FlightWatch - 2018, Volume 2

SPRING 2018

from the a publication of Mission Aviation Fellowship

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

– Revelation 7:9a There is no way that any of us could reach every tribe on earth with the message of the Gospel. There is no way that any one organization could reach all of the people groups on the planet. Some estimates put that number to be well more than several thousand.

Thankfully, God’s story is not just about one or two of us—or even one organization. We are the Body of Christ and God’s mission is being fulfilled through every single one of us—since Christ gave us the Great Commission.

During my time with MAF, I have been so thankful to see the many people like you who believe that MAF plays a key role in God’s great story. Because of your support, MAF flights have opened doors for many people groups—living in remote places—to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for partnering with MAF as we work to see people from every tribe, tongue, and nation standing before the Lamb.

Together for Him,

The stories within FlightWatch are highlights of MAF’s ministry. Some days our missionaries get to see and experience the amazing things our Lord is doing. Other days are spent quietly and diligently serving the Lord through routine flights, maintenance work, and simply living among others in foreign countries. We believe that God works through all areas of service and at times blesses us with extraordinary glimpses of His work.

Director of Marketing: Managing Editor: Production Manager: Graphic Designer: Writers/Resourcing:

Tracey Werre Chris Burgess Micki Blair Clayton Borah Jennifer Wolf Chris Burgess

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.

John C. Boyd President and CEO

On the Cover: Maasai men gather around an MAF plane in Olemilei, Tanzania. Photo by Mark and Kelly Hewes.

Get Connected:

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RIVETING GOOD TIME!

ONE MAF VOLUNTEER VS. THOUSANDS OF RIVETS

by Jennifer Wolf

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in 2006, when he was 12 years old, JB Bermudez-Koch and his mother, Genevieve Kelly, paid a visit to Mission Aviation Fellowship’s (MAF) headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. JB’s family were supporters of MAF and were excited the ministry had relocated to Idaho—practically in their backyard.

JB was looking for a way to help out, so he and Genevieve stopped by the MAF hangar and spoke with John Miller, who manages the machine shop volunteers.

JB didn’t really have any metal working or mechanical skills, but John had an idea. During MAF’s move from California to Idaho, thousands of tiny rivets (short aluminum pins that hold together two plates of metal) got mixed together when their containers became inverted. No one had dared to take on the painstaking project of separating 96 different kinds of rivets and John was worried they might have to throw them all out!

But JB was up for the task and took the boxes home.

Over the next two summers, JB carefully sorted all of those rivets. His parents and grandparents, and other family members often joined him at the kitchen table to help.

Fast forward to last year, when JB was filling out his

photo by Paul O’Brien

application for dental school and it asked for examples of his manual dexterity. Guess what he put on the list? Sorting rivets for MAF! JB was accepted to Roseman University in Salt Lake City, where he is now training to become a dentist.

You never know where your volunteer experiences will lead, or how God will use them to shape you. JB is just one example of the many who give their time to MAF.

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN

VOLUNTEER WITH MAF! MAF.ORG/VOLUNTEER

To hear about John Miller’s journey with MAF, check out Flight Follow, a new podcast featuring stories from MAF. Available on iTunes and SoundCloud. Find more info at maf.org/podcast.

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You are making it possible for one MAF wife to bring hope to isolated people with just a radio connection.

by Jennifer Wolf

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t’s 4:00 on a Friday afternoon and Heather Marx makes her way to the HF-Radio at the MAF base in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia. She has a weekly date with another missionary wife based in the remote village of Ottodemo. An HF-Radio gives her a chance to offer emotional support and just to check in and share life together—sort of like a coffee date with a friend, but without the coffee. Heather sees these radio dates as part of her hospitality ministry, one that complements her husband Brian’s—an MAF pilot—flight ministry.

There are no roads leading to Ottodemo, and there’s no dirt airstrip. The best way for Heather’s friend, Maggie Boersma, her husband, Iwan, and their two young children, to get to their home in Ottodemo is

by MAF’s Caravan floatplane. Earlier methods (before kids) involved traveling two full days by motorized boat or canoe over risky crocodile-infested rivers.

By floatplane, they can make the trip in half an hour. photo by Brian Marx

Marx family above. Boersma family below.

MAF started flying here in 2013, which allowed the Boersmas to spend time in the village as they worked on building their home, learning the culture and language of the Sudate tribe, and doing some medical work.

Everything the Boersmas needed— building materials, appliances, supplies, and extra hands to help—all made their way into the village on MAF’s Caravan floatplane.

