Limpho (pronounced Dim po) is a baby girl who was born with a severe cleft lip. It was so extreme that it reached vertically up her right cheek, up to her eye. Her operation would not be a simple one—neither was getting the South African doctors to agree on where to start—Limpho’s lip or eye. Their indecision delayed the process and caused Hlalefang, the mother, to worry about her child even more. She wanted what was best for her daughter, so she could have a chance at a normal life.

The little Cessna 206 was glad she was able to help with some of those doctor visits, by taking Hlalefang and Limpho from their isolated mountain village of Bobete in the Thaba Tseka district of Lesotho to the capital of Maseru. And from there, the pair traveled the rest of the way by ambulance.

Finally, on April 8, 7P-CMH rejoiced to see mother and daughter approaching on the tarmac at Maseru. Ten months old now, Limpho’s face was bandaged and swollen, so CMH knew she had received the long-awaited life-changing surgery. The little airplane rejoiced that she was able to return mother and daughter home, where Limpho could continue to heal.

Every week, 7P-CMH travels into Lesotho’s mountains to retrieve patients and bring them to the capital city for further treatment, oftentimes saving a life—or in Limpho’s case, changing a life.

You can adopt this airplane through a one-time or monthly recurring gift. By partnering with MAF and 7P-CMH you will help change lives, like Limpho’s, and bring hope to Lesotho’s mountain communities.

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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.

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“We are trying to reach the Koti people, and it is in their own language that they respond to the Gospel,” said the local translator working in Angoche, Mozambique.

Recently John Iseminger, of The Seed Company, was on MAF’s C9-AAL, a Cessna 206. The Seed Company is funding and managing the Bible translation program and John was traveling to Angoche to encourage the team, check on their progress, and make plans for the year ahead.

John has been working in Mozambique, overseeing the Koti translation work, for the last 20 years. While he doesn’t always get to fly with MAF, he appreciates it when he does. “It’s the best way to get around,” he explained. “It’s time efficient. It’s cost efficient.”

There was an unexpected benefit of MAF starting-up in the country shortly after John arrived there. He says trying to do a language survey and mapping out the area was difficult. “One of the questions that the mappers would ask us was, ‘Where’s the border? Where does this language group end and where does the other one start?’

“Well, all we had to do was get up in the air!” said John. “Flying has really helped to get perspective and see what people are living with and dealing with. You can’t see that stuff on the ground.”

John went on to say that the group should be done with the Koti-language New Testament in about two years.

While Bible translation is a long process, C9-AAL is happy to speed things along whenever she has the opportunity. By adopting this airplane you, too, can play a supporting role in flights like this and many others that bring hope to the people of Mozambique. All it takes is a one-time or monthly recurring gift to make C9-AAL part of your family.

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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.

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If there is one thing that can be said about our life here in Nyankunde, it is that there is always something to be fixed. These past few months we have had to replace multiple parts of a turbine engine in a plane, split the tractor in half and replace the transmission case, rebuild two chain saws, put up more solar panels, swap two engines in our land cruisers, clean eight carburetors, rebuild a motorcycle engine, weld countless broken parts on everything that moves, and much more that I cannot remember.

If you are wondering at this point how I was trained for these things, the answer is that I wasn’t. Each day is a challenge and a new adventure. With a little bit of courage and a lot of tools, everything that breaks can eventually be fixed. Google and Youtube are your best friends when knowledge fails.

The truth is that every small thing that is fixed is another piece of the big story that God is weaving together here in Congo, for His glory. Even the chain saw will be used to process lumber from the forest in the village of Itendey to build new hospital wards bringing the blessing of healthcare.

Thank you to every one who gives and prays so that Dave and other pilot/mechanics and maintenance specialists can serve in this vital way. 

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MAF pilot Danny Hulls answered the emergency call from the remote village of Bobete, Lesotho, to transport a gunshot victim to the big hospital in Maseru. The flight manifest listed the man’s name as Tlohelang. But in fact, he gave one of five names depending on who was asking: one for his family, one for the hospital, one for the police, and so on. This man was no stranger to trouble.

His enemies had wanted revenge and fired at him as he tried to flee one of his many crimes, hitting him in the stomach and leaving him for dead … or so they thought. The man and his family, and many others in the mountains of Lesotho, appear to take this Old Testament law to heart:

…an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whatever anyone does to injure another person must be paid back in kind (Leviticus 24:20b, NLT).

While Tlohelang was being treated at the hospital, Sefiri, the MAF chaplain in Lesotho, visited him. A Basotho man himself who also grew up in the mountains, Sefiri understands the cycle of revenge that exists there.

Sefiri shared with the man about salvation and forgiveness and the idea of reconciliation. The man could not fathom forgiving those who had wronged him. It was a completely foreign concept to him, and many other Basotho people. He still wanted revenge. But Sefiri kept visiting and told him his own story of finding Christ and returning to his own mountain village to ask for forgiveness from his family.

Finally, a glimmer of light started to pierce the man’s heart.

“I want to build peace with everybody,” he told Sefiri, “but I don’t know how to start. I’m too far from that, and everybody is my enemy.”

“He thought he was too sinful, that nothing good could come of him,” explained Sefiri. “I told him, ‘As long as you’re still alive, it’s not too late!’ ”

Messengers of Peace

Tlohelang desires a different kind of life, one governed by peace. So he asked if Sefiri would come with him to his village to help him reconcile with the people he has wronged—as well as convince his family, who all want revenge, too!

