Story by Jennifer Wolf
Unless otherwise noted: Photos by Lemuel Malabuyo

Sixto Quiñonez called out in his jovial, megaphone voice within the Amazon jungle, inviting the people of Panintza village in Ecuador to come to the evening service. Entire families started making their way to the small church.

In no time they had filed in and were seated on wooden planks with tree stumps for legs. Then they began shouting out the numbers of favorite worship songs, starting with a Spanish songbook and then transitioning to Shiwiar, their native language.

Their voices rose in praise to their Savior Jesus, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and a choir of jungle birds, cicadas, and other buzzing insects.

A call for help

Samuel Mayancha was born in Panintza and attended elementary school there. As an adult, he went away to the city to be trained as a teacher and gain experience. During that time he also gave his life to Christ.

When he returned to the village to teach the children, Samuel found the community divided over religious ideas. There was no spiritual work happening, and there was no one to teach them God’s Word. He desired to start a congregation but wasn’t sure how to do that.

Then he heard that the MAF team in Shell had a jungle ministry. MAF would adopt a village in which to plant a church and disciple the people. Samuel and the leaders in Panintza desperately wanted this for their community.

Samuel made a video stating their need for missionaries to come and teach them about God.

Sixto, the MAF chaplain, says they had just finished three years of ministry in a small jungle community and it was time to choose the next location. They had already received many requests.

Then Samuel’s video arrived, imploring MAF to come to Panintza.

“And I remembered in Acts, when the Macedonian cried out to Paul to come over to them and help them,” says Sixto.

MAF doesn’t force its ministry on villages. They wait until they’re asked to come. It was obvious that Panintza was desperate for God’s Word.

MAF accepted Samuel’s request and, two years ago, Sixto and Wilson Cuvi, the MAF base maintenance manager, started making monthly visits to Panintza. Other teammates joined them as schedules permitted. MAF staff also donated their own money toward the trips and provided gifts of food, medicine, and school supplies.

Doors opening

MAF first started doing these jungle outreaches back in 2010, when an expatriate water engineer—a believer—was working in the Quichua/Sapara area of the jungle. At that time, many communities rejected the gospel and were opposed to having missionaries come. But in this area, the people began to ask the engineer about Jesus. He tried to answer their questions, but eventually suggested they talk to MAF, which they did. They invited MAF to come to their community one weekend each month to help them study the Bible.

Wilson was the main teacher then, and the fact that he is Quichua and spoke the language opened doors to preach the gospel there. Trust was built between MAF and the neighboring communities, who later asked them to come and work with them as well.

To date MAF has done this type of discipleship ministry in 15 communities. People have chosen to follow Christ in each place, but in one village in particular—Suraka—the teaching had a profound impact. Out of 30 families, ten couples made the decision to unite in marriage before God, committing their partnerships to Christ. MAF never told them they needed to do this. They just felt convicted to do it. Along with this special celebration, many were baptized that day.

“It was a joyful and connected experience,” said one of the MAF pilots who attended. Three MAF airplanes flew in with civil authorities, and MAF staff raised money to buy rings for the couples.

Wilson stresses the importance of working in these smaller villages, which tend to be neglected. He says there are more than 400 small communities within the Amazon jungle of Ecuador that need someone to disciple them.

Challenges and rewards

When Sixto and Wilson began ministering in Panintza, people’s lives were a mess, home situations were not good, and there were complex sins.

“But the moment they knew and accepted Christ as their only personal Savior, it was different for them,” says Wilson. “Although there are struggles and there are still problems, they are feeling the love of God.”

At first Panintza’s new believers were meeting in the community gathering place, where there were all kinds of activities and parties. But Sixto challenged them to build a church because it would make a statement that they are Christians now. It would be their “light on the hill.”

Now, here they sat during the evening service, in the church they had built with their own hands. Bibles were open on their laps, as they followed along and took turns reading verses out loud for the group.

The post Faith Grows in the Jungle appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

I’m happy to say that Timmy the tarantula, my roommate in the Amazon jungle, did not disturb me one bit. Honestly, I don’t think he even moved from his spot by the door while I was in Panintza, Ecuador.

Now that we have the issue of the spider out of the way, I want to give you a glimpse of what it looks like when Lem Malabuyo (MAF’s video producer) and I do interviews in a foreign context. On day two of our stay, we interviewed MAF teammates Sixto and Wilson in between their teaching sessions. A translator conveyed my questions for them in Spanish and then paraphrased the answers back to me in English.