When the Boersmas aren’t in the village, they stay in Nabire. They attend the same church and have become friends with everyone on the MAF team.

“We love the Nabire MAF team. We feel like family,” said Maggie. “Often when we leave to go to Ottodemo or come back from the tribe some of the MAF families are there to say good-bye or welcome us back.”

“Being able to support and serve them is something that we get excited

about,” said Heather. “Not just with the airplane, but with friendship and radio dates and having them over to our house all the time—just being there for them.”

When the connection counts Last August MAF flew the Boersma family to their village for a three-month stay at their newly completed home.

There’s no cell phone service—no way to communicate other than a basic radio, which is kept at the local church across the way from their house. Before the Boersmas went in, Maggie and Heather set up these weekly radio dates.

“I’ve loved my Friday check-in chats with Heather! It’s been such an encouragement,” said Maggie, “especially because we don’t have any co-workers. I always feel uplifted and like I get a bit of a booster when I’ve talked with her.”

When illness spread through the

Boersma family, the radio connection became even more important.

Salomé, their youngest, had a cough that wouldn’t go away. Iwan got malaria. Everyone was sick. Heather knew they were all sick, so when no one came to the radio one Friday, she got really worried.

“We were going through a tough patch, emotionally and health-wise,” said Maggie.

MAF pilot Kevin Lynne was in Nabire filling in because they were short-staffed for one reason or another.

At church that Sunday, the team gathered with Kevin and prayed for the Boersmas. The floatplane was at another base and unavailable, so they came up with a plan.

The next day, Kevin flew over Ottodemo in a (non-floatplane) KODIAK, circling until someone got on the radio.

“I heard the plane circling above and quickly ran to the radio,” said Maggie.

“What an encouragement to realize that our friends in Nabire were so concerned about us!”

Maggie reported that they were all on medicine and were improving, much to Heather’s relief.

Everyone in the tribe noticed the airplane overhead and wondered what was going on. Maggie says it must have been a testimony to them of brotherly love amongst Christians.

For Heather, it’s been another way to serve, through friendship, and it provides additional support to complement MAF’s flight service.

“It’s been exciting for me to be able to have this neat ministry with her, to have Friday dates on the radio,” said Heather. “It feels very old-school missionary, like Nate Saint days, talking on the radio—over and out!”

Radio dates, flight support, and MAF missionaries coming alongside the Boersmas as they strive to share the love of Jesus with the Sudate people— it all adds up to one big Kingdom connection.

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UPDATE ON KODIAK NOSE GEAR FORK REPLACEMENTS Your gifts allowed us to purchase all of the KODIAK nose gear forks for our field programs, along with other related parts needed to install them. These were assembled into kits and shipped overseas in January. The field aircraft should be close to being finished by the time this issue arrives in homes.

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F PROGRAM VEHICLES

CHURCH SURVEYS

Because of your gracious response to our August letter we were able to purchase two vehicles for our overseas programs last year. Thank you. These will help our teams immensely as they carry out their work of sharing the love of Jesus in remote areas.

In “Reaching the Tribe Next Door� from FlightWatch 2017 vol. 2, you may recall that Ron Wismer presented Congolese churches and missionaries with a survey.

To date he has received over 200 completed surveys back. Results have been tallied and reveal that most villages have many believers, but stronger churches and biblical resources are needed. With this information in hand, churches and ministry groups in east Democratic Republic of the Congo can be more strategic in how they spend their time and resources.

T H A N K

Y O U

FOR ALL PEOPLE A glimpse into some of those you are reaching through MAF.

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nless you are of Jewish heritage, there was likely a point in time when someone, somewhere had to cross a cultural boundary to share the Gospel with your ancestors.

Paul went to the Gentiles.

Mediterranean Christians went into the rest of Europe and further east. And the message of Jesus Christ has been spreading

throughout the rest of the world ever since.

Yet there are still people groups who are either cut off from the news of Jesus Christ—or are still working to kindle the fires of their faith.

MAF has the privilege of working with many different people groups around the world—some of them

have had access to the Gospel for years—others have yet to hear it in a meaningful way.

We wanted to give you a glimpse into just a few of the many people groups MAF serves.

Thank you for making it possible for MAF to be part of bringing hope to these people and many others around the world.

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BASOTHO

Nearly two million Basotho people live in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa. HIV/AIDS is one of the most pressing concerns for the people of this remote country. MAF works with local Christians, missionaries, and doctors to meet the physical and spiritual needs of these people who are often cut off from medical care and the message of the Gospel due to Lesotho’s rugged mountainous terrain.

