2014 FlightWatch volume 4

A Publication of Mission Aviation Fellowship 2014 Vol 4

A Community Cried Out for Help The power of community prayer in Mozambique

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from the

PRESIDENT’S DESK

a publication of

Mission Aviation Fellowship

Our Mission

Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

—2 Peter 3:9

Managing Editor: Tracey Werre Production Manager: Jacqueline Heilman Art Director: Colby Dees Design: Clayton Borah Writers/Resourcing: Chris Burgess Jennifer Wolf

New beginnings Dear Friends, God promised that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation would one day worship Him. John first painted this picture for us in Revelation 7:9-10 nearly two millennia ago; how wonderful it is to see parts of this being fulfilled! It is exciting to know that, together, we are getting to participate in God’s grand mission of making His name known throughout the world.

You may recall that we told you about missionaries who were translating God’s Word for a people group in Mozambique who had yet to hear the Gospel message. When MAF planes first flew these servants in to work with the Mwinika people in 2004, it would have been hard to imagine the amazing things God would do in the short years that followed. This edition of FlightWatch highlights this incredible story.

There are so many things that go into sharing Christ’s love with tribes like the Mwinika—those who are on the front lines learning the tribe’s language and sharing the Gospel, MAF missionaries opening the way for access to remote villages, and churches and people like you who faithfully pray and support the work that is happening in places like these.

As you read the stories in this issue, I hope you’ll be encouraged to know that your partnership is making stories like these possible. May it also remind you to pray for isolated people who still have not heard the name of Jesus Christ.

Together for His Glory,

John C. Boyd President and CEO

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EVERY GIFT YOU SEND, every prayer you offer for MAF, helps change lives through aviation and technology.

We enjoy hearing from you!

Please send comments and questions to MAF-US@maf.org.

MAF PO Box 47 Nampa, ID 83653-0047 208-498-0800 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623) maf.org

MAF maintains the highest standards of financial accountability and public disclosure to donors, the government, and the world at large. MAF is a member of ... Accord™ (formerly AERDO) • CSC Christian Service Charities • ECFA Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability • IAMA International Association of Missionary Aviation • Missio Nexus.

All Scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

On the Cover: An MAF airplane lands near a small Mozambique village. Photo by David LePoidevin.

Get Connected

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Photo by Glen Chapman.

Diffusing Tension A medevac flight benefits a Congolese village in more ways than one

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ension was mounting in the Congolese village of Kikongo. A beloved pastor had been suffering from debilitating headaches for more than a week, and people were afraid. Not knowing the cause of his illness, they began to point fingers at their neighbors, wondering if some kind of curse or sin was to blame.

At the same time, a man from a neighboring village was at the Kikongo hospital after he was accidentally shot in the knee. Police were trying to blame people and fine them for his accident. The village was on the brink of a violent outbreak if a solution wasn’t found.

That’s when missionary Glen Chapman, with American Baptist International Ministries, called on MAF to see if there was any way to do an emergency medical evacuation.

MAF altered its flight schedule and flew a Cessna 206 into Kikongo, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and evacuated both patients.

Later that day, Glen emailed a note to Garth Pederson, the MAF pilot who did the flight: “Thanks for taking our two malades (patients) today. Thanks for your flexibility … Just getting the patients out really diffused the tension …

There is a tremendous sense of relief here at Kikongo that both of these patients can be moved to get better treatment.”

He had no idea just how special this man was to the people of Kikongo, but he was about to find out.

Kevin taxied up to the parking area, and as he did, he heard something amazing. Even with the engine running (an unmuffled turbodiesel engine) and noise-canceling headphones, he could hear it: joyful voices rising in song, the beating of drums, and chanting.

“There is a very eerie death wail that people do here when they mourn the loss of a family member or friend,” said Kevin. “I have heard that quite a lot with the flights we do, taking the deceased and their family members to the interior. But this was the first time I had heard the rejoicing wail. It was beautiful!”

Once the engine shut down, the crowd swarmed the plane and practically engulfed the pastor. They whisked him away—still singing and chanting—to the school where pastors-to-be were taking their finals.

MAF serves the people of Kikongo in a way that exemplifies the multifaceted impact of MAF’s ministry—a medical evacuation brings healing, keeps the peace, and encourages pastors in training.

“The ministry of MAF is far more than transportation,” added Glen, “but the transportation in our case affects the pastoral school, the mission station, and the neighboring village.”

Five months later, the pastor was ready to return to the village after receiving treatment in the capital city of Kinshasa. This time pilot Kevin Spann made the flight.

END

1-800-FLYS-MAF

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A VOICE IN THE DARKNESS God answers a tribe’s prayer

“I heard a voice—our neighbor’s voice—reading to his family from God’s Word in the Mwinika language.”

Photo by David LePoidevin.

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violent civil war swept across Mozambique in the 1980s, with fighting spreading to even the most remote corners of this vast country. The Mwinika tribe was forced to relocate to another village. One night, this group—who adhered to a mixture of Islam and animism—cried out to God for help.

