MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4 2023
NEWSPAPER OF MAF SOUTH AFRICA
REACHING THE ISOLATED
WE FLY WHERE ROADS END MAF SOUTH AFRICA’S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE | SHARING STORIES FROM THE FIELD 1
MAF is an international Christian organisation whose mission is to fly light aircraft, and to use other technologies to bring help, hope and healing to people in some of the world’s poorest communities. Every five minutes an MAF plane is taking off or landing somewhere in the world to assist missions, churches, aid and development agencies, and other local groups to transform lives and share the love of God.
GIFT TO MAF
FEATURED STORIES
REACHING THE 99 SOUTH SUDAN
HIGH ALTITUDES, HIGHER PURPOSE TANZANIA
BRINGING HOPE AMIDST GRIEF UGANDA
HEALING HEARTS AFTER WAR SOUTH SUDAN
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MESSAGE FROM THE CEO Our expansive vision is transforming into reality, the MAFI candidate orientation for the first time as we continue our pursuit of African candidates in South Africa. February 2024 will mark a pivotal month as we prepare to welcome and train to serve in MAF across the globe. candidates from around the world. We’re thrilled to share that four new engineers have been accepted and are being placed with We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our MAF in Liberia, Madagascar, and Chad, we’re supporters who steadfastly pray and generously incredibly excited about what the future holds. contribute to the work of MAF. As the festive season approaches, we pray a blessing over you. Nevertheless, amidst this enthusiasm, we cannot overlook the economic challenges posed by global May the Lord multiply your blessings and broaden and local events affecting us as South Africans. your influence, just as He is doing with MAF. The financial strain is palpable, prompting us to tighten our purse strings. Yet, in the midst of these Yours in Christ, concerns, we are daily reminded of our reliance on the Lord for not only monetary provision but also spiritual guidance and insight into the future. This endeavour belongs to the Lord, and we trust Him to provide in every facet. In a significant milestone, MAF SA is set to host 2
YOUR INVESTMENT IN MAF IS POWERFUL THANK YOU.
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Haiti Pilot-mechanics Simon and Zacharie
SOUTH SUDAN Story by Jenny Davies
DYNAMITE IN THE HEART REACHING THE 99 In their efforts to take the Word to the world, GlobeWorks International Ministries partners with Christian ministries of like belief and like practice at home and abroad. Recently, MAF was able to help them on their way to a hard-to-reach region in South Sudan to support a Bible college, a hospital and 26 bush schools while distributing God’s Word.
As GlobeWorks Director Ben Cohen describes their ambitious outreach itinerary, every activity seems to blend into the next. It’s not at all clear how much sleep was involved in their whirlwind week. It sounds like door-to-door evangelism, if you turned it into a competitive sport, crossed with a student campus crusade. The mountainous location Ben and his colleague AJ are reaching seems to attract these “all or nothing” characters who carry a Bible in their hand and a fire for God in their heart.
with an incredulous laugh. With an estimated 42 languages spoken in the area, the reality probably isn’t too far from the truth. The languages and people groups haven’t grown separately just because of the area’s isolation. Some people arrived here after fleeing conflict elsewhere. Today, they are a melting pot of cultures united by their geographical isolation, poverty and shared experience of war. As they begin their outreach, Ben sees only the transformation possible through the Gospel. The opportunity to hear and read God’s Word is one he wants to give to each one of the excited children who run to greet them and their truck full of Bibles. As he says, “The Gospel of Jesus
REACHING THE 99 “They say there are 99 tribes in these mountains, and one tribe lives in each mountain,” Ben shares 4
Christ is dynamite in the heart. It is the POWER of God to save!”
it is Paul’s joy epistle,” Ben explains. “The areas people live in have some very challenging conditions. Paul teaches us in Philippians that there is not one drop of joy outside the Lord Jesus Christ.”
TEACHING AND TRAVELLING
SPREADING JOY “On Monday morning, we started our Bible distribution. We split up, so we were on different teams with the students we’d been teaching at the Bible college. Each team went in different directions,” explains fellow teammate AJ, a youth leader from the States. “We tried to get students on the outreach teams from the different areas that we were visiting, including a new area we hadn’t been to before. In a way, the Bible college teaching was preparation to go out, because when we reached the different schools, each of the students had prepared messages from Philippians. In each location, they gathered the excited students to share their message of joy. The Gospel preached by the students and visitors fell on eager young ears. Before they left, each student was given their own Bible. For many of these students, the Bible is the only book they’ll ever own.
