FlightWatch - 2023, Volume 3

FLIGHTWATCH

None of the stories you are about to read would be possible without the support of people like you. It is our pleasure to show how you are making it possible for the gospel to transform the lives of isolated people around the world.

Your prayers, your gifts, and your time are key to MAF’s ministry. Thank you for sharing the love of Jesus at the ends of the earth!

Every gift you send, every prayer you offer for MAF, helps change lives through aviation. We enjoy hearing from you! Please send comments and questions to maf-us@maf.org.

Tracey Werre, Director of Marketing

Brad Hoaglun, Managing Editor

Micki Blair, Production Manager

Katie Moen, Production Assistant

Stephanie Greenlee, Designer

Natalie Holsten, Kim van Veen, and Jennifer Wolf, Writers/Resourcing

MAF maintains the highest standards of financial accountability and public disclosure to donors and the U.S. government. MAF is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) as well as other organizations. A list of all organizations can be found at maf.org/accountability

PO Box 47, Nampa, ID 83653-0047

1-208-498-0800

1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623)

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

As a pilot, I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of getting my passengers to their destination quickly and efficiently. While a flight provides an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation from a unique perspective, most passengers would probably say they choose to fly to save time. The benefits of flying—efficiency, safety, reliability—often legitimize the expense of aviation.

When a life is on the line, speed is a priceless commodity. When conflict is present and roads are impassable, safety is essential. When facing a tight schedule, or if groundbased options are questionable, reliability is paramount. All these benefits of aviation are important, and we celebrate the opportunity to serve the kingdom of God with MAF’s aircraft.

We also realize that the education of a child, the healing of a wound, a translation of the Bible, or the arrival of peace in a place of turmoil takes time, sometimes decades. Even though we often focus on the time-saving elements of aviation, we also celebrate that MAF’s ministry allows the vital work of transformation to take place at the measured pace it often requires.

This issue of FlightWatch features stories that capture MAF’s efficiency juxtaposed against the impact that is only possible through the passage of time. You’ll read of a Bible translation that is methodically coming to fruition in Mozambique assisted in part by the support MAF provides.

You’ll also read about a group of college students on an internship in Lesotho as they pursue a career in missions. Part of their internship involved physically experiencing MAF’s efficiency as they drove, went on horseback, and then hiked to a village, only to be flown out of the village in minutes by MAF.

Thank you for supporting and praying for the work of MAF. Your partnership is allowing us to make an impact that may span minutes … or decades.

Serving together,

David Holsten President and CEO

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

—Heb 12:1b (ESV)

Mission Aviation Fellowship

Front Cover: A Code 1 (medical emergency) flight for passengers in the mountains of Lesotho. Photo by Andrew Sink.

Amazing! You are

Thanks for your incredible generosity! You helped us meet and exceed our matching gift to raise over $2 million for airplane maintenance this year.

Here is an update on some of our maintenance projects.

• A hot-section inspection was completed on PK-MEF (Kalimantan, Indonesia).

• HH-FLY (Haiti) has had repairs for corrosion, a propeller overhaul, new side and rear windows, and a new engine installed.

• The work on Cessna Caravan N208AU, which will become a training aircraft at headquarters, is progressing well. Front structural repairs have been made and the flight deck floor is going back in. The engine mount and nose landing gear should be installed soon.

• Unexpected items have been covered too. When an airplane at a remote airstrip in Papua wouldn’t start and needed a new igniter box, mechanics were dispatched to the area. They installed a new one in 20 minutes!

These are just some of the things that you have made possible. Thank you!

Your partnership is keeping MAF airplanes in the air and flying safely to deliver the good news to isolated people. We appreciate you!

Photo by Jacob O’Brien.

A Real Taste of Missions

MAF internships—a new way to prepare young people for missions

By Jennifer Wolf

“Going to a village where I didn’t know anyone or the language and being left there sounded like a terrible plan to me,” said Rachel Amend, an aircraft mechanic, recalling a mountain excursion with her fellow Moody Aviation students.

They were on a one-month internship at the MAF Lesotho program back in January of this year.

The travel arrangements added to Rachel’s anxiety. She would have to control a horse, without someone leading it, for the first time in her life—descending 2,000 feet down a mountainside, crossing a river, and then riding back up 2,000 feet on the other side.

A New Model

This intern experience is a new initiative coming from the MAF Waypoints department. Waypoints staff partner with technical schools like Moody Aviation, LeTourneau University, and Liberty University to provide a discipleship/ mentoring process for young people who are preparing for missionary aviation careers. The Waypoints team holds workshops at the schools, and, starting with this Lesotho group, has revamped the MAF internship model to provide a more intentional experience that gives students a real taste of what it’s like to serve in missions.