“In 1989, during the civil war, when all was dark and difficult for us, and we were displaced in another village, we got together as a group and prayed,” said a Mwinika tribal leader. “We did not know who to pray to but we asked God to help us to know Him better.

We knew that we needed Him, but we had no way to hear or understand His words.”

Over a decade later, an MAF plane soared over northern Mozambique carrying New Tribes Mission (NTM) missionaries Phil and Elin Henderson to begin their ministry with the Mwinika people.

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“From day one, MAF has been a support to us. Dave LePoidevin flew us into Mozambique for the first time in January of 2004,” said Phil. “I remember flying in, and Dave dipping down low over the area where we work now and saying, “You know, there is a people group down there that needs to be reached.” Little did we know that the Lord would send us just there!”

MAF has served organizations, like NTM in Mozambique since 1999.

Mozambique is not only one of the poorest nations on earth, it is also home to several groups like the Mwinika who had not been previously reached. MAF works to reach the people of this country with Christ’s love.

The Mwinika are a very closed community—until NTM missionaries, the Hendersons and Hattinghs, arrived, the Mwinika had largely resisted efforts by the outside world to enter into their midst.

Photo by Nadia Hahhingh

The Hendersons and Hattinghs began their work on translating the Bible into the Mwinika language by getting to know the people and their customs.

Over time they started to see positive results. A particular incident stands out to Nadia Hattingh: “I heard a voice—it was our neighbor’s voice—reading to his family from God’s Word in the Mwinika language,” said Nadia. “What a miracle to hear that one voice in the total darkness of night!

How amazing to hear, to experience how far God has brought this people.”

“MAF has been a big help in bringing in translation consultants and teams of different sorts. It is much easier to throw people on a 50-minute flight versus an eight-hour car trip to come down here. This allows us to accomplish in a weekend what would otherwise require almost a week of travel time,” said Elin Henderson.

The Mwinika people have come a long way. Their initial prayer in 1989 led to a movement that has the potential to sweep through many other tribes in the northern part of Mozambique.

“After struggling with the questions of being spiritually deceived for generations, another Mwinika leader finally concluded: ‘We have to go out and tell everyone about Jesus! We should tell everyone, and if they accept it, they accept it. If they don’t, they don’t. But we must tell them,’ ” said Nadia Hattingh.

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People groups like the Mwinika are the reason MAF works to overcome isolation—so that God’s Word can be brought into remote areas where lives and communities can be transformed.

“What we didn’t know was that the Mwinika prayed together as a community years before we set foot in their area,” said Nadia. “We never knew that they saw us as a clear answer to prayer. But God knew! He heard their prayers and answered them!”

END

MAF pilot Dave Holmes and Phil Henderson unload supplies from the plane. Photo by Jill Holmes.

[An Answered Prayer] 1989 Mwinika people pray that God would reveal himself to them

1992 Mozambique opens its doors to the West

1999 MAF begins operations in Mozambique

2004 MAF flies NTM missionaries to the Mwinika people

2014 Mwinika begin sending out missionaries to other tribes

1-800-FLYS-MAF

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MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT: The Spanns

Big Picture Impact

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hen Kevin and Tasha Spann first arrived in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last fall, they were awestruck. After all the years of preparation, they were finally going to carry out God’s call to serve with MAF, in the big city of Kinshasa—light years away from the small towns of Tennessee where they grew up.

The reality of it is still sinking in.

As a pilot-mechanic, Kevin supports the Congolese church, medical teams, and Christian and humanitarian organizations working in western DRC. One day he transports a group working to provide sustainable jobs, boost the economy, and help the environment. Another day, he flies in medicine and doctors, or flies out patients.

“I’m thrilled to do it,” said Kevin. “Even after a year on the field, I can’t believe I’m here and can finally serve God in this capacity,” he adds. “For so long I was talking about it; now I get to do it.”

During the four years it took Kevin to be field ready, he kept hearing about something called Plumpy Nut, a nutritional supplement for malnourished children. On one of his flights to an area fighting cholera and typhoid, he learned that his cargo included several hundred kilos of Plumpy Nut!

“It was so exciting to see something I had read about and talked about actually being loaded onto one of our airplanes, and put to use,” said Kevin.

Tasha is energized by the stories Kevin brings home, which helps on the days she’s tired of adjusting to a city of more than 8 million people or raising a toddler in a very different environment.

Even with the new challenges and changes, Tasha says she feels fulfilled. “I know this is where God intended to send our family and where our family is meant to serve.”

Kevin and Tasha stress how their support team back in the U.S. has been such an encouragement—the perfectly timed emails, handwritten postcards, and thoughtful little gifts. “We couldn’t be here without them.”

It also helps to look at the big picture of their mission in the DRC. As Kevin puts it, “How just one inspection, one flight, one passenger, or even one kilogram of cargo can have a lasting, positive impact in the Name of Christ, is almost unfathomable.”

Would you like to support and encourage the Spanns as they do God’s work in the DRC? To join their ministry partnership team, visit maf.org/spann.

