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By Jennifer Wolf

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

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

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

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

Collaboration is key

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One pilot’s adventure

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

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

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

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

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

Coming closer

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

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

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

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

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

A big vision

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

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

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

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

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

From a deputation stop in Colorado, Alfred Ottosson described his journey to missions. “The goal was always MAF,” he said.

The son of medical missionaries to Nepal, Alfred was certain he would not be a missionary. But a high school research project on child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) piqued his interest in the “dark continent.” Then, a Bible school professor in his native Sweden directed him toward a career in mission aviation, beginning with Moody Aviation in Spokane, where he trained to be a pilot/mechanic.

There, Alfred met Jewel, who had a degree in English as a second language (ESL) education and had spent two years teaching English in Japan. Jewel’s motivation to pursue missions came after she heard a former missionary to the DRC speak during college.

Alfred and Jewel bonded over similar experiences in Asia and wondered if God was calling them to work in mission aviation in Asia.

During candidacy at MAF headquarters, Alfred and Jewel heard MAF’s Africa regional director talk about the DRC. “We both looked at each other and said, ‘Yes!’” Jewel said.

Today, Alfred and Jewel have two sons, ages three and two, and a new baby daughter born in May. They plan to travel to France in January for a year of language study before moving to Bunia, DRC.

The process of fundraising is humbling. “Often it seems that we put all our work efforts in one direction and then support comes from somewhere else,” Jewel said. “It feels like a small miracle.”

“Sometimes you can struggle with a lot of self-doubt,” Alfred said. “But then people come alongside and invest and stay involved and that’s incredibly encouraging. The whole partnership thing is so important in letting us know that other people are on board with our calling.”

The Ottossons are looking for more partners to join their support team. To partner with them, visit www.maf.org/ottosson.

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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. 

The post Missionary Mechanic: More than just planes appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

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.

The post <strong>Ups and Downs and Praises in Between</strong> appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Jeanelle Reider

You wouldn’t know it by Mama Celestine’s face.

As she enters her immaculate 7×10 foot mud hut, an infant strapped to her back, her serene smile warms up the room.

You wouldn’t know it from Papa Mambo either. He follows his wife into their home, ducking under the low tarp roof. His gentle voice fills the space with peace.

Their visitor glances at the bright-colored clothes strung along the wall and thinks, “There’s beauty here.”

You would never guess the ashes from which it rose. 

Violence comes near

In February of 2018, ash filled the skies near the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Violence—fueled by a tangled mix of motivations—had once again visited the people. Scores were driven into the bush as their villages burned.

In the weeks that followed, thousands of people made their way to the city of Bunia, where makeshift camps sprang up overnight.

They arrived heartbroken, destitute, maimed.

As torrential downpours drenched the survivors, they stretched tarps over sticks anchored in oozing mud and wondered where their next bite of food would come from.

In the village of Nyankunde—an eight-minute MAF airplane flight away—staff serving in MAF’s East DRC program began raising funds to purchase and deliver food, firewood, and other essentials for the internally displaced people (IDPs). MAF chaplain Pastor Bisoke oversaw the buying of food and organized local church members to cook meals, while the team visited and brought encouragement.

Much of this was out of their comfort zone. And they questioned how effective MAF’s small efforts could be in the face of such overwhelming need.

But Pastor Bisoke distilled it down to this: “My heart is here with these vulnerable people. I want to suffer with them. I want to cry with them. This is the work God is sending me to do.”

God had brought the need into MAF’s “back yard.” What else could they do?

Still breathing

In the months that followed, town after town in the northeastern regions of Ituri and North Kivu succumbed to the onslaught of brutality.

Tché was one of those towns. Caught up in a wave of local massacres that began in June 2019, its houses were burned. Its health clinic was destroyed. Its people were mercilessly killed in a frenzied torrent of guns, knives, and machetes.

One day, Mama Celestine found herself lying among the dead.

Through a translator, she told her story. “They cut my arm. I collapsed among the dead people. Then when people came to bury the dead bodies, they found out that I was really not dead. They took me to the hospital, and they removed the arm that had been cut.”