We also interviewed a few other people, including the schoolteacher, a former president of the village, and a young couple who walked for three hours through the jungle to be present for Sixto and Wilson’s teaching of God’s Word.

Some of the families lived on the other side of the river so, later in the afternoon, we crossed over in dugout canoes (another first for me). Then, it was a steep hike up the side of a hill on a makeshift staircase made of halved logs.

We were warmly greeted by one of the husbands, who treated us to some delicious fruit, which he knocked down from a tree with a stick. It looked sort of like a tangelo but, inside, the flesh was white and not pulpy (yay), just juicy. I had two and they were so refreshing, especially since it was quite warm and humid by then.

Next, we walked over to one of the homes and interviewed Olmedo and his wife, Nelly. We sat on the floor of a big front room. The entire home was covered by a beautiful and intricate thatched roof. Most of the houses were set up like this, with one closed-off room at the back, where I’m guessing they slept.

Olmeda said that before MAF came to teach them God’s Word, “they were dancing, drinking, and doing everything in the world. That’s the way we were.”  

“Now we have changed. We have left the things we were doing and now we want to continue in the new life,” Olmeda added.

I thought you might enjoy this short clip from the end of the interview, where Olmedo recited one of his favorite verses.

Last-minute visits

On Wednesday, we expected the MAF plane to arrive late morning, so we hurried off to visit another family. They had invited us to their home for breakfast. So around 8:00 we walked to the other end of the airstrip and then stepped carefully through a wet, muddy, and slippery forest.

Once we reached the home, we ventured to their kitchen and watched them prepare boiled bananas. When everything was ready, we ate together in their front room.

After breakfast, we interviewed the husband (the wife didn’t want to be in the video). Then, we thanked the couple, said our goodbyes, and started our hike back to the center of the village.

Walking through the rainforest here is like a symphony for the senses. First, you take in the beauty; it is something else. Then there are the sounds, from the sloshing of our shoes as we walked to the chorus of bugs and the accompanying bird calls. (Click on the photo below for audio.)

Lem, and brothers Levi and Daniel (translators), happened upon a fallen log in the path and noticed leafcutter ants streaming over it. Of course, Lem had to capture that on film before continuing down the path. As we were exiting the forest, I heard a commotion behind me and turned around to see Lem crouched down. An ant was tugging on his shoelace so he was using a leaf to remove it before it could bite him through his sock. But as he did so, the ant bit his finger through the leaf and drew blood!  

That is one bug bite he will probably never forget.

Rain delays and goodbyes

Back in the village, Lem and I and the translators started packing up our stuff. Then, the rain really started coming down. We moved from shelter to shelter as we waited for it to let up, and realized our flight was going to be delayed.

Morning turned into afternoon and things began to dry up. We had no idea if MAF was coming, because the village radio was broken. Since all our things were ready to go, we joined one last worship time at the church. The people knew we were leaving, so they asked the four of us to lead a few songs in English. They wanted to hear what it would sound like.

So we sang these two songs from their songbook.

Top: “I have decided to follow Jesus”

Bottom: “I have the joy, joy” (joy, joy down in my heart)

After the short service, we had some free time. Lem took off to get overhead shots with the drone, and I kicked the soccer ball around with some of the young women.

Finally, around 3:30 we heard a man shouting, “the plane is coming.” I couldn’t hear a thing, but somehow his ears picked it up from far away. We started grabbing our backpacks and the camera gear and headed down to the airstrip. Sixto and Wilson would have to wait until the next day to return, since only one airplane could make it in. We arrived back in Shell by 5:00.

Thursday and Friday we did interviews in the hangar, then Saturday was a sightseeing day. On Sunday, we made it to the Waorani church in the morning and then it was time to start our drive to the Quito airport. Sadly, our time in Ecuador was coming to an end.  

The post Saying goodbye to the Amazon appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

This is the third in a series of stories about my visit to MAF Ecuador’s program in early December. If you missed the earlier ones, start with the first story here, and then read the second one here.

“Where will we sleep in the jungle? I asked Cristina, MAF Ecuador’s administrative assistant and our main contact for the week.

It was Monday morning in Shell, Ecuador, and our group was at the MAF hangar. We would soon be boarding a Cessna 206 for our flight into the Amazon jungle to visit the small community of Panintza. 

