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PRESIDENT’S DESK
In this edition of FlightWatch, you will encounter a small airplane that has flown in Indonesia for nearly 50 years. This aircraft fueled MAF’s ministry there and is being retired and replaced with a newer airplane that will carry on the work of reaching isolated people with Christ’s love. PK-MCB or “Charlie Brown” is just an airplane. But it represents so much more. On its wings have flown many generations of missionaries and local pastors reaching tribes who had never heard the name of Jesus with the message of the Gospel. This old airplane—and the one that will take its place—represents the missionary task being passed from older generations to younger ones who are discovering what it means to share Christ’s love in an increasingly changing world. We’ve seen this before. Moses passed the mantle of leadership on to Joshua. Elijah left Elisha in a blaze of glory so that he could be the next voice to Israel. Jesus mandated the Apostles to go forth in His name. Paul encouraged Timothy to lead a new generation of believers. We celebrate Charlie Brown and the countless MAF pilots, missionaries, local pastors, doctors, aid workers, and the sick or injured who have sat in the wellworn seats of this small Cessna for the last half century. We celebrate … but only for a moment. Because MAF’s work is not through. There is still much to be done. And we can’t do it without you.
John C. Boyd President and CEO
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a publication of Mission Aviation Fellowship The stories within FlightWatch are highlights of MAF’s ministry. Some days our missionaries get to see and experience the amazing things our Lord is doing. Other days are spent quietly and diligently serving the Lord through routine flights, maintenance work, and simply living among others in foreign countries. We believe that God works through all areas of service and at times blesses us with extraordinary glimpses of His work. Director of Marketing: Managing Editor: Production Manager: Graphic Designer: Writers/Resourcing:
Tracey Werre Chris Burgess Micki Blair Clayton Borah Jennifer Wolf Chris Burgess
Every gift you send, every prayer you offer for MAF, helps change lives through aviation and technology. We enjoy hearing from you! Please send comments and questions to MAF-US@maf.org. MAF PO Box 47 Nampa, ID 83653-0047 208-498-0800 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623) maf.org MAF maintains the highest standards of financial accountability and public disclosure to donors, the government, and the world at large. MAF is a member of ... Accord™ (formerly AERDO) • CSC Christian Service Charities • ECFA Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability • IAMA International Association of Missionary Aviation • Missio Nexus. All Scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
On the Cover: Charlie Brown takes off in front of a more traditional form of transportation in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Alan Discoe.
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MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT JOHN AND KATHRYN BOOGAARD
by Jennifer Wolf
Photo by Kelly Hewes
J
ohn and Kathryn Boogaard are no strangers to living overseas. He grew up as a missionary kid in Colombia, and she was an Army kid who was born and lived in Turkey during most of her school years. So when the Boogaards arrived in Indonesia for their first term with MAF four years ago, it felt somewhat familiar to them. “I think there was less culture shock for us to deal with,” said Kathryn. While John was going through flight training and finishing the dual instruction so that he could land on all of the interior airstrips to which he would be flying in North Kalimantan, Kathryn was caring for their four children and helping them integrate into the culture. The Boogaards’ home does not have a backyard, so Kathryn would spend
afternoons in the front yard with her children, watching them play with the neighborhood kids who joined them daily when she opened the front gate. This allowed her to meet the Indonesian mothers who are her neighbors, and new friendships formed. She’s been able to exercise with these women, show them how to make pizza, teach their kids English, and eventually, tell them about the hope she has in Jesus. John beams when he talks about what Kathryn has been able to do. “It has been fun to see her blossoming and getting these opportunities,” he said. “I am just the pilot. Look what she’s been able to do.” Of course, John understands the value of his role in serving people living in hard-to-reach villages. He loves being involved in saving lives—it’s exciting to see someone healthy again,
after having flown him or her to the hospital. But he wasn’t prepared for the amount of anguish and human suffering he would see. “I have had two people die mid-flight in my airplane,” said John. “And I’ve brought the bodies of children back to their village for burial, with their grieving parents on board.” When the needs around them seem overwhelming, or when they wonder about their efforts to reach out to their neighbors, the Boogaards remember it’s all in God’s hands, and transforming hearts is up to Him. “Our part is just being here, to point to Him and glorify Him,” said John. “And who knows what seeds have been planted and when God will cause them to sprout?”
The Boogaards have started their second term with MAF, and they’re hoping to grow their team of ministry partners. If you’d like to join them in reaching the people of Kalimantan, visit maf.org/Boogaard. 1-800-FLYS-MAF
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Remembering a Faithful Airplane An Indonesian woman remembers the impact a small red and white airplane made on her life—and the lives of so many others. By Rebecca Hopkins, an MAF missionary in Kalimantan
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hen I was little, I wondered how an airplane could fly if it couldn’t breathe,” said Yunike Hermanus. Yunike and I were talking about the Cessna 185 with the affectionate name of “Charlie Brown” that has served indigenous Kalimantan, Indonesia, communities for almost 50 years and 23,000 hours of flight time. Yunike is married to one of the Indonesian staff who care for MAF’s airplanes here. MAF was based out of her own village home of Kelansam for about 30 years starting in the 1970s. Charlie Brown may not be able to breathe the way you and I do, but to hear the words used by those who’ve either worked closely with it or been flown in it at critical times of their family’s lives, you’d think this plane has a life of its own.
