FlightWatch - 2020, Volume 2

SPRING 2020 MAF.ORG

75 YEARS OF SHARING CHRIST’S LOVE AT THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 1

FL IGHT WAT C H

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

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 you how you are making it possible for the gospel to transform the lives of isolated people around the world.

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

Director of Marketing Tracey Werre Managing Editor Chris Burgess

At the time of this writing, COVID-19 has swept across the world, thousands have died, global markets have been disrupted, and our lives are being impacted at nearly every level. During times of uncertainty, I find it helpful to look back on God’s faithfulness.

This year we celebrate 75 years of MAF’s ministry, and I can’t help but respond with gratitude.

God has brought us through innumerable challenges over the years. He has carried us through times of unrest, war, and tragedy.

I have no reason to doubt He will continue to be faithful.

The anxiety and fear we are currently experiencing is a daily reality for the people we serve. A short flight on an MAF airplane reminds us just how different life is in remote places—far removed from medical care or the opportunity to hear and experience the peace the gospel brings.

I recently visited MAF’s program in Lesotho. Flying over rolling hills and rugged mountains in a Cessna 206, I couldn’t help but notice MAF.ORG

the flocks of sheep dotting the landscape. And with each flock, there was at least one shepherd.

What struck me is that these shepherds have no one to look after them.

Through the support of people like you—who have looked beyond your own difficulties and considered the difficulties others face—MAF has been able to use airplanes for 75 years to reach people like these young shepherds in remote places with the love of Jesus.

Christ—our shepherd—is finding His lost sheep, and because of your support, MAF can be used

by Him to reach the least, the last, and the lost. Thank you for helping us share the peace of God’s love and faithfulness in this uncertain world.

Serving Together,

David Holsten President & CEO

Production Manager Micki Blair Designers Alex Kildow Justen Stryker Writers/Resourcing Chris Burgess Gene Jordan Jeanelle Reider Jennifer Wolf

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.

Mission Aviation Fellowship PO Box 47 Nampa, ID 83653-0047 208-498-0800 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623)

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 • 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, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

GET CONNECTED

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT

Daniel Goheen: A Family Legacy of MAF Service One of Daniel Goheen’s earliest memories is of his dad tucking in his mosquito net at bedtime and praying over him in their home in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)).

His family was there on their first assignment with MAF. “He’d pray the same thing every night, that his boys would grow up to be men of God,” said Daniel.

Daniel’s dad, Tom, served as an MAF pilot/mechanic for 30 years before his passing in 2013. He remains Daniel’s biggest hero and spiritual influence.

During college, Daniel interned at the MAF program where his parents were serving. That internship made a big impression on him.

“I really loved the way the pilot/ mechanics would interact with each other and with the local staff. There was a genuine love for one another and a cooperative spirit, and everybody functioned as a cohesive team,” explained Daniel.

Then, three years ago, he volunteered for a short time at MAF’s program in Nyankunde, DRC. “I was running into people at remote airstrips who remembered

my dad. They would share stories of how he influenced and impacted their lives,” said Daniel.

Thirty-four years after Daniel’s parents joined MAF, he is following in his dad’s footsteps and becoming an MAF pilot/ mechanic. He will be serving in the DRC. These field experiences helped solidify his decision to serve with MAF, along with another key factor.

“MAF has always been an extended part of my family,” said Daniel. “The people and personnel at headquarters and abroad are my aunts and uncles.”

As Daniel prepares for his first assignment with MAF, he already knows what it’s like to have a worldwide support team praying for him.

During a tough week at boarding school, as a junior in high school, his mother emailed a prayer request on his behalf to a select group of prayer warriors. An hour 3

after the email went out, a sense of peace washed over him.

“I felt a real strong sense of God’s love and care for me,” said Daniel.

Today, as Daniel works on building his own ministry partnership team, he believes prayer warriors play the most important role. He has faith that as he does what God has called him to do, God will bring the financial partners.

But first he would like prayer: “Pray for boldness. Pray for patience. Pray for endurance. Pray for the capacity to love others the way Jesus loves.”

Partner with us.

Would you like to be part of the Goheen family legacy of taking Christ’s love to isolated people?

To join Daniel’s team, please visit maf.org/goheen.

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YEARS OF HOPE

Eternal Significance Decades of service left a lasting impact on one MAF pilot and the people he flew.

By Gene Jordan

M

y parents went to Ecuador as missionaries in 1951. As a kid I heard about the “MAF airplane, flown by Uncle Nate, in the jungle.” When I was three years old, I got to fly in his little yellow plane, which would one day be the most famous missionary airplane. His story, and that of the other four missionaries martyred in the jungle in 1956, was very familiar to me; it helped shape my life.

