Reaching Remote Parts of South Sudan

Alistair Youren is a British bush pilot. He manoeuvres a Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft to land and take off in remote patches of open ground in interior South Sudan. Sometimes he carries up to 12 passengers, other times, the plane is reconfigured to make space for 1000 kilos of freight. 

Alistair clarifies, though, that he is not merely a bush pilot. 

“We call ourselves mission pilots rather than bush pilots. We do fly in remote places, but we do it for a very different purpose,” says Alistair, who is one of eight Christian pilots flying for Mission Aviation Fellowship in South Sudan. He flies one of MAF’s four aircrafts across the country to support the work of churches, mission organisations and humanitarian aid agencies. 

On a flying day, Alistair wakes at around six o’clock in the morning, when it’s still dark and drives to work on bumpy roads. Even though he is scheduled to fly an aircraft in rough terrain, the 20-minute drive to work is still the most dangerous part of his day as cars are attacked and robbed daily. 

Alistair reaches his office, checks in, completes paperwork and logs the distance he is going to fly and the amount of fuel required. Meanwhile, MAF staff help check in the passengers.

The aircraft takes off into the busy airspace around Juba. The heavy presence of aid organisations creates a lot of air traffic and there’s limited help from the air traffic controller. “It's not like Heathrow where they can see every single aircraft and keep an eye on everybody. It very much relies on the pilots keeping their eyes outside and building a picture of who's around you,” explains Alistair. 

Once outside Juba, he finally begins to relax. Most of the country is flat, but when he is flying east, bordering Ethiopia, mountains come in view. Westward, bordering Congo is forested and lush. The river Nile runs from the south, making the land beautiful and fertile, but it dries up in the north and turns into swamp. In the wet season, the swamp has seen much flooding and communities have been unable to grow food for themselves. Alistair recently flew four plane loads of pickaxes to the area so that they could have the tools to farm again. 

Sometimes Alistair has to land in strips as short as 700 meters. There is nothing on the ground to mark out a runway. Cows and goats graze in the area. People sometimes stroll across the runway just as he is landing and Alistair has to circle around and try again when the coast clears. 

On most days, Alistair does 6-8 take-offs and landings and his body is worn out. But it’s the toll on his mind that weighs heavier still. “You can very easily become overwhelmed by the need and feel like there's just too much need to be able to address,” Alistair admitted. 

A little while ago, he was called on a medical evacuation flight. The staff were rushing to get the paperwork ready so that he could fly to the ailing patient. However, before Alistair could even get airborne, the news of the patient’s death reached him. He hadn’t been able to rescue her. 

Flying for mission is hard and prayer and support is invaluable. “My wife, Anna, and I feel hugely blessed to have such a big team of people praying for us every day and supporting us,” says Alistair, who travels to England every year on home assignment to meet with supporters and raise funds. 

MAF has a weekly schedule of flights which allows churches and pastors to be able to book a seat on the flight without having to pay for all of it. It is a cost-effective option for many who need to reach remote areas for Jesus. In South Sudan, the rain makes most dusty roads unusable and leaves many communities inaccessible. Flying is the only real way to reach them.

Alistair works from airstrip to airstrip and often misses out on seeing a mission accomplished. “We consider ourselves almost like the good Samaritan’s donkey, focusing on the transportation,” said Alistair. Sometimes he hears about how things turned out after the flight but rarely gets to see it. 

A couple years ago, Alistair flew a return flight of children to their homes in different parts of Sudan. They had been in Juba for cleft lip repair surgery. At that point, Alistair said, they seemed happy children, with a few stitches on their faces.

“But then I finished that flight, went and collected some children to bring in for surgery. And I saw the difference. It was just amazing to see their faces and the change and how happy they were afterwards.” He transported seventy children for the corrective surgery.

Alistair was inspired in his career by the book Jungle Pilot, which tells the story of pilot Nate Saint who was martyred while on mission in Ecuador. It’s a difficult calling and one that can only be made possible by supporters of global mission.

 

You can give to the work of MAF here.