In 1971, MAF pilot Dave Hoisington was flying church conference delegates from Papua, Indonesia, to the MAF base in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. While stopping to refuel on the small island of Tarakan, a woman approached him on the airport ramp. 

It was Elizabeth Jackson, a missionary Dave met on a previous flight to Kalimantan. She asked if she could catch a ride to West Kalimantan. “I had room, so I said, ‘sure,‘” Dave recalled.

Before takeoff, Elizabeth asked Dave if he knew where Long Nawang was. He checked his map, which in those days had large sections marked “relief data unknown.” But, drawing a line from Tarakan to their destination of Pontianak, the flight path went right through Long Nawang, one of the few places shown on the map.

“It was then she told me that her husband had been killed there in World War II and she had never seen the spot,” Dave said.

Long Nawang didn’t have an airstrip, so Dave made three low, slow passes so Elizabeth could see the place where her husband’s life so tragically ended.

In 1973, MAF asked Dave, along with his wife, Ruth, and their three children, to move from Papua to Tarakan to establish an MAF base there. They rented a home with no electricity or running water, located near the busy docks.

For the first year, Dave wasn’t allowed by the government to have a radio in his plane, so when he took off in the morning, Ruth wouldn’t know how his flight went until he returned in the evening.

As he flew into the interior of north Kalimantan, he began to learn more about the history of the area and those who had given their lives to bring the gospel here.

Those who went before

In 1938, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) purchased a Beechcraft Staggerwing floatplane. George Fisk and his wife, Anna, had been serving in Kalimantan since 1929 and George had requested an aircraft after obtaining his pilot’s license. It would cut his travel time to the interior mountain region down from weeks to hours. It is believed he was the first person ever to use a plane for mission work.

When the time came for George and Anna to go on furlough, he handed pilot duties over to CMA missionary Fred Jackson. His wife, Elizabeth, wasn’t allowed to join him, but planned to as soon as she got the needed permissions.

There were other missionaries serving in the northern part of Kalimantan at the time. Ernest Presswood started the first Bible school in the area and was later joined by missionary John Willfinger. The two of them traveled from village to village, sharing their message of hope. They brought a group of young Christians from south Sulawesi to an area called the Krayan to disciple the new Dayak (general term for the Indigenous people of Kalimantan) believers there.

Then World War II erupted, and the Imperial Japanese army made its way to Kalimantan. They wanted to commandeer the CMA mission plane, but it was dismantled and sunk in a river to keep it out of enemy hands. When the Japanese heard this, they executed Fred Jackson in Long Nawang.

Other missionaries met a similar fate. A group of Dayaks offered to hide John Willfinger from the Japanese, but he didn’t want to endanger them, so he gave himself up and was executed.

Ernest Presswood survived several years in a Japanese internment camp but died of sickness shortly after the war ended.

It seemed that missionary efforts would grind to a halt.

The growing church

When Dave Hoisington began opening airstrips in North Kalimantan in the early 1970s, he found that, despite all odds, the churches had experienced phenomenal growth since World War II.

Long Nawang, where he had circled overhead with Elizabeth Jackson, was one of the first airstrips he landed at. The head of the village presented Dave with a ceremonial sword, a token of their gratitude for MAF’s services. “I still have it,” Dave said.

Dave learned that the young Christians left behind by Willfinger and Presswood in the Krayan had established a Bible school and trained evangelists to go out into surrounding areas. Another Bible school in the village of Long Bia was also in operation when the MAF base in Tarakan opened, and many flights were done through the years supporting these schools.

Dave said he was inspired by the Dayak believers and had a sense of awe at the sacrifice of the early missionaries.

“The caliber of those Dayak Christians interior was a real testimony to the ability of the gospel to change hearts,” he said. “We felt like we were just following in the footprints of Ernie Presswood and John Willfinger.”

Generations of believers

Pastor Son is a third generation Dayak Christian. His grandparents told him stories of the days before the gospel came to the Krayan, how their people were known as headhunters, bound to animistic beliefs.

Then the missionaries came with their message of Jesus’ saving grace. Pastor Son’s grandfather was one of the early believers baptized by Ernest Presswood.

The Bible school named in memory of John Willfinger is in Kampung Baru, Pastor Son’s home village. A core memory from his childhood is the sound of the MAF plane landing nearby. “Every time the MAF plane landed, we would all leave the classroom to look at the plane and watch everything the pilot did,” Pastor Son recalled. “I often saw how MAF brought people who would study at the Willfinger school.”

Pastor Son and his family moved to Tarakan in 1979, flown there by MAF. “At that time, MAF planes were the only means of transportation out of the Krayan. It’s very geographically isolated.”

After graduating from college, Pastor Son led several churches in Kalimantan. He is currently regional chair of the CMA churches (GKII) in North Kalimantan, as well as an associate professor at the Willfinger Bible school, which has trained hundreds of evangelists and preachers.

“MAF has been the most important partner in supporting the ministry of GKII North Kalimantan in providing transportation assistance for God’s servants and goods needed by the church who are in hard-to-reach places,” Pastor Son said. “If it were not for the help of MAF flights, it would not have been possible for us to quickly reach several strategic areas for evangelism in the 1980s.”

Faithful service

Through five decades MAF staff have faithfully served isolated communities in Kalimantan. Countless medevacs, hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo, and thousands of passengers have been carried on MAF planes.

The planes have changed through the years—from piston-engine driven aircraft with minimal navigation equipment like Dave Hoisington flew, to turbine-powered aircraft with sophisticated avionics and GPS, like the Quest Kodiak that is currently flown.

Though the look of the planes has changed, the heart of the mission has not, and it’s what continues to inspire Kalimantan Program Director Jeremy Toews.

