FlightWatch - 2021, Volume 4

FALL 2021 MAF.ORG

STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF GOD’S SERVANTS

F L I G H T 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 how you are making it possible for the gospel to transform the lives of isolated people around the world.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

Your prayers, your gifts, and your time, are key to MAF’s ministry.

Thank you for sharing the love of Jesus at the ends of the earth!

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.

Tracey Werre, Director of Marketing Brad Hoaglun, Managing Editor Micki Blair, Production Manager Stephanie Copenhaver, Designer Natalie Holsten, Jeanelle Reider, and Jennifer Wolf, Writers/Resourcing

MAF maintains the highest standards of financial accountability and public disclosure to donors and the U.S. government. MAF is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) as well as other organizations. A list of all organizations can be found at maf.org/about accountability.

Mission Aviation Fellowship PO Box 47, Nampa, ID 83653-0047 208-498-0800 1-800-FLYS-MAF (359-7623) Cover Photo: Assistant mechanic Elvis Timang works on a Kodiak 100 aircraft in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia.

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—Philippians 1:3-5 (ESV)

One of the things that our family remembers most fondly about serving overseas with MAF is the depth of relationship we enjoyed with our national staff. The work of MAF requires a multitude of people serving together to accomplish what God has called us to do and these local employees play such an important part in our ministry.

Almost half of the individuals that comprise our organization come from the countries where we serve. These important members of MAF’s family serve in a number of vital roles, such as government relations, flight schedulers, aircraft loaders, and mechanics. Several are in the pipeline to do flight training with us. In short, we simply would not be able to do the work of MAF without their partnership.

In this month’s FlightWatch, you’ll read about our flight instructor, Erick Paradizo, as he brings focused attention to the training of national pilots. You’ll also read about how MAF is serving national Bible translators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

MAF believes in the importance of strengthening the talent and capacity of our national staff. Many individuals have served decades with us after joining MAF at a young age, with minimal training or experience. Through years of invested effort, their capabilities and responsibilities have grown to a point where they are making a very significant and crucial impact.

Thank you for partnering with MAF and investing in this ministry!

Your doing so allows us to pour into the lives of our national brothers and sisters, demonstrating to a watching world how members of the body of Christ can serve together.

With gratitude,

David Holsten President and CEO

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It’s Flight Crew’s

One-Year Anniversary!

Celebrate with us as we look back on what MAF’s Flight Crew has accomplished in a year. This dedicated group of monthly givers is making a life-changing impact in the lives of isolated people and helping to sustain the ministry of MAF. Since we launched this program, the group has grown to 1707 members.

Altogether, Flight Crew members pledged $1.25 million over the past year!

Their recurring gifts have made things like this possible:

554 flights bringing help, hope, and healing to isolated communities, or...

851,164 pounds of cargo delivered

food, medicine, building materials, school supplies, Bibles or...

3,940 individual

seats/passengers pastors, missionaries, Bible translators, doctors, nurses, medical patients, teachers, and school children

While they don’t expect anything in return, Flight Crew members enjoy a unique bird’s-eye view of MAF. Here’s what one member says: “It is wonderful to be a part of taking the gospel to places all over the world, many of which would be tough to reach in other ways. I love being a part of a ministry that cares for people’s lives, health, and issues here on earth as well as their souls.

It’s the complete package.” —Denise Flight Crew’s recurring gifts enable MAF to give more isolated people access to healthcare, education, reliable food sources, clean water, and disaster relief. They’re opening doors for the good news of Jesus to reach the ends of the earth.

We’re grateful for each and every member. Thank you, Flight Crew, for a spectacular first year!

To learn more about Flight Crew go to: maf.org/joinflightcrew

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Where Passion and Preparation Meet MAF is committed to strengthening foreign staff and preparing them to follow the Lord’s call

By Jennifer Wolf “The pilot went full throttle and we were rolling down the runway. My heart started beating fast and I wanted to be up front doing that, experiencing that over and over again,” said Rickson Poki, describing the first time he flew on a commercial aircraft, when he was a preschooler.

Rickson, or “Ricky,” as most people call him, comes from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and is one of several foreign staff members who have spent time at MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, to further their flight or maintenance training.

Whether it happens at an overseas flight program or here in the U.S., MAF is deeply committed to building the capacity and talent of local teammates in the developing countries where we serve.

“There is a big need and MAF leadership sees a lot of potential in the national staff around the world,” said MAF flight instructor Erick Paradizo, who is working with foreign pilots like Ricky.

These are pilots who joined MAF overseas in some other capacity—administration, maintenance, or another role—and haven’t flown for a few years. That was true of Ricky, who served for three years as an executive assistant to the MAF PNG country director. Part of Erick’s role is to give pilots like Ricky more experience, increase

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their flight hours to meet MAF’s requirement, teach MAF’s standards, and prepare them to serve on the field.

Foreign staff come to MAF headquarters to further their training, but it’s much more than that. There’s quite a bit of mentoring involved.

“I think it is important to help provide the wisdom and guidance that they need,” Erick added. “So before every lesson, we spend time in prayer. We make our Lord and Savior the first thing of the day and we glorify and praise Him for the good things He has done.”

Ricky went through ground classes with Erick before he began flying with him.

“When we started, Erick got to know me—what I found easy or what helped me learn. So just going through ground class, we’ve actually bonded really well. I see him as an instructor but I also see him as a friend, a big brother, a mentor.”

Following the Call “Throughout school, I just felt that calling, deep down inside,” Ricky said as he finished the story of where his desire to be a pilot came from. “That passion still is there. I can’t explain it sometimes.”

After graduating from flight school in the Philippines, Ricky discovered YouTube videos showing MAF in action.

In Idaho, Ricky Poki, left, flies with Erick Paradizo. Photo by Lemuel Malabuyo.

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“As I was looking at MAF, it nailed two things that I really wanted because I have a heart to serve people. That’s just in me.” Ricky said. “And flying is something I love. And I thought, if I could serve my people in the way MAF does and end up flying at the same time, that would be like killing two birds with one stone.”

While Ricky continