Now or never – taking a leap of faith
When Chris and his family took the leap of faith to be short-term missionaries for MAF, they could never have imagined how much of a difference they would make to the flood damaged highlands of PNG or to the communities so desperate for help.
It was a classic ‘daddy fail’. It had taken a lot of effort to wait until everyone had finished eating, but as soon as the last bite had been swallowed, I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer and had to let it out. “Hey guys, what do you think of moving away to a foreign country for six months?” I had kept the idea quiet for about a month by this time, and after finally getting my wife Charlotte’s approval, I blew the delivery. After about an hour of tears and backpedalling, things settled down a little. That was how I introduced the idea of our family leaving our home in Winkler, Canada. I would do it differently next time!
The Unrau family
Growing up I always had a passion for anything aviation. I pursued my Private Pilot license in 1999, but stopped flying for 11 years between 2001 and 2012. After restarting, I obtained my multi and instrument ratings, and now fly our Cessna T210 for business and personal travel. We operate a couple of businesses and employ around 25 people, working in the agricultural drainage business. I had known about MAF since I was a kid, having heard the missionaries come through church and tell their exciting stories, but it was 10 hours in a cockpit that convinced me there really was something special about MAF pilots. I became hooked on anything MAF, and we started supporting the ministry of MAF Canada.
In 2014, I got a call from one of our colleagues at MAF Canada Headquarters in Ontario. A generous donor had donated a Quest Kodiak, and MAF Canada was planning a tour through Western Canada to show donors and raise awareness of MAF. Sitting in the seats, I knew that in a very short time, this aircraft would be bringing hope to people in need. Today, it is quite possible that that same aircraft is bringing hope to people who recently suffered the devastating effects of an earthquake in Ecuador. Seeing and experiencing this beautiful aircraft had an effect on me, and I think God started pulling at me then. The following February I turned 40, and started thinking more about things I wanted to accomplish in life. Living cross-culturally with our kids was one of them, and volunteering our gifts and skills to help others and serve God was another. One day at lunch it just occurred to me – if we were going to do this, 2016 would be the year. Our business was at the point where we could step away temporarily, and our kids were at the right ages, not too old or too young.
It was now or never.
After some inter-marital negotiation, I sent an email to MAF Canada and proffered, “I know I can’t fly for MAF because I don’t have a commercial license, but if there was anything someone with my skill set could do, we would be interested”. At first the response was that MAF Canada typically doesn’t do a lot of short terms like this, but after board consideration, they responded that they were excited to explore this. They put it out to the various programmes, and PNG came back saying they could use someone with drainage. We submitted our applications, did the interviews, and before too long we were on our way to PNG!
Now that we are here, my work is centred around helping improve airstrips. It was identified early on that I would likely be working for the Rural Airstrip Agency, an organisation in part started by MAF and headed by former MAF pilot John Bromley. The RAA works alongside government and stakeholders such as MAF to help maintain and restore airstrips to help isolated communities in PNG. Having heard about the needs of RAA. I knew of the potential to use some of the skills and technology from my business at home to help with airstrip reconditioning and improvement in PNG. One of my projects at the RAA right now is the procurement of their own drone to create topography maps, and the development of systems that can be taught to other staff members to continue this work after I leave PNG.
The devastation caused by landslides
Now, I’m always the one up for adventure, but really, I had no idea it would be this adventurous! In all I made 11 trips down the Highlands Highway, and a new adventure awaited every trip. From landslides to washouts, to floods, to constructing our own bridge, we had it all. I was very glad to have my PNG national compatriot, Kusiamo Kawale, along for every ride.
Constructing our own makeshift bridge
I have numerous projects on the go now, from commissioning and testing the equipment, to planning the site and hangar construction, plus more surveying. I know that the two months we have left here won’t be nearly enough to do what could and needs to be done. There are a lot of communities that desperately need airstrips so that MAF and others can safely bring help and hope to those in need. Next on our agenda is surveying 4 strips in Enga Province, where the communities are struggling with witchcraft and are asking for help. MAF is needed there, and we need to get the strips into a condition that will be safe for aircraft to bring these communities the help they need.
God has been at work in this right from the beginning, and he continues to be involved. We are thankful for the time that we have had to work and serve with MAF. We realise that our time is short and that we aren’t your typical MAF missionaries. But we are here to help, to serve, and to be used by God, in the same way as other missionaries are.