Throughout my high school years, I jumped at every opportunity to catch a bus from the Ecuadorian highlands down to the jungle where MAF operated.

At the hangar, I weighed loads and fueled the airplanes.

I washed mud off the planes at the end of the day and helped prepare for the next day’s flights, all with the hope of getting a ride in an MAF Cessna.

Gene’s Service Through the Years

1951

Missionary kid in Ecuador

1977

Pilot/mechanic, Program Manager, and Regional Director in Latin America.

2000

Director of Communications

2001

Vice President of Personnel

2020

Public Relations Ambassador

Gene Jordan, public relations ambassador, with a Cessna 206 in the background.

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“As a kid I heard about the ‘MAF airplane, flown by Uncle Nate, in the jungle.’

When I was three years old, I got to fly in his little yellow plane—which would one day be the most famous missionary airplane.”

That hope was fulfilled! I flew with MAF pilots Dave, Glen, and Olie. I watched how they used their aviation skills to help people deep in the Amazon rainforest. I observed their tender care for the wounded and sick as they transported them to the mission hospital. I witnessed the pivotal role MAF played in knitting together different mission organizations, each with its unique ministries, working with different language groups in dozens of small, isolated, jungle communities. The common aim of each of these ministries was to introduce precious jungle people to their loving Creator. I decided to pursue a vocation with eternal significance: missionary aviation.

I joined MAF in 1977, after flight and maintenance training, and was assigned to … Ecuador! For the next 22 years I flew the jungle skies as pilot-incommand, where previously I had been a passenger.

Those early MAF pilots were my models as I learned to appreciate what it meant to serve God through aviation.

Gene Jordan with Nate Saint in 1954.

Photo courtesy of Gene Jordan.

1-800-FLYS-MAF

I flew hundreds of flights for missionaries. Fresh vegetables, diesel fuel, medicine, and mail from home were all delivered by MAF planes to jungle stations.

With a missionary hospital near the MAF hangar,

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YEARS OF HOPE

Her pride was obvious, but my gratitude was greater, because I knew that her story has been replicated in other remote villages, not only in Ecuador, but in many other countries where MAF serves.

MAF pilot Gene Jordan with Anita, an exceptional passenger. Photo courtesy of Gene Jordan.

I flew more medical emergency flights than I can remember. Community development flights meant clean water and rustic elementary schools.

Baby chicks, the occasional live calf or a kerosene refrigerator were not unusual cargo. Jungle school kids who memorized Scripture verses were rewarded with a flight out to a week of camp, where they learned more about God and how He loved them. I flew the “JESUS” film to dozens of villages where, for the first time in their own language, people saw the gospel story. Passengers who previously worshiped evil spirits were now indigenous community church leaders.

MAF would pick them up from their villages and fly them to a more central community to experience Bible training with other leaders. The MAF airplane was the linchpin of jungle ministry!

On a recent trip to Shell, Ecuador, a young woman approached me. “I used to fly with you when I was in the sixth grade. You made the airplane go down very quickly. I remember screaming with excitement!

I watched you fly the sick people from my village to the hospital, and I decided that I, too, wanted to help them through medicine. Now I run the first aid clinic in my community.

Today the MAF team in Shell includes members of the Shuar and Achuar tribes. The director is a young man who attended my wife, Lynn’s, Good News Club as a kid. MAF continues to serve in the eastern jungles of Ecuador, where there are established church communities among the Shuar, Quichua, Achuar, and Waodani people. Those who once lived in spiritual darkness now have the Bible in their own language.

Young people who flew with MAF as children are now Kingdom leaders in their churches, schools, and health clinics, and as an MAF pilot, I had the privilege of being a part of this transformation.

Even in our digital-fast world, MAF planes continue to be tools that facilitate and accelerate the care of physical and spiritual needs of people isolated by jungles or mountains throughout the world. While I’m most proud of my little corner of the Ecuadorian Amazon, I recognize that none of this would have been possible without the many of you who stand behind MAF with your gifts and prayers.

One day “a crowd from every tribe, tongue and nation” will sing together that “salvation comes from God, and the Lamb.” That’s why MAF does what it does!

KEEP

A F AI R P

N LA ES

M

YING! FL

“Do you want to see it?”

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To hear more of Gene's story and keep MAF planes flying, go to maf.org/airplane-maintenance.

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YEARS OF HOPE

Generation by Generation Lifetimes of service make a lasting difference in Papua.