“For 50 years, MAF has made a life and death difference in the lives of the people in the communities we serve,” he recently shared. “Countless lives have been saved through the years,” he said, “from babies born in distress, to burn victims, to typhoid patients.”

MAF does around 200 medevac flights each year, with many of the patients and their families receiving practical help and spiritual counseling from MAF’s hospital house ministry.

While medevacs, cargo loads, passenger and church flights have made up a bulk of MAF’s ministry through the years, MAF also works with Indonesian partners to meet the unmet needs of Kalimantan’s isolated communities.

One new partner is Kartidaya, the Indonesian Bible translation organization that works in partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Translation facilitator Darmaputra Podengge said he learned of MAF several years ago as a possible solution to their transportation needs for getting their translation teams to hard-to-reach places.

“Praise God, we share with MAF the same vision, which is to serve the tribes in Kalimantan so that all these tribes can glorify God,” he said. “Since 2019, MAF has supported our Bible translation ministry.”

In one of the villages where translation work is ongoing, Darmaputra shared, they were met with great joy when they brought in a recently completed translation of Luke. “A servant of God who ministered there said, ‘I have prayed and dreamed of God’s Word in the Kenyah Lepo’ Ke language for 20 years. Thank God, now this Word of God is in my hands!’”

Looking ahead to what the future might hold for MAF in North Kalimantan, Jeremy anticipates there will continue to be a need for the ministry. “There are many places interior that have not seen much change as far as transportation infrastructure. I don’t foresee it changing that radically in the next 50 years.”

Full-circle praise

The Hoisingtons returned to the U.S. in late 1974, after helping the second MAF family, Paul and Doris Huling get settled in Tarakan. Many more staff—over 100 family units—would follow in the decades to come.

At a recent gathering at MAF headquarters, staff representing each decade of service in Kalimantan shared stories from their time there. Several were hearing for the first time how the program got started in 1973. Dave and Ruth learned what happened in the years after they left, and they said their hearts were warmed to know the ministry continues.

“It was a very hard experience, but we felt it was worth it,” Dave said.

To see more photos and a timeline, view the story in the January (Vol. 1) 2024 issue of FlightWatch:

The post A Legacy of Service appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

A Lament for a Broken Land

The sound of gunshots was getting closer. Safety protocols had to be followed, and the difficult decision was made. It was time to evacuate out of Haiti.

Sitting in her living room and discussing the situation, MAF missionary Angie Sutton felt unsettled. She didn’t want to leave the home and people she loved. She knew there were dangers, but still it was unthinkable that they would leave … again.

With thoughts like these swirling in her head, Angie left the discussion and sat down at her piano. As she began to play and sing worship songs to the Lord, a sense of peace came over her. And not only her, but her four young daughters, as well, as they all were experiencing the turmoil of a country in crisis.

Months later, she would write a lament for Haiti, capturing her deep feelings for her beloved adopted home.

Angie and her husband, Andrew, and their daughters were among the MAF families that evacuated Haiti in 2021, then again in fall of 2022, due to increasing insecurity and instability.

While her husband continued to do rotations of three weeks in Haiti, and two weeks in the U.S. along with other pilots, mechanics, and support staff, Angie cared for her girls in their home base of New York.

She struggled with the disappointment of watching her husband continue to have an active part in the ministry, while she waited at home, at times fraught with worry over his safety, and deeply concerned for their Haitian friends.

“Lord, the country is in so much need and utter despair.
The people are exhausted and weary.
They are tired of all the suffering.
Bitterness is their portion.
There is a massive sense of hopelessness.
Wave after wave of destruction, devastation, and loss.
Earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, hunger, famine, no
government to lead the people, gang wars, so much
bloodshed, such violence day after day.
There is no justice.”

In January of this year, the entire U.S.-based Haiti team gathered for a family conference in Florida. It was a time to reconnect, debrief, and process the traumatic events and grief they had collectively and individually experienced.

Afterwards, the decision was made to cease all flight operations in Haiti as of April 1.

Angie struggled with feelings of guilt—as if they were abandoning the missionaries and organizations in Haiti that depended on their flights to carry out their work.

“Lord, when will it end? I know You’re not unaware,
but it seems that You have forgotten them.
Have You abandoned them? Do You see their pain?
Won’t You step in? Lord, would You intervene in a
mighty and powerful way?”

But during church service in New York, a former missionary got up and shared a word from the Lord. She had an image of a person carrying a backpack of heavy rocks. She said, “The Lord is telling you, ‘Take them out, let them go. That’s not your burden to carry. Let me hold those for you.’”

Weeping, Angie knew those words were for her, a reassurance that God had not abandoned those left behind in Haiti.

“You are all-powerful, You are able.
Would you move in big ways? You parted the Red Sea
for Your people, You sent manna from heaven. You
are able to do what we can’t even fathom.
You are a wonder-working God.
Strengthen and restore Your people. Protect the
children. Provide for their needs: their physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs.
You intricately and intimately know each of them.
You are Jehovah Jireh—we trust You.”

In late spring, most of the Haiti families relocated to Idaho, where they are currently living in apartments on MAF’s campus. Together in community, they are working on a plan for the future of the Haiti program. Angie said as a team they have described this time of waiting and planning as a “wilderness”—like the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years.

Part of the process for Angie has been to go freely to the Lord, through the medium of lament, with her questions and cries. She longs to return to the home they left behind. Physically she and the rest of the team are in Idaho, but their hearts are in Haiti.

“And yet, EVEN if nothing changes in Haiti, we will
continue to praise You. We will worship You because
You are faithful and good. You are the same God of
Jacob, of Abraham, Moses, and David. We remember
Your faithfulness to them and are trusting in You now
with our fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti. Even
when we don’t see You working, we will trust You and
Your sovereign plan. Increase our faith. Help us in our
unbelief. May we cling to You and Your promises.
We love you, Lord.”

