2022 MAF Ministry Highlights Report

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS REPORT

MAF 2022 | FLYING FOR LIFE

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

—John 10:10 (ESV)

Life in the Storm

Angry winds pummeled their boat. Killer waves toyed mercilessly with their lives. And the One who came to give life lay sleeping on a cushion—seemingly oblivious.

“Teacher, don’t You care?”

In 2022, MAF, our partners, and the people we serve had various opportunities to ask the same question. But as we saw God’s power displayed—both in calm seas and in rough—we found ourselves asking another question:

“Who is this amazing God?”

Over and over again, we were in awe of His faithfulness to bring help, hope, and healing to the isolated. We were grateful for the opportunities He gave us to reach them. And we were humbled by those He raised up to join us.

As you read the following pages, be encouraged. Through your prayers and generosity, God is bringing eternal life.

“God is extending His unique, life-giving hands into the darkness to offer hope that is eternal. I am proud to serve in an organization that boldly stands in this gap and devotes the resources He has given us to this end. I am also deeply thankful for you who make this possible!”

—Dave Simon, MAF pilot/mechanic in Haiti

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Signs of Life

• One year after MAF evacuated its staff and aircraft from a restricted-access country whose government had fallen, God parted the seas for MAF’s return. Our three Kodiak aircraft were given permission to fly into more airstrips than before. In the words of one MAF leader, “It’s absolutely a miracle.”

• MAF staff in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) marked the one-year anniversary of their own evacuation from Nyankunde to the city of Bunia. While brutal conflicts continued to rage, every week our aircraft provided a safe “air bridge” for hundreds of people committed to reaching the isolated and the destitute.

• Escalating violence, kidnappings, fuel blockages, and an outbreak of cholera in Haiti forced the country deeper into despair. While MAF nontechnical staff were evacuated, God made it possible for the remaining personnel to continue serving our courageous partners with safe transportation and the delivery of life-sustaining supplies through 2022.

• At publication, MAF pilot Ryan Koher was given a provisional release from prison in Mozambique and remains in the country for the conclusion of the investigation. He was preparing to fly supplies from southern Mozambique to the northern region where violent insurgents are operating. Police believed the cargo was going to help the insurgents. Updates about the case can be found at https://maf.org/press/.

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MAF pilot David Petersen and our national staff pose for a picture at the Bunia, DRC airport.

MAF International

MAF-US A liates

MAF-US and MAF-I

Bringing Life to the Most Isolated

MAF-US operates a fleet of 39 airplanes and serves in 12 countries around the world, including four restricted-access countries not shown on the map. In addition, MAF-US and MAF International jointly operate in two countries.

MAF Canada

South Africa Haiti Mali Guinea United Kingdom Liberia Democratic Republic of the Congo USA Headquarters Brazil Suriname Ecuador Guatemala Canada Angola Mexico

Joint Operations MAF-US

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4 Restricted Access Countries

2022 Mission Metrics MAF-US*

6,045,617 LB. OF CARGO CARRIED

16,735 ights accomplished

415 partner organizations served 300 airstrips/water landing sites used

42,277 days of travel time saved

52,686 passengers transported

*All examples and stories in this document refer to MAF-US only unless otherwise noted.

Kenya Uganda Tanzania Indonesia

Lesotho South Sudan Madagascar Mozambique Arnhem Land Timor Leste Papua New Guinea Chad

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Life in All Its Ramifications

Jesus cared about the whole person—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Ultimately, He invited people into a relationship with Him that would radically infuse every part of their life with meaning and hope.

As MAF carries out each flight, activity, and interaction, we want to do the same.

With this in mind, we seek to build our ministry around five areas of impact:

Searching for new disciples by bringing gospel awareness so isolated people have an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Supporting existing followers and disciple makers by coming alongside other believers in their walk with Jesus and in their disciple-making efforts.

Serving people’s core needs by helping meet needs that are crucial to the well-being of those we serve.

Strengthening the capacity and talent of national staff by taking intentional steps to further the education and development of MAF’s local overseas employees.

Stewarding creation as a reflection of God’s love for mankind by supporting projects related to the care of God’s creation.

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Searching for New Disciples /Supporting Existing Followers and Disciple Makers

Each time MAF helps a local evangelist reach a mountain community, or flies local church leaders to strengthen a struggling congregation, or supports the efforts of Bible translators, or engages in gospel conversations with those who don’t yet know Jesus, we are filled with gratitude.

We wish we could share all of these moments from 2022 with you! But here are a few, so that you can rejoice along with us.

• 231 new believers in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) now have a relationship with Christ through the Centre Chrétien de Formation pour Evangélisation et Mission Intégrale (CCFEMI), a school that trains national Christians and, through MAF flights, sends them on one-month trips deep into the forest to share the gospel.

We want to acknowledge Mission Aviation Fellowship who have faithfully and generously provided transport for our students. The thousands of kilometers they’ve flown in support of our efforts have enabled us to promote the security of our missionaries and bring the Gospel into some of the least accessible parts of this country.”