By Jeanelle Reider

It’s May 2010. MAF aircraft have brought visitors and copies of the first Kimyal New Testament to the village of Korupun in Papua, Indonesia.

The people have celebrated and given heartfelt praise to God, overjoyed to finally have His Word in their heart language.

A small group of village women crowds into a tiny wooden building. A young woman glances around the room and speaks.

“You look at these older ladies. They will receive the Word of God. They will pass it on to their children and grandchildren. I will pass it on to my children, and it will keep them on the path of righteousness. And once we’re

gone, our children will pass it on to their children.”* Gospel transformation rarely happens in a generational vacuum, and she knows it.

So does MAF. Because this moment has been generations in the making, and God has graciously allowed us to play an ongoing part in it, along with our faithful supporters.

A FATAL TREK

It was September 1968, and missionaries Phil Masters and Stan Dale were hiking to reach certain members of the fierce Yali tribe of Irian Jaya (now Papua, Indonesia) with the gospel.

The two men had begun their journey from the village of Korupun, where Phil and his family served with Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU, now World Team) among the Kimyal people. Stan had joined him in Korupun, leaving the village of Ninia where he and his family served with RBMU among the Yali. A few believers from the Dani tribe accompanied them.

As they traveled, a group of Yali warriors ambushed them with bows and arrows. Scores of arrows found their targets, and Phil and Stan were killed.

Three of the Dani missionaries escaped to a nearby village and reported what had happened.

MAF—who had earlier helped locate the Yali tribe and had supported Phil and Stan and their fellow missionaries for years— hired a helicopter to pinpoint the area of the killings. When they found it, all that remained were arrows and debris. The men’s bodies were never recovered.

Phil and Stan left behind five children each. Phil’s wife, Phyliss, was pregnant with their fifth child.

Top: Phil Masters setting up camp in Korupun. Bottom: The Masters family at Korupun. Phil and Phyliss (back) with (L-R) Curtis, Becky, Rob and Crissie.

SORROW AND REDEMPTION

In a few short paragraphs it is impossible to communicate the depth of grief and dismay experienced by the families of the two men. The whole community of believers in Papua mourned as well—missionaries from various organizations who had labored together for years; MAF pilots and families who had come alongside them; Dani villagers who had recently experienced a miraculous awakening to the gospel.

But God, who walks with His children through every nuance of their pain, also felt the anguish of those who had never known the light of the gospel. He was lovingly writing their story too.

Phil Masters’ wife, Phyliss, though heartbroken, was convinced God had not revoked His call on her life to be a missionary. She shared the love of

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Christ among the Dani people for decades. The Dani have sent out their own missionaries since the early years of their conversion, and through their efforts God continues to draw many fellow Papuans to Himself.

“God’s purposes were not stopped by what seemed at the moment a devastating blow to the gospel,” says Crissie Rask, Phil and Phyliss’ daughter.

Crissie was in eighth grade when her dad was killed. She went on to marry MAF pilot Dave Rask. In 1983 the two of them began serving with MAF in

You are an essential part of this kingdom work as well.

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YEARS OF HOPE

Papua. Today, Dave is director of Aviation Resources Division, and Crissie is manager of Mobilization.

Stan Dale’s family moved back to their native country of Australia, but years later his son Wesley returned to Papua to live in the village of Mamit and serve as a missionary among the Dani people. Wesley and his wife, Esther, live in Mamit to this day, where Wesley lectures at the Bible college and Esther teaches children of the students.

As for the Yalis, other laborers courageously took up the call to reach them, and through the power of Jesus Christ, this once-fierce tribe traded their violence for God’s peace. The first translation of the entire Bible in the language of the Yali people of Ninia was dedicated in 2000.

A complete Bible translation for another Yali group was dedicated in 2018.

FULL CIRCLE

In May of 2010, poignantly aware of those dedicated missionaries and local believers in Korupun MAF.ORG

who had taken up where her husband had left off, Phyliss Masters joined in the celebration of the first Kimyal New Testament. MAF celebrated right alongside her.

We are honored to have come alongside countless faithful followers of Christ in Papua since 1952. Wesley and Esther Dale sum it up like this: “MAF is our lifeline. We really feel part of their team, and they’re an essential part of our ministry.”

You are an essential part of this kingdom work as well. We look forward to many more years of partnership as, together, we reach future generations with the love of Jesus Christ.

Top: RBMU’s Phil Masters and David Martin baptize Dani believers at Karubaga, circa 1962.

Bottom: Phil Masters (left) and John Dekker preparing to hike in to work on the airstrip at Ninia.

