But God already had something in mind for my last visit to a remote village in the western part of the country.

Normally, I work at MAF headquarters as a writer. But I was here visiting our programs in the DRC for the first time, along with MAF’s video producer, Lem Malabuyo, to do interviews with our partners and staff. We had previously developed a list of subjects to interview. Since schedules and flights could easily change, we went with open hands, willing to accept whatever the Lord made available to us.

Our initial plan to interview a medical missionary couple at the Vanga Evangelical Hospital didn’t work out, as they were out of the country. Still, we were happy to tag along on this training flight for one of the pilots who needed to be checked-out at Vanga.

Once we landed, Lem went off to set up on the side of the airstrip to film the training flights (aka takeoffs and landings). As I started walking away from the airplane, a woman approached. One of the pilots introduced me to Marta Klein, an expat medical missionary.

She told me a bit of her history and how she serves in the northwest part of the country with the Congo Covenant Church, as well as at the hospital in Vanga. She’s trained as a physician’s assistant and focuses on nutrition and continuing education for local doctors and nurses.

MAF had flown her and two nurses from Kinshasa to Vanga the previous week so they could teach nurses at the Vanga hospital the “Helping Babies Breathe” class for resuscitating newborns.

The name of the course was familiar to me from past stories I’d worked on.

“Are the nurses here now?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she said, pointing toward the hangar building.

She mentioned they were waiting for their MAF flight. Turns out they would be on the return flight to Kinshasa with us! I told her I’d like to talk with them, so we headed in their direction.

Marta introduced me and explained what I was doing in the DRC, and that I had some questions for them.

One of the men agreed to speak and Marta served as translator, since he spoke Lingala.

I asked how many people they had trained over the past week.

“We came to do the training with six people beforehand,” answered Alphonse NDOMBE, an obstetrical nurse, sonogram technician, and a teacher at a nursing school. “We have a method called Train the Trainers, where we trained six people and then those six people will train six more people. So we have trained a total of 12 this last week.

“We do the training in groups of two, so they will be able to go out and train the rest of the doctors and nurses that are in the Vanga Health Zone.”

“Has he flown with MAF other times for this work?” I asked.

“We were able to use MAF to work with the Paul Carlson partnership,” he said. “We got on the plane in Gemena and we flew to Wasolo, and we did another training there.”

I recognized the organization he mentioned, and when he said Wasolo, something clicked in my mind. I had written a story about that a few years back …

“Was this when they had run out of a special gel for the umbilical cord?” I asked.

“It was,” Marta said. “We were having difficulty obtaining that medication. And then we were able to get it right at the end of the trip.”

Suddenly, I realized I was with the people who had a part in that earlier story. I was so excited that I may have hopped up and down a few times (well, truthfully, I did).

Marta explained to them why I was jumping. They seemed to understand and shared in my joy with a chuckle or two.

But really, it was just one of many times on this visit to the DRC where God surprised me with an unexpected gift like this one.

When I asked what they had accomplished on the Wasolo trip, Alphonse replied:

“Since we did the training, and they [the doctors and nurses] were using the chlorhexidine gel and following the protocol we taught, they were able to reduce the neonatal mortality rate in that region.”

After the chat with the nurses, Marta shared with me how MAF helps them reach Vanga, which otherwise could take up to 15 hours or more by road.

“We’re very grateful for MAF offering their services to fly from Kinshasa to Vanga, because it only takes one hour and 15 minutes,” Marta said. “It’s much more convenient, and I feel it is much safer because there are so many accidents that happen on the road. And not just accidents, but also there’s a risk of getting robbed or worse.”

When asked if she had a message for MAF’s supporters, Marta said, “I really want to thank people who donate to this ministry … It’s life-changing, it’s lifesaving, and it’s time-saving as well for missionaries and local people.”