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“Even after a year on the field, I can’t believe I’m here and can finally serve God in this capacity.”

—Kevin Spann

Photo courtesy of the Spann family

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Photo courtesy of the Harkonens

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TECH CORNER

G enerations of Innovation

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n 1964 violent uprisings gripped the country that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Missionaries found themselves in increasing danger and needed to escape before the fighting claimed their lives. Mission Aviation Fellowship played a key role in these evacuations.

While airplanes were obviously integral, according to decades-old reports and testimonies, another innovation was also critical to the efforts: the “Missavia” radio.

“Our Missavia was on from 6:30 in the morning to 10:00 every night and coordinated much of the evacuation operation. During those days of crisis, not only the missionaries used the network, but also the United Nations, and the Embassy,” Wes Eisemann, an MAF missionary pilot, wrote in MAF publications dated in 1964.

A few years before this incident, MAF missionaries developed the Missavia radio—a new and unique technology at the time. Missavia paved the way for a network of HF/VHF radios still in demand in remote areas.

“Missavia radios directly met a need that MAF saw in remote locations,” said Tim Dyk, supervisor of the MAF Avionics department. “It was seen immediately that missionaries had no way to make contact with the outside world or to call the airplane if there was an emergency.

So, this radio was designed to meet that need—it truly represented ‘overcoming barriers’ and allowed missionaries to serve in remote locations!”

“For a long time, MAF has looked to leverage simple global technology for the sake of the Gospel,” said Doug Harrison, director of Technical Resources for MAF. While aviation has always been at the core of how MAF reaches isolated people with Christ’s love, technology has long played a key role. From the early Missavia radios to innovations today that are making it possible for the Gospel to be shared—regardless of geographic or political barriers. MAF is committed to developing technology solutions in tandem with aviation, to transform lives, churches, and communities.

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The Ebola crisis, new airstrips, military coups, and new additions to the MAF fleet …

This year was filled with unexpected challenges and opportunities to share Christ’s love around the world.

HELP MAF FINISH 2014 STRONG. Here’s how.

GIVING TUESDAY Join MAF on Dec. 2 for a national day of giving, and bring hope to isolated people.

Follow MAF on social media. #MAFin24 #GivingTuesday

GIVING CATALOG Celebrate the Christmas season by choosing a specific ministry opportunity to support. Give online at www.maf.org/givingcatalog.

YEAR-END GIVING Help MAF reach our year-end goals so together we can reach more people with Christ’s love in 2015.

1-800-FLYS-MAF

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NEWS BRIEFS

Join us in prayer ...

MAF and the Fight against Ebola In September, MAF conducted flights to combat a deadly Ebola outbreak in the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

MAF staff welcome the PC-12 at Kinshasa.

Photo by Nick Frey.

MAF transports a medical team to Boende to combat an Ebola outbreak. Photo by Nick Frey.

MAF airplanes transported medical personnel and supplies from the capital city of Kinshasa into the remote Boende district of the DRC. At the time, the World Health Organization had identified 68 cases of Ebola in Boende, including 41 deaths.

Nick Frey, MAF program manager in the DRC, said they used a small airstrip in the area to deliver supplies such as personal protective equipment, medication, syringes, and quarantine equipment. “We have also carried specimens out to Kinshasa for testing.”

Fleet Updates You may have seen MAF’s first amphibious KODIAK on display at one of the summer air shows, or one of our dedication events. Thanks to the generosity of donors, MAF KODIAK #10 has been funded and will head to Kalimantan, Indonesia, sometime in 2015. The ninth KODIAK recently arrived in Papua. Also on the move in the fall was a PC-12 heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These planes will be the latest tools for

reaching people with Christ’s love.

We praise God for everyone who made these latest additions to the MAF fleet possible.

A Vision for MAF in Myanmar In late summer MAF’s Ron Wismer and volunteer Steve Gardner were in Myanmar to complete site surveys for airstrips in Matupi and Lailenpi while continuing to build relationships with local churches as well as the aviation authorities. This is one of a handful of trips conducted over the last year by MAF-US and MAF-International, with the goal of developing a program in Chin State, which has the poorest population and some of the most remote locations within Myanmar.

As Gardner reported, “Healthcare in the region is all but nonexistent.

Education is also very poor … The partnerships that MAF could enable by working here are incredible to think about. One quote from a recent meeting was powerful: ‘Our people are forgotten; we are like foreigners in our own homes.’”

Starting up a new program is a lengthy process that can take years.

Please pray for the permissions that are still needed, and for God’s will and guidance as MAF moves forward.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

—1 John 5:14-15

That God would draw more people to serve with MAF overseas to fill programs that are short-staffed.

For all of the Bible translation projects that MAF supports around the world, that hindrances will be removed and the Word will go forth and change hearts … forever.

That patients and their families who stay at MAF’s hospital house in Kalimantan, Indonesia, would experience the love of Jesus in a very real way.

For the safety and protection of all MAF staff around the world, most of whom work in dangerous areas.