The MAF flight takes off in the early morning, flown by Swiss pilot David Graf. Insecurity means the two-and-a-half-hour flight would be impossible to travel overland. The Bibles have been shipped overland, which is just as well, because every last kilo of cargo is accounted for by 5,000 pairs of prescription glasses and sunglasses, specialist medical equipment, and enough consumables for a surgical outreach. Although the MAF flight covers more than 80% of the total distance from Juba, the team has a nine-hour drive ahead of them on bone-rattling tracks, which are what passes for roads in this part of the world. Their destination is one of the most inaccessible corners of an inaccessible continent. “We drove from 1 pm to 10 pm to reach the hospital,” Ben explains. “We dropped the doctors there and got them set up. We left the hospital at 8.45 the following morning and went to the Bible college, where we began teaching through the Book of Philippians and continued this from Friday afternoon to Saturday night, finishing up on Sunday afternoon. “We had chosen Philippians specifically because
TRUCKLOADS OF BIBLES Ben describes his journey to one of the most inaccessible locations. “We hired a tractor, loaded it down with as many Bibles as we could and enough food to survive, and began travelling mid-afternoon on Wednesday. We travelled a combined 32+ hours in the back of that Massey Ferguson tractor over the next three days. We suffered two breakdowns that cost us precious time, and as a result, spent one night stuck out in 5
“Pray for each of the unreached tribes in the mountains; that God would raise up men who would go and preach the Gospel in the power of the Spirit and that Biblical local churches would be birthed in tribes where there are none. Pray for the existing local churches, that they would be able to not only evangelise their own people, but also train and then send them to unreached and unengaged people groups throughout this country and the rest of North Africa.” the bush, huddling together to stay warm. While the temperature soared to over 37 degrees in the shade during the day, it dropped to around 12 degrees at night with sustained winds of 30-35 mph. It proved to be one of the most challenging journeys I’ve ever been on in my life.” “We visited 20 schools with our big truck of Bibles and gave out 36,500 Bibles in total,” Ben explains. “I didn’t realise how big the schools were! Some of the schools had 1,000 kids in them. As we distributed them, I thought, ‘There goes another 1,000!’” Amazingly, the 36,500 Bibles distributed are the tip of the iceberg. GlobeWorks has managed to ship three containers with 120,000 Bibles. If the area is home to around three million people, one in every 27 people has received a Bible in the last three years. GlobeWorks Ministries doesn’t directly solicit funding for outreaches. They prayerfully share their vision with their email list of 250 people and then thank God for generously providing from a completely different source – this time an organisation in Switzerland they previously knew nothing about.
PRAYERS TO PRAY The team returned to Juba energised by a job well done and determined to water the seed of their outreach with prayers. They pray the Bibles that have been distributed will be read and understood, so that the young people will develop a passion for the Word and, ultimately, be mature enough to take up the Great Commission and share the Gospel with others.
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THANK YOU FOR STANDING IN THE GAP WITH YOUR PRAYERS.
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Senisim Pasin Pyarulama Photo by Annelie Edsmyr
TANZANIA By Mark Liprini
HIGH ALTITUDES, HIGHER PURPOSE MAF SA’s missionary pilot, Mark Liprini, shares a day from his logbook.
IT WAS THE USUAL QUIET MORNING IN THE OFFICE.
“This was a call for a medevac from Haydom Hospital. Two mothers with new-born babies with severe birth defects need to get to the paediatric I was in the process of demolishing a delightful surgeon in Moshi as soon as possible.” hot chapati, to accompany the fresh coffee. My logbooks had just been written up from the “How new-born are they, and what sort of flying earlier in the week, and I was busy working defects?” I asked, mentally calculating flight times, through emails while planning the next few days. distances, refuelling, and drop-off times, thinking about the weather and the payloads, and glancing Across the way from me, I heard our Ops Manager at the office clock to see if we could still pull it Emanual (Emma) taking a call. He takes lots of off that day. them each day, but something in his tone of voice alerted me. Slowly he pushed back his chair. “Both were born yesterday, and they have part of their intestines protruding through their stomach wall; well, that is how the nurse has just described it to me,” Emma replied. “I’m busy gathering more information on their weights, who needs to accompany them, and how we get them to Moshi from Kilimanjaro airport,” he continued. “Wait, is Moshi still closed? The Notams* say that the repair work has been completed”. 8
nine. All they are worried about is how to get the “No, I have just called them, and they are still babies from Kili to Moshi.” definitely closed to flights until next month. “Ok, I will print the paperwork, and Peter and I will “Ok Emma, you continue running those numbers, leave right away. Rather, we get to the aircraft, and I will work out a last take off time; confirm our and it is called off, than we run late. We have to routing is Arusha-Haydom-Kili and back home to have the aircraft back in Arusha by tonight for Arusha? tomorrow’s early flight.” “Sawa sawa”.