—Excerpt from a CCFEMI report

• Three pastoral couples selected, sent, and supported by MAF now live and serve in the Lesotho mountain communities of Kuebunyane, Tlhanyaku, and Matsaile. In Kuebunyane, Pastor Masheane and his wife, Mats’epang, gather with their budding congregation in the recently completed church building whose materials were flown in by MAF.

• Hundreds of believers in the 90 percent Muslim area of Angoche in Mozambique meet each week to hear God’s Word in their heart language—thanks to the recent completion of the Koti New Testament translation after years of MAF-supported work by SIL, The Seed Company, and the local people.

• One new follower of Jesus, a recent graduate of our flight school in a restricted-access country who was brought to faith in large part through interactions with MAF instructors, was mentored by staff as he sought courage to remain faithful in light of potential religious discrimination in his future career.

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Stones of Remembrance

You may have read the story of an MAF pilot being forced off his aircraft and held at gunpoint in the village of Pagamba in Papua, Indonesia, by rebels who went on to destroy the plane. The village pastors courageously surrounded the pilot for protection—one wrapping his body around Alex—and eventually he made his way back home.

That happened in January of 2021. It was not until May 21, 2022, that an MAF aircraft was able to return to Pagamba.

As part of the celebration hosted by the villagers that day, representatives from 20 surrounding churches served by MAF brought rocks and built an “altar of remembrance” as a testimony to future generations of God’s faithfulness. Stone by stone, they recounted God’s goodness to their valley through the years. MAF pilots and others added their own stones and stories.

In future years we will recall this day with gratitude, not only for God’s faithfulness in the circumstances but also for the mutual respect, affection, and partnership He gives us with our faithful brothers and sisters around the world.

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Hati MAF: A Journey of Partnership

It began with a troubling concern: Church leaders deep in the interior villages of Kalimantan were overwhelmed by the complex needs of their people. Hurting families, struggling marriages, deep brokenness.

It moved to a question: How could MAF help? We had the strategic expertise. We had the aircraft. We had the means through our National Church Subsidy funded by donors for opportunities such as this.

It blossomed into a ministry: Through prayerful discernment with a team of passionate and gifted local believers, the discipleship ministry of Hati MAF (“Heart of MAF”) was born.

Key Hati MAF leaders:

Top: Esther Adam, denominational head of children and youth ministries. Middle: Bob Lopulalang and wife Sery, (not pictured) are active in children and youth ministry. Bottom: Rindu Siahaan, MAF office manager with background in children’s literacy.

God-Ordained Connections Hati MAF:

Early 2019

• Pastor Musa, head pastor in Long Pujungan, implores Esther for help with discipleship.

• Esther shares Pastor Musa’s request with the MAF team.

• Soon after, Hati MAF is born.

Fall 2019

• MAF begins flying Esther, Bob, and Sery for weekend trips to Long Pujungan.

• They teach biblically-based classes for Sunday school teachers, parents, and teens.

2020-2021

COVID-19 restrictions and a government runway project suspend flights into Long Pujungan. In early 2022:

• Hati MAF trips resume.

• Rindu recruits volunteers from local churches to help with new early childhood literacy classes in Long Pujungan.

2022 and beyond

• Pastor Sadung, church leader in Long Belaka, urges Hati MAF to serve in Long Belaka.

• The team visits and sees profound need. They are now eagerly waiting on the Lord for guidance about next steps in Long Belaka and elsewhere.

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Serving People’s Core Needs

Most of us don’t have to think twice about addressing our basic needs. We turn on the tap. We flip on the light switch. We fill the gas tank. We run to the grocery store. We visit the doctor.

But for those living in the jungles of Indonesia, the desert places of Haiti, or the African bush, daily life is a lot more complicated.

Each opportunity MAF has to help ease their load is an opportunity to show them that God sees them, and He cares.

In Bunia, DRC, 150 internally displaced people (IDPs) in three camps are excited about being able to read the Bible and help support their families through skills learned in a new literacy course supported by MAF staff, funded by MAF donors, and taught by fellow IDPs.

In Kalimantan, one day’s flights transported a passenger with serious head trauma, a man

whose heel was nearly severed from his foot, and a boy with a broken arm. MAF pilot Jeremy Toews said, “I cringe to think what would have happened if they weren’t given access to better medical care.”

In Haiti, MAF provided flights for Lemuel Ministries, a Christian organization that combats poverty in the arid northwestern region near Anse Rouge. Lemuel Ministries digs water retention ponds, plants trees for reforestation, supports micro development, and operates a school from preschool through ninth grade.

In Guinea, western Africa, MAF-US and MAF International partnered to begin operations in the country after a year and a half of planning and many years of anticipation by organizations eager for our services. The first operational flight on April 23, 2022, transported a couple working for an agricultural development organization.

“We’ve been praying for transportation since we got here over a decade ago. There are no domestic aircraft in Guinea, so we have to drive [over narrow and dangerous roads]. We drive and cry!”

—American couple served by MAF on its first operational flight in Guinea

The first MAF flight into Kissidougou, Guinea brought a couple working in agricultural development along with MAF pilots and crew.

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Record time

A lot can happen in two months.