The post A Last-Minute Gift appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

An airstrip overhaul reestablishes a vital lifeline for a remote African village

As he stood at the edge of the abandoned airstrip at Gwendjé in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), MAF pilot Stephen Hale imagined what it had once been and what it would take to reopen it.

“The forest had overgrown the airstrip. The trees at the end were incredibly tall; it just looked very daunting. The amount of work required would be significant,” said Stephen.

Forty years ago Gwendjé (aka Ngwenzé), was a thriving mission hub, with a hospital, a Bible school, and a bustling airstrip. Political instability in the 90s caused many missionaries to leave the country, and the strip soon fell into disrepair as Gwendjé became increasingly isolated and neglected.

When missionary Jay Shafto with the International Mission Board (IMB) first visited Gwendjé in 2017, reaching the village required a commercial flight combined with a grueling five-hour drive on deteriorating roads. After experiencing two incidents on the treacherous route, Jay was inspired to make a change. He spoke to village leaders and proposed working alongside MAF to revitalize the abandoned airstrip.

The Power of Helping Hands

Moved by his vision of a brighter future, the Gwendjé villagers spent two years rehabilitating the airstrip.

Jay continued to visit regularly and shared photos with MAF, along with detailed progress reports of the various improvements taking place.    

The obstacles were numerous. The Gwendjé people faced constant delays due to the global pandemic and fuel shortages in the DRC. Some in the local community were adamantly opposed to having a missionary presence in the area again.

It was slow going and at times discouraging, but the villagers didn’t give up. Their persistence was soon rewarded when MAF sent Stephen Hale to help Jay assess the airstrip.

Reset and Rewind

After a six-hour delay, Jay and Stephen and two Congolese pastors and a missionary took off on a commercial flight from Kinshasa to Gemena, DRC. Upon their arrival, they discovered that torrential rainstorms had washed out the “good” road to Gwendjé, making it utterly impassible; they had to take a backroad. After five hours of non-stop bouncing and jostling over terrible road conditions, the men finally arrived.

As Stephen and Jay inspected the airstrip on Sunday, they became increasingly worried. It was supposed to be ready for an MAF flight arriving in two days, but it wasn’t finished by a long shot.

“Oh boy,” Stephen said, recalling his initial assessment of the area. “The surface was not flat; it was pockmarked with holes and uneven areas of overgrowth.”

The ground was too soft, the landing strip too short, and entire sections were littered with footpaths or covered in patches of tall grass.

They gathered the community and explained the gravity of the situation. Banding together, the village got to work. Men cut down grass and rolled barrels—weighed down with water—to pack the earth until it was firm. Women filled soft spots and ruts with a mixture of crushed termite mounds, rocks, and crushed bricks. Children used the village’s one wheelbarrow to move dirt and rocks.

Even with the villagers’ enthusiastic help, both men knew it would take a miracle for the strip to be ready in time.

Obstacles at home

Meanwhile, back at the MAF hangar in Kinshasa, the pilots and mechanics were encountering their own roadblocks.

The airplane that was needed to pick up Stephen from Gwendjé on Tuesday was having mechanical issues. It took two days before the team found a solution.

While these problems were happening, the Kinshasa team considered calling off the flight and having Stephen take a commercial flight home. But there was no cell service in Gwendjé so they couldn’t reach him.

Without the ability to communicate with each other, both groups—those working on the plane in Kinshasa, and those working on the airstrip—were racing the clock to finish. Only God knew how it would turn out. 

Stephen described the dedication of the villagers to complete the work. “They were literally running into the forest to get more material. People were really moving with pep in their step,” Stephen said, smiling. “It was very moving, seeing the entire community come out to help.”

From Vision to Reality

Through everyone’s hard work, by Wednesday afternoon the new airstrip was restored to its former glory. Elation erupted in the village when the residents first spotted the MAF airplane overhead. Gwendjé’s connection to the outside world had been reestablished. After being isolated and completely cut off for decades, a reliable lifeline to medicine, education, and transportation, as well as continued discipleship by visiting pastors had been firmly launched through MAF once again.