By 13:50, we were in 5H PTL, heading for Haydom Hospital. We sent Emmanual our ETAs and asked that the patients be ready at the airstrip when we landed, and that they ensured that the airstrip was clear of livestock and people when we arrived. He confirmed that all the above had been done and had already been confirmed by the hospital authorities.
In MAF parlance, a route check is an annual flight test where the pilot being checked has to demonstrate their ability to conduct a normal He grinned and grabbed the phone, while I operational flight to a MAF check pilot. Their clicked open our flight planner on my laptop and entire performance is being observed, from furiously started crunching numbers. gathering information before the flight to putting the aircraft to bed at the end of the day. During I looked up, “Hey Emma, we have to do Peter’s the flight, they would also be presented with route check this week; see if you can get enough various hypothetical emergency scenarios to available payload so he can join this flight as his discuss as they are flying. route check, please?” Today’s emergency scenarios were going to be Peter had heard the conversation from the for real. Peter had to consider how he would adjoining office and stuck his head around the handle the nature of the medical emergency – door. “Are we going flying, boss?” fly high or low? We were going to be potentially over our landing weight at Kilimanjaro; how “Affirmative. Are you ready for your route check, would he deal with that? How was he going buddy?” to strap in the moms with their delicate newborn babies? How was he going to deal with the “Emma, our last take off time is 13:50 local time, forecasted low clouds and potential afternoon which means Peter and I need to be at the airport rain? Timewise, how was he going to make our by 12:50 latest, leaving the office by 12:00 latest last landing time at Arusha? so we can swing by our homes to get changed, and down to the airfield in time. On a scale of one We landed at Haydom but had to wait on the to ten, how certain is this medevac?” runway while an errant flock of goats and sheep were chased off the runway so we could taxi in He glanced up from his screen, “It’s a definite and shut down. The ambulance driver was there 9
in his shiny new ambulance.
creative.
“Where are the patients?” asked by two pilots, trying hard to keep their smiles.
Looking back, we could see that the moms seemed to be OK, with the nurse in the back seat giving us a huge smile and a thumbs up. As we got “Oh, do you want me to fetch them now?” He close to Kili, still a few KG above landing weight, asked, with a cheerful grin on his face. with Peter working hard to reduce the fuel load, we heard from the tower, “Kili tower to PTL.” While we waited, two young doctor interns arrived at the airfield, so Peter grabbed the opportunity “Go ahead, Kili”. to ask their advice about flying the babies. High “Can you expedite your approach, or will you take and smooth, or low and bumpy? #2 position to faster traffic?” Ten minutes later, the ambulance came careering back along the rough dirt roads with four adults. “We will take #2, thank you”. Three mothers with babies and an accompanying nurse. It turned out that another baby with similar “Copied that; plan to do two orbits on the birth defects had just been born while we were downwind of runway 09”. en route, so they elected to put her on the flight as well. We looked at each other. “You know I am going to be about 20 kg over landing weight at Kilimanjaro, right?” Peter said. “Yep. So what are you going to do to manage that?” We briefly discussed some options, carefully strapped the moms and babies in, and got airborne for Kilimanjaro airport. The C206 that we fly has only six seats, but air law allows for newborn infants to be carried on laps. Today, we made a memorable call to base: “Fox Fox, PTL airborne Haydom with nine persons on board”.
As Peter expertly eased the aircraft onto the runway, conscious of the fragile babies and moms in the back and the fact that we were at or very close to landing weight, we realised that we had landed exactly at our maximum landing weight, or maybe one kilogram under.
As we flew to Kili, navigating the terrain, dodging some mild weather and easing through some turbulence, Peter was hard at work managing the fuel consumption and using other tricks up his sleeve to get ourselves down to landing weight by our ETA at Kilimanjaro Airport. The anticipated strong headwind had died away, so he had to get
The marshaller understood our need to get back in the air ASAP, and he personally escorted the moms, babies and nurse through the terminal buildings to the waiting transport outside while we scrambled to get ourselves back in the air to avoid spending the night in Kilimanjaro. 10
We squeaked into Arusha about 15 minutes before our last landing time! An amazing day, being able to save those moms and babies a horrid seven- or eight-hour journey in a Landcruiser over really bumpy roads, and the doctors were pretty certain that at least one of those babies might not have made the journey. Instead, they had a 1.3-hour flight, mostly smooth, followed by a one-hour drive over fairly good roads to get to Moshi. It’s these things that we really enjoy — playing a small part in saving lives and just being part of the Kingdom for these moms, the babies and the nurse.