WANO

The Wano tribe lives deep in the mountains of Papua, Indonesia. Some studies estimate that there are only about 1,100 to 1,500 Wano people. In recent years, the first airstrip opened in Mokndoma, one of the Wano villages. This airstrip opens doors for MAF to support our partners who live and work there among these people. Before missionaries brought the message of the Gospel to the Wano, they were animists who lived in fear of evil spirits—even going so far as dismembering themselves to protect their families from these spirits.

Since then, many of the Wano have passionately embraced their faith in Jesus and are reaching out to surrounding tribes. Efforts are still being made to translate the Bible into the Wano language. photo by Mark and Kelly Hewes

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HAITIANS

photo by Mark & Kelly Hewes

There are nearly 11 million Haitians living in the small island nation of Haiti. Their main language is Haitian Creole. MAF has worked in Haiti since 1986, helping churches and other organizations share Christ’s love with these people—particularly when disasters like the 2010 earthquake or 2016’s Hurricane Matthew struck this small island nation and devastated the lives of many of the Haitians who live here.

DAYAK

The term “Dayak” refers to some 200 different ethnic groups who live on the island of Borneo.

The southern part of this large island belongs to Indonesia, and is known as Kalimantan. MAF serves many of the Dayak peoples throughout the interior of Kalimantan—often using floatplanes to land on the rivers that wind their way through this remote region. Traditionally, most Dayak have held to animistic beliefs, but in recent centuries, both Islam and Christianity have taken hold among the Dayak people. Along with providing access to medical care, MAF works with local churches and some Western missionaries to share Christ’s love here.

photo by Tripp Flythe

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photo by Jonathan Chang

DANIEL AND BECKY PEREZ Since they joined MAF in 2009, change has been a constant companion for Daniel and Becky Perez, a pilot/ mechanic family at the Wamena base in Papua, Indonesia.

Three weeks after arriving to language school, in Java, they discovered they were pregnant—with twins!

“Our ministry looked different than we thought it would because things were very busy at home,” said Becky.

Even today, things haven’t slowed down much. Two years ago, Daniel took on the role of base manager, and now oversees 10 field MAF families and 22 Indonesian employees.

“Our lives never really seem settled,” said Daniel.

Along with the busyness, there’s a constant pining for friends and family back home. But Daniel and Becky both have peace knowing they were called to serve God here, through MAF. Serving God takes many forms, whether it’s doing medical evacuations, mentoring teammates, caring for five children at home—the couple adopted

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Peter from China last year—or juggling pilot proficiency and instrument competency checks.

At times the work the Perezes are doing may not look or feel like traditional “ministry”—for instance, making a regular delivery of rice, noodles, and cooking oil to a remote village.

Being based in the landlocked city of Wamena means there are times when the stores are completely out of musthave food items for an unknown period of time. It can be frustrating. But that’s when Daniel “gets it.”

“Every single time I fly in a plane full of rice I am blessing these people.”

And when their house helper of five years asks Becky why her marriage and parenting style seem so different, and they end up having a great discussion about how God views marriage, raising kids, and more, that’s when Becky “gets it.”

“When you think you’re doing nothing, oftentimes everybody is watching,” said Becky.

While their notions about ministry have changed, their faith has also been stretched. They’ve seen God show up in big ways.

“In those times where we felt strongly that God was calling us to do something,” said Daniel, “He often didn’t provide the necessary things until we had taken that first big leap of faith.”

They’ve found that one of the biggest encouragements is just being remembered, whether it’s getting a Christmas card from a friend, a small package, or even the occasional email.

“There is always that longing in our hearts for friends and family that we have left behind. To know that they still think about us and pray for us is a great feeling.”

Would you like the blessing of being involved in the Perezes’ ministry in Papua? They’re looking for ministry partners to join their team. Learn more at maf.org/perez.

WHAT IS A PEOPLE GROUP?

by Chris Burgess

THE GLASS COCKPIT

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave His followers one last command— we know it as the Great Commission— and as a missionary organization, it is MAF’s guiding verse. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations …”

But what does “all nations” actually mean?

PANTA TA ETHNE

Panta ta ethne is Greek for “all nations.”

Ethne is the Greek word from which we get “ethnicity” or “ethnic groups.” Most biblical scholars believe this passage meant something more like people groups or ethnic groups than just countries. But what is a people group?

The Lausanne Movement, an evangelical, global mission movement, defines people groups like this: “For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.”