Today, Gwendjé’s formerly forsaken airstrip stands as a testimony to the power of partnership in overcoming vast distances. And for a nearly forgotten community, it means the world.

“MAF is already in contact with other partners to plan further trips to the area,” Stephen said. “We experienced opposition and obstacles, but God overcame it all. We don’t know the full extent of the ways that He is going to work in this area, but we are thankful to get to be a small part of it.”

The post <strong>Cleared for Takeoff</strong> appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

William and Jenelle Wolf have been preparing for service with MAF for years. You could even argue it’s been decades.

After viewing the documentary Through Gates of Splendor as a child, William decided he was going to be a missionary pilot.

Also as a young girl, Jenelle heard a missionary to Africa speak at a summer camp and determined God was calling her to serve in Africa.

After he learned most missionary pilots should also be mechanics, William studied Aviation Maintenance Technology at University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Meanwhile, Jenelle earned a Biblical Studies degree at New Tribes Bible Institute, but she didn’t feel that God was leading her to join the Ethnos360 (formerly New Tribes) mission.

When William and Jenelle met, it became clear that their missionary service would be together through mission aviation. They began preparing to join MAF, with a diversion of a few years while William worked as a mechanic in Fairbanks, servicing planes that flew into the Alaskan wilderness.

Though at the time the years in Alaska seemed like a detour, William and Jenelle now see how valuable that experience was in preparing William for his role as an MAF mechanic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They also learned to trust the Lord to provide for their every need. After a landlord told them they would need to leave their rented rustic cabin shortly before Jenelle was due to give birth to their first child, within hours, someone knocked on their door and offered another place to live. And the new cabin had running water!

The route to become MAF missionaries took longer than they expected, but the Wolfs see God’s hand in it.  

“God has been leading in the direction of MAF for a very long time,” Jenelle said. “And it’s definitely been his timing in all of it.”

Rather than training to become a pilot, William learned he is well-suited to be a mechanic, and his role in the DRC will be caring for the mission aircraft, an extremely important service role that allows MAF to operate safely. “I’m not the one to be up on stage,” he said. “I really relish being able to take and make everything work for everyone else.”

As they prepare for service in DRC, William and Jenelle are raising financial support. “We’re going out and following God’s will. But we can’t do that without the help, the support, and the partnership of those behind us supporting us in prayer and in the finances,” Jenelle said.

It’s a process that moves one step of faith at a time. “Every time we get a new gift, whether it’s a recurring gift or a one-time gift, I start crying,” she said. “I am overwhelmed by the immense amount of love and trust people have in us and in God.”

To learn more about the Wolfs or to join their support team, visit maf.org/wolf.

The post Ministry Spotlight: William and Jenelle Wolf appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

In March MAF’s Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMP had the wonderful privilege of flying for two New Testament dedications in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

9Q-CMP spent several days transporting church leaders and other guests to and from the villages of Todro and Isiro for the dedication ceremonies of the Bible being translated into the Logo and Mayogo languages.

The MAF East DRC program has supported the work of the Bible translators for many years—taking them into and out of these very remote places. Some of the MAF staff were able to attend the Logo celebration and said it was a true highlight, “for MAF… for God’s glory and Name!”

Now the Logo and Mayogo people will have God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their heart language. Think of the transformation that will happen in their lives because of this!

Did you know you can adopt 9Q-CMP through a one-time or monthly recurring gift? Your support of this airplane will help make flights like these possible and enable work that is making an eternal impact.

The post 9Q-CMP appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Lately, the MAF Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMO has sensed that her flights encompass the full cycle of life—from beginning to end. Two recent flights serve as examples of this.

MAF pilot Kevin Spann recently received his “checkout” in the Caravan, which means he can now fly the airplane solo and land at any number of airstrips throughout the vast country of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He says his checkout couldn’t have come at a better time.

