Only When the Plane Comes

TAKING OFF IN INDONESIA © DAVE FORNEYAT A REMOTE AIRSTRIP IN LESOTHO, AFRICA © GRANT STRUGNELL

You shield your eyes against the glare of the blazing mid-morning sun, darting them back and forth as you scan the horizon for the source of the sound as it echoes across the plain. Then it appears, a tiny dot at first, but growing larger with every passing moment. It’s the MAF plane. Right on time. Just in time.

• Maybe it’s a regular weekly flight bringing medical supplies to restock a local village clinic.

• Maybe it’s bringing building supplies for the new school or replacement parts for a broken well.

• Or perhaps it’s here to medevac a critically ill child in need of immediate medical attention.

Whatever the reason, to countless thousands of families living in more than 30 countries worldwide, planes from MIS- SION AVIATION FELLOW- SHIP (MAF), an international, Christian, humanitarian, relief and development organization, are anticipated and welcome.

MAF GOES WHERE MOST OTHERS WON’T (OR CAN’T) Imagine that another drought

has left your village without food. It’s not your fault; it’s just geography. Maybe if your village were a little lower, a little higher, a little more coastal, then you wouldn’t be at the mercy of unpredictable weather. But this time, it’s different. This time, the drought has impacted the entire region—maybe even beyond.

You know it won’t last. Eventually, the rains will come, and the crops will grow, but for now, your family has a month of food left, maybe more if you don’t eat your share. You’re hardworking and proud of what you have built for your family, and the last thing you want is a handout, but as you look into the faces of your children, you feel afraid for tomorrow.

This is a situation that is all too common in areas plagued by drought and famine. In places like these, MAF helps deliver emergency supplies of food for today, as well as replacement seeds and simple farming tools to help provide for a better tomorrow.

Whether it’s the aftermath of a war or political uprising or the result of earthquakes, hurricanes, or other natural catastrophes, when disaster strikes and

people are left hurting, hungry, and in need, MAF is there.

MAF FLIES TO OVER 1,700 DESTINATIONS; MORE THAN ANY OTHER AIRLINE Since 1946, Mission Aviation Fellowship has operated light aircraft to assist individuals and partner organizations serving in developing countries, bringing essential aid and spiritual sustenance to many of the world’s most inaccessible and inhospitable locations.

Over the years, those locations have grown in numbers, with new airstrips opened, and more communities served every year.

No 911. No doctors. No medicines. When you live here, and the help you need is on the other side of that mountain range, you’re thankful that a MAF flight is just minutes away.

For many families living in isolated communities worldwide, seeing a doctor, having adequate food and clean water, or even access to education for school-aged children only happens when MAF planes arrive.

MAF also plays a vital role

in providing transportation for mentors, development workers, discipleship leaders, and pastors.

Currently, MAF provides logistics, transportation, and technological support to over 30 countries worldwide.

OPERATING THE WORLD’S LARGEST FLEET OF PRIVATELY OWNED AIRCRAFT Mission Aviation Fellowship is at the forefront of a global effort to overcome barriers of poverty, ignorance, and disease.

Our aircraft—currently numbering roughly 130 worldwide—support teachers, medical personnel, and relief and development workers from countries around the world.

In addition to flying personnel, MAF planes go where others don’t, transporting emergency food, seeds, and livestock; transporting the sick and injured; delivering doctors, medicine, and relief supplies; and carrying the materials those living in remote communities need to build better lives for themselves and their families.

MAF airplanes are often the only safe and reliable means of transportation to otherwise

isolated communities. In regions without passable roads, MAF can reduce a doctor’s all-day trek by foot to a mere 20-minute flight, or provide a single flight that can haul a half-ton of cargo into an area that would otherwise require a train of pack animals, several guides, and weeks of gruelling effort to reach by land.

MULTIPLYING EFFECTIVENESS Mission Aviation Fellowship multiplies the effectiveness of over 1,400 partner organizations.

Instead of spending time and money on costly and inefficient overland transportation, MAF enables thousands of partner organizations, missionaries, doctors, and aid workers to put more of their resources to use where they will make the most difference.

With MAF, what would usually take weeks of travel by foot or even days by road, can now take hours or minutes. And in remote places where minutes can mean the difference between life and death, a MAF flight can make all the difference.

To learn more about the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship, visit mafc.org

Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada 102-195 Hanlon Creek Blvd. Guelph, ON - N1C 0A1 | 1.877.351.9344 | www.mafc.org

Help keep this life-changing work going.

Your financial support of Mission Aviation Fellowship can play a vital role in seeing lives changed.

Whether responding in times of war, natural disaster, or famine, your support of MAF can help bring help, hope, and healing to thousands of communities around the world.

Scan the QR code to become an MAF Flight Crew member with regular donations of $20 or more that can help fund a flight for someone in need, or visit mafc.org to learn more about our work.

Thank you for your support.

12994 2561 RR0001) and is able to issue receipts for income tax purposes.

Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada is a registered Canadian charity (Registration #