“You’ll be tent camping,” Cristina answered.

I immediately wondered how our tents would hold up under the torrential downpours, and then a more pressing question came to mind. “Would we have to dig a hole for a toilet?”

She looked at me quizzically, as if it were a strange thing to ask. I can’t imagine why. I believe her answer was, “There’s a structure.”

Okay, good. I was sure whatever form of “toilet” was in said structure I had experienced by now in my travels with MAF, including the following: bucket-flush toilets; a long-drop toilet; squatty potties; and a thorn bush.

By mid-morning, it was time to board the airplane along with MAF chaplain Sixto and two local missionary teen brothers who would serve as our translators and help us conduct interviews in Spanish. Soon we were airborne with pilot Danny and flying over the Amazon jungle, which looked like a forest of broccoli from the air.

Forty-five minutes later we landed on the short grass airstrip at Panintza. As we taxied to the end of the strip, people were already coming out from the center of the village to help us carry our cargo, and the food gifts the MAF team had sent.

As we followed Sixto with our gear, two things became clear to me: 1) We were sleeping in tents but we’d be in a simple, raised wooden home, with two rooms and a large covered front porch. Four of the guys would be on the porch, Sixto had a room with all the food and supplies, and I had my own room. So we would not need to worry about the rain getting to our stuff, and the tents would keep the bugs out.

And (perhaps more importantly) 2) There was an outhouse nearby with a squatty potty.

Hospitality in the jungle

We dropped off our stuff and headed over to the large covered area where the community usually gathered—an open-sided structure with a tin roof. We sat on wooden benches at the front and Sixto introduced us and explained that we were there to gather stories for MAF’s supporters. Then some of the leaders came forward and made short speeches to welcome us.

There were maybe 30 or 40 people—adults and children—gathered under the shelter. One of the men shared how they live off the land. Everything they eat comes from the jungle, through hunting, fishing, or whatever is growing there.

Another man shared, “It was not Sixto’s will that we become Christians. It was God’s will.”

It was amazing to me that they were so new in their faith. MAF was in its second year of serving here. A team visits for three days each month to disciple the believers and train church leaders.

The women made lunch for the entire village and set up tables for us in another sheltered spot. There were bowls of hot broth with some sort of meat, small fish, and boiled plantains. When we asked what the meat was, someone told us it was a small horse. Come to find out, it was tapir.

After lunch, the guys started playing volleyball in the hot sun … with a soccer ball! Developed in Ecuador, “ecuavóley” is the national sport. It seemed to require even more energy than a regular volleyball game because of the heavier ball, and the rules were different.

I sat with the women in the shade of the main shelter. They were shy and sweet, and laughed a lot. They spoke Spanish, so I was able to communicate a tiny bit. I knew how to ask how many children and/or grandchildren they had, and to say how many I had. After those questions, all I could think to do was to show them pictures of my grandsons (almost 2 and almost 4 years old) on my phone. Some things are universal it seems, even in the jungle. 

Nighttime approaches, and so do the bugs

Just before 5:00, Sixto’s booming, jovial voice called the people to come to the church for the evening service. Soon, entire families arrived and began to find a seat.

They sang several worship songs in Spanish and Shiwiar (pronounced Shiviar), their native language. Then Sixto preached from Romans 6:1-8 and shared a list of “7 Reasons Why Not to Sin.”

It felt very much like Christianity 101—rich, basic truths that every believer should know but with culturally relevant examples for people who live in a jungle setting.

As it was getting dark, someone set up a projector and they began to play a short film about Jesus. Sixto and Wilson (the other MAF teammate who arrived on a later flight) left the church when the movie started. Lem and I and the translators went to find them and discovered they were heating water for hot chocolate or milk and had rolls with tuna for our MAF team.

We enjoyed our evening snack by candlelight, where the bugs came out in full force. Then it was time to get ready for bed, so I went to my room to grab my toothbrush and toothpaste by flashlight. As I was doing this, Lem says, “Hey Jenn, did you know you have a roommate?”

I turned around to see him by the door, his headlamp illuminating a spot next to the door frame.

There, hiding within its web, was a good-sized TARANTULA!

While I was mortified, the guys thought it was hilarious and promptly nicknamed it “Timmy.”

Of course I would get the room with the large spider! They assured me it would only come out at night to eat the bugs. It was a good thing, they said.