Thank you, dear friends, for praying for us and enabling us to be here in Tanzania, in a position to serve these amazingly cheerful women and children. They live the simplest of lives and are so grateful for any medical care that they can get! God bless and stay well, Mark and Lorraine *Notam (plural: Notams) = a written notification issued to pilots before a flight, advising them of circumstances relating to the state of flying
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FAMILIES FROM SOUTH AFRICA ARE WORKING IN THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES ACROSS THE GLOBE, TO BRING THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO THE ISOLATED.
PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARIES BRAD & MICHELLE VENTER | PNG Please pray for Brad next year as he will be the interim “Aviation Director” until a permanent person can be found. He will be managing all the flight operations and ground operations (that relate to flying). Praise item for Michelle’s Mama Care Ministry that is going well and making a difference to the ladies. It seems to be growing as more and more needs are seen! SUPPORT THIS FAMILY
MARK & LORRAINE LIPRINI | TANZANIA Please pray for two recent church connections the Liprini’s made in South Africa, we trust God in the couple’s endeavour to nurture and build on these relationships into the future.
SUPPORT THIS FAMILY
TOBIAS AND MORIAH MEYER | SOUTH SUDAN Please continue to pray for Tobias’ health, as fatigue sets in. Please continue to pray for Moriah’s season of pregnancy which is going well.
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GRANT & EMILY STRUGNELL | LESOTHO Please continue to pray for the couple’s hand over of leadership at Pulane Children Centre, the current challenges and the Lord’s ultimate will to be done in this project.
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CANDIDATES FROM AFRICA WHO ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MAF SA RECRUITMENT PIPELINE, PREPARING AND TRAINING TO ENTER THE MISSION FIELD.
PRAY FOR OUR CANDIDATES MOMPATI SHABANE | AIRCRAFT ENGINEER Mompati is going to be placed in the Liberia programme and is attending MAF orientation in February 2024, in South Africa. He will attend Bible school, either in South Africa or via online remote learning, as soon as possible.
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DANIEL CHILIPAMUSHI | AIRCRAFT ENGINEER Daniel is going to be placed in Chad and is attending MAF orientation in February 2024. He will attend Bible school, either in South Africa or via online remote learning, as soon as possible.
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EVERETT MONTAGU | PILOT Everett s working through the flight assessment preparation training and will be flight assessed in January 2024.
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MUNYA MARINYAME | PILOT Munya is working through the flight assessment preparation training and will be flight assessed in January 2024.
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GIFT & ABIGAIL MPOSI | AIRCRAFT ENGINEER READY FOR THE FIELD Gift is in Kenya to spend time in the workshop and familiarise himself with MAF operating procedures and protocols. He will be attending MAF orientation in February 2024, in South Africa.
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JOIN THE MISSION FIELD CRITICAL VACANCIES
COUNTRY DIRECTOR SOUTH SUDAN
MISSION PILOT - FLOAT PLANE PNG
COUNTRY DIRECTOR PNG
MAF’s service to the partners and the people of South Sudan is essential, since the road network is poor throughout the country, and many road are unpassable during the rainy season. Additionally the security situation on the roads makes MAF’s flight service a necessity for many implementing partners.
We are seeking expressions of interest for a float plane pilot to serve in the Western Province of PNG. In this role, you will fly in some of the most remote places and in challenging conditions while providing a professional aviation service to customers. You will be at the sharp end of transformation which will see you working with our partners to reach isolated communities.
MAF is looking for a strategic and driven Country Director to help spearhead our mission to share the love of Jesus Christ by providing humanitarian aviation and related technology to transform individuals and move them towards the fulfillment of basic needs and spiritual transformation in PNG.
ENQUIRE
ENQUIRE
ENQUIRE
MAF South Africa is a resourcing office for MAF International, and our primary role is recruiting effectively for vacancies across the MAF world. The distinctiveness of MAF as an organisation; spreading the Gospel, isolated and forgotten communities, and challenging working conditions, raises the reality of having to find Spirit-filled, technically competent, and highly skilled candidates for those positions. To do this we have structured but flexible recruiting pipelines aimed at efficiently expediting the process that identifies, processes, and places those ideal candidates. 2022 saw our recruiting strategy expand to include neighbouring countries to South Africa. These included the revising of selection schedules and an earlier initiation of ministry partnering training and coaching for candidates. A new partnership was begun with a South African organisation for the missionary preparedness training of pre-field candidates, thus obviating the need for candidates to travel to the UK. 2023 has continued with these developments and endeavoured to fine-tune systems befitting an African landscape. In 2024, MAF South Africa will host candidate orientation for the first time. This milestone marks the beginning of many steps in the plan to create a more accessible onboarding process for candidates across the African continent and diaspora. We thank God for this breakthrough and sincerely appreciate your support as we endeavor to enhance MAF’s impact for Christ.