Usually, flights are so long that a pilot will do one leg out and then one leg back per day. But on this particular day, Kevin fit in two complete flights—two polar opposites, as far as the reason for each flight.

The first one was to take the body of a recently deceased man, and his family, back to his home village. Several thousand people waited for the arrival of the airplane, ready to mourn for this man.

On the second flight, Kevin brought an MAF family out to the mission hospital in Vanga to get ready for the birth of their fourth child—the first MAF expat baby to be born in-country in 18 years. (It’s a girl, by the way!)

“It was an honor to pray with my passengers before takeoff on each trip, as they were going through a significant life event,” said Kevin.

Life is precious, and God has called MAF families and 9Q-CMO to serve people during many of life’s significant events—good or bad, happy or sad.

Would you like to help 9Q-CMO be there for Congolese people in their time of need? You can adopt this airplane with a one-time or monthly recurring gift and play a role in life events happening throughout the DRC.

The post 9C-CMO appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Jennifer Wolf

In October of 2021, a team of four disembarked the MAF Cessna Caravan at the Mbandaka Airport, in the western Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their flight from Kinshasa had covered 362 miles and lasted two hours. But it was only the beginning of their journey. Their next stop would be the Congo River. They were on their way to hold a Kids Action Network (KAN) Sunday school teacher training in the Pygmy village of Lotumbe, deep in the Congo rain forest. 

A huge opportunity

“It is currently not possible to do this type of trip without MAF. The alternative would be to reach these areas by canoe, and possibly by road, but this would take several weeks,” said Kennedy Fumba Gagaya, KAN Coordinator/ReachGlobal. He leads these Sunday school teacher workshops in areas that are quite difficult to reach.

Considering that 46 percent of the DRC’s population falls in the zero to 14 age range*, these workshops are sorely needed.

Over the years, with the departure of many western missionaries, there’s been little oversight for children’s ministries—especially in remote areas.

As a result, Kennedy says, “Many children do not come to church, and most communities no longer have a teaching program for children.”

Kennedy has always had a heart for ministering to children, and he believes the transformation of the DRC will start by reaching them. To that end, he and his small team are training and equipping children’s leaders in western DRC to make the gospel accessible to all children. Through the use of games, songs, Bible storytelling, discovery questions, and application, children are taught God’s Word in a fun and memorable way so they can live it and share it.

Stephen Hale, MAF West DRC’s program director, has flown Kennedy a number of times for these workshops. A few years ago, Stephen flew him to Inonga and stayed there through the weekend, so he was able to observe the process.

It started on a Friday afternoon, with 20 kids showing up. “So you’re going to spend the weekend with these kids?” Stephen had asked Kennedy.

“Oh, no. Not just these kids,” Kennedy had responded, his smile beaming. “You’ll see.”

As the children’s leaders were practicing the KAN methods with the local kids, word spread through the village. “By Sunday morning, there were maybe a 100 to 150 kids there,” Stephen said. “The church went from being a few pews full of kids to every pew being full of kids by the end of the weekend.”

The rest of the way

At the banks of the Congo River in Mbandaka, Kennedy and his KAN teammate, Raymond, stepped into a long dug-out canoe. They were joined by Jay and Kathy Shafto, who serve with the International Mission Board (IMB) in the DRC. Each passenger took a seat on a plastic chair, and the driver of the motorized canoe pulled onto the river highway.

During their nearly 12-hour boat ride, they passed people of all ages. Young boys navigated their small canoes to meet the wake of the team’s motorized one. Old women rowed out to check their fish traps. Nine boys in white shirts and blue shorts traveled up river in a “school canoe” to get to school.

Jay and Kathy had been to Lotumbe multiple times, and they’d discovered that none of the Pygmy churches had any kind of children’s discipleship. So they asked Kennedy if he and Raymond would accompany them to Lotumbe to do a KAN workshop there.

