF’s Asia Pacific Communications Officer recently shed light on an amazing yet heart rendering story in Timor-Leste. A baby was struggling to survive…

Jiona Dorego lives on Atauro Island off the coast of Dili with her father, mother and three older siblings.

The island is picturesque but isolated. A ferry goes once a week to link the island to the mainland and there are also water taxis and fishing boats if the sea is calm enough. All forms of sea transportation take time though, and on Friday 17 October, time was what Jiona did not have.

Three-week-old Jiona was having difficulty breathing with a bronchial infection and when her parents took her to the local island clinic, midwife Dulce Freitas knew she needed hospitalisation on the mainland urgently.

Fortunately, MAF was able to help.

Pilot Jonathan Lowe finished the flight he was on and immediately took off from Dili again, heading across the open stretch of water to Atuaro Island.

Jiona’s father Judianto Araujo Dorego, mother Efelvina da Costa and midwife Dulce were waiting anxiously with baby Jiona when he landed. None of the four had flown in a plane before and while they would normally be quite worried about being in the air, today they obviously had other things on their minds. With a quick prayer for the baby’s safety, Jonathan was airborne again.

The flight took a mere 13 minutes and when Jonathan landed, an ambulance was waiting at the MAF hangar to transfer the group to Dili hospital.

This is the ninth medical evacuation that MAF has been able to carry out since the runway at Atauro Island opened in July this year.

Praise God for His the grace that enabled MAF to help and save this little life!

Because Of The Roads

Madagascar is a developing country with very little healthcare! Could you imagine what the UK would be like with bad roads and no NHS? However, thanks to the likes of likes Tearfund, WaterAid and other brilliant organisations, medical and hygiene issues are being addressed and improved!

Jocelyn Pletts, wife of MAF Pilot Josh Pletts, recently got chatting to an amazing lady called Hilde Vlaminckx. Hilde is from Belgium but lives permanently in Madagascar! She works as a senior nurse at the Good News Hospital in the capital city, Antananarivo, and has been working there since 1997. Hilde felt called by God to work in Madagascar and responding to that meant leaving a very secure lifestyle behind to pursue a much riskier way of life. However, God ensured that she had the support she needed and Tearfund were that support. They sponsor her as a missionary!

When Jocelyn asked Hilde about MAF, she barely hesitated in expressing her admiration and she said of the Pilots “they are so flexible helpful and always kind.” Hilde also went into some detail about the kinds of patients she deals with on a daily basis and this maps out a huge reason as to why MAF are in Madagascar!

She said “a lot of the patients they treat come with injuries suffered on the road, because travelling overland can be extremely dangerous.” We hear a lot about people using MAF because of the lack of roads to get medical treatment but it’s not often we hear of people having to use MAF for emergencies because of the roads that are already there!

“Taxi-bus accidents happen a lot where vehicles turn upside down. Also people get injuries from cow horns, or they can lose an arm during tree-felling. Sometimes people walk for three days carrying others on a stretcher. The next hospital is 250km away.”

Seems pretty bleak doesn’t it? However, what remains is the hope that comes from gradual improvement and that’s something MAF have been offering and implementing for the last 25 years! It’s a joy to know we can help and serve Madagascar and it’s an even greater joy to know that amazing people like Hilde are there to help and serve too!

#TBT- Top 10 Moments at Soul Survivor

Well the weather has definitely changed since the summer! If you’re feeling a bit chilly and maybe even a bit gloomy, allow us to soothe your soul with some of our favourite moments from Soul Survivor! Enjoy!

#1. Making friends with blue tongued lads