Rachel Amend in Kuebunyane, Lesotho.

Photo by Maggie Sink.

“It [the Lesotho trip] was an opportunity to take the long-term transition to missions and shrink that down into a four-week experience,” said Aaron Kramer, MAF Waypoints department manager. Aaron, his wife, Sarah, and their two girls are based in Spokane, Washington, where they mentor Moody Aviation students. They went to Lesotho with the group to shepherd, care for them, and handle logistics.

A few months before the trip, ten Moody students started meeting together with Aaron and Sarah once a week for pretrip training. They worked through a book that covered things like delighting in differences, why missions exist, and staying spiritually fresh on the field, to name a few topics. They also took the StrengthsFinder assessment (now CliftonStrengths).

“It

with them,

the rest of our team and how people think and operate,” said Andrew Sink, a pilot/mechanic who is finishing his training at Moody this year. He and his wife, Maggie, both went on the trip.

“When we got there, we were able to care for each other a lot better. That helped a lot because during the first week, over half of the team was sick,” Andrew said.

The group of 10 interns, plus Aaron’s family, stayed at a children’s center for the first two weeks while they studied the Sesotho language and learned about the culture of the Basotho people. After that, eight members of the team (those who weren’t sick), accompanied by a few of the Lesotho Flying Pastors (LFP), journeyed by land to Kuebunyane, in the mountains. They spent two nights there before returning to the capital city of Maseru. The final part of the internship was spent interacting with the MAF families and national staff and helping with projects at the hangar or at the missionaries’ homes.

was really helpful to get to know Aaron and Sarah and build that trust

and get to know

Top: Aaron and Sarah Kramer with their girls. Photo by Maggie Sink. Middle: Andrew and Maggie Sink in Lesotho. Photo by David Vojacek. Bottom: The Moody interns treated the entire MAF team to a barbecue before they left. Photo by Maggie Sink.

“It was great having them around the hangar, sharing meals and discussions. They brought an energy and excitement about the work that we tend to forget, doing this day in and day out,” said pilot Jason Thiemann. “They also were a huge encouragement, taking on some tedious inventory projects that will save us days of work each year in the future, as well as improving security at our homes.”

Top: Medical evacuation in Lesotho. Photo by David Vojacek. Right top: Jason Thiemann doing preflight prep. Photo by Andrew Sink. Bottom Right: A few interns volunteered to sort all the parts from a Cessna 206 that had come from Indonesia.

Photo by Aaron Kramer.

Letting God Lead

All during the trip preparation period, Rachel worried about the arduous travel the mountain excursion would require. Yet when the time came, she made the decision to go.

Rachel and the seven other young adults from Moody departed from Maseru at dawn and spent seven hours traveling in a van, on a dirt road. Next they spent over an hour getting the horses ready, and then three and half hours traveling by horseback. They finally reached Kuebunyane as the sun was setting. The group would spend the following day and a half experiencing life in an isolated village.

The next morning, the interns led a devotional at the clinic and then hiked to two nearby villages with the LFP and the full-time pastoral couple in Kuebunyane, going door-to-door and visiting with the people while the pastors translated for them.

At one house, a woman shared how she would ask God for one thing or another, and if that didn’t work, she’d try something else.

Rachel, along with Alex, a pilot/mechanic intern who was in her group that day, were able to share their experiences with the woman.

“We both shared times where our prayers weren’t answered in the way we wanted them to be and acknowledged that there was pain there, but also how it turned out to be good and showed us God’s character in ways that we hadn’t understood before,” Rachel explained. “It seemed to make an impact.”

Main: The Moody interns ride horses to reach Kuebunyane. Photo by Ryan Vinall. Left: Rachel in Lesotho. Photo by Maggie Sink Middle: The team of Moody interns and Lesotho Flying Pastors Makopoi (far left) and Sefiri (left front) ready to start their journey to the mountains. Photo by Aaron Kramer. Right: The interns in Kuebunyane. Photo by Maggie Sink.

Surprising Outcomes

On their last morning in Kuebunyane, the interns packed their things and were ready to go when three MAF Cessna 206s landed at the airstrip to take them back to the capital city. As they made the trip to Maseru in a mere 35 minutes—versus the 13 hours it took to reach the village—the group clearly saw the value of using airplanes to minister in isolated areas.