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GO INTO ALL THE WORLD & PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL CREATION. MARK 16:15
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UGANDA
BRINGING HOPE TO A GRIEVING FISHING COMMUNITY MAF flies Jesus Film Ministries to bring hope to a fishing community that lost 25 members in a boat accident in August this year.
For over 20 years, Mission Aviation Fellowship has flown Jesus Film Ministries to Bukasa airstrip, from where they connect to different islands on Lake Victoria. It was mixed feelings for Christian believers from a number of islands on Lake Victoria on the night of 16 October 2023, as Jesus Film Ministries met them for the first time since a boat capsized on 2 August, leaving 25 out of the 35 on board dead. “We do outreaches on the islands and this community in particular. When I heard about the accident, I felt we needed to encourage them,” said Sam Tsapwe, Director of Jesus Film Ministries. “Whenever we go away, our hearts remain here with you. We are always challenged when many of you cross from other islands to come and meet us. This brings tears to my eyes. You show us a lot of love, and when we return home, we feel encouraged by your love for the Lord.” There are over two hundred islands on Lake Victoria,
and the capsized boat was transporting members from the community of Lwanabatya fishing village, where Jesus Film Ministries has ministered for many years.
Bukasa airstrip, which is in fact privately owned, is the only island with an airstrip on all of Lake Victoria. These conditions make transport to the islands extremely difficult. 16
“MAF is a lifeline for Jesus Film Ministries because there are places that would be very difficult to go without a MAF flight. Coming here to the island with these wooden boats is very slow, very hard, and also very unsafe. We have been rained on, and one time we hit a rock, yet we did not even have life jackets. When you want safe transport, it is not affordable because you then have to hire a private boat,” Sam said. Jesus Film Ministries was visiting Lwanabatya community to comfort and encourage them, but also to give thanks for the 10 members that survived the tragic incident. The most common transport means on Lake Victoria are small boats rowed manually. And due to scarcity, they are often overloaded. Four members of the Christian community are among the 10 that miraculously survived on a boat that was the only available means of transport. During the overnight thanksgiving event, survivors told stories of how they were snatched out of the jaws of death. The overloaded boat, coupled with bad weather, they said, was the cause of the accident. “We set off from the island at 11 pm, and in the middle of the journey, strong winds came with rain. The accident happened at 5 am and people were screaming for help. But a voice told me, ‘Lule, you’re not going to die.’ After the boat capsized, we spent close to two hours without help. But at around
Uganda police to enforce regulations. “We thank God who miraculously saved four of our pastors. We are here today to celebrate with them, but also to show the community that they are not alone.” It takes only twenty minutes to fly from MAF Uganda’s base at Kajjansi airstrip to Bukasa island, yet it would take over eight hours to connect to the same place by boat. MAF and its partners have a strong history with these fishing communities, especially with the church there.
MAF has been flying to Bukasa island for over 20 years.
6:40 am, 10 of us were rescued. Unfortunately, many of our friends had already drowned,” Joseph Lule, Pastor of Omega Healing Centre Church, Lwanabatya, said. Pastor Lule, who does not know how to swim, attributes his escape to God who he says had mercy on him. Pastor Idris Walakira, coordinator of Christian churches across the many islands, urged the 17
PHOTO TALE
CHANGING AIRPLANES, UNCHANGING MISSION A storyline of MAF’s faithful aircraft fleet over the years. When WWII pilots envisioned using small aircraft to help the gospel spread to hard-to-reach areas, could they have imagined what missionary aviation looks like today? Could MAF’s founders have conceived of the complexity of the tools—the aircraft—that now make up the MAF fleet? More than 77 years after the start of MAF’s ministry, its aircraft have changed dramatically. But one thing that has not changed is MAF’s mission to serve together to bring help, hope and healing through aviation. Sharing the love of Jesus Christ so that isolated people will be physically and spiritually transformed.
The Beginnings 1945 – 1965 Nate Saint works on a Stinson Voyager in Ecuador. Photo: MAF Archives.
Fabric-covered airplanes like the Piper Cruiser, Piper Pacer, and the Stinson Voyager helped start the earliest programmes, in Mexico and Central and South America. These light aircraft served remote jungle outposts where missionary families were bringing the gospel to remote tribes. MAF pilot Nate Saint was passionate about reaching one tribe in particular— one that was feared as a “tribe of killers”. In 1948, he wrote to his parents that he expected the airplane would play a part in reaching them with the gospel. His prediction proved true. In January 1956, Saint landed a bright yellow Piper Family Cruiser on a sandbar nicknamed Palm Beach, along the Curaray River. Initially, he and four other missionaries had friendly interactions with members of the feared Waorani. But then, days later, the world learned of the five men’s martyrdom at the hands of the tribe. Far from slowing down the dream of those early WWII pilots, this incident catapulted the idea of missionary aviation across the globe. As a result, young Christians caught the vision of using airplanes to reach the lost—and MAF grew rapidly.
