For long-serving mission partners Mark and Andrea Hotchkin, MAF flights are not just about saving time, they are instrumental in enabling their mission.
Mark and Andrea Hotchkin have worked as medical missionaries in Chad since 2010. Both trained in the UK: Andrea in obstetrics and gynaecology, Mark in general surgery and emergency medicine.
“My wife will do caesarean sections, and I will treat people who’ve been shot in the abdomen, limbs, and sometimes the chest,” Mark said.
“We work with Chadian doctors and nurses to deliver care, but also train people so that standards can be improved.”
Mark and Andrea have spent the last seven years serving in Bardaï, a remote town in the Tibesti Mountains in the far north of the country, deep in the Sahara and surrounded by rocks and sand. They are sent by BMS World Mission and collaborate with the Evangelical Alliance Mission and a local NGO, Association for Development and Peace.
Mark has made the road journey from N’Djamena to Bardaï by road on a couple of occasions since 2017. It’s a four-day trip which initially involves driving through the Sahel, the scrub, and then getting into the sandy Sahara Desert.
“And the final day is spent climbing through the mountains at about 20km/h maximum, and often just walking pace. The total distance is about 1700 kilometres,” said Mark.
“As we make the journey to and from Bardaï about twice a year, we’re very grateful to have MAF to enable us to fly us there in less than six hours.
“That flight in itself is quite spectacular, with amazing views of the sand dunes in the Sahara and very close to the highest point of the Tibesti Mountains.”
We’re very grateful to have MAF to enable us to fly us there in less than six hours.
Recently the hospital director attempted travelling by road.
“His vehicle rolled onto its side when a wheel fell off. No one was hurt, but the risk was clear. That shows how much we appreciate the presence of MAF to get us up there,” Mark added.
The hospital where Mark and Andrea serve is the only hospital in the entire province, serving a local population of around 50,000 people and an additional 100,000 gold diggers who have settled in the region over the past 15 years. The nearest other hospital is 850 kilometres away, a journey that takes days over rough terrain.
When they were first exploring where to serve after leaving their previous hospital, a mission colleague mentioned Bardaï. The local governor had asked for Christian doctors who would stay. Mark asked MAF pilot Phil Henderson how one might get there.
“He said, ‘It’s not somewhere you can really go to unless you’re invited.’ He checked, and we were invited. Before I knew it, he had booked us a flight,” Mark said.
MAF were instrumental not only in getting us there on a regular basis, but also in showing us how to get there.
“MAF were instrumental not only in getting us there on a regular basis, but also in showing us how to get there.”
Since then, Mark and Andrea’s work has expanded beyond medicine. Their team supports literacy and language development among the local Teda-speaking population, whose culture is being rapidly reshaped by the arrival of gold mining.
“This sudden change quite disrupts the way society works. It would be good if we could help people understand the ways of peace,” Mark said.
Looking ahead, Mark and Andrea hope to continue their work for another three or four years. But they’re also preparing for who might follow them.
“It is difficult for staff to come from the south of Chad to the north to work,” Mark added. “Many who are sent simply don’t come. It would seem to be an impossible dream, but if one day they could fly like we do with MAF, that would be a great thing.”