When Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Pilot Nathan Fagerlie landed in the remote village of Mokndoma in Papua, Indonesia last year, he could tell something was wrong.
‘Can you help us?’ asked Tim Ingles, a missionary serving there. ‘We have a situation.’
The gospel came to the Wano people of Mokndoma over a decade ago and, as their church grew, so did the desire to share the good news with the surrounding villages.
Unfortunately, a female Wano literacy teacher fell in love with a man living in Mbomban. The two wanted to marry, but the Mbomban elders said the well-educated woman wasn’t good enough for someone from their village.
Distraught, the young woman eventually found a poisonous root, ate it, and died.
When enmity between the two villages flared up, and tribal war was likely, Tim asked Nathan to fly Wano Bible teacher and community leader Liku to Dagai – the airstrip nearest to Mbomban – to calm things down.
Nathan had never flown to Dagai and his heart sank when he realised no one had landed there for years.
However, having received clearance for the 20-minute flight from Mokndoma to Dagai – saving Liku and his colleagues a seven-day walk – Nathan circled carefully overhead until he was sure it was safe to land.
As he helped the missionaries from the plane, two men emerged from the jungle. ‘I looked at Liku,’ Nathan recalls, ‘who nodded to let me know he recognised them, and they left, leaving me alone with the plane.’
Later, Liku told Nathan: ‘When we heard the lady had killed herself, we were distraught, but we were thankful God provided a flight.
‘When we got on the aircraft, we praised the Lord. When you circled overhead before landing, the people from Mbomban were ready to fight. But when they saw the plane and knew it was MAF, they were scared.
‘The people knew they were doing something wrong. They didn’t know why MAF was coming, but it took their eyes off each other and focused them somewhere else.
‘When we met with the people, the Spirit of the Lord came on us and we wept. Then they started crying and went from being ready to fight to being sorry.
‘We shared the gospel with the people there,’ Liku concluded. ‘I want you to know that your flying wasn’t in vain.’
Thanks to a short MAF flight, two tribes in the heart of Papua received God’s love, and the threat of violence was averted.