During a recent chapel service at MAF headquarters, the Haiti team shared about God’s faithfulness, through song—with Angie at the piano—and through testimony. In the midst of the uncertainty, they are trusting God’s timing and leading.

This story ran in the November (Vol. 4) 2023 issue of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

The post Longing for Haiti appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten                                                                                                    

Fifteen years ago, Pastor V in coastal Mozambique held up a freshly printed book. The slim volume contained Genesis, Jonah, Luke, and 1 Timothy, translated into the EKoti language.

“Our book has four books,” he exclaimed to a group of believers. “But the full Bible has 66 books. We want them all!”

The Koti believers are moving closer to their goal of having the full Bible in their language, EKoti. It’s a language spoken by 100,000 that borrows heavily from Swahili and Arabic. “Through and through it’s an African language,” said translation consultant Sebastian Floor. “It’s very difficult to learn but sounds very beautiful. It has poetry.”

Sebastian recalled how a linguist couple began studying this poetic language in the mid-1990s and wrote a grammar to begin teaching literacy classes, which continue to this day.

“The language is very much alive. The children speak it, so it’s not a dying language,” Sebastian said.

While linguists labored to master the language and reduce it to written form, short-term evangelistic teams from Japan began visiting the Koti people, and a new group of believers was baptized in 2001.

What happened was nothing short of miraculous. Since that first group of believers, thousands more have put their faith in Jesus and been baptized. Believers, who called themselves ‘Tarikhi ya Haakhi’ (Way of Truth), were transformed by the truth of the gospel, with fewer marital problems and less violence.

“No one could ever imagine what God has done among our people,” one Koti believer said.

As the Koti church grew, the linguistic team translated some parables of Jesus from Luke, then focused on the book of Jonah, which seemed appropriate for a seafaring people like the Koti.

After that, portions of scripture were translated for specific needs of the growing church. To understand who Jesus is, the gospel of Luke was completed. Genesis was translated to help correct a faulty belief about separation from God. The book of 1 Timothy was translated when church leaders needed guidance. A selection of Psalms was translated to help give structure for worship.

Eventually, linguists—including many local Koti translators—focused on the New Testament, which was completed and dedicated in 2021, a huge step towards Pastor V’s desire for the entire Bible.

In 2022, two translation coordinators flew into Koti Land on MAF (known in Mozambique as Ambassador Aviation) to kickstart the Old Testament translation project.

MAF pilot Ryan Koher described their arrival. “The coordinators were joyfully welcomed by members of the local church, which reflects their love for God’s Word and the eagerness and excitement for the Old Testament.”

Later in the fall, Ryan flew Sebastian in to help with the translation for Psalm 117, the shortest psalm.

Sebastian and other consultants make frequent trips into Koti Land, where they are currently working on Psalms in a workshop setting. The consultants help the local translators fully understand and internalize a psalm through oral translation and creative songs, with the work concluding in a written transcription before moving on to the next psalm.

The consultant teams prefer to use MAF to travel into the area. It’s a 45-minute flight to reach the Koti from Nampula, where MAF’s base of operations is located. Last September, a cyclone washed out a major bridge on the one road from Nampula to Koti Land, and torrential rains continue to wreak havoc on road conditions.

“Doing a trip on MAF saves days. It’s an efficient way to travel. When I was in regional administration, I didn’t have time to spend weeks in one country. I have a trip of four or five days to visit three or four projects,” Sebastian said. “So MAF took me from one project to another. It saved me a lot of travel headache.”

Today there are 20,000 believers in the Koti church. “The New Testament is used passionately,” says church planter Graeme, “and they have sent church planting teams to take the gospel to an unreached people group further to the north.”

Safely transporting Bible translators is just one of the ways MAF is helping isolated people in Mozambique be changed by the love of Christ.

“It is a privilege for me to play a small role in making the Word of God accessible to thousands of people,” Ryan says. “I see partnering with translators as one of the most important ways we can minister to the people of Mozambique.

This story ran in the August (Vol. 3) 2023 issue of FlightWatch. Read the full issue here:

The post Way of Truth appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

MAF serves medevac patients and families through hospitality ministry

Novianty was wasting away, unable to eat and plagued by constant nausea and vomiting.

Her condition was critical when she was flown by MAF airplane from her remote village to the city of Tarakan in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Doctors at Tarakan’s regional hospital tried to treat her stomach and kidney issues. But after several weeks, she was told there was nothing more they could do for her, and they discharged her.

Novianty and her husband, Ben, moved to Rumah Singgah, MAF’s hospital house in Tarakan, until she was strong enough to travel home. Through tears she recalled how hopeless she felt in the face of the doctor’s grim prognosis.

A Home Away from Home

Rumah Singgah was established in 2013 after MAF staff saw the difficulties medevac patients faced when coming to an unfamiliar place for treatment.

Patients often arrive with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. If they don’t know anyone locally, they face the daunting task of navigating the medical system alone.

Family members or caregivers typically accompany the patient, and they have nowhere to sleep other than the hospital floor.

Rumah Singgah offers help to patients and their families in tangible ways—from providing a clean and safe place to stay, to assisting with paperwork, to helping family members with logistics if a loved one passes away.

Mince, wife of longtime MAF employee Nelson, is a fixture at the Rumah Singgah. She’s from a remote village herself and understands how much the hospital house ministry means to the people who come here. She loves helping patients and keeping the house clean and organized.

Other MAF staff pitch in and help, including MAF kids, who sometimes play with children of patients, and decorate the house for Christmas. MAF staff attend and help lead a monthly time of worship at Rumah Singgah.