Mama Celestine, Papa Mambo, and their five children eventually made it to one of the IDP camps in Bunia.

More than a stopgap

By the time Mama Celestine and her family arrived, a lot had changed in MAF’s ministry to the IDPs.

Pastor Bisoke and his MAF co-workers had hired sewing teachers and started a sewing class for women desperate for hope and a means to support their families. Through the generosity of U.S. churches and compassionate donors, MAF had purchased fabric, supplies, and sewing machines.

Seeing that no one else was addressing the trauma of the IDPs, they had also hired counselors to help minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of those traumatized by unimaginable atrocities. And they had built a wood-and-tin-roof building for the sewing and counseling activities.

Though humanitarian organizations had eventually stepped in to meet basic needs, MAF continued to provide supplemental food for malnourished children and pregnant women as well as simple medications to dispense through some of the counselors.

What had begun as a stopgap measure was starting to grow into a robust ministry in three separate camps in Bunia.

Forcing its way in

In the spring of 2021, the violence that had stormed into MAF’s “back yard” three years earlier now forced its way into the “house.”

On April 16, fighting broke out between the DRC military and local militia near the MAF base in Nyankunde. MAF pilots spent the next three days flying planeloads of expat missionary families and others to safety in Bunia. Then, MAF evacuated its own team as well.

Some of MAF’s Congolese staff—along with most of the 25,000 residents of Nyankunde—had already fled into the bush or to nearby villages.  A few of the men courageously elected to stay in Nyankunde after the evacuation to help protect MAF property and be a presence of hope for the few villagers who remained.

Over the next few weeks, MAF made the difficult decision to relocate indefinitely to Bunia.

The Lord had kept all of our Congolese co-workers safe from physical harm, but many of them grieved the loss of crops and household belongings—besides the emotional trauma of having to process yet another occasion of violence, threats, and uncertainties that had continued since a horrific attack on Nyankunde in 2002.

The stories they could tell

Each displaced person who enters the camps in Bunia brings a story with them.

Some stories whisper God’s power and grace strong and clear above the mayhem of violence from which they’ve emerged:

• Murefu, whose 13-year-old son was shot and killed after an attack on his village, is now a respected leader of one of the smaller communities into which his camp is divided.
• Mama Vive steadfastly continues with the Lord after losing her husband, mother, and children in an attack on her home town. She credits her mental and emotional healing to the ministry of the MAF sewing class.
• Then there’s the ex-militia camp liaison who had a radical conversion to Christ and now, through the mentorship of Pastor Bisoke, is training to become a pastor.

Other stories still await God’s intervention. Desperate women who have turned to prostitution, stuck in a Catch-22 between self-preservation and self-respect. The vengeful who have stopped believing in a just God. The raped and abused cowering in fear.

The power of lament

With little formal education and an abundance of faith, the counselors—many of whom process tragedies of their own—willingly minister to each person God puts before them.

The trauma they seek to address is multilayered and complicated.

Annaliese Jacobsson, daughter-in-law of MAF’s East DRC program director Dave Jacobsson and his wife, Donna, traveled to the DRC in February. While there, she visited all three IDP camps where MAF is serving.

Annaliese has a master’s degree in social work, with a minor in refugee studies. Most of her clients in the U.S. are experiencing either complex trauma or short-term trauma.

She cites research that shows that trauma in IDP and refugee camps is not only past, it’s also current. People are not always welcome in their new community. Ethnic conflicts are still alive and well, even inside the camps. Women and girls who must venture far from their homes to find a bathroom and privacy are at risk for sexual violence.

Then there’s the social reality of family breakdown and domestic violence as people expend monumental effort simply staying alive.

During her visit, Annaliese presented a two-day trauma-focused training for the MAF counselors, sewing teachers, camp liaisons, and others. Her goal was to give them tools both for their work with the IDPs and for their own healing.

Part of the training focused on how to allow oneself to feel the pain while also being anchored in the love of God and in community.

