First update of 2025

The beginning of 2025 has not been an easy one, marked by various tragic events in our MAF family. Please continue to pray for each family as they go through this time of grief and loss. Our hearts are heavy for them, but we pray they may continue to know God’s love, comfort and peace.

Amid the sadness there was also joy as Joshua travelled from Australia to visit us here in Scotland for Christmas.  Joshua and Zara also had the fun opportunity to go snowboarding in Finland with MAF friends from their Uganda/Australia time.  They had a lot of fun together and I was glad I only heard some of the stories when they returned 😊 Amazing memories for them all and they are already talking about planning another trip sometime in the future

It has been a busy time of travel for our family in recent months.  Two weeks ago, we travelled to Switzerland to say our goodbyes to Simon’s family and to share at Simon’s home church. More memories were made, and we were thankful for the opportunity to see everyone again.  It snowed where we were staying which created a lot of fun times on the hills and mountains with the sleds.  We even have the bruises to prove it. 😃

The day after we returned from Switzerland we had the privilege of sharing with the fellowship at Dunbar Parish Church.  We were able to share about our ministry with MAF and our upcoming move to PNG. It was an encouraging experience to connect with the folks there and learn about their faithful ministry in and around Dunbar.

Last weekend MAF Scotland held an event at our home church (Wester Hailes Baptist Church).  Andy Martin did a great job in leading the quiz night and sharing about MAF.  It was a great time of fun and fellowship.

This week, Simon flew to Liberia, where he will spend the next 3.5 weeks flying and training. It is great for him to be back in the air, doing what he loves and continuing to share his skills and experience with new pilots coming into MAF.

Our future plans have shifted slightly in the past few days due to flying commitments for Simon in April and trying to make it a bit easier on us as a family in terms of travel.  At the beginning of May, we will begin our journey back to Australia.  We will go via the US as Simon has a Disaster Response Conference to attend and I need to undergo security training for PNG.  It has been around 20 years since I last did it so its time for a refresher. Additionally, we will take the opportunity to visit with supporters and friends, as it has been several years since we last connected with many of them in person.

Following our time in the US, we will travel to Australia, where we plan to spend three months in Brisbane. This period will allow us to settle Zara into her new life there, spend some quality time with Joshua and take a breather to prepare ourselves for the next chapter in PNG.

As we prepare for these transitions, we would value your prayers, especially as we say goodbye to family and friends. Leaving Mum in Scotland will be difficult, but we are grateful that she seems content and well cared for in the care home. We are thankful to many of you who have faithfully walked with us over the years and continue to do so – it is definitely a team effort.

The Wunderli's are on the move again

 

After two years in Scotland caring for Mum, we’re now preparing for the next chapter in our journey. These past years have been challenging but there have been many special moments too.  We are thankful that Mum has, for the most part, settled into the care home which has given us the opportunity to consider what is next.  As you can imagine making this decision hasn’t been easy but we believe it’s the right one for our family.  So, what is next for us?

Simon and I have a heart to be back in a programme again but together.  For the past two years Simon has been doing fly in and fly out to Africa, but we both don’t want to do this long term.  After prayer and consultation with MAFI our plan is to move to Papua New Guinea in September 2025.  Simon will be a programme/training pilot and I will continue my role in People Care.

Zara will also be leaving Scotland and will head back to Australia where she will pursue studies in veterinary nursing.  This is not a huge surprise to us because of her love for animals.  We will see where this leads her in the future as she also has a love for travel.  Welcome to the world of third culture kids’s 😊.  Joshua is set to complete his degree in digital design in 2025, and we couldn’t be prouder of all his hard work and creativity and managing life in Australia while we were in Scotland.

There’s a lot to do before our move to PNG—logistics, preparations, farewells, and stepping into the unknown once again. It’s both exciting and daunting, but we trust in God’s provision and timing. We would deeply appreciate your prayers as we transition into this new phase of life. Pray for clarity, strength, and peace as we tackle all that needs to be done.

Thank you for journeying with us through our years with MAFI. Your support and care are appreciated as we prepare for this next adventure.

 

Mum update

It’s been a while since I last posted an update, and a lot has happened in the meantime. As some of you know it has been almost two years since we returned to Scotland to help care for my Mum due to her dementia diagnosis. This has brought its fair share of challenges.

Two months ago, things took another turn when Mum fell and broke her hip which resulted in surgery. It has been a whirlwind of activity since then, with two different hospital stays and plenty of ups and downs along the way.

In consultation with medical professionals and extended family, we decided that moving Mum into a care home would be the best thing for her. Last week, we made the transition, and while it has been an emotional and challenging time for all of us, we know it's the right step for her care and well-being.

The staff at the care home have been supportive and helpful so far, and Mum is slowly getting used to her new surroundings. It’s hard to see her go through this, but we are hopeful that this new chapter will give her the care and support that she needs.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to support us during this time.

Joshua's 21 birthday

In May we had the opportunity to go and celebrate Joshua turning 21.  It was so good to be with him and meet his friends, go to church and see where he lives.  I'm a few months late in posting but here are a few photos from our time together.

On our way to church - a reminder of God's promise!

The view from the apartment we were staying in thanks to friends :)

Happy "12th" birthday J :)

Fun night with friends

It was a "Uganda" reunion at J and Talitha's birthday bash.  Who would have thought they would all meet up in Australia one day?

 

 

 

Me and my boy

Thankful for these three (Zara, J and Georgia)

Fun times with the family.

A whirlwind tour around MAF Uganda

I'm not sure where you are reading this blog from but we feel like we haven't had a summer yet in Scotland.  Ever hopeful that August and September will produce something different.  I think it doesn't help when Simon travels as he experiences the contrast between here and Africa.  Last Saturday he returned from Uganda where he was doing some checks and a couple of operational flights.  You can watch the video of our Uganda facilities below.  Hopefully, you don't get too quesy watching it as he swings around from one area to another :)

 

 

Journey with Simon in South Sudan

Simon was in South Sudan for two weeks as part of a disaster response team.  This enabled a pilot from South Sudan to help out in Kenya and respond to the needs that severe flooding brought.  During Simon's time in South Sudan he took some short videos to give people an idea of what a typical days looks like.

Live Interview on Facebook

On Wednesday 29th May at 6.30pm we will be doing a Facebook live stream interview in conjunction with MAF Scotland.  This is an opportunity to ask us questions and find out more about what we do.  If you already have questions in mind then please send them into scotoffice@maf-uk.org otherwise you can ask them on the night.

If you go onto MAF Scotland's Facebook page you will see Andy Martin sharing about this event!  Any questions related to this event please contact scotoffice@maf-uk.org.