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.

At first, they experienced the tangible parts of the ministry—the medical evacuations, flights for pastors, and cargo deliveries to remote communities.

“It was so clear to see the ways God was using the airplane in North Kalimantan,” Jodie said.

Today, the Toews (pronounced “Taves”) see the broader scope of the ministry. With a better grasp of language and more time there, they have developed relationships with MAF’s frequent fliers and residents in interior communities. They are also immersed in some of the less tangible aspects of the ministry.

As program director, Jeremy works with government officials. And Jodie takes their four children to visit MAF’s hospital house every Thursday. They meet with patients from the interior of the country who stay there while they receive treatment.

“The weight of work is much heavier,” Jodie said, “But it is so rich and so fulfilling to see how God is working. It grows richer every year.”

The Toews are in an especially busy season, as Jeremy leads the program and serves as one of two pilots, and Jodie homeschools their children, manages logistics for MAF housing, and ministers to those around her. “The Lord gives strength for each day,” Jeremy said. “In the midst of everything going on, He gives us rest, peace, joy, and hope that is not contingent on our circumstances. That’s what is keeping us here and allowing us to thrive and truly enjoy this work in the midst of a lot of chaos.”

Encouragement from supporters also keeps them going. They have a handful of supporters who check in regularly with a simple text or email. “It may seem like a small thing, but it is incredibly meaningful for us,” Jodie said. “Even when we are surrounded by people and busy with MAF work, we can feel lonely. To hear from someone who says, ‘We care about you; we are praying for you,’ that has meant a lot. It’s so simple but has really blessed us.”

To partner with the Toews and share in what God is doing in North Kalimantan, visit www.maf.org/toews.

This story appeared in the January (Vol. 1) 2024 issue of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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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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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.

Your adopted airplane, the Cessna 185 floatplane, PK-MCB or “Charlie Brown,” has not been doing anything particularly glamorous lately, but what he has been doing is necessary in order to be an effective and safe ministry tool. And while he may not have enjoyed it too much, a major inspection was in order.

Charlie Brown’s wings were opened up and ailerons were removed (the flaps on the rear of the wings). Special attention was paid to the cabin area, the fuselage. Even his tail area with its pulleys and cables got a checkup.

The control cables were replaced. These connect the pilot’s steering yoke to the actual control surfaces on the airplane. And a patch of corrosion was fixed. This involved cutting out a section of the “skin” of the airplane and patching it up with a brand new skin. The team changed out the engine starter and even gave Charlie Brown a brand new pilot’s seat!

While time consuming and detailed work, it’s crucial to keeping him in the best shape possible. So when the emergency call comes or a pastor wants to reach a village that needs to hear about Jesus, Charlie Brown will be ready to go.

Along with the all of this maintenance work, the floating hangar had to get ready for a major government inspection. The Palangkaraya hangar is in the process of being registered as a private MAF water base, or airport, for float planes. This will enable MAF to meet government regulations and allow flights from this base well into the future.

So whether it’s maintaining the airplanes, or ensuring that the hangar meets all the necessary requirements, your support is a huge help.Thank you for adopting and caring for Charlie Brown, so he can carry hope to the people of Central Kalimantan.

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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.

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Steve, his wife, Lindsay, and their three children arrived in Kalimantan, Indonesia, over three years ago. Right away, their MAF teammates told them they’d prayed for teachers to come—there had been no teacher for a time.

“If we hadn’t come when we did, quite a few families were ready to leave and go somewhere with consistent schooling,” said Steve. “Doing life here in Tarakan is hard enough without trying to homeschool your children.”

Daily life in Tarakan is already a challenge for MAF staff. MAF wives make most of their foods from scratch. Shopping takes time. The power goes out. The heat is a constant energy drain.

“The stress of the wives adds to the stress of the husbands, and it can just keep going from there,” explains Lindsay. “Teachers help protect family life, marriages, and the team in that way.”

They also free up the wives to do ministry outside of the home.

And the children have access to a great education.

“Steve has a God-given ability to understand teens and know what they need, even if they themselves don’t realize it,” explained Lindsay. “He isn’t so concerned with their grades as he is about their hearts.”

“There has been much laughter in my classroom, but also many tears as we talked about the hard issues missionary kids face,” said Steve. “We opened the Bible together, learned together, and supported each other.”

Steve and Lindsay have seen firsthand how vital the teacher’s role is to the MAF Tarakan team being able to carry out the work of the ministry.

But now the Bilimeks need additional ministry partners to continue serving in Kalimantan.

“Trying to raise funds from overseas is a difficult process,” said Steve. “To have people commit to pray for us and support our ministry financially would be one more way God demonstrates His love and plan for us.”

To join their team and play a part in bringing the love of Jesus to isolated people in Kalimantan, visit maf.org/Bilimek.

This story ran in the Fall 2020 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

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Tiffany Brame has a thing for languages. She’s taught herself several and is currently learning Indonesian as she prepares to serve with MAF as a maintenance specialist in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Reading the biographies of Nate Saint and Betty Greene in junior high inspired Tiffany in junior high to use her own skills for God’s glory. She loved the idea of flying and wanted to be a missionary pilot. 

Tiffany spent a year getting her A&P certificate right after high school. Then, she landed a maintenance job at the University of Dubuque—working full-time for five-and-a-half years as an aircraft mechanic while taking flight lessons before or after work.

She progressed to become a certified flight instructor, but over time realized more of a pull towards maintenance. And she continued to feel called to be a missionary overseas.

“I saw MAF as a way to use the skills I’ve already had a lot of experience using and thought maintenance would be the best fit for me there,” said Tiffany.

The fact that Tiffany “speaks pilot” gives her a leg-up when it comes to fixing airplanes.

“When pilots would come in with this or that problem or scenario, sometimes the other mechanics would have no idea what they were talking about,” she explained.

But Tiffany knew what questions to ask.

“I just understand what pilots need and look for and what they’re likely to notice,” added Tiffany. “I think it’s really beneficial and makes me a better mechanic.”

In the past, Tiffany has had to deal with pushback as a female mechanic. That’s why she was excited when she considered MAF’s history and how it started.

“Knowing that Betty Greene was their first pilot made me realize that women have always been part of the culture here at MAF. And anybody who is willing to do this kind of work can,” said Tiffany.

COVID-19 put a damper on Tiffany’s efforts to meet with churches and individuals to build her ministry partnership team, which could mean a later departure for Indonesia.

“That’s going to be hard for me, but at the same time, if there’s a delay, I trust God’s perfect timing.”

Would you like to help Tiffany get to the field faster so she can use her mechanical skills to help the love of Christ reach isolated people in Indonesia? To join her team, visit maf.org/brame.

This story appeared in the August 2020 edition of FlightWatch.

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