Annaliese explained, “As Christians we have the practice of lament for a reason. The Psalms and Job and Jesus’ story give us really beautiful roadmaps on how to feel these things well, without being consumed by them to the point of despair.”

When asked what she would like readers of FlightWatch to understand, she answered that it can be very difficult for the western culture to sit in pain—it makes us uncomfortable. She hopes that people will “just remember. Remember that the conflict in Congo is not over.”

God of justice

Throughout the crisis, MAF staff have sought ways to creatively and compassionately demonstrate to those in distress, “We see you. We grieve with you. We look to Jesus with you.”

In December, MAF staff member Sheryl Strietzel shared information from Christian psychologist David Riddell’s “Living Wisdom” course during the IDP workers’ monthly retreat.

The group was reminded that, though life may not be fair and just, God is just. He sees, and He will vindicate. They absorbed the truth that cycles of retaliation can only be stopped when we see perpetrators of evil as victims held captive by Satan’s lies, and that only knowing the Truth (Jesus) can set them free.

These are difficult concepts for any wronged person to assimilate. How much more so for those who have experienced violence beyond what most of us can fathom?

Yet those who attended received the teaching with tender hearts. They left deeply encouraged and invited Sheryl to return for future presentations.

Can you see it?

Mama Celestine thanks her visitor, Sheryl, for coming to her home.

She stands up from the bench and, with her good arm, deftly tightens the ties around her baby. With the other, she props him in place.

She walks through the door and out into the sunlight, down the dirt road, past a circle of boys juggling a ball on the backs of their hands. She greets a young woman washing a garment in a metal bucket.

At a building marked “MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP,” she stops. Even before she enters, she hears the happy banter.

Inside, women sit on wooden benches crocheting hunter green trim on white cloth swatches. Others pull bright-colored fabric through hand-cranked sewing machines.

The women make room for her, and Mama Celestine sees it on every face: Beauty, rising from ashes.

#

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

The post Out of the Ashes appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Hundreds of people welcomed us as they jumped, shouted, and waved banana and palm leaves. The atmosphere was electric, energized by the crowd’s smiling exuberance. They formed two columns, allowing me and the team of national church pastors and Samaritan’s Purse leadership to walk between them as we approached the new health center for its dedication. I’d never experienced anything like it. It felt like I was time warped back to Bible times.

Here’s the end of a long line of community members celebrating as Chad and the pastors/SP leaders approached the health center.

The occasion was the dedication of a new health center in a lush jungle village called Bakundangba, which is 30 minutes outside of Doruma by motorcycle. Doruma is a roughly hour and a half flight from Bunia and is close to the border of South Sudan. The previous health center was destroyed by a rebel militia group. This new health center represents hope for many isolated people. How many generations will now receive basic health and hygiene care? Babies will be born with more safety margin. People will receive care for malaria. Lives will be saved and quality of life will be improved for so many people living in deep poverty!

After the dedication we rode motorcycles back to the airstrip and departed for Dungu, a 45 minute flight. After a quick supper, I helped present the “JESUS” film at which over 200 were in attendance and roughly 40 came forward to accept Jesus or re-dedicate their lives to Him. The following morning, I joined the team, traveling by two Land Cruisers 28 miles to a village called Ngilima. This ride was on a rough, muddy road and gave me fresh appreciation for our aviation ministry. Our reception was similar to the previous day’s, just on a larger scale. On our arrival hundreds or even thousands of excited people waved, sang, and danced as they led us to the area where the dedication would take place.

It was estimated that 1,800 were in attendance for the Bible school’s dedication and graduation ceremony. Local church and community leadership were in attendance. I was asked to preach and was humbled and honored to do so. The message was about unity, encouraging others, and being quick to forgive offenses. Afterwards, the 31 new graduates came forward to receive their diplomas and thus commence their new ministries to evangelize, plant churches, and disciple people in their region.

When asked how MAF has supported the school’s efforts, Pastor Mukanirwa, ministry advisor for the school, said, “Without MAF there would be no way to send Bible teachers, Bibles, and other necessary supplies.”