##

Would I be able to sleep knowing that Timmy was nearby? What would the next two days hold for me in Panintza? You’ll have to wait for my next installment to find out.

The post <strong>In the Amazon jungle</strong> appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

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.

The post One Pilot’s Jungle Trek appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Jennifer Wolf

In the Kango region, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Dingila airstrip had been in disrepair and unusable for several years.

The local church had done some work on it, and the CECA 20 denomination saw the value in reopening it. This would allow Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to serve Dingila and would shorten the travel time of missionaries working with the Kango people.

MAF needed to assess the airstrip to determine if it was ready for use. MAF pilot Dominic Villeneuve was invited to travel with CECA 20 missionaries to the Kango area.

“I jumped at the opportunity to see the kingdom work they were doing and to evaluate the runway,” Dominic said. 

Collaboration is key

Pastor Lule Djamba Charles, director of missions and evangelism for the CECA 20 church, realized it would be difficult for a few evangelists to work with all the churches in northeastern Congo. It would be more fruitful to train local believers who could return and make disciples in their own communities and beyond. This is his vision for the school he leads.

His team is identifying and recruiting missionary candidates to attend the Christian Training Center for Evangelism and Holistic Missions (CCFEMI), operated by CECA 20 in Bunia.

“When we train them, it’s with the aim of helping the Church,” Lule said. “How can the Church itself evangelize? From the ground up. This is our mission.”

After completing two months of classes, students do a month-long mission internship in an unreached or poorly reached place. As a result of these trips, many people have chosen to follow Christ, and churches have been planted among the Mundu, Mamvu, Kango, and Barambo people. 

To accomplish this takes a strong partnership with MAF, who transports candidates from all over northeastern DRC to Bunia for the training, out to remote areas for the internship, and then back home again.

“This is really the work of MAF, too. It’s a collaborative effort,” Lule said.

MAF flights bring the mission teams closer to the target areas. Then the teams travel onto their final destinations by motorcycle, foot, and canoe.

“MAF’s material support has provided us with four motorcycles,” Lule added. “It’s a testament to their involvement.

“So MAF is helping us in the sense of transport and financial support … MAF is also physically committed,” he says, referring to Dominic’s willingness to spend two weeks with his team and some of the CCFEMI graduates.

One pilot’s adventure

Dominic was ready. MAF flew the CECA 20 team and Dominic to Dakwa, where they spent several days working with established churches along the main road through the jungle. They did evangelism workshops, women’s ministry training, and led Bible studies. Then, it was time to head deep into the forest to the Kango people—a fishing community who live along the Uélé River. 

Dominic and the missionaries departed on motorcycles and spent an entire day bouncing through deep mud and ruts, breaking down twice along the way. The next day they hiked nearly seven miles in thick forest, finally reaching the Kango village of Ezabisi. CECA 20 graduates had shared the gospel in Ezabisi and planted a church back in 2021.

The Kango people are extremely isolated. They lack schools and medical care. But their biggest problem is spiritual. Ancestor worship, animism, and syncretism are the norm.

In Ezabisi, that is changing. People are hungry for the light of Christ. On Sunday, the whole village showed up for the church service with the CECA 20 team.

“Everyone was worshipping and just really invested,” Dominic said. “At least half a dozen people responded to the altar call, which was really encouraging.”

Coming closer

During the trip, Dominic evaluated the nearby Dingila airstrip, and he saw a few things that needed to be addressed. While it would take some intense work, the airstrip could be ready in time for their return trip!

“About a dozen people worked tirelessly for two days, clearing hundreds of termite mounds, filling holes, and cutting down about 15 trees, many large bushes, and two bamboo groves,” Dominic said.

The workers’ faces beamed with pride when the MAF airplane landed there. The pilot disembarked and said, “Man, this is a nice strip!”

He had first landed at Dakwa to drop off supplies before flying on to Dingila. The trip had taken him just 10 minutes! It took the CECA 20 team two days to cover that same distance on the ground.

“It was a huge reminder of the importance of this air travel,” Dominic said. “And now the community has a connection to the outside world.”

A big vision

Pastor Lule wants to send more CCFEMI-trained missionaries to under-reached areas and hopes they will return home to mobilize their home churches. Graduates have even led a condensed version of the training program at a local church near the Kango. Twenty students were trained, including a young Kango man.