Kennedy had not been familiar with the place or known of the great need until the IMB partners told him about it. “It was God’s love that guided us there.”

God allowed MAF to play a role as well, by providing the air portion of the transportation.

It was to be the first-ever child-focused training in Lotumbe. The KAN workshop lasted three days, then the participants helped run a two-day VBS for the kids. In the end, 13 churches and 37 leaders were chosen to begin Sunday school. And today 1029 Pygmy children are learning God’s Word.

 “I love the partnership that we share between KAN, the IMB, and MAF,” said Kathy. “It’s a wonderful reminder of how we can see the gospel spread farther faster, if we work together as the body of Christ.”

Far-reaching change

At 5:30 in the morning, in the remote village of Nioki—where KAN workshops have been held—a young boy roused his family for morning prayer time. Since Sunday school had started in his village, he’d taken the initiative to lead his family and shares God’s Word by reciting the Bible stories he’s learned.

This is just one example of the impact KAN trainings are having. “Parents are following their children to church,” said Kennedy. “Children themselves take the initiative to evangelize and invite their friends to Sunday school and to club. Bible stories have even reached the Muslim children through their friends that we’ve taught.”

The hearts of children’s leaders have been changed, too. Kennedy explained: “In every place we went, after the training, they would often say, ‘We ask for forgiveness from God for not properly caring for the children by showing them love and care the same way our Lord Jesus did.’”

A recent MAF flight allowed KAN and IMB members to partner together again. They traveled to Djolu, one of MAF’s most remote airstrips. This time, 96 children’s leaders from 28 churches, along with students from a Bible institution, were trained.

In a report to MAF, IMB, the local church, and other partners, Kennedy stated that most churches in this area had not had a Sunday school since 1995. But in February, directly after the training, the pastors decided to restart the Sunday school.

“Soon 9,214 children will be reached by the Word of our Lord!” said Kennedy.

Bearing fruit

On that last evening in Lotumbe, Kennedy witnessed the children joyfully sharing the Bible stories they’d learned. “These Pygmy children were the first in history to be able to recite and read the Word of God,” he said.

Kennedy’s hope is for this next generation of children in the DRC to become good servants of the Lord who can change many things in the country, and become missionaries all over the world.

Because of your generous support for MAF, you are one of the partners enabling the gospel to reach the most remote areas of the DRC. Please pray that children here will have the opportunity to hear God’s Word and be changed by the love of Christ.

*The World Factbook (CIA.gov)

Story ran in the (November) Vol. 4 2022 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

The post Fruitful Partnerships  appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

How God provided for and confirmed a young boy’s calling so he could serve the Congolese people

By Jennifer Wolf

Twelve-year-old Jacob O’Brien walked through the double doors at MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, with his junior high class. There in the lobby was the steel frame from Nate Saint’s airplane, recovered years after Saint and four other missionaries were martyred on “Palm Beach” in Ecuador.

Jacob knew the story of Nate Saint as part of MAF’s past, but until that tour in 2009, he hadn’t realized there was still a tangible need for pilots to serve overseas.

He already wanted to be a pilot, so when he found out he could serve God and love people by flying airplanes, he was thrilled.

“From that point on, I was confident that’s what the Lord created me to do,” said Jacob.

Abundant Provision

Jacob started praying for an airplane when he was 14 years old. Since his dad was an airline pilot and a flight instructor, it was Jacob’s dream to have his dad teach him how to fly. But you can’t just rent an airplane and bring along your own flight instructor, explained Jacob.

The family spent over a year making offers on aircraft in their price range, and they all fell through.

Then one day, Jacob’s dad had finished his flights and was riding home on a return trip, still wearing his uniform. The woman seated next to him asked how long he had been with the airline, and were any of his kids interested in flying?

When he told her his oldest was, she immediately whipped out a business card and wrote a name and phone number on the back.

“You need to call Bob,” she said. “He’s going to want you to use his airplane to teach your kids how to fly.