Photos courtesy of the Masters family. *This quote is taken from a World Team video about the Kimyal New Testament dedication.

Not By My Own Strength

BY JOE ADAMS

Joe Adams, a pilot/mechanic in Lesotho describes his technical evaluation as he was joining MAF in 2018 and tells how God used his instructor pilot, Tim Imbrock, to help him work through a difficult situation.

The airplane rolled to a stop on the 1,600 foot dirt airstrip in Idaho and the engine was shut down. Many things had gone right on this training flight, but many things had not. The pilot under training—an instructor himself—was his own worst critic. He knew that after more than a week of flying with some of the best bush instructors in the world, he was only slowly progressing in learning MAF procedures in the Cessna Turbo 206. This training allows MAF pilots to safely operate in isolated, mountainous areas around the world.

decades and had faced his own setbacks. He knew what to do.

Instead of sharing expertise on aerodynamics, airstrips, and aircraft, he addressed the root of the problem. He shared about a time when he cried out to God and told how God came through with unmistakable deliverance and strength.

He led the pilot in prayer and asked for ability, peace, and the power of the Spirit of God to enable him to accomplish the work to which he had been called. As they prayed, the burden and the discouragement lifted.

No more problems to be hidden or overcome in his own strength.

God calls, God equips, and God empowers His people to do that to which they’ve been called.

They returned to the training, and joy and confidence replaced trepidation and doubt. In the following days, prayers from the instructor and many others continued—and continued to be answered. There were still tough moments, but the pilot was empowered to successfully meet the standard. He realized that in flying, like in all of life, nothing can be accomplished in our own strength, but only through the power of the Spirit of God. He can say with the Psalmist: “BLESSED BE THE LORD! FOR HE HAS HEARD THE VOICE OF MY PLEAS FOR MERCY.” PSALM 28:6

As the two sat in a moment of silent reflection, discouragement washed over the pilot. His eyes filled with tears. He turned to his instructor and choked out: “If I can’t get through this training, I know that it’s God’s will and that’s the best for me, but it will be so hard.”

The instructor heard the desperation in the pilot’s voice. He had been a pilot with MAF for more than three

Above: Joe Adams currently serves as an MAF missionary pilot in Lesotho.

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YEARS OF HOPE

A unique partnership is bringing hope to the mountains of Lesotho.

The sun sets on the Tlhanyaku valley of Lesotho. Photo by Lem Malabuyo.

A mother and her two children hiked uphill carrying empty fivegallon plastic jugs. Dry season in the mountains of Lesotho means water is scarce.

Headed in a different direction, members of the Lesotho Flying Pastors (LFP) were on their way to a village to share the gospel. They soon crossed paths with the water seekers.

Hope Comes by Air and Foot

BY JENN WOLF

The mom remembered the pastors from their last visit to the area, when they had shown a film about a man named Jesus. She was glad to see them again and stopped along the trail to talk with one of them.

Refiloe, one of the LFP members, opened her Bible and began to share with them from God’s Word.

She then asked if they were ready to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.

village. Now the LFP also head to Matsaile and reach communities in that area.

When they go, the LFP find that many people have never heard the name of Jesus. They practice witchcraft and live in fear of ancestors and nature, which they believe control their destinies.

“To know there is someone more powerful than any of these spirits and things they're afraid of is transforming. It frees them from fear,” explained Joe Adams, an MAF pilot who played a key role in bringing structure and unity to the LFP.

They agreed and, with arms raised, right there on the trail, repeated the prayer that ushered them into God’s kingdom.

A STRONG PARTNERSHIP

The MAF team in Lesotho had been praying for years for an opportunity to partner with local believers to share the gospel in the remote villages of this small, mountain kingdom.

The LFP was born out of that desire.

MAF provides the strategic vision and oversight, the transportation, and the logistics. But they don’t operate alone.

“The Lesotho Flying Pastors is not our project,” said Matt Monson, program manager of MAF Lesotho. “It’s a huge collaborative effort from so many people. The local pastors who have the ability to preach and teach in their own context—their part is crucial.”

MAF began sending teams of Basotho LFP lay pastors and youth leaders— two men and two women on each trip—to the Thlanyaku area once a month where they would hike to surrounding villages for a week at a time.

Things were going so well that, last August, MAF added a second key

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Below: Refiloe Shoaepane (foreground) prays with water seekers on a trail in the mountains of Lesotho.

Photo by Jennifer Wolf.

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YEARS OF HOPE

People like you make stories like this possible!