Basically, a people group is just that—a group of people with a shared language and culture. So a people group could be as large as most the United States or it might be much smaller.

photo by Mark and Kelly Hewes

In many remote places were MAF serves, such as in Indonesia, tribes living on one side of a valley might speak a totally different language and have a distinct culture and history than a tribe on the other side of that valley. These would be classified as two different people groups even though they live in the same country.

This is the case in many of the other places MAF serves as well. And without MAF many of these isolated people groups could not be reached with Christ’s love. MAF’s role in God’s story is an important one—because MAF plays a key part in going to “all nations”—particularly the ones cut off by geographic barriers.

In Revelation 7:9, John gives us a peek into the throne room of God. I like to think of this as a “spoiler” about how the story God is writing is going to end. Here, John shows us that a multitude from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be worshipping the Lord.

The Garmin electronic flight display or “Glass Cockpit” has two or more screens available to the pilot. The multifunction display (MFD) gives the pilot a constantly updated map view, with the aircraft position clearly shown while the primary flight display (PFD) shows airspeed, altitude, rate of climb, true airspeed, and the airplane’s relation to the horizon.

This takes the place of the older and more delicate mechanical gyros that gave the same information as the newer electronic flight displays but broke easily and were costly to fix, which led to excessive downtime for the aircraft.

Here’s what one MAF pilot in Haiti had to say: “The information is much more readily available—not only about the aircraft systems, but it also gives greater situational awareness. We have radar and storm scope to evaluate the best route and avoid risky weather. Traffic collision avoidance helps us to ‘see’ other traffic. Terrain awareness allows a virtual picture of the surrounding terrain—again, enhancing the safety of our operations.”

MAF is working with that goal in mind—and we cannot do it without you.

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N A M PA , I D

J U N E 20 -2 2 , 2 0 1 8

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For all of our medevac passengers and their families to experience God’s peace and comfort in the midst of their trials.

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For all of the displaced people in west and east Democratic Republic of the Congo (and those who have fled into neighboring countries); for the end to violence in both regions; for the election process.

M A F A LU M NI R EU N I O N

JOIN THE FUN!

Photo by Carolyn Monson

Calling all MAF Alumni!

The third triennial MAF Alumni Reunion will take place this summer, June 20-22, at MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. All former MAF staff are invited. For more information and to register by the deadline, May 29, visit maf.org/alumnireunion.

For our newest MAF missionaries (“prefielders”), that they would find “divine” appointments and sense God’s leading as they build their ministry partnership teams.

Dan Whitehead

Going the extra mile in Lesotho Pilots Joey Martin and Bryan Eygabroad recently transported a headinjury patient from a clinic in Nohana to the hospital in Qachas’Nek. After the patient was safely loaded onto the truck they rode along with him to the hospital to make sure he received the attention he needed. MAF’s Carolyn Monson posted this photo of Joey Martin and said, “It is encouraging to see that our pilots are not just concerned with flying but also go the extra mile [overland] to show the love of God through acts such as these.”

Joe Barraclough

New Leadership for MAF-US For Dan and Tracey Whitehead, as they transition from Ecuador back to the US for Dan’s new role at headquarters.

For the Barraclough family, as they continue to settle in to their new home—and Joe in his new position—here in Nampa, ID.

“Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters.

Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.”

— Ephesians 6:18 (The Message)

You prayed and the Lord led the MAF board and leadership to appoint two qualified people to upper management positions. Dan Whitehead will be the new vice president of operations. Dan and his wife, Tracey, and their three kids, have served with MAF for the past 26 years, in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Prior to accepting this new role, Dan was the regional director for Latin America.

We also welcomed Joseph (Joe) Barraclough to the MAF family. He began his new role as vice president of finance in March. Before that he was the director of the Financial Services Group at The Seed Company (a Wycliffe Bible Translators affiliate) in Arlington, TX. Joe and his wife, Judith, are parents of seven children, and have an extensive background in missions.

Photo by Dale Creasey

Dale’s Amazing Squash Heads Overseas MAF supporter Dale Creasey recently sent the Donor Services team an unusual gift in the mail: six seeds.

Turns out a small pumpkin and an Italian squash growing in Creasey’s garden one year happened to crosspollinate. The result is an amazing hybrid squash which yields four to ten pounds of fruit per day for several months! Since MAF works overseas, Creasey thought some of our programs might be able to do something with his seeds. We’ve sent them to Ashley Petersen at the East Democratic Republic of the Congo program, as she is a gifted gardener and was quite excited to try them. We’ll keep you posted.