1947 MAF’s new Miles Gemini aircraft in UK.
1980s Australia
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The Growing Years 1965 – 1990 Villagers carry a young girl on a makeshift stretcher to an MAF airplane for a medical evacuation flight in Kalimantan, Indonesia, circa 1970s. Photo: MAF field photographer.
As MAF moved from fabric-covered to aluminum aircraft, small Cessna aircraft became the workhorses of the day. In Indonesia, Cessna 185s and 206s served western missionaries and local evangelists in hard-to-reach areas, and the gospel continued to spread. These new birds nearly doubled the range and load of those earlier aircraft and opened more doors for physical healing, education, community development, and disaster relief to reach isolated people. A second-generation MAF pilot, Dick Parrott, son of MAF founder/former president Grady Parrott, recalls opening the West Kalimantan, Indonesia, program in 1969 with a brand new C185, PK-MCB, that came to be known as “Charlie Brown.” As the sole pilot/mechanic on the programme at the time, Dick was responsible for fixing and flying the airplane. Of course, other pilots and airplanes followed, and the programme expanded to East Kalimantan (now North Kalimantan) and, later, Central Kalimantan. Those small Cessnas brought physical healing to isolated people through a partnership with a Baptist mission hospital, and they enabled the training of 100,000 Dyak Christians through a theological education programme. MAF also served a C&MA Bible school there. A few years ago, when Dick learned that Charlie Brown was going to be removed from service, he was surprised.“I was amazed that it was still in operation,” said Dick. “You know, MAF does a great job keeping their equipment operational.” Over in Papua, Indonesia, MAF was continuing to serve missionaries who were working on Bible translations. Along with the small Cessna airplanes, MAF introduced another aircraft to its fleet in 1976, the helicopter. This new tool helped missionaries survey still-unreached areas and allowed them to live remotely until an airstrip could be built.
1970s
Circa 1972
1980s
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Recent Years 1990s – 2020 After MAF flights supported Bible translators working on completing the Bible in the Hupla language, these two birds — a Kodiak (left) and a Caravan — brought guests to the remote village of Soba, in Papua, Indonesia, for the Hupla-language Bible dedication in 2014. Photo by Mark and Kelly Hewes.
In more recent years, MAF introduced larger, more complex turbine-engine aircraft to its fleet—Cessna Caravans, Quest Kodiaks, and a PC-12. These brought another big jump in range and load capabilities, plus advanced technology that increased safety and efficiency. And, they use jet fuel, verses aviation gasoline (Avgas), which is more readily available overseas. In March 2016, an MAF Caravan landed at the Todro airstrip in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It carried MAF staff, SIL missionaries and local dignitaries who had come to celebrate the completion of the Logoti-language New Testament—a project that moved forward with MAF’s help through years of war and insecurity. MAF’s service spans multiple decades when it comes to bringing the gospel to a remote people group, serving missionaries working on translation, delivering completed Bibles, and supporting local churches. These decades of service typically represent multiple aircraft as well—the right aircraft for the job. No matter the airplane make, model, or size, each one serves a Kingdom purpose—to reach isolated people with the love of Jesus Christ. And each one is meticulously maintained thanks to the support of people like you who have stood with us through the years; people who still believe that the airplane can play a part in introducing people to the gospel.
Gordon Marshall
MAF archives
Current day
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Tanzania MAF archives
MAF FLEET
MAF’s fleet of more than 125 STOL (short take-off and landing) and amphibious airplanes is able to access short, primitive airstrips and water landing sites. MAF currently flies 13 different models of aircraft, including these.
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MAF SERVES IN MULTIPLE COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE VISION OF TAKING CHRIST’S LOVE INTO THE MOST REMOTE PLACES ON EARTH.
PRAY FOR OUR PROGRAMMES SOUTHEAST ASIA
PNG
PAPUA
LESOTHO
Please pray for the team as they maintain relationships with government officials who allow MAF to operate. Lift up our team in the restricted programmes as they seek wisdom and discernment on how to serve people there in difficult circumstances.
Please pray for good solutions to the difficulties shipping aircraft parts to and from PNG. Please Pray for security and protection for staff and property, particularly Port Moresby base, where assigned security has been removed; and Goroka base, where there have been break-ins and thefts.