This day was seven years in the making! MAF began flights to this area in 2013, transporting Congolese pastors who did training and seminars for the pastors who would be teaching classes, which include New Testament study, church history, fundamental doctrines, and discipleship. The goal is to have 30 or more students per three-month session—around 100 graduates per year. To date 379 evangelists have received their certificates—and strong doctrine—and returned to their communities to help strengthen their “home” churches.

It’s not every day that I get to see the fruit of our work, but this was one of those days. God is doing some very special things in this part of Congo and your prayers are needed to protect these graduates from the evil one and help them continue to thrive as they serve.

The post Hope through Health Care and Evangelism appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

By Jeanelle Reider

Jamie Dimon often wonders what Baby Grace’s life is like now.

As is true of many children born in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Baby Grace was thrust into tragic circumstances at birth. Her mother, faced with the prospect of raising a child whose father was not her husband, abandoned Baby Grace the moment she was born.

By God’s mercy, MAF staff found the tiny infant—placenta still attached—lying helpless in a field near their airstrip.

And this is where Baby Grace’s story first intersected with Jamie’s.

Collaborative compassion

Jamie and her pilot husband, Chad, headed to the DRC over five years ago to serve with MAF. They knew it wouldn’t be easy. As Jamie said, “Suffering is common, expected, in Congo.”

There is a mission hospital in Nyankunde, the village where the Dimons were assigned. Many of the patients are newborns whose mothers have died during childbirth. A few infants have been abandoned because of their HIV/AIDS status. More recently, escalating conflicts in the region have caused an influx of newborns whose mothers have been killed in the violence.

Jamie is a registered nurse with a background in pediatric intensive care. She wondered: was God forging a way for her to bring healing and hope into the suffering?

These precious babies have one thing in common: malnutrition. Even if a friend or family member can be found to care for them, infant formula is beyond the means of most Congolese families.

A few months before the Dimons moved to Nyankunde, Anna La Rochelle, a nurse practitioner from another missions group who had started an orphan formula program at the hospital, invited Jamie to assume leadership of the program. Seeing this as a God-given opportunity, Jamie agreed.

With the help of Mama Sunday, a Ugandan nurse who worked in the Nyankunde hospital’s ICU and maternity ward, and Dr. Lindsey Cooper, a pediatrician who ran the malnutrition center at the hospital, the program thrived. Babies were placed with caregivers, and for the first year of their lives, infant formula was purchased and delivered regularly. Homes were visited to ensure the infants were growing and well cared for. Over the years, some 100 babies were given a chance at life.

And, one day, a baby girl was found abandoned near the MAF airstrip.

For the first few weeks, nurses cared for the little girl in the maternity ward. They gave her the name “Grace.” Jamie and fellow MAF missionary Sheryl Strietzel often visited the baby and at times brought her into their homes. Eventually, Baby Grace was placed with her maternal grandmother and sustained through the orphan formula program.

A distressing disruption

In April 2021, the rat-a-tat of guns and the angry shouts of military and militia filled the air. Over 35,000 people in Nyankunde and nearby villages fled into the forest. Mama Sunday, Anna La Rochelle, and Lindsey Cooper also were forced to evacuate. MAF staff—including Chad, Jamie, and their four young children—relocated to nearby towns.

At the time of this writing, no one had been able to return.

Nor did anyone know what had happened to Baby Grace and many of the other infants. Jamie and the others trust that they are still in the care of families who love them, safe from harm. They hold onto hope that one day they may see them again.

In the meantime, MAF continues ministry flights from the town of Bunia. And Mama Sunday and MAF missionary Donna Jacobsson make sure that formula is delivered to the seven babies whose whereabouts are known.

Just being faithful                                                             

Life stories are rarely tied up in neat little bows. The Congolese people know it, MAF staff know it, and chances are you know it too.

Still, the loose ends can be excruciating.