“Bob’s my husband,” she explained when he gave her a quizzical look.

Jacob’s dad did call Bob and was told: “We’ve got you on the insurance. We have keys being made. I’m so excited for you to use our airplane to teach your son how to fly!”

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Jacob’s dad responded.

“You mentioned to my wife, Linda, that you love the Lord,” said Bob. “Did you know that the Lord is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or desire? This is God’s abundant provision for your son to learn how to fly.”

Jacob went on to get his private pilot’s license in that airplane.

“That’s one of my favorite stories to tell people because it just stands as a pillar of God’s faithfulness in my life,” Jacob said.

After high school, Jacob headed to Moody Aviation, where he met Tara, who also had a heart for missions. They were married, and, after graduating, they started the process to join MAF.

Calibrations and Confirmations

In July of 2019, Jacob and Tara were at MAF’s U.S. headquarters, preparing for a maintenance internship.

Jacob completed his technical evaluation at that time, and they both went through candidacy classes. They renewed a friendship with another couple from Moody, Ben and Anna Samuelson, who were also preparing to serve with MAF.

In October, Jacob and Tara headed to Africa for their one-month internship with the MAF team in Kinshasa, in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“I had lots of expectations going into it from what people told us … how the traffic was crazy and … I was just amazed to see how larger than life everything was there,” Jacob said. “As far as confirming calling, it was everything I expected.”

Even the problems the couple encountered served to affirm their calling.

Tara, who spent many of her days at home with their 9-month-old daughter, says it was often dark and rainy. They lost power and their food spoiled in the fridge.

“I had no food, no water, no electricity, and I wasn’t sure what to do,” said Tara. Is this what being a missionary is really like? she wondered.

Even though she didn’t love the situation, Tara says she couldn’t imagine herself anyplace else.

“I think that will be one of those moments that I look back on for my full time as a missionary, knowing, Where else would I be, Lord, besides exactly where you’ve told me to be?”

Shared Courage

The O’Briens returned to the U.S. and were officially accepted as MAF missionaries. They were assigned to the West DRC program. The Samuelsons had been assigned to the East DRC program. Once each couple had found enough prayer and financial partners to join their team, they were ready for the next step: language school.

The plan was for both families to go to school in France. But a month before they were supposed to leave, COVID-19 restrictions shut down that option.

“We were all kind of shocked when the regional director recommended we relocate to Dakar, Senegal,” Jacob said.

But at least they knew they’d be going together.

From the time the families boarded the same overseas flight to Dakar to the time they left the country for their assigned programs, they were practically inseparable.

“They’ve been our sanity partners in a lot of interactions,” Jacob said.

The families lived in the same apartment building and saw each other daily. They learned how to get around a new city, how to grocery shop, what they could cook, and where to take the kids to play. They learned a new culture and a new language, with the challenge of parenting two young children each.

“Our two-year-olds went to school together for the first time, so they’re really close,” Tara said. “It’s going to be kind of new for them to be apart.”

Tara was looking ahead to when they would say goodbye and leave for their MAF bases in January 2022.

Even with all the hard goodbyes, first with their families in the states, and now this one—each of them knows in their heart it’s not without purpose.

When Tara peeled off their family verse, Ephesians 3:20, from the wall of their Dakar apartment as they were packing, she knew this promise would continue to hold true in their new home.

Serving with Purpose

Earlier this year, Jacob drove through heavy traffic until he reached his destination: the MAF WDRC hangar in Kinshasa. He was finally going to carry out the dream that God had planted in his heart nearly 12 years ago. Soon he would be flying the sick and injured, medical personnel, evangelistic teams, Bible translators, Sunday school trainers, and many more.

Your compassionate support enables MAF teams in the DRC and around the world to bring help, hope, and healing to isolated people.

*Photos courtesy of the O’Briens and Samuelsons. 