Lule plans to recruit more candidates and, with the help of MAF, bring them to the center for training. His vision is a big one: to see people working for Christ throughout the DRC and beyond.

“Little by little, the bird makes its nest. So little by little, it’s going to get bigger,” Lule said. “We begin something very small and with the Lord’s help, we know it’s always going to go on.”

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

The post Reaching Their Neighbors appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Your support is enabling the light of Christ to reach a dark place on the south coast of Papua

“Can you please come to the south coast?”

This was the request of Pastor Simson, who had gone to great lengths to seek out missionaries interested in serving the swampy south coast of Papua, Indonesia.   

Through a series of providential connections, God led him to Sam and Kari*, a missionary couple living in Sentani at the time.

“He just showed up on our doorstep one day and said, ‘Every single Sunday I preach the gospel from the pulpit and the people go home and worship demons. I want to help my people know who Jesus is. I want to help my people be free from fear of spirits. But I’m failing to do that because we don’t have a Bible that makes sense in the Asmat language,’” said Sam.

God had already placed it in Sam and Kari’s hearts to minister on the south coast. Now they had an official invitation from Simson.

Knowing that MAF flights would support living in such a remote place, Sam and Kari began serving the Asmat area seven years ago. The community warmly welcomed them and helped them build a house, by hand. Sam and Kare are raising their three children here—now twelve, ten, and four years old.

Two Boats

“The only airplane on the island that can bring us in and out to our location is the MAF floatplane. The ground here is so swampy and muddy that essentially an airstrip is not possible,” said Sam.

Sam described the spiritual needs here as “enormous.”

“Church for them is like a shirt. It’s something you put on,” he added. “It’s not a heart change. It’s not a deep understanding of who God is.”

Since the Asmat travel by boat, Sam uses boat illustration to explain God’s redemption versus those who are separated from God and under wrath.

Unfortunately, Sam says the majority of Asmat people are in “Adam’s boat.”

There is a young group of believers who are in “God’s boat,” which is how Sam describes those who’ve been redeemed and hidden with Christ Jesus (Col. 3:3). But it’s hard for them to grow spiritually since they don’t have God’s Word in their southern Asmat dialect. 

Sam and Kari desire to see a mature Asmat church that’s alive and growing, that has the Word of God, that’s discipling its own people for the next generation.

Today, Simson and other church leaders are working alongside Sam and Kari to translate portions of Genesis and Exodus. Then they’ll tackle Mark and Luke. They’re also leading literacy classes, which have just started.

One Airplane

The MAF floatplane is the only one in all of Papua, and it’s critical to Sam and Kari’s mission.

“The fact that the floatplane can land right on the river, pick us up in the case of emergency, and take us directly to a hospital … That is a really key thing,” said Sam.

The other option is a four-hour boat ride on the ocean to the nearest airstrip. And that’s not even possible in certain seasons. When the wind kicks up, massive waves cause boats to capsize.

“When you think about a snakebite or a compound fracture … four hours is a lifetime. We couldn’t be here without the organization flying us in,” added Sam. “It’s almost impossible for us to function and be here.”

MAF medical evacuations have saved Asmat lives. The medevacs are vital, but they’re a last-ditch effort.

A new Siloam Clinic opened here last summer, which will help with day-to-day health and treat minor illnesses and injuries before they become a problem.

“The clinic here is going to allow the entire village to be healthy, to move towards wholeness, to move towards health,” said Sam. Malaria and parasite prevention, vaccination—these are the things that keep people alive and functioning well.”

“The fact that the floatplane can land right on the river, pick us up in case of emergency, and take us directly to a hospital … That is a really key thing,” said Sam.

MAF brought in a generator, a chainsaw, nails, tools, medicines, and other supplies so the new clinic and school could be built and open in time for the school year. Finally, MAF brought in the team of teachers, nurses, and a doctor.

God’s Blessings

When he reflects on the new school and clinic, Jack Gandy, the MAF floatplane pilot who did all of those flights said, “No one in the U.S. knows that the Asmat people even exist. But the Lord knows about them and He cares for them.”

Now, the Asmat children are receiving an education. The people will lead healthier lives. And, most importantly, hearts will change when they come aboard “God’s boat.”

As more missionaries—including families with children—are called to take the light of Christ to the swampy areas of Papua, they too will depend on MAF.

