Having served previously as an Executive Assistant, Ricky Poki has now returned to MAF as a fully trained pilot to serve the isolated communities of his own country, Papua New Guinea.
Story by Michelle Dauth
“The spark was there,” says Ricky Poki. “But I honestly believe God puts it in your heart before you’re even born. Ever since then I’ve always had a thing for flying.
My first plane ride – man! The thrill that I got! I was like, ‘I want to be the person doing that over and over again.’
Little did Ricky know, his lifelong dream would eventually shape his calling – to share God’s love through his passion for flying.
“It’s like showing a little bit of what God is like for us, right?” says Ricky. “If we can just show a little bit of that and let God do the rest – I think that’s all we’re called to do.”
For Ricky, MAF is an avenue to express that spark and to fulfil his calling.
“I’m now seeing MAF and what I’m doing. I get to serve people. I get to help people. I get to make a difference,” says Ricky. “Honestly, it makes me feel good. I know that I’m helping build others around me, just telling people about Christ.”
Being born to an esteemed surgeon and raised in urban spaces, isolated communities had been a distant notion that Ricky had heard about, but never fully experienced. He’s now based in Balimo, in the sparsely populated Western Province.
“For me, personally, I was surprised to see how isolated we were,” he says. “I grew up in a city. And coming back to MAF and going into the bush is like, whoa, eye opener! I was like, ‘Man, our people still live like this.’”
Having flown three medevac flights during his training with MAF, Ricky reflects on the magnitude of MAF’s impact among the isolated communities of PNG.
It gives them hope. It's the feeling of being helpless and having help come.
While MAF brings hope to these remote communities, Ricky himself, as a young Papua New Guinean MAF pilot, has become a source of inspiration for the younger generation of his nation.
“They get excited,” he says. “You know, you can hear the little kids say, ‘Look at him,’ and then you can hear whispering... Sometimes when I’m there, the mothers or the elderly will tell their children, ‘You know, this is why I say “Go to school.”’ So, it gives them kind of a picture that this is possible.”
Ricky urges the younger generation to, “Dream, set goals, have something to look forward to. But allow the Lord to guide your footsteps. Seek the Lord and ask, ‘Is this where I’m supposed to be?’ And if God calls you, He will provide you the resources. He will walk that journey for you. And that is rewarding.”
This exhortation aligns with Ricky’s own experience.
“Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me is to know that I’m where God wants me to be,” he says.
“I wake up every morning, and I thank God that I get to do this.”