Sefiri has a burden, an urgency even, to see this man’s life transformed by the power of Christ and to change the deadly pattern of revenge among the Basotho people. His heart aligns with the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians:

And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him (2 Cor. 5:18b, (TLB)

“People reject you, not knowing they need Christ. It’s something that we as Christians need to think about,” said Sefiri. “This man is willing to forgive. He’s willing to reconcile. He’s willing to take a step to make peace.”

At the time of this writing, it was still unknown whether this man was able to reconcile with his enemies. Because of you, MAF staff like Sefiri are able to introduce the radical concepts of Christ’s grace and forgiveness to the people of Lesotho.

Join us in praying for hearts mired in revenge to break free from the chains of darkness and find the light that leads to life (John 8:12, NLT).

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MAF pilot David Petersen had just landed in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with a wildlife conservation team. Shortly after his passengers had disembarked, David was approached by some gentlemen from Michigan who had been stranded. Their flight from Goma to Kisangani had been canceled, and there wouldn’t be another one for several days.

These men were with Genesis Waters, a ministry that provides clean water solutions and the living water of Jesus Christ for unreached people around the world.

“We were able to quickly charter our flights to Kisangani and back to Goma, and we worked with MAF’s US office to quickly and efficiently pay for the flights,” said Ken Watkins, president of Genesis Waters.

A long delay would have greatly limited the amount of work the team could accomplish given their short time in the country. But David was able to fly them 310 miles into the forest along with all their supplies. From Kisangani, they took canoes and went to villages up and down the river.

“We distributed 100 water filtration kits that can be mounted on buckets to provide a simple household filtration system. We also distributed 150 solar powered audio Bibles in both the French and Lingala languages,” said Ken. “This work would not have been possible without the assistance of MAF!”

EVACUATION

Another recent flight popped up suddenly due to the deteriorating security situation. David explained that there are more than seven active rebel/militia groups in their operational area, and it can be discouraging at times.

“On my journey into missions a wise person told me, ‘The easy places are taken.’ He meant that we as missionaries going purposefully to the more broken and remote areas were bound to face difficulty—and that difficulty is evident here every day,” said David.

Last April a rebel group crossed the river and attacked the village of Lolwa, which is home to a Christian mission station and hospital.

“I got the call and flew in the next morning to evacuate the medical missionary family and a few others,” said David. From his vantage point in the sky, David could see the roads for miles in either direction were lined with people fleeing into the forest. They were joining the other 5,000,000 displaced people in Congo.

MINISTRY CONTINUES

Along with the occasional unexpected or urgently needed flight, there are MAF EDRC’s regularly scheduled flights. MAF’s air-bridge shuttles take place three days a week, providing safe transport for around 1,000 people a month over dangerous areas.

David says these shuttles are “the only reliable form of safe transportation over the many armed groups that lurk in the forest and along the muddy, winding dirt roads.”

One day he was checking his manifest to see who would be on the shuttle. He smiled when saw that his passengers were made up of Bible translators, Samaritan’s Purse workers, national doctors, national pastors, war reconciliation ministry team members, various DRC government personnel, a Christian radio station operator, and more.

“In total 83 people were able to continue various ministries and tasks thanks to these small aircraft,” said David. “Despite the many schemes of the evil one to destabilize this region, the Lord is at work!”

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This story was first published for MAF’s Flight Crew members. To learn about this community of monthly givers and the impact they are having, go to maf.org/flightcrew.

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“All of my favorite instructors were from MAF,” said Luke Nelson, describing his flight training at Moody Aviation in Spokane, WA, and one of the reasons he chose to serve with Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Luke and his wife, Amy, had both wanted to be missionaries when they were kids, even though neither was sure what that would look like. But today they know. They’re preparing to serve as a pilot/mechanic family with MAF Lesotho.

Growing up, Luke’s idea of a missionary was someone who lived in a grass hut and ate bugs, or who stood on a street corner, shaking his Bible at people. He saw himself as more of a behind-the-scenes guy and was uncertain which path to take. Then one day, God pointed the way.

“Imagine my excitement when I was reminded that Nate Saint, the MAF pilot who flew Jim Elliot and was with him on that beach, was a missionary, too, and there was a school where you could learn to fly planes just like him,” Luke said.

As a shy, tender-hearted girl, Amy went from telling her friends about Jesus to teaching in her AWANA club as a teen and serving with AWANA Korea for two months after high school. God used these experiences to transform her into “a bold, outgoing kid” who could talk to large crowds about Jesus.

When she returned from Korea, she moved to Spokane, WA, to pursue a degree in Intercultural Studies at Moody Bible Institute.

This is where Luke and Amy’s lives intersected. After they were married and both had graduated, they continued taking steps toward MAF.

Currently they’re visiting with individuals and churches, searching for the people whom God has selected to join their team of financial and prayer supporters.

“It’s not a transactional thing,” Amy explains. “We want to be partners and share our lives with these folks.”

Luke and Amy are looking forward to getting established in Lesotho and “life finally starting” for which they’ve been preparing for years.

“We’re just excited about the ministry of the Lesotho team and how the church of God is being built,” said Luke, referring to the Lesotho Flying Pastors, whom MAF equips and sends to evangelize in the mountain villages.

With their move overseas delayed by six months, they say it’s forced them to live what they believe.

“We’re putting in effort, of course, but it’s not up to us how the provision will come in,” said Luke. “It’s a constant reminder that He is our provider.”

The Nelsons want to invite you to share in the work God is doing in Lesotho. To learn more and join their team, visit maf.org/lnelson.

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

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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:

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