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The airplane’s official registration number is PK-MCB, or in pilotspeak, Mike Charlie Bravo. This plane and our other Cessna 185, “Charlie Delta”—equally old—will be retired, crated up, and sent to MAF-US’s headquarters in Idaho this fall. The current plan is to display them there. Collectively, they’ve served 100 total years and flown almost 50,000 total hours. Some believe that the Church in Kalimantan would not have grown without MAF—specifically without Charlie Brown, which started flying there in 1969. Within a few years, that small airplane would serve the 50 different airstrips dotted around the island almost every week. At one point, Charlie Brown had wheels and served missionaries on runways cut by hand out of jungles in West Kalimantan. Later it was converted to a floatplane, and has
been flying in Central Kalimantan’s ever-changing, challenging rivers for the past 20 years. “The plane would bring food, vegetables, and LPG bottles for cooking,” said Tommy Yansen, who helped build a runway that gave airplanes access to his village in the 1970’s. “It would carry pastors, Sunday school teachers, and patients going to the hospital.” “It used to take four days for us to get patients to a hospital,” said Asaskarto, an Indonesian nurse. With Charlie Brown, patients could get to his hospital in an hour. Charlie Brown impacted so many lives throughout the years in Kalimantan— and one day he was needed to save Yunike’s brother. Yunike grew up in remote villages, where her father served as a pastor or
taught at a Bible college that trained other Indonesian teachers and pastors to reach isolated communities. One day, her brother needed urgent medical care. “He needed surgery for his stomach,” Yunike’s mother, Naomi, recalls. “The doctor said if we’d been just one day later, he would’ve died.” This small airplane played a major role in Yunike’s life and the lives of so many like her. She hopped on and off Charlie Brown throughout her childhood, knowing the pilots as family and their kids as friends. But her own life was saved one day after she followed in her parents’ legacy to serve with her Indonesian pastor husband in the remote village of Ulak Mued.
She was so sick, she lost consciousness. Someone took her by boat to the nearest airstrip. “If the airplane hadn’t taken me [to the hospital,] I don’t know if I’d be alive today,” Yunike said. By the 1990s, MAF pilots were looking at the transportation and ministry needs in the central part of Kalimantan. Doug Allrich, an MAF pilot, did the first survey flight in the area. “The community was thrilled with our interest in serving their transport needs,” said Doug. “Central Kalimantan was a vast area with seven river systems, and we felt that if we could get something built, the rest would fall into place.” So the decision was made that Charlie
Brown would be transformed into a floatplane so that even more people could be reached by MAF. A change came for Yunike as well. Her husband died, and she moved with her two young kids to Central Kalimantan to work with an MAF family as a cook, babysitter, and housekeeper. She later married Daniel Ogasto, an MAF staff member who helped take care of Charlie Brown for the past 15 years. Charlie Brown’s successor will still be connected to Yunike’s family. Soon Daniel will be learning how to care for a much more complex airplane—the amphibious KODIAK PK-MEE—arriving in 2018. And just as Charlie Brown made an impact and left an impression on so many lives in so many ways, PK-MEE will do the same as it carries on the work of reaching Borneo’s lost and hurting people with the love of Christ. 1-800-FLYS-MAF
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TECH CORNER WHAT’S SO HARD ABOUT FLYING A by Chris Burgess FLOATPLANE?
T
he differences between a floatplane and a wheeled airplane seem pretty obvious. But when it comes to actually flying and landing on the water, there is a lot more beneath the surface. MAF pilot Brad Hopkins shares what it’s like to navigate a floatplane on and above the wild, winding rivers of Kalimantan. “Float flying is fun but very stressful, particularly on rivers, particularly in Borneo,” said Brad. “I would say it would be akin to landing on a busy interstate. That’s how dynamic it is.” But once the floatplane lands, the fun is just beginning … “Actually, it gets more stressful after you land than when you’re flying,” said
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Brad. “Often times, if you’re a pilot of a wheeled plane, once you land, you breathe a sigh of relief, taxi in, shut down, and you’re good. Not so for a float pilot. “Your senses raise, and your stress goes up when you’re on the water because now you’re a boat, and there are currents, sandbars, cables, ropes, gold diggers, rocks, floating wood, and big trees that you can get caught up in. And there’s a dock you have to find. Sometimes there’s no dock. What are you going to do?” Unlike airstrips, rivers are constantly changing—landing on a stretch of river is never the same day to day. Water levels rise and fall, and underwater hazards are a constant
threat. One day, a floatplane might be able to touch down on a particular spot, but on another day the water could be too low, and then the pilot must find another section of river on which to touch down. And the stakes are high. One mistake can mean a several-day journey back to the base to get the tools needed to retrieve the floatplane. But the risk is worth it for Brad and other MAF pilots to land the floatplane on the remote waterways of Kalimantan. Without them, the people living on the banks of these rivers would be cut off from medical care, supplies, and the hope of the Gospel.