In June 2022, MAF staff member Wally Wiley and a wealthy Indonesian businessman visited the Asmat village of Saman on the swampy south coast of Papua, Indonesia. Saman had no medical facility. It had no school for its children.

A missionary couple in the village was learning the Asmat language to present the gospel in the people’s native tongue. But the constant flow of villagers seeking medical help on their doorstep was hampering the process.

Over the years, MAF had partnered with the businessman to strategically place Siloam medical clinics and Sekolah Lentera Harapan (SLH) schools in nine remote villages throughout Papua.

By the end of the visit, it was decided that Saman would become the tenth.

Two months later, a doctor and two nurses opened the doors to the community’s first clinic. Three teachers welcomed 80 children to the first day of class in a newly constructed school.

MAF float plane pilot Jack Gandy, who flew multiple trips transporting supplies and personnel for the project, later shared, “Basically no one in the U.S. knows that Saman exists. But the Lord knows about them, and He cares for them.”

He sure does. And so do we.

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Strengthening the Capacity and Talent of National Staff

We get excited about what God is doing in and through our 300-plus national staff who serve with MAF in their own countries.

Here is some of what was accomplished in the last year: MAF chaplains ministering to internally displaced people in the DRC and sharing the gospel with shepherds in the mountains of Lesotho; a finance worker and quality director staff couple serving in our office in Mozambique; and an MAF office manager training young adults for a rural discipleship ministry in Papua.

Here are four whose educational accomplishments we celebrated in 2022:

Mantlibi Mafa (Lesotho) graduated from the School of Missionary Aviation Technology (SMAT) with her airframe and powerplant (A&P) certificate. She is currently awaiting MAF standardization and hopes to become the first female MAF maintenance specialist in Lesotho by the end of 2023.

Waren Lelewa (Papua) graduated from Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia with his A&P license. He also was the recipient of the James Rardon Student of the Year Award from the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC), which recognizes one aviation maintenance technician student in the U.S. for outstanding achievement.

Juan Antonio Rivera (Mexico) graduated from SMAT with his A&P certificate. Juan and his wife, Amy, now work with MAF’s affiliate in Mexico and are considering future service with MAF in a restricted-access country.

Zacharie François (Haiti), the first foreign student admitted into SMAT’s flight training program, graduated with a commercial pilot license with an instrument rating. He has served as an MAF mechanic in Haiti and is working towards becoming an MAF pilot.

“We are grateful beyond expression for the opportunity God is giving us to serve Him overseas in a closed country where His light has not yet reached.”

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—Juan Antonio Rivera

“The conservation groups we partner with do a wonderful job of incorporating their conservation efforts with care for the communities, and it is a blessing to be a part of helping these communities and stewarding God’s amazing creation.”

—Jill Holmes, MAF security manager, serving in Mozambique

Stewarding Creation as a Reflection of God’s Love for Mankind

With great wisdom and kindness, God created a world that would reveal His glory and provide for those He created. Then He commissioned its stewardship to us.

Whenever MAF has the opportunity to partner with those who are helping accomplish God’s purpose for His creation, we count it a privilege.

• Pilots in the DRC flew workers with Genesis Waters to rural communities where they distributed water filtration kits for households along with solar-powered audio Bibles in the French and Lingala languages.

• MAF’s affiliate program in Suriname supported the efforts of missionaries who teach villagers to sustainably farm nutritious foods that provide vitamin-rich sustenance for their families.

• MAF flew researchers to the Niassa Reserve in Mozambique, where they conducted research on the honeyguide, a bird that leads people to wild honeycombs from which humans extract the honey and leave the wax for the birds’ use.

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Supporters of Life

Throughout 2022, faithful friends of MAF with huge hearts for isolated people helped equip MAF to bring the life-changing love of Christ to individuals, families, and communities around the world.

Here are some of the projects we started in 2022 that our partners helped fund.

Operations Modernization—The purpose of this $2.165 million initiative is to strengthen the impact of MAF’s mission by creating new international leadership roles and providing centralized safety management and training. It also includes new Safety Management Systems software, Cessna Caravan and Kodiak flight simulators for MAF headquarters, and expansion of the original aircraft hangar at headquarters.

Missionary staff housing—This $2 million investment prioritized the well-being of MAF staff for the sake of the mission. Projects included the purchase of land and construction of eight houses in Papua and the purchase of an existing house and renovation to a duplex in the DRC.

Airplane maintenance—MAF’s entire $1.9 million 2022 aircraft maintenance budget was funded through donors whose gifts were spurred on by a $550,000 matching grant. Projects included purchase of an Avionics Flight Line Test Set for use worldwide, engine overhauls for two Cessna Caravans in the DRC, and a hot section inspection for a Kodiak float plane in Papua.

Airplane dedications—In June 2022, missionaries, church leaders, and the MAF team in Bunia, DRC, gathered around a Cessna Grand Caravan to dedicate it for service. In July, MAF staff in Papua formed a prayerful circle around a Kodiak aircraft that replaced one that had crashed into Lake Sentani two years earlier. The new Kodiak was named PK-MJL (“Miss Joyce Lin”) in honor of the pilot whose life was lost.