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

The post For His Purpose   appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

MAF pilot Jon Cadd has flown 300 feet over jungles in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) more times than he can count. His passengers—park officials, game wardens, and conservationists—keenly spot and count elephants, buffalo, hippos, rhinos and even mongooses and pythons.

These are some of Jon’s favorite flights because they’re not just a chance to see wildlife. Flights like these provide unique opportunities for MAF pilots.

“We probably have the most ‘Kingdom conversations’ with people that sit with us in the airplane that are going into the jungles of the Congo,” said Jonathan de Jongh, an MAF pilot in the DRC. “Many of us pilots have experienced impactful conversations in the cockpit with different organizations that initially seem to have nothing to do with MAF’s ministry.”

A large part of MAF’s early vision was to “fly the missionary.” And while that remains a key focus, many MAF pilots understand their roles encompass more than that.

“I’m not just a taxi driver,” said MAF pilot Jon Cadd. “I am here to be a witness—to be an incarnational presence. To do that, I need to be around non-Christians.”

Opportunities to share the gospel are not the only reason MAF partners with conservation efforts. Stewarding creation is an important aspect of MAF’s ministry and a biblical mandate for followers of Christ.

“God gave us the responsibility to take care of the earth. I want to take on that responsibility,” said Jon.

And sometimes MAF pilots get a glimpse of the impact they have through these flights. A few years after Jon sat around a campfire with two park officials in Zimbabwe, he had the chance to reconnect with them. They had accepted Christ as their savior.

“You don’t always know the impact you’re having,” said Jon. “Everyone has their piece in the equation.”

This story appeared in the spring 2021 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue here:

The post Count the Elephants appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Natalie Holsten

The day was a mix of joyous celebration and solemn ceremony. The sounds of exuberant singing and traditional harp and drums filled the air. Some participants danced, wearing outfits made from the same blue patterned cloth, a Congolese tradition to mark a special occasion.

If there was ever a special occasion to mark, this was it: the Pagabete, Mono, Lobala, and Ngbandi-Ngiri—four people groups in the northwest part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—were receiving the New Testament in their heart languages. These four groups combined are almost half a million people.

“Today is a great day for us,” said Rev. Bolobo Obed, coordinator of the Lobala translation, who attended the April 25 dedication in Gemena. “We are very happy that now the New Testament in Lobala is completed. Now the Lobala people have the book in their hands, and we pray that this book will change lives for the glory of God.”

The translations didn’t come easy. More than three decades ago, western missionaries from Wycliffe Bible Translators began working in several tribes that did not yet have the Bible, or even a written language, in their mother tongue.

When missionary Sharon Morgan first traveled to the village of Ngakpo in 1995 to work with the Pagabete people, the journey required travel by truck, dugout canoe, and bicycle. The trip, which took several days, was exhausting.

An MAF pilot, Phil Smith, accompanied Sharon and her coworker on a subsequent trip to the village, to see if an old airstrip there could be used. The pilot instructed the villagers to trim palm tree branches and take down a huge termite mound at one end of the airstrip. After that, pilot Rod Hochstetler did the first flight for the missionaries, and the difference was profound.

“That was so wonderful, as after that we could go in and out by plane, so rather than taking a couple of days of tiring travel, we could be there in about half an hour,” Sharon recalled. “I remember the first time we flew in that way, and I was expecting to be too tired to do much the first day, needing to recover, but of course, we weren’t tired!”

When war broke out in the DRC in 1996, the missionaries were forced to leave, and it soon became evident that they would not be able to return and continue their work.

The Congolese, determined to see the scriptures in their languages, took over the translation, encouraged and advised by the missionaries from afar. The national translators persisted through many difficulties, including the ongoing disruption of civil war, sickness, and the loss of co-workers. As MAF was able, flights were done to support to the translation work.

“MAF has been very useful and at the heart of Bible translation works, and especially the Lobala Translation Project,” Rev. Bolobo shared.

