Two for One … Double-Blessed by His Gift Have you ever wondered about the old adage, It’s more blessed to give than to receive? Two years ago, a friend of MAF committed to buy a Kodiak for MAF if someone else would do the same. We caught up with him recently to find out what motivated his gift and what kind of impact it had on him.
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What motivated your Kodiak gift challenge? “MAF is an important ministry to the Kingdom and to me personally. Using the money that God gave me to expand His Kingdom is what gives me the most pleasure, and I wanted someone else who’s been blessed with significant resources to also experience that kind of joy.” What was the experience like for you, especially the dedication ceremony? “Seeing and touching the actual plane I had given in my brother’s memory brought up a whole bunch of emotions. There it was in the MAF hangar, standing next to its twin, and both would be serving God in the same country! I felt so grateful to God that He would allow me to be a part of something so significant. After the ceremony, I took a ride in “my” Kodiak and sat in the copilot’s seat. What a treat that was!” How have you been blessed as a result of your gift? “God blesses me every day, and in so many ways. One of His greatest blessings is for me to follow His leading and then to wait and see what He does afterwards. It’s always amazing, and His blessings to me are a hundred times greater than what I deserve.”
EVERY GIFT YOU SEND, every prayer you offer
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Ready to Move Mountains MAF to Purchase Two Kodiaks for Ministry Work in Indonesia Some four years after MAF’s first Kodiak airplane landed in Indonesia, the ministry is moving forward in faith to purchase two additional Kodiaks—one for service in Papua, Indonesia, and one, a floatplane, to be based at Palangkaraya, in Kalimantan. “The Lord has provided MAF with an exciting chance to purchase two Kodiaks at substantially less than the current market price,” said John Boyd, MAF president and CEO. “We had not budgeted for this expense in 2013, but when such a Godgiven opportunity presents itself, we have to say ‘YES’ and ‘Thank you, Lord!’” These two Kodiaks are part of a long-term strategic initiative to upgrade the aging MAF fleet. The two floatplanes currently serving in Palangkaraya, for example— small Cessna 185s—are 51 and 44 years old. Like many MAF airplanes, they burn aviation gasoline (avgas), which has become expensive and difficult to obtain. The ministry sometimes pays $15 per gallon or more for fuel. The Kodiak burns jet fuel, which is much less costly and more readily available than avgas. This remarkable aircraft was designed specifically to meet the challenges of missionary aviation. It can travel longer distances than a Cessna 185 or 206 and carry more cargo while using the same challenging landing sites. And these two Kodiaks are desperately needed in Indonesia. “Wednesday afternoon we got a call for a double medical evacuation flight from Long Nawang,” said MAF pilot Dave Forney. “A truck went over the edge of the mountain road and rolled about 75 feet to the bottom of the ravine. They were fortunate to be alive.” Two badly injured men and their family members boarded the Kalimantan program’s Kodiak—the patients on blankets, strapped to the floor. A little over an hour later they were receiving life-saving treatment in the city of Tarakan. “This would have been impossible with the Cessna 206,” said Forney, “because the 206 isn’t capable of carrying that much weight from Long Nawang, or that many people. But the Kodiak can handle it.” Airplanes are costly. MAF must now raise $3.5 million to pay for these two Kodiaks and their journeys to Indonesia. Is God speaking to you … calling you to change lives? Please be in prayer about how you might be part of this Kingdombuilding project. “Scripture says that with faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing is impossible— even mountains will move,” said Boyd. “We are relying on the Lord, working through His people, to move this mountain!” To learn how you can help send these two Kodiaks to Indonesia, visit www.maf.org/kodiaks.
Mission Aviation Fellowship • PO Box 47 • Nampa, ID 83653-0047 • 208-498-0800 • 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623) • www.maf.org
Cover photo by Dave Forney.
for MAF, helps change lives through aviation and technology.
Photo by Dave Forney.