Though she had feared going to Kuebunyane, it turned out to be the best part of the whole internship experience for Rachel. “What started as the most dreaded part of the trip had become the highlight for me,” she said.

Overall, the internship exceeded everyone’s expectations, even as it pushed some out of their comfort zones. While the interns got the chance to see what a life in missions could look like for them, they also learned a lot about themselves and about God.

“I think this is a new way that we as MAF can engage with young people,” said Matthew Monson, country director, MAF Lesotho. “And if it means that they’re inspired and they get a better, clearer picture of what it’s like to live and work overseas, then we’ve all just won together.”

Three MAF airplanes land at Kuebunyane to pick up the interns and Lesotho Flying Pastors. Photo by Grant Strugnell.

WAY OF TRUTH

How your partnership helps Bible translation in coastal Mozambique

By Natalie Holsten

Fifteen years ago, Pastor V in coastal Mozambique held up a freshly printed book. The slim volume contained Genesis, Jonah, Luke, and 1 Timothy, translated into the EKoti language.

“Our book has four books,” he exclaimed to a group of believers. “But the full Bible has 66 books. We want them all!”

The Koti believers are moving closer to their goal of having the full Bible in their language, EKoti. It’s a language spoken by 100,000 that borrows heavily from Swahili and Arabic.

“Through and through it’s an African language,” said translation consultant Sebastian Floor. “It’s very difficult to learn but sounds very beautiful. It has poetry.”

Sebastian recalled how a linguist couple began studying this poetic language in the mid-1990s and wrote a grammar to begin teaching literacy classes, which continue to this day.

“The language is very much alive. The children speak it, so it’s not a dying language,” Sebastian said.

While linguists labored to master the language and reduce it to written form, short-term evangelistic teams from Japan began visiting the Koti people, and a new group of believers was baptized in 2001.

What happened was nothing short of miraculous. Since that first group of believers, thousands more have put their faith in Jesus and been baptized. Believers, who called themselves “Tarikhi ya Haakhi” (Way of Truth), were transformed by the truth of the

Island worship. Photo by G.

gospel, with fewer marital problems and less violence.

“No one could ever imagine what God has done among our people,” one Koti believer said.

As the Koti church grew, the linguistic team translated some parables of Jesus from Luke, then focused on the book of Jonah, which seemed appropriate for a seafaring people like the Koti.

After that, portions of scripture were translated for specific needs of the growing church. To understand who Jesus is, the gospel of Luke was completed. Genesis was translated to help correct a faulty belief about separation from God. The book of 1 Timothy was translated when church leaders needed guidance. A selection of Psalms was translated to help give structure for worship.

Eventually, linguists—including many local

Koti translators—focused on the New Testament, which was completed and dedicated in 2021, a huge step towards Pastor V’s desire for the entire Bible.

In 2022, two translation coordinators flew into Koti Land on MAF (known in Mozambique as Ambassador Aviation) to kickstart the Old Testament translation project.

MAF pilot Ryan Koher described their arrival. “The coordinators were joyfully welcomed by members of the local church, which reflects their love for God’s Word and the eagerness and excitement for the Old Testament.”

Later in the fall, Ryan flew Sebastian in to help with the translation for Psalm 117, the shortest psalm.

Sebastian and other consultants make frequent

Left top: Translation consultant Sebastian Floor, left, with MAF pilot Ryan Koher after a flight to Koti Land. Photo by Ryan Koher. Bottom left: A Koti discipleship group. Photo by G. Right: Koti kids explore an MAF plane. Photo by Dave LePoidevin.

trips into Koti Land, where they are currently working on Psalms in a workshop setting. The consultants help the local translators fully understand and internalize a psalm through oral translation and creative songs, with the work concluding in a written transcription before moving on to the next psalm.

The consultant teams prefer to use MAF to travel into the area. It’s a 45-minute flight to reach the Koti from Nampula, where MAF’s base of operations is located. Last September, a cyclone washed out a major bridge on the one road from Nampula to Koti Land, and torrential rains continue to wreak havoc on road conditions.

“Doing a trip on MAF saves days. It’s an efficient way to travel. When I was in regional administration, I didn’t have time to spend weeks in one country. I have a trip of four or five days to visit three to four projects,”

Sebastian said. “So MAF took me from one project to another. It saved me a lot of travel headache.”

Today there are 20,000 believers in the Koti church. “The New Testament is used passionately,” said church planter Graeme, “and they have sent church planting teams to take the gospel to an unreached people group further to the north.”

Safely transporting Bible translators is just one of the ways MAF is helping isolated people in Mozambique be changed by the love of Christ.