“Every time we have a service like that, it’s such a blessing to the patients and families who are here. It encourages all of us,” shared Mince.

Healing and Hope

Rumah Singgah chaplain Bob M. Lopulalang also ministrs to the patients and caregivers.

Novainty was one of the first patients Bob met. He saw her regularly for counseling and prayer. Slowly, Novianty gained strength, which Bob attributes to God’s healing power.

“I know it was the Lord who was at work on her behalf,” he recalled.

After three months she was healthy and headed back to her home village, full of gratitude for God’s healing and for those who helped her.

“MAF helped us so much,” Novianty said. “For those of us who are from the interior of Kalimantan, it can be hard to find a place to stay while getting treatment at the hospital. But praise the Lord, there’s a house here, prepared by MAF, and we’re very thankful.

“But it’s not just the place to stay. There’s a chaplain who comes and serves and prays with us and gives us guidance. And that strengthens us.”

After returning to her home village, Novianty resumed her work as a midwife. She recently accompanied a young patient on a medevac flight, coming full circle from patient to helper.

For Kalimantan program director Jeremy Toews, flying someone like Novianty home to her family is one of the most satisfying aspects of his ministry.

He adds, “While it thrills me to know that they have received care for their physical health, the deepest source of my joy in this ministry is in knowing that their lives have been touched by the love of Christ and they will never be the same.”

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Story appeared in FlightWatch Vol. 2 2023. Read the entire issue here:

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Wano evangelist Liku takes the good news of Jesus to Puluk

By Natalie Holsten

In many ways, Liku lives the life of a typical Wano (WAH-no) man. He has a wife and children. He tends a garden of sweet potatoes. He walks the trails and shares stories by the fire.

He’s experienced the fear that comes from being enslaved to evil spirits and animistic traditions. But he also knows the true freedom that comes through faith in Jesus.

Liku, an evangelist and Bible teacher working in the Wano village of Puluk in Papua, Indonesia, is a bit of a poet, using examples from everyday life to express deep theological truths.

When the airstrip opened in his home base of Mokndoma in 2014, he wanted to illustrate to the MAF pilots what the airstrip meant to him.

So he smeared himself with dirt and told them the dirt was like sin. Then he held up a mirror and said it was like the Word of God that missionaries Tim and Mike gave them, making them aware of their sin. Then he pulled a shirt over his head and said it was like Jesus, covering his sin.

“God placed me into Christ, like me putting on this shirt. When God sees me, he doesn’t see my sin anymore,” he explained. He said the new airstrip would allow him and others to pass on the truth of the “mirror and shirt.”

Since then, he and others have done just that, traveling by MAF plane to carry the life-changing news of Jesus to other Wano villages, most recently to the hamlet of Puluk.

Liku knows how difficult the trail linking Puluk to Mokndoma is. He knows what climbing the mountains in a downpour is like, he knows the danger of crossing the vine bridges that span the river, and how challenging it can be to come to the bridge, only to find it’s been slashed by a neighboring tribe.

He also knows the difference the MAF plane makes, reducing the three-day trek to a 10-minute flight.

Liku, in his poetic way, describes it in Wano terms: “This airstrip is a trail. It can bring medicine. It brings Yahweh’s word.”

The people in Puluk were anxious for Bible teachers to come from Mokndoma and share the good news of Jesus with them. This motivated them to work on the airstrip, to get it safe enough for an MAF plane to land.

“It was by MAF that we were able to come here,” Liku shared. “They (people of Puluk) sent lots of letters asking for us to come and teach them. But how would we be able to bring our wives and children and hike this long distance? There is no way. As soon as the airstrip was complete, we were here within a week! So they are super grateful for the airstrip.”

In June of last year, MAF pilot Nathan Fagerlie flew Liku and two other Bible teachers, along with their families, into Puluk. They built houses there and settled into the full-time job of the chronological teaching of Creation to Christ.

The people of Puluk were hungry for God’s Word, and eagerly received what the teachers shared, with 78 people sharing clear testimonies of faith in Jesus. Now the body of believers is growing in their understanding of what it means to follow Him.

“They put their faith in Jesus,” Liku said. “So now it’s with great joy that they continue to learn. And we love living with them.”

The transforming power of the gospel is evident in the lives of the people in Puluk, Liku said, with many of them giving up the old ways, which involved appeasing evil spirits – be it how they planted their gardens, or how they reacted to a “bad omen.” They were bound in fear.

“All that they left behind them,” Liku said. “And now their lives are very new.”

Nathan, who frequently flies into Puluk, has heard testimonies from new believers there, including one man who used to call himself a “pastor” even though he realizes now he didn’t know the truth until hearing the teaching from Liku and the others.

Nathan shared, “He was giving his testimony and he said, ‘Look, I’m an old man. I’ve expected to die now for many, many years. But if I had died yesterday, I would have gone to hell. I know that now. But just like Simeon, just like God kept him alive to see the Christ, God kept me alive to hear His Word,’” Nathan shared.

The Puluk believers have been so impacted by the airstrip in their village that a group of them hiked over to Mokndoma to help do improvements on that airstrip, extending it so that the MAF Kodiak could carry out heavier loads.

“This airstrip is important,” Liku said. “If the airstrip is functional, God’s Word can go out super quickly. Medicine can quickly go out. And other supplies that are needed, can quickly be brought via the airplane. With this in mind, some of us from here left to go help our friends in Mokndoma work on the airstrip.”

Liku and the other teachers will continue to teach through the New Testament epistles, and there are plans for literacy workers to come to Puluk. Eventually they will identify the next generation of leaders and train them.

And if the call comes to go to a new place to teach, Liku is ready: “While I’m alive, I will continue to do my work.”

