‘We have to fly on Saturday!’ Six simple words send chills down my spine. There are only two main reasons we fly on Saturdays. One, the governor needs a special charter. Two, the LRA.

The LRA. The Lord’s Resistance Army. One simple acronym whispered in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and an entire village will flee in terror. Mentioning the LRA makes stomachs churn, blood run cold and silences conversation.

Some time ago, this rebel group from northern Uganda had a political agenda. But since they came to the DRC, their sole reason for existence seems to be terror.

They descend on a village and rape, burn, kidnap and kill. Victims of the LRA are maimed and mutilated, their lips and ears cut off.

I’m not sure what the significance of Saturday is, but nearly every weekend a blood-chilling phone call comes through: ‘Please come to Dingila, Ngilima and Doruma, the LRA was here last night.’ Or: ‘The LRA is coming, please evacuate us from Aba and Faradje!’

The phone rings

One of the NGOs we work with provides health professionals, logistics experts and administrative staff to mobile bush clinics and hospitals in some of the most difficult corners of the earth.

Here, they spend much of their time repairing LRA victims. But then the LRA marches in and they have to evacuate. As soon as the rebels leave, the NGO calls and we fly them back in.

It’s Saturday! The phone rings. Our volleyball game will have to wait. It’s time to get the plane ready; my heart and my head ready.

These flights are always hard. Charred villages. Eerie silence. The greeting at the airstrip is inevitably muted. Those who help unload relief supplies, or put victims on board, are probably wondering if they or their families will be next. I can’t even imagine the terror these precious people live with every day.

Sometimes the silence is broken by a simple ‘God bless you’. I may have given up my Saturday to do this, but I don’t really feel I deserve thanks. I just hope that in some small way MAF is bringing God’s blessing and that, even in the senseless terror, His Name might be glorified.

As you go about your Saturday, please pray for courage and for God’s love to shine through our pilots serving in the DRC: Chris Konop, Dave Rogers, Joey Lincoln, Joey Martin, Jon Cadd, Larry Strietzel and Rodney Dyrud.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) pilot Joey Lincoln explains why Saturday phone calls make him shudder