MAF plays a crucial part in taking them to the mountains. By supporting MAF, people like you make this possible.

“Without the support of donors, the whole thing falls apart,” added Matt.

OUT OF THE BOX

MAF serves the physical needs of the Basotho people in Lesotho’s remote mountains—80 percent of all MAF’s flights there are medically related, and they conduct some 200 medical evacuations each year.

But the team’s ultimate goal is to see people transformed by the love of Christ. MAF’s partnership with the LFP allows the message of the gospel to reach isolated areas of the country.

The LFP members already know the language and understand the culture and the difficulties their people face.

They are passionate about reaching their own.

“They can immediately make heart connections with the people who live in these remote locations,” said Matt.

It’s required some out-of-the-box thinking about how best to come alongside the local church.

Recently, Joe held a day-long training for the LFP volunteers, and MAF 1-800-FLYS-MAF

has hired one of the LFP members to coordinate the trips. Makopoi Shoaepane communicates with the volunteers, purchases the food, and arranges lodging for each trip. Then, she spends two weeks of the month with the LFP teams in the mountain villages.

life by swallowing needles.

Joe knew one of the LFP pastors, David, had plans to fly to this man’s village. Joe asked David to try to locate the young man while he was there and share the gospel with him.

“If MAF wasn't partners with the Lesotho Flying Pastors, it wouldn't be easy for us to get here,” explained Makopoi. The alternative would require a full day of travel by public transport on a winding, dirt road into the mountains.

A short time later, Joe received a text from the pastor. The man had indeed heard the good news about Jesus and decided to follow Him.

“An MAF flight from Maseru to Tlhanyaku is about 45 minutes. We get here and we’re not tired. The same day we start going village to village, so it's a really great help,” said Makopoi.

Thanks to the prayers and financial support of people like you, the Basotho people are finding Living Water and hope for their souls.

THE SPIRITUAL AND THE PHYSICAL CONVERGE

Recently, MAF had a request for a Code-1 emergency flight to bring a man from one of the mountain clinics to the main hospital in Maseru. He had tried to take his own

A nurse arrives at the Bobete clinic, in Lesotho’s mountains, after an MAF flight. Photo by Lem Malabuyo.

NEWS & PRAYER

75 Years of Reaching Isolated People with Christ’s Love!

Prayer Requests

This year MAF is celebrating 75 years of ministry.

On May 20, 1945, incorporation papers were signed for the Christian Airmen’s Missionary Fellowship (CAMF), which later became Mission Aviation Fellowship. Watch for announcements about upcoming community events. We praise God for His provision and protection over the years, and for the faithful supporters who have made it possible for us to bring the love of Jesus Christ to isolated people.

Lift up a new discipleship project in the village of Long Pujungan, a strategic center in an isolated area of North Kalimantan, Indonesia. Please pray for the Indonesian pastors and church leaders who minster to the parents and youth there.

Pray for MAF’s 75th anniversary events, that God will be glorified and people will be drawn to Christ.

Ask the Lord to direct Christian teachers willing to serve overseas with MAF. We have a critical need for the next school year.

New Translation Work The MAF team in Tarkan, Kalimantan is excited to be flying in support of five new Bible translation projects that have recently started in North Kalimantan.

KartiDaya, an Indonesian branch of Wycliffe, is overseeing the work. In the fall, MAF flew two groups of translation workers to do research out of the towns of Long Bawan and Long Ampung. MAF also helped with transportation to and from Malinau in March for a semi-annual workshop on all five projects.

Ask the Lord to attract more members to the new MAF-US Airline Engagement Initiative, which invites commercial airline pilots to spark conversations about MAF with colleagues.

A Stronger Partnership MAF’s Dave and Donna Jacobsson, together with a delegation from MAF Sweden and MAF Norway, met with Dr. Mukwege (OB/GYN) and the Panzi Foundation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They explored how MAF might better support Dr. Mukwege’s work of advocating for and healing women who’ve suffered from sexual violence—work that earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

Today, he has a vision for training and partnering with remote medical centers and sending medical/surgical outreach teams to hard-to-reach areas of the country, thereby treating thousands more women. “We sense God opening up new opportunities,” said Donna.

Right: MAF flies Panzi Hospital doctors from Bukavu to Yakoma and Gemena, DRC.

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Prayer Generosity Obedience Dedication Service Faith Sacrifice Because of the support of people like you, MAF has helped the message of the gospel reach people living in the most isolated places on earth ... for 75 years.

Thank you!

Your support means countless lives have been transformed by the love of Jesus Christ for generations.