Please pray for the process of getting approval from the Indonesian Authority for a new aircraft. The Kodiak is ready at MAF US headquarters and waiting to be flown to Papua.
Praise for a partnership between MAF and the Lokisa Water Project Together they’re providing water taps and toilets in the community of Kuebunyane, which previously had no toilets and a broken-down water system. On completion the community will have 8 toilets and 16 water taps.
SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA
KENYA
UGANDA
HEARTS TO SERVE
In the past, the programme was exempt from some airport fees. However, current airport management is pressuring for those fees to apply. The fees could be significant, pray for favour and continued exemption.
Please pray for favourable weather conditions and safety for flights in Kenya while there are heavy rains in the country.
Please pray for continued favour with the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority and good working relations with all these authorities. Pray for the three new pilots in Uganda who are completing standardization training before they settle in Kenya, Liberia and Chad.
Please pray for the maintenance department in the Suriname programme who need more licensed mechanics.
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MAF INTERNATIONAL
MAF INTERNATIONAL
SOUTH SUDAN
LIBERIA
Give thanks for new collaboration projects among MAFI resourcing groups. Pray for good communication and unity.
Please pray for the success of MAFI’s flight simulator project. Pray for wisdom for all involved in this process and for favour on MAF as we pursue these opportunities.
Pray for safety and security in South Sudan in the lead up to the Christmas season.
Thank God for the peaceful elections in Liberia. Pray for the democratic process as the votes are counted. Pray for two MAF families who are awaiting their re-entry and resident permits.
MAF STAFF
MOZAMBIQUE
CRUCIAL ROLES
D.R. CONGO
Please pray for our marketing and fundraising teams as they approach donors during a time of economic crisis.
Please pray for the medical flights in Mozambique as they seek to expand them to new locations.
Please pray for candidates to come forward to fill several Country Director roles across global MAF programmes.
Please pray for the many medevac patients who are served by MAF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
MEXICO
ARNHEM LAND
TANZANIA
MAREEBA
Please pray for the team as they currently operate with only one pilot. Pray for a pilot who is completing training and standardization with help from MAF Guatemala.
Praise for a new hangar roof that has been installed at our base in Arnhem Land before the wet season.
Praise for the addition of a one-day medical clinic on the Malambo evangelistic safari. Pray this might bring more opportunities to help people and to share the gospel with isolated communities.
Praise for the purchase of a multi-engine training aircraft and pray for the implementation of the upgrades it needs. Pray for student pilots’ exams and tests as they near the end of their courses.
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PRAY FOR MAF SOUTH AFRICA OUR PROGRAMME’S PRAYER REQUESTS Please pray for human and IT resources to help equip the team in 2024. Please pray for more cost-effective office space, the team is looking at alternative spaces on church grounds, or office parks, etc. Please pray for the right candidates to come forward to increase our board committee. Please pray for capacity and aptitude for the team as we continue our work and take on new developments in 2024 to expand MAF Africa’s impact. Please pray for direction, wisdom and integrity as the team and board strategizes and directs focus for 2024.
Please pray for God’s guidance and will in all that we do. Please pray for God’s leading for business ideas to help fund MAF SA’s missions. Please pray for continued funding to sustain MAF’s impact and grow as the need increases. Please pray for rest and rejuvenation for our small team over Christmas before we launch into 2024. Please pray for effective and committed comms and administrative volunteers around the country for 2024.
THANK YOU! REJOICE IN HOPE, BE PATIENT IN TRIBULATION, BE CONSTANT IN PRAYER. ROM 12:12
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FILL YOUR CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS WITH MAF SURPRISES! Join us at the BRYANSTON ORGANIC CHRISTMAS NIGHT MARKET Friday 8 December, 2023 17H00 - 21H00 And pick up some Christmas goodies from our MAF stall! Books * Kids’ t-shirts * Christmas socks * Delicious coffee See you there! ORDER FESTIVE GOODIES & INVEST IN OUR WINGS. Purchase our MAF Blend Coffee as a delicious gift for a loved one this Christmas season: 250gr for R120 | 1kg for R330 Shipping available: Nation-wide door-to-door with the Courier Guy, or Pudo Locker, or pick up from our Fourways office. COMING SOON Pre-order our NEW MAF Crazy Socks! ORDERS: Whatsapp your order to +27 (0)73 368 1421 or email coffee@mafsa.co.za, or visit our online shop mafsa.co.za/shop. 25
Thank you for supporting us!
SOUTH SUDAN
HEALING HEARTS AFTER WAR The MAF Peace and Reconciliation team flew to Kuajok in Warrap State from to run the three-day Healing Hearts and Transforming Nations workshop. The team, including Joseph Maluk, Raphael Joel, Michael Pajok and Sara Nema, led the workshop attended by 49 participants.