Meet Liku in this short video: Wistia

You can see Liku and the story of how the airstrip in Puluk opened in the MAF documentary ENDS OF THE EARTH. For streaming or purchase options, visit Ends of the Earth – Mission Aviation Fellowship (maf.org).

The post Lives Made New appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten

As the tropical sun beat down on the village of Long Pujungan, young children filed into the church building by ones and twos, freshly bathed and ready to learn.

They gathered at the front of the church, sitting on the floor in a semicircle, little folding desks before them. Their eyes were fixed on Refi, a young man tasked with teaching them the basics of reading and writing.

Refi is one of several young people helping with Hati MAF, or the Heart of MAF ministry, a discipleship initiative started several years ago by MAF and local church leaders in North Kalimantan, Indonesia, to reach remote communities.

Since the early 1970s, MAF has operated in Kalimantan, flying in places that previously took days or weeks to reach by river or overland routes through the mountain rainforest. Through the years, MAF has provided air support for the national church, as well as helping with medevac flights and community development.

Though much has changed in the decades since MAF first began flight service here, one thing remains the same: isolated communities need Jesus.

The need for discipleship

Starting in 2019, several MAF staff began discussing how they could be more strategic in helping the churches interior to be more effective in discipleship.

“The pastors in many of these communities were a bit overwhelmed, not even knowing where to start because of the issues their communities are facing,” said MAF pilot Jeremy Toews. “They specifically requested help from MAF to help bring in teachers, people who can bring in godly Christian teaching and disciple the people.”

Jeremy didn’t know exactly who their partners in a discipleship ministry might be, but as they were praying and discussing how MAF could be involved, one name in particular came up: Esther Adam.

Esther is a longtime friend of MAF, a “frequent flier” who often travels interior in her dual roles as an instructor at a Bible school, and as the head of children and youth for the Indonesian branch of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) in North Kalimantan.

When MAF staff met with Esther about how MAF might be able to better assist the church’s efforts, she had recently returned from a trip to Long Pujungan, where she met with Pastor Musa, head pastor for the CMA churches in that area.

She knew exactly where MAF could help.

A pastor’s plea

Pastor Musa shared with Esther how burdened he was for his people. Families were hurting, marriages were suffering, children were growing up in church but without discipleship in the home. The family problems he saw were compounded by the presence of drugs in the area, as well as the influence of the internet via smart phones.

In tears, he pleaded with Esther—was there anything she could do to help the people in Pujungan?

Esther was able to bring Pastor Musa’s request to the meeting with MAF, which also included Bob Lopulalang and his wife, Sery, a couple active in children and youth ministry. Bob had recently been part of a team that developed a curriculum specifically for the discipleship of children.

“We decided to focus on three areas: Bob focuses on Sunday school kids and the training for Sunday school teachers, I do the class for parents, and Sery does the class for teens,” Esther said.

With their ministry plan formed, it was decided that the first location would be Long Pujungan, an hour’s flight from the MAF base of Tarakan. MAF’s ability to provide safe and efficient transportation was a key component of the ministry, said Esther, who had experienced the harrowing, days-long river route from Long Pujungan to Tarakan in a long boat. “Without MAF, we for sure couldn’t be here.”

Caring for kids

In the fall of 2019, the new discipleship effort began, with MAF providing flights for six weekend trips into Long Pujungan.

“We asked that Pastor Musa, and the head pastor of the church, and the important people of the village attend the first parenting class we did,” Bob said of the ministry’s early days. “We knew that would have an impact on the others, to have the leaders attend. And they did, they came.”

Bob’s curriculum included not just how to teach children but also focused on how the Bible shows we are to value, nurture, and teach children about Jesus. “We found the parents needed discipleship and encouragement to help their children,” Bob said.

After the first few classes, Bob began to hear stories about how families were impacted, including one family known to be abusive that became more loving to their kids.

“We have heard testimonies from a few families that they shared with others in the village, saying this program really pushed them to care for their kids,” said Bob. “That really encouraged us, we saw the fruit, we saw this program is being used by the Lord.”

Esther was also hearing testimonies from families who were becoming more loving to their kids and less harsh. “Their difficult homes had transformed,” she said. “It’s amazing!”

Unexpected interruptions, new opportunities

The ministry was moving along, until a government runway renovation project shut down the Long Pujungan airstrip for months. Then COVID-19 pandemic restrictions severely limited where MAF could fly.

When restrictions finally lifted and the Long Pujungan airstrip reopened earlier this year, MAF began flying in the ministry teams  again.

As the ministry resumed, it expanded to include early childhood literacy. This was a need the leaders identified early on as they saw that children weren’t reading well, which provided a challenge to Sunday school teachers.

Rindu Siahaan, the office manager for MAF Tarakan, with a background in early childhood literacy, stepped forward and offered his services. He met with leaders in Long Pujungan to make sure they agreed with this new facet of the ministry focused on the children of the village.

“I thought if they don’t have a culture of reading and they don’t know how to read, then how will they know how to read their Bibles well?” Rindu said. “That’s what motivated me to pursue this.”

Rindu provides training to young adults, fresh out of college, like Refi, who volunteer for the program. They are usually sent in pairs for two weeks of intensive teaching with a group of four- to six-year-olds, with the goal of preparing the children for entering elementary school. And they’re seeing results, not just in literacy, but also in the students’ interest in school.

“The second time we met, I asked the teacher, are you seeing a difference in your students? And she said, ‘yes, they have more enthusiasm for learning,’” Rindu shared.

The literacy program has provided a way for other church denominations to be involved in Hati MAF, which has been a desire of the Hati MAF team.

“Rindu’s been very actively recruiting young people from a variety of churches here in Tarakan…that are also very missions-minded,” Jeremy said.