“It is a privilege for me to play a small role in making the Word of God accessible to thousands of people,” Ryan said. “I see partnering with translators as one of the most important ways we can minister to the people of Mozambique.”

Left: The Koti are a seafaring people. Top right: A Koti pastor reads from a portion of scripture. Bottom right: A Koti believer holds a freshly printed copy of the EKoti New Testament. Photos submitted by O.P.

Psalm 117 in EKoti:

Zaaphura 117

Khapila zooshi, zinsifu Mbwana!

Naswaba zooshi, aaputiwe Mbwana!

Mwaasa, pheta yawe ti yo khomala kwa fweeyo, na waamineya wawe pu wa mileele.

Zinsifu Mbwana!

WILLIAM AND JENELLE WOLF MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT

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

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

Jenelle heard a missionary to Africa speak at a summer camp and determined God was calling her to serve in Africa.

After William and Jenelle met, they realized they could serve together through missionary aviation. After they married, the couple spent several years in Alaska, where William worked as a mechanic, servicing planes that flew into the Alaskan wilderness.

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

Though he started his missionary journey with the goal of becoming a pilot, William learned he is well-suited to be a mechanic. His MAF role will be caring for the mission aircraft in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “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.”

William and Jenelle are currently 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 finances,” Jenelle said.

It’s a process that requires 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.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Pray for several of MAF’s Haitian staff members who were forced to abandon their homes after gangs took over their neighborhoods and looted or moved into their homes. Pray for the staff who have been uprooted and for peace and stability in the country.

• Lift up the four New Testament translations that were recently completed in the DRC and for the start of the Old Testament projects in each language.

• Pray for the ongoing translation of the Old Testament for the Koti people in Mozambique.

• Continue to pray for the full release and no charges for MAF pilot Ryan Koher and the two South African men who had been wrongfully imprisoned in Mozambique. They have been provisionally released pending resolution of the case. Visit maf.org/press for updates.

JOYFUL PRAISE FOR NEW TESTAMENTS

Earlier this year, MAF missionary Donna Jacobsson joined her husband on a flight carrying MAF staff and SIL missionaries to the dedication of the Budu-Nita language New Testament in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “We flew 175 miles over the rainforest to the Nebobongo airstrip and then went by road 12 kilometers [over 7 miles] to Ibambi—where the translation project [begun by a German SIL missionary] has been based for close to 30 years,”

Donna said. Between 3,000 and 4,000 had gathered. “When the box was opened and the precious Bibles lifted out, joy and singing broke out through the whole crowd!” Donna said. Praise God, three other translations of the New Testament in northeastern DRC languages were also completed recently, all supported by MAF flights. The Komo, Omiti, Budu-Koya, and Budu-Nita people now have God’s Word in their heart languages.

Photos courtesy of Maryanne Augustin, SIL-US.

50 YEARS OF SERVICE

A faithful servant with MAF for 50 years, Karlene Stehling was recently honored in chapel and recognized for being the longest serving MAF staff member in the history of MAF! After many different roles within the ministry, this devoted staff member will officially retire on August 31.

Karlene and her husband, Joe, joined MAF in 1973. They served in Ecuador for 11 years in multiple roles, leading the Ecuador program and then the South America region, before transitioning to HQ. Sadly, Joe passed away in 1991. Karlene continued serving in various positions in Human Resources during her time with MAF.

SMILES ABOUND

In Papua, Indonesia, recently, MAF flew a dental team to Daboto for a day to help with dental care needs. The kids were all smiles as Dr. Miguel and his team taught the Moi people about the importance of brushing and passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste. Less smile-inducing but much needed, the team then started pulling rotten teeth. Photo by Alex Ludvicek.

Thinking about joining MAF’s Flight Crew community? Here’s what some of our members are saying about their experience.

As a partner with Flight Crew , I am emotionally and mentally invested in the critical behind-the-scenes work of MAF. –Jay

It [ Flight Crew ] gives me information so I can pray more intelligently about the ministry and missions in general. –Christina

I feel absolutely connected to reaching the lost with the gospel and also supplying their physical needs through the Flight Crew of Mission Aviation Fellowship! –Jerry

Flight Crew members enjoy the view from the cockpit—through specially created content, like videos and impact stories—that bring you closer to the people and places we serve.

When you join Flight Crew , your automatic monthly gift supports the ministry of MAF. It’s a convenient way to ensure that you’re making a lasting impact through MAF—all year long! To learn more, visit maf.org/joinflightcrew.