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n June, Brad Hopkins was the last MAF pilot to fly Charlie Brown and Charlie Delta, two aged Cessna 185 floatplanes, on their final flights in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This marked the end of a historic era for MAF. Each aircraft had nearly 50 years of fruitful service on the beautiful and rugged island of Borneo where they touched countless lives.
A NEW ERA MAF’s newest KODIAK, an amphibious floatplane, ushers in a new season of ministry in Kalimantan.
There was little time for nostalgia, however, as MAF staff are busy preparing for a new aircraft—an amphibious KODIAK, PK-MEE, which will arrive in early 2018. As the primary pilot and base manager in the city of Palangkaraya, Brad’s enthusiastic vision for MAF’s ministry is seemingly boundless as he talks about how the new aircraft will make inroads to the remaining unreached people groups in the country. “It’ll be a new era,” said Brad. “We’ll have the KODIAK. We’re going to bring in new staff. We’re going to grow the program. It’s going to be an exciting time.” MAF is the bridge to both overcoming physical isolation and uniting Kalimantan’s churches. The provincial capital, Palangkaraya is home to some 70,000 Christians, and there are over 50 different church denominations that tend to operate independently of one another. Unity is key to reaching out to the two largest people groups on the island with Christ’s love. And the KODIAK floatplane can easily support Indonesian pastors and Western mission teams in these areas, as well as provide lifesaving medical evacuations for people in isolated river communities.
By Jennifer Wolf
“The KODIAK has a longer range and faster speed; it’s more economical,” added Brad. “It can go 150 miles now on one hour of fuel
Photo by Matt Harris
versus 100 miles in the 185.” It means the aircraft will serve a larger radius and be able to land in more places to help more people and share the love of Christ. It’s going to open up more ministry opportunities. Brad envisions being able to take his entire Indonesian team, plus a generator and other supplies, on one KODIAK flight so staff can do weekend outreach at interior villages—leading church services and showing the “JESUS” film. Another benefit of the new aircraft is that because it has both floats and wheels, it can land on a paved runway. This opens the door for critical patients to reach better hospitals at Banjarmasin. “Now we are able to land there again,” explained Brad. “That doesn’t have anything to do with range or carrying ability. It’s a whole different thing that we didn’t see coming. So, praise the Lord for that!” PK-MEE will be splashing down on many of the same Borneo rivers that welcomed Charlie Brown and Charlie Delta for years. But it won’t stop there. There are more rivers to explore and more people in remote places who still need to experience the love of Jesus.
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degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Northwest Nazarene University. There was a hooding ceremony at the school’s Swayne Auditorium, Brandt Center, in Nampa, followed by a brief reception and celebration luncheon. Photo by Elliott Stoddard
RESPONDING TO DISASTERS
MAF was poised and ready to launch a disaster response in Haiti after Hurricane Irma, but survey flights revealed no major damage or flooding. Thankfully, the people of Haiti were spared from another catastrophe. However, further south, the Caribbean islands were hit particularly hard. Members of MAF’s disaster response team are helping with logistics and partnering with Samaritan’s Purse (SP) crews who are distributing tarps, food, and other supplies to people in need. An airplane from MAF’s affiliate program in Suriname was also deployed to assist in the region, doing survey flights and carrying SP personnel.
For the tens of thousands of people around the world devastated by monsoons or hurricanes this year— from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh to Texas, Florida, the Caribbean islands, and other places. And let’s remember the people of Mexico, too, as they face a difficult recovery from earthquakes there.
For the Lord to draw more staff to fill the many open positions at MAF bases around the world.
Photo by Nikki Simpson
UNUSUAL CARGO
MAF did a flight for a conservation organization that works in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve. Two antipoaching dogs were flown in to help combat the illegal killing of elephants, which is a constant struggle in the bush. The dogs are Malinois, a breed known for their hardiness, intelligence, high energy, and speed. Here, they are shown with two of their handlers as they received final training in rapid deployment via a small aircraft to track the poachers.
For conjoined twins that were recently born in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. MAF flew the twins and their mother to Kinshasa for evaluation and treatment.
For a new doctor to join medical flights to the Niassa Reserve in Mozambique, as the first doctor had to leave.
“PRAY HARD AND LONG. PRAY FOR YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN. KEEP EACH OTHER’S SPIRITS UP SO THAT NO ONE FALLS BEHIND OR DROPS OUT.” Photo by Paul O’brien
AN HONOR BESTOWED
In September, MAF president and CEO John Boyd received an honorary
—EPH. 6:18 (THE MESSAGE)