When Jamie tried to describe the suffering, she faltered. “There are just no words … the fact that we’ve been able to make a little bit of a difference—I mean, it’s just a drop in the bucket, but it’s something.”

For such a time as this, Jamie and her co-laborers stepped into their broken world and loved as Jesus would. When you support MAF, you, too, are reaching into the lives of hurting men, women, and children and showing them there is a Father who cares for them.

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

The post STEPPING INTO BROKENNESS 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.

Story by Natalie Holsten

What do a truck of bananas, a dugout canoe, a river crossing, and a local chief have to do with airplane maintenance?

In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (EDRC), these were the links in the chain that enabled engine maintenance to take place when the COVID-19 shutdown complicated how things are usually done.

In a normal year, under normal circumstances, the routine maintenance of MAF airplanes in EDRC requires a relatively quick flight over the border into neighboring Uganda, where aircraft parts are easier to obtain, and MAF staff and a fully equipped hanger stand at the ready.

But when the world shut down in March of 2020, so did the border between the two countries, forcing MAF pilots and mechanics to think creatively about how to continue to carry out critical maintenance.

“Normally we just say, ‘tomorrow’s a shuttle, we need parts,’ and it’s not a big deal,” said Ron Wismer, country director for the MAF EDRC program at the time. “But with COVID, it was getting to be weeks, months before we could get to Kampala (Uganda) and back.”

Unlike many areas where MAF operates, the flying in EDRC actually increased during the pandemic. Insecurities because of tribal infighting led to many locations being cut off from overland routes, with many Internally Displaced People groups, and the workers assisting them, relying heavily on MAF.

“We weren’t slowing down on the flying,” Ron said. “Maintenance was still needed. It was very stressful for us.”

Early in the lockdown an issue arose with one of the Cessna Caravans. Oil samples revealed the presence of metal particles, which could mean the failure of an oil seal or the failure of a bearing. “They (MAF maintenance team members) were quite concerned,” said Lary Strietzel, EDRC assistant chief pilot. “This could be critical.”

Because of the particles, the engine oil needed to be tested frequently and the sample analyzed by an aviation laboratory in Louisiana. But first, the staff in Uganda had to find a way to get the testing equipment and other supplies across the border to where the plane was. On both sides of the border, various types of transportation had to be arranged, a licensed courier located, and government restrictions and curfews navigated.

On the EDRC side, MAF staff flew to an airstrip near the Semliki River, a serpentine waterway separating the two countries at the south end of Lake Albert. They also had parts – including a tire from the Caravan – that needed to get to Uganda for repairs. Enter King Albert Retahaba Ibanda Kitiku, the local chieftain and a longtime friend to MAF, who served as the go-between.  King Albert sent the parts across the river, and he, together with the EDRC team, arranged for a truck to bring the parts to Kampala.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the chief’s help,” Lary said.

Once in Kampala, the truck was met by Mike Shutts, director of maintenance for the DRC. He took the tire, then passed on the testing equipment. The driver “moved his bananas and stuff that he was buying while he was here, and we loaded in my stuff and off he went,” Mike said.

The courier drove to the border, then the parts were shifted to a dugout canoe that crossed the river, where the EDRC staff received them.

“I must admit I was a bit worried that the parts would not make it, that they might get confiscated by the police or customs or just fall overboard from the canoe,” Mike commented. “But the Lord worked it all out and there were no problems.”

Once the EDRC team had the testing equipment, Mike was able to explain to them over the phone the process of how to collect and prepare the samples for shipment. Eventually, the testing paper made it to Louisiana. The plane was able to keep flying as the EDRC staff continued to test the oil.

Several months later, when restrictions loosened and the EDRC planes could fly to Uganda again, the mechanics were able to do a full oil system flush. Afterwards, all samples were clear.

This incident is just one illustration of the ingenuity, flexibility, and commitment to excellence our pilots and mechanics demonstrate daily, even during a global pandemic. Their commitment to safety ensured that MAF could continue to serve as an “air bridge” for hundreds of passengers over dangerous territory during unsettling times.

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