According to Jeremy, having people from different church backgrounds come together united under the banner of discipleship broadens the potential and reach of the ministry. And MAF, with its long history in Kalimantan, is well known and respected in interior communities. Using “MAF” in the Hati MAF name provides a neutral umbrella so that communities know the ministry is something MAF supports and can be trusted.

The word spreads

Word about Hati MAF’s work interior has spread to other villages, and people are asking for the team to bring the ministry to their communities. One such place is Long Belaka, a village two hours upriver from Long Pujungan.

One of the local church leaders, Pastor Sadung, is burdened for the villagers there, and invited members of the Hati MAF team to visit and assess the needs.

“The people there are still tied to their old beliefs,” Pastor Sadung shared. “On one side, they go to church services, on another side, if they have somebody who’s sick, or a child is born, they revert to their ancestral ways to protect themselves from evil spirits.”

On a recent visit to Long Belaka, members of the Hati MAF team saw a deep need for the gospel to impact the village, along with educational and other needs, and will prayerfully consider next steps.

“We have to pray and ask the Lord to lead us in what He wants us to do for this village,” said Esther. “We will wait for what He asks us to do, after that we will move according to what the Lord wants.”

A partnership with donors

Hati MAF is funded through the National Church Subsidy, a funding initiative donors give to that also covers the cost of flights for Bible schools, translation projects, and church conferences.

“For all the people that donate, that support us in prayer as well as financial means, thank you,” said Kalimantan Program Director Tyler Schmidt. “We can’t do this alone. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”

Watch the video of the MAF Hati team’s visit to Long Balaka:

Story ran in the Vol. 3 2022 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

The post The Heart of MAF appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

There’s an extra seat on a flight to the village of Long Sule (SOO-lay). Care to join us?

You’re strapped into the middle seat on the left side, directly behind pilot Tyler Schmidt. A few minutes after takeoff from the island of Tarakan, you leave the coast behind and head into the interior mountainous region of Kalimantan, Indonesia. You lean over to peer off the wingtip. A dense, pristine jungle carpets the landscape below in every direction.

After an hour of flying you reach the region known as the Apo Kayan. Tyler lowers the flaps of the plane as you approach the Long Sule airstrip, located on a grassy ridge above the village.

Tyler expertly puts the wheels down and the plane rumbles to the top of the airstrip. He shuts off the engine and turns around with a grin, thumbs up. “Welcome to Long Sule!”

You wait for the airstrip agent to put on the tail stand before the doors open and you climb outside. Villagers surround the plane, eager to help offload the cargo. Some step forward, offering you their hand to welcome you.

Everybody—men and women, young and old—helps to remove and transport the boxes and bags stored within the pod of the Kodiak. They heft the heavy cargo onto their backs and begin the steep trek down to the villages below.

You’re curious about the village clinic, so you head off on the trail descending a few hundred feet from the airstrip into the valley.

Passing you on the path is the pastor of a local church, heading up to the airstrip to catch a flight over to another village to attend a church conference. The pastor takes a moment to emphasize gratitude for MAF, explaining it would mean a difficult journey of several weeks through the jungle if not for MAF’s assistance.

The winding trail descends into the village of Long Pipa (PEE-pah). To get to the clinic in Long Sule, you must cross a series of bridges from Long Pipa over the river. The first bridge is missing slats and swings and sways with the slightest movement. Village children traipse effortlessly across it, turning to laugh as you clutch the sides of the bridge in terror, resisting the urge to look down.

You somehow make it across and begin a stroll through Long Sule. Many houses have woven mats in front of them, the recent rice harvest drying in the sun. Most of the villagers are farmers, hunters, and fishermen. Anything else they need – cooking oil, sugar, tea, clothes, medicine, fuel for the generators – is flown in by MAF.

As you pause to get a photo with a group of kids, the sound of the MAF Kodiak roars overhead. Tyler is heading over to the nearby airstrip at Mahak Baru to retrieve another load of cargo and diesel fuel. On an average day he will complete six shuttle flights before the day is done.

With the tropical sun at its zenith, you finally reach the clinic and are greeted by the clinic director and several nurses. They inform you the clinic was built about ten years ago, using materials brought in by MAF.

One of the men with you, Loren, heads into the clinic to have some stitches removed. He invites you to tag along and tells you how he was fishing and got snagged by a hook. He winces as the nurse removes the stitches and covers his finger with a bandage. “It stings!” he says with a laugh.

Before the clinic was built, there had only been a small outpost, perpetually understaffed and neglected. Today it offers midwifery services and immunizations, treats ailments such as tuberculosis and skin diseases, and provides critical wound care.

Nurse Sarip explains how MAF provides a medevac service for the clinic’s more critical patients. “MAF has helped the people here so much,” he says. “Every time we have a patient who needs to be medevac’d out, MAF quickly responds.”

Such was the case with Ripin, a man bitten by a venomous snake a number of years ago while cutting wood in the jungle. Friends carried him to the clinic, but there was nothing more that could be done for him. Struggling to breathe, he watched as his leg swelled to an alarming size. Thankfully, MAF was able to get him to a hospital before it was too late.

“If it hadn’t been for MAF,” he tells you, “I would have already been called home by the Lord!”

Soon it’s time to head back to the airstrip, your head spinning with amazing stories like these. You come to the quick realization that walking up the hill to the airstrip is about a hundred times harder than going down, but with plenty of laughter and encouragement from the locals, you eventually return to the top.

As the plane takes off, you look out the window and see your new friends from the village waving at you. Today you received a gift, a rare glimpse into their day-to-day lives and how MAF is making a permanent, positive impact in one of the most remote corners of the world.