“We received a great welcome with a ceremonial washing of the feet of the facilitators, the way Jesus washed his disciples’ feet before he sent them out. I have never experienced that before,” reported lead facilitator Joseph on his return to Juba. “The 49 participants enjoyed the workshop. We could see the changes they were experiencing as the workshop progressed,” he says.
It is the fourth workshop for Sara who trained to become a facilitator earlier this year. “We had a lot of teenagers and youth attending. They really understood the topics. They asked a lot of questions,” she says. Sara was touched by the heart-breaking stories about family members who died and went missing during the war in Kwajok. The area faces many challenges including insecurity coming from the cattle keepers, a lack I was happy for the opportunity to share the of food and drinking water, and schooling for workshop with my people. When I see people children. getting help and accepting the teaching, it makes “My favourite parts are the Cross Workshop, me feel like we are coming together as South Standing in the Gap, and the Kings Table,” Sara Sudanese and putting the past behind us. said, naming three of the exercises that help participants to put their learning into action. The paramount chief urged the people to apply the teaching and made an appeal for MAF to come back and lead more workshops. For Joseph, it is the teaching on prejudice that is most impactful: “The teaching on prejudice is really very important – enlightening people to understand the harm 26
others, and kneel humbly before them to ask for forgiveness, even if we are not the ones that have committed the crime. This helps to bring healing at a community level. After that, you will be able to move forward in peace.’ On the last day, the workshop was attended by the government officials including the Director of Religious Affairs, the youth leader, and the paramount chief of the area. The paramount chief urged the people to apply the teaching. He made an appeal for more workshops and highlighted some of the needs in the community that make it hard to remember the teaching. He urged people not to be divided and distracted by political activities on the run up to the elections in 2024. The workshop concluded with a joyful celebration with singing and dancing, enjoyed by participants and facilitators alike. “The workshop was wonderful! There is a great need for the workshop to be done in the Warrap region, because this is the first time we’ve done it. I was happy for the opportunity to share the workshop with my people. When I see people getting help and accepting the teaching it makes me feel like we are coming together as South Sudanese and putting the past behind us,” Joseph concludes. The teaching on prejudice is really very important. We teach that prejudice is like a landmine that is hidden but harmful and could explode at any they are doing when they generalise about time – causing hurt and suffering. different tribes and people who are different from them. We teach that prejudice is like a landmine that is hidden but harmful and could explode at any time – causing hurt and suffering. Even as facilitators, we feel challenged about this sometimes.” Equally important, is The Cross Workshop, as Joseph explains. “The Cross Workshop is an opportunity for people to lay down their pain at the foot of the cross and receive healing and forgiveness. Feeling emotion and bringing it to God is an important part of the process of healing,” he says. “During the Standing in the Gap exercise we teach that you can both give and receive forgiveness on behalf of your community. You can confess and acknowledge things that are not right, accept what your community has done to harm 27
TANZANIA Story by: Jacqueline Mwende
JESUS IS WINNING A MAF flight carrying evangelists to a remote north-eastern airstrip was cause for special celebration when it resulted in Kiyapi – a “traditional healer” – receiving salvation!
Thousands of MAF supporters will know the name the wonderful decision to shun his trade, surrender Elisha Moita. He’s been spreading the gospel in his life to Christ and come to faith. Tanzania for many decades, and he loves flying with MAF. What a miracle! “Evangelists arrive within a short time,” says Elisha, “and are still energetic to preach the Good News.” It’s quite likely that he’s the most frequent flyer in our entire history. As head of Malambo Bible College, Elisha was among the evangelists arriving on that flight to the isolated village for a three-day mission to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am ready to come to Jesus, receive Him as the saviour of my life, and leave my old ways. — Kiyapi’s joyful words “The Maasai believe that the charms of traditional healers can protect them from life’s adversities and heal the sick,” Elisha explains. “Many people visited Kiyapi for consultations and he received payment for his services.” But, after Elisha visited Kiyapi in his home and taught him about God’s Word, the traditional healer made 28
“I am ready to come to Jesus, receive Him as the Saviour of my life, and leave my old ways,” were the joyful words used by Kiyapi. Word spread quickly that Kiyapi was now a Christian. Friends, family, and the entire community were amazed by this great transformation. Elisha expressed his deep joy with these glorious words, “Jesus is winning. It doesn’t matter how bad you are – anyone can receive salvation and the love of Jesus Christ.” With every flight to the village, Elisha will teach Kiyapi more about God and strengthen him spiritually before setting a date for his baptism. Kiyapi has already made his first appearance in church where everybody sang in praise at his miraculous transformation.
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