Rev. Bolobo has seen firsthand how hearing God’s word in a heart language can change lives. He recalled one Lobala preacher who had abandoned his faith for many years. “But after hearing the living Word of God preached in Lobala during one of our visits to the Lobala language areas, he repented and came back to God. We prayed for him and he resumed his preaching work as a catechist. This was so touching to the Lobala translation team during our visits.”

Despite the challenges, the work moved forward, and in April of this year, the four New Testament translations were dedicated. MAF staff Rod and Valerie Hochstetler and Dan Carlson, along with several of the missionaries who did the pioneer translation work, were able to fly on MAF into Gemena to join in the celebration.

“It was a gift of God to see the thread of Him working in people’s lives over the span of thirty years,” Rod shared. “As pilots we have a bird’s-eye view of God’s creation; being at this dedication was a bird’s-eye view of God at work over time.”

Each translator received a copy of their New Testament translation, and after the service, members of the different language groups were able to purchase New Testaments of their own.

“My hope is that by receiving these New Testaments, people’s lives will be transformed, people will be nourished by the Word,” said Rev. Goma Mabele, director of ACOTBA, the Congolese Bible translation organization that oversaw the translations.

MAF will continue to support efforts in the DRC and other parts of the world to help people have the Bible in their heart languages. Your support and prayers play a part in seeing translations like these come to fruition.

This story appeared in the fall 2021 edition of FlightWatch. Read the full issue here:

The post A Day of Celebration appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Corrine Cadinouche

Because of where MAF staff live, God often brings them opportunities to minister to local people outside of the MAF sphere. Here, Corrine Cadinouche with MAF Canada discovers a new mission field during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kinshasa, western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where she serves with MAF as a flight operations coordinator.

During our present global pandemic, people back home always ask me, “How are you dealing with solitude and social distancing without a family there, and being alone?” I say, “Well, video messaging my family and friends has been the norm for me for the last nine months, since I moved to the DRC. As for being alone, I am confined with seven families in my compound that love to get together for any and every reason (birthdays, Sunday lunch, workout sessions, and so on). All the kids seem to think that my house is the place to be!”

Although all churches have been shut down for over four months because of COVID-19, we have a little thriving church in our compound. Aaron, a Baptist missionary whose family lives with us, felt called to start a Sunday morning service inviting our neighbours from all over the faith spectrum in our compound to attend. The proprietor, who also lives here, even calls each family to get them out of bed; she makes sure everyone comes to “church.” I was thinking the other day that if I invited my neighbours to church they probably wouldn’t come. But now they are coming each Sunday morning. Through this confinement and churches being closed, we are able to bring church to them.

Aaron has become the neighborhood preacher; the local woodworkers even built him a pulpit! We set up 20 chairs outside on the driveway, which is the max we can have (confinement rules); and if it rains, we meet in the small gym surrounded by the exercise equipment.

Each Sunday they come and hear the gospel loud and clear and they are given the opportunity to ask and answer questions, pray, sing and read the Bible. It’s neat because my neighbors that live upstairs are Muslim. The whole family came the first time we had church and now just the husband comes most Sundays. When he attends, he often talks and answers questions. I’ve thought to myself; “I wonder what he believes?” Then, last Sunday, he brought a Bible. I have since learned that he only practices fasting to support his wife and kids during the times of Ramadan.

Palm Sunday was one of my favorite services. We had “Jesus” ride in on a pink bicycle while palm branches and materials were laid on the ground. One of the ladies here said to me last Sunday, “Wouldn’t it be great if Aaron could continue with our Sunday services here even after the confinement is over?” They are all really being touched and learning God’s word.

Recently, I have been wondering, “What is my mission field beyond my ministry with MAF?” And God showed me so clearly during this confinement that my mission is now my neighbors in my compound. I have spent more time with them than any other group of people during these last few months. I pray I will always seek to be a good witness for Christ with them.

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