“Without the MAF floatplane, it would just be so impractical that it wouldn’t work,” said Jack. “The floatplane opens up so many more doors that would be closed otherwise. It opens up the whole south coast of Papua to the gospel.”

##

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

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

The post God’s Boat appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Jeanelle Reider

______

COMMISSIONED

On July 15, 2022, something happened to transcend tragedy.

More than two years earlier, an MAF Kodiak aircraft, along with its pilot, Joyce Lin, had crashed into Lake Sentani in Papua, Indonesia. No one can know why God, in His loving and perfect plan, allowed such a catastrophe. For MAF and all who knew Joyce, the fatal accident remains a heartbreak and a mystery.

On July 15, PK-MJL—the Kodiak replacement aircraft affectionately nicknamed “Miss Joyce Lin”—was commissioned for service in Sentani. As MAF staff formed a prayerful circle around the Kodiak, they knew the event’s significance extended far beyond the airplane itself. It extended to them.

Joyce was clear-eyed in her purpose with MAF. She said, “While I will always be excited to fly planes and work on computers, I am most excited to share the love of Jesus Christ by helping to transform other people’s discouragement and mourning into dancing and joy.”

Through PK-MJL, her legacy of love will continue.

READY FOR SERVICE!

PK-MJL’s journey to Papua began with generous funding from MAF partners who shared Joyce’s vision and wanted to carry it further. Once purchased, the Kodiak spent two years at MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, getting retrofitted for the field and waiting for import permissions. It was then ferried to Sentani where it cleared customs in record time! The airplane was then prepped with its new PK-MJL registration and some small modifications and stood ready to join the MAF Papua fleet.

FIRST FLIGHTS

PK-MJL’s first passenger flights, conducted on July 18 by MAF pilots Dave Ringenberg and Tom Bolser, carried MAF missionary kids (MKs). Linda Ringenberg, Dave’s wife, said, “We hope that being the first passengers in this plane will inspire them to live a life that’s sold out for God like Joyce did.”

The next day, PK-MJL flew its first mission flight. This flight, and the ones in the weeks that followed, represented a beautiful cross section of the many ways this tool will be used to carry on Joyce’s legacy.

PK-MJL brought a photographer and others to the village of Nalca for the purpose of chronicling the work of Dr. Atik and the Siloam Clinic.

MORE TO COME!

We’re excited to see how God will keep using PK-MJL to speak His love to the people of Papua. You’ll be hearing more as the story unfolds!

And each time you hear of new ways Joyce’s legacy lives on, we hope you know how grateful we are for compassionate partners like you whose prayers and generosity help make it all possible.

The post A Kodiak Named PK-MJL appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Story by Jennifer Wolf
Photos by Hungry for Life International unless otherwise noted

The prophet Elisha’s servant woke early, went outside, and saw an army of horses and chariots surrounding the city. He cried out to Elisha, “This is hopeless, my master!”

Over two millennia later and more than 6,000 miles away, the people of Haiti feel the same despair.

Gasoline $50 a gallon. A hamburger for $20. An economy paralyzed. Gangs blocking the seaports and the main fuel terminal—no more fuel shipments or food coming in. Hospitals, banks, and stores closing or rationing power. Violent protests. Reports of cholera.

The situation in Haiti is dire.

But, just as God opened the servant’s eyes to see the horses and chariots of fire He had sent to protect them, so God has given MAF and its partners incredible glimpses of the work He has been doing in Haiti.

Zoom out with me, and let’s take a look.

Jehovah-Jireh*

In April 2022, an MAF Caravan carried a group to Anse Rouge, Haiti, a dry, drought-stricken valley sometimes referred to as Platon Gran Dyab (the Devil’s Plateau). On board was a former MAF Haiti pilot, Jason Krul, who now serves with Hungry for Life International (HFLI). He was traveling with a group of donors on a vision trip of sorts to check in on compassion development projects they’d been supporting. It had been two years since they’d been able to visit Haiti, due to COVID and increasing instability within the country.

“I booked these flights quite a long ways in advance because the whole trip hinged on whether I could get an airplane or not,” Jason said. “Being able to rely on a ministry like MAF … that reliability, dependability, but also knowing and trusting the pilots are trained, the airplanes are maintained to a standard … We wouldn’t have done the trip if we didn’t have MAF flights.”

The group was visiting Lemuel Ministries, whose focus is on combatting poverty through holistic development—land and water reclamation, micro business, Christian education, and discipleship training. HFL supports a good portion of Lemuel’s kindergarten and elementary school, and a key donor was among the HFL visitors. 

It was Easter weekend. Every week the church in Anse Rouge prays for rain. It had been six months since they’d had any, and their watering holes were completely empty. Crops were dying, wells were going dry. During the community’s Easter service, the people prayed fervently.

“They prayed like I’ve never seen them pray before for rain,” Jason said.

After lunch, Jason and the HFL team went to tour the micro development project they support. There was a dark, ominous cloud over the mountains, which is common—it rains there but not in the valley. Suddenly the group heard people yelling from the top of the mountain. It had rained so much up there that water was gushing down through natural ravines, following its natural course to the ocean.

Lemuel and community members had built canals to divert water from the ravines to several collection ponds.

“We jumped and ran because we were across where the water would come,” Jason said. “We were able to stand up on a hill and watch water rushing through these canals and filling up massive watering pools. That will provide water for six to eight months again.”

A few minutes later, Jason and his team were talking to Manis and Judy Dilus, the couple behind Lemuel Ministries. Judy commented that the only thing that could possibly be better would be for it to actually rain there, in the valley.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the skies opened up and it started pouring; it rained all night.

These remarkable gifts of water amazed the visitors. “We were genuinely impacted by God’s provision and just the timing of us being there to be able to experience that,” Jason said.

Jehovah-Nissi**

After the HFL team had spent a few days with Lemuel Ministries, MAF picked up the group and flew them from the driest part of the country to the lushest.

To go from Anse Rouge to Jeremie is almost the longest distance you can go across Haiti. But with MAF, it’s just a short flight between the two.

“And when you take the plane, you see it immediately: The ministries that are working there are all different, but they all have the same goal,” Jason added. “It’s an awesome part about partnering with different ministries, like MAF does as well, being able to see the variety of ministry happening.”

Jason had done that flight to Jeremie many times in his former MAF pilot role to serve another long-time MAF partner, and friend, Mark Stockeland, founder of Haiti Bible Mission (HBM).

While in Jeremie, the HFL team saw vivid examples of how God was transforming lives. The group was in a meeting with Mark and some of HBM’s pastors and leaders, when a “prodigal son” returned.

The young man had been part of HBM’s leadership program for 10 years; they’d helped him start a business. Then he began hanging out with the wrong people, squandered everything, and abandoned HBM for a year.

During the meeting, he came knocking on the gate, tearfully begging Mark and his team to take him back and asking for forgiveness. Mark then read the story of the prodigal, and—as he later described it—“we cried and loved on him! Welcomed him back to our family.”

The HFL group also met another young man who’d been helped by Mark’s mission. Houston had been demon possessed and so violent that his family had to chain him to the ground. Mark and his team had prayed over him, and the next day he’d begun to improve. Several days later, Houston had asked for Mark’s team to come and pray for him again so he could ask Jesus into his heart.

“He’s been helping lead a discipleship group and getting involved in the church we helped build,” Mark said.

Jason and the HFL donors had been supporting the new church plant in Houston’s area, and they were excited to meet Houston.

“The guy is 100% normal—complete transformation!” Jason said. “To see a guy that’s gone from complete demon possessed to being on fire for this new church … You just go, wow, God is still working and moving in these communities.”

Arms Lifted

It’s not often that donors get to visit the projects they’ve funded and see the impact of their giving and how lives are being changed. These trips allow them to come alongside the ministries they support, learn what their needs are, and be an encouraging presence.  

Mark Stockeland said, “It’s always a blessing to have teams come and help serve. But it’s even better when it’s a close friend like Jason, who comes and encourages us and helps lift our arms. He knows what it’s like on the mission field, so he gets what we deal with on a daily basis.”

Jason and his team had the unique opportunity to see firsthand how Lemuel Ministries and HBM are striving to meet the needs of the Haitian people while sharing the life-changing love of Christ. Your support for MAF carried them safely to the right place at the right time, so God could show them the wondrous works He was doing.

May you be encouraged by these reports and have eyes to see the “chariots of fire”—God’s provision and protection—in your own life.

*The Lord who provides
**The Lord is my banner 

See page 12 of the “Prayer at Work” section in the full FlightWatch issue below to learn how the Haiti team was affected at the time of this writing.

The post Eyes to See 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.