The post Come Fly With Us appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten

This summer I had the opportunity to return to Kalimantan, Indonesia, where my husband David and I, along with our four kids, spent a decade serving with MAF.

After having lived in the U.S. again for four years, going back to the place that still felt like home in many ways was such a gift. My ten days in Kalimantan were jam-packed with gathering stories for MAF, connecting with old friends, and eating my weight in the sweetest pineapples in the world.

During my visit, I made several trips into the interior with MAF pilot Tyler Schmidt. Our flights included transporting Bible school teachers and a discipleship team, as well as a medevac flight for a young cancer patient.

As I watched Tyler go about his tasks, I was reminded of how physically demanding the job of MAF pilot can be. All I had to do was sit in the plane and I was exhausted.

Meanwhile Tyler was flying around weather and landing on short airstrips and dealing with passengers and loading, all in a tropical climate where you can sweat buckets just sitting in the shade. I’m just amazed at what our MAF pilots do.

I was also reminded of how isolated the people interior are. I got to experience that isolation firsthand when Tyler took off in the MAF Kodiak, leaving me and MAF videographer Lem behind with the Hati MAF (heart of MAF) ministry team in the village of Long Pujungan. It was a worrying thought that we were utterly cut off from the outside world, with no quick or easy way out.

To add to that sense of isolation, our group planned to take a two-hour boat ride upriver to the small village of Long Belaka. I was nervous, as I knew how dangerous river travel could be.

But I needn’t have worried. We were handed lifejackets that looked brand new (“Because we never wear them!” joked our boat driver) and given conical Dayak hats to protect us from the sun, and then our very capable boat drivers got us safely through the river rapids.

As we traveled through the jungle, I had the overwhelming sense of seeing something precious, of experiencing something not many outsiders have before, like scenes out of a National Geographic documentary. I felt small and in awe of the vastness of the jungle, but also comforted knowing that this far-flung corner of the world is known and loved by the Creator God.

Arriving in Long Belaka, we were greeted by the head of the school and the pastor, who told us about the needs of the local people.

They are a traditionally nomadic tribe, who sometimes disappear for weeks at a time, disrupting their children’s education. Their kids marry young. The people often don’t grow enough rice to support themselves. They hold tightly to animistic beliefs.

This is why our group visited, so members of the Hati MAF team could assess the needs and see if there was a way to help the people there.

When our group arrived back in Long Pujungan the next day, I experienced the joy of hearing the sweet, sweet sound of an approaching Kodiak that was coming to pick us up.

I imagined what it must feel like to be in a desperate situation, needing a medevac, and hearing the plane arrive, knowing it was going to carry you to better medical care.

Many people I spoke with in Long Pujungan and other villages had stories about how MAF had profoundly impacted them in some way, either through a medevac flight, or transporting them to school, or bringing much-needed supplies. People told me their stories with obvious gratitude and affection for the ministry of MAF.

My trip back to Kalimantan was a sobering reminder that isolation remains, and MAF continues to be a much-needed ministry in many places around the world.

The post Isolation Remains appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

MAF delivers letter of encouragement to new believers

By Natalie Holsten

“You Dem there who have put your faith in Yagwe*, trust him. Yagwe has not forgotten you. He loves you so much. You also are now my family and I want to be there with you but right now I can’t.”

These heartfelt words, written from a missionary to a group of new believers from the Dem tribe, are reminiscent of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote to the early church 2000 years ago.

Nowadays, with Zoom, email, Facebook, and texting, sending a letter on paper seems almost antiquated. But for the Dem people living without cell service or electricity in the highlands of Papua, Indonesia, a letter is sometimes the only option for communication.

Last summer, the body of Dem believers in the village of Bina was brand new. After months of hearing the teaching of the redemptive story of Christ, many had made decisions to place their faith in the Lord.

It was time for the missionaries to take a break – some for a longer time of furlough in their home countries, and for Jay† and his family, a short vacation on the island of Bali.

But that short vacation turned unexpectedly long because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, and Jay began to worry about how the new believers were doing.

Like the Apostle Paul writing to the early church, Jay wanted to write the new believers and remind them of the good news they had heard and believed, and to reassure them that they were not forgotten.

But how to get a letter to the Dem believers?

Jay happened to see on the MAF flight schedule that a flight was going to Bina that week, so he reached out to MAF pilot Peter Santana.

“He sent me a message and said, ‘Is there any way if we email you a letter, can you print it out and drop it in to Bina,” Peter shared. “I said ‘yeah, we can figure that out.’”

Jay wrote out his letter of encouragement in the Dem language and emailed it to Peter, who printed it and delivered it to Bina, along with a load of cargo.

“It was pretty cool,” Peter said. “We brought in this letter, kind of like Paul writing a letter to the church, but it’s from Bali to the Dem in the middle of Papua.”

In his letter, Jay told the Dem believers that the missionaries were coming back soon, and the believers should continue to trust the Lord.

“I wanted to make sure they knew that we hadn’t abandoned them,” Jay said. “The letter…reminded them of what God had done for the Dem in sending a payment for their sins and that they are now children of God and how God knows all things and we do not, so we need to trust the Lord and follow His words that we have learned.”

Not only was the letter meant to encourage, but also to convey their regret that they couldn’t be there to help with medical needs.

The first morning after Jay and his family took off from Bina, they received word that a close Dem friend of Jay’s son was seriously ill. MAF flew him to a nearby town for treatment, but sadly, the boy died a few weeks later.

“We felt so burdened because we were supposed to be there to help with meds and there were some other health issues going around, and so in the letter I addressed that as well….just that we were sad we weren’t there to do medicine, but God is in control and knows all things,” Jay said.

Delivering the encouragement letter is just one way that MAF has supported the work of Jay and his coworkers in Bina. Through the years, MAF planes have flown in cargo and done medical flights, and MAF staff have assisted with the construction of the building where the teaching is done.

“We have such a unique role as the transportation arm of missions and the church,” Peter said. “Sometimes that comes in the form of flying in church leaders, sometimes missionaries, sometimes pigs, and occasionally we get to deliver a message for the young church in Dem. One flight like this is such a boost not only to their work leading a group of new believers, but also for each of us that God allows us to play a part in His story.”

Want to read the letter that Jay wrote? Here is the Letter to the Dem believers.

*Yagwe is Dem for Yahweh

†Some of our partners request that identifying information be withheld for security reasons.

Story appeared in the FlightWatch Vol. 3 (summer), 2022 issue:

The post Special Delivery appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten

Just over a week after a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southwestern Haiti, MAF pilot Eric Fagerland landed in the town of Jérémie with a load of relief supplies.

As Eric prepared to unload the plane, Mark Stockeland of Haiti Bible Mission grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed to a group of injured people waiting nearby. Mark, a frequent user and close friend of MAF, was coordinating relief efforts in the area.

“They’ve been lying there for hours,” said Mark. “They just don’t have a way to get out. Can you do something about that?” Eric recalled.

Eric looked at the patients, some wearing rudimentary bandages and makeshift splints. He hadn’t prepared to do a medical evacuation flight that day, but after making a call to another partner organization in Port-au-Prince that agreed to accept the patients, Eric made the necessary adjustments to transport the patients to the hospital.

“It stands out as a neat example of being there and available to get these people out,” Eric shared later.

In the midst of challenging times in the Caribbean nation, MAF continues to make a difference in Haiti with flights like these.

Mounting Challenges

The August 14 earthquake, which caused the death of over 2,200 people, came on the heels of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, political instability, and widespread criminal gang activity. “It was like a pressure cooker,” Eric said.

Historically, Haiti has been a go-to destination for short-term mission groups. Its proximity to the U.S. and abundant need has made Haiti an ideal location for those looking to be involved in overseas ministry.

MAF Haiti country director David Carwell said MAF has traditionally flown numerous short-term mission groups, but with the current instability, many of those workers aren’t coming.

“For those who do come, flying is essential for their safety. The main road connecting the capital to the southern peninsula has been very treacherous or essentially cut off at times because of kidnappings taking place in gang territory. Because of that, we have begun to fly for some ministries that in the past always went by road.”

Many of the mission organizations that have stayed in Haiti are able to do so only because MAF is providing flights for them now that land travel in many parts of the country is not possible due to gang activity.

This “air bridge” service is vital, and it’s not just missionaries that are using MAF, but also Haitians seeking to find a safe way over gang territory.

“We have made connections with more Haitian diaspora that are visiting Haiti to visit family, and many appreciate our service to help make their visit possible,” David said.

Even with the increased demand for flights, MAF leadership faced the ever-constant need to evaluate the security situation, which limited mobility within the capital where MAF staff live, and was compounded by a fuel crisis.

Eventually, as conditions in Haiti continued to deteriorate last fall, MAF leadership made the decision to move spouses and children back to the U.S. while a rotation of pilots, mechanics, and other staff allowed MAF to keep providing its flight services.

Serving in Hard Places

Like many MAF missionaries around the world, Eric and his wife, Lynette, have had to grapple with serving in a volatile place. To an outsider, it may seem like foolishness to send families to countries where there are external threats.

But according to MAF’s global disaster and security response director (name withheld for security reasons), a love for Jesus and desire to see others come to know Him compels the ministry to serve in difficult places. “The question, ‘Is it safe for our staff?’ is balanced with the organizational call and mission to bringing help, hope, and healing in hard places,” he said.

Eric and Lynette believe MAF equipped them well for these uncertain times, with classes on security and helping them develop a theology of risk. “MAF does an amazing job of prepping us for what we’re going into,” Lynette said. “We are well-trained, well-prepared.”

Eric and Lynette face an additional challenge of having a young adult daughter, Erika, who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder, which has made her transition to life apart from her parents difficult.

“The idea of risk is not new to us,” Eric shared. “We go into this ministry prayerfully, with open hands, and also with the situation with Erika and how she’s going to get established in the U.S. You walk forward, you pray, you keep your hands open. And we say, if we’re being stupid, God, show us, close doors.

“But for now, in our personal lives with Erika and in the program with Haiti, it doesn’t appear that God’s moving in a different direction. The need is still there and it’s something that we can still meet.”

Eric is currently in Haiti, with the hopes that this spring, Erika will be well enough established that Lynette can join him on a more permanent basis. They are hopeful about the coming months and look forward to settling into their home to Haiti again, along with the rest of their team that has been uprooted.

For Eric and Lynette, as they move forward into the uncertainty of 2022, they are excited to see how God will work. “I come up with these themes each year,” Lynette said. “Our latest theme is ‘setbacks are set-ups for God to do the miraculous.’ And that’s what I keep coming back to because in our lives, every time I say, it’s impossible, God has made a way.”

An Opportunity for Growth

David Carwell also sees that while the instability in Haiti and exit of some mission and aid groups have left numerous Haitian ministries without international support, it presents the national church with the opportunity to grow in leadership capacity.

“While many programs are suffering or not the same as before, it has given nationals the opportunity to step up and take more leadership and ownership,” David said. “I feel like we have a ton of potential, in terms of MAF specifically, but also the church in Haiti. I think that we need an increased call to prayer, committing our program to Him, and as we delight in Him, we can fully trust Him with the results.”

Would you join us in prayer for Haiti? Pray for the protection of our staff, the ministry of MAF, and the growth of the Haitian church.

This story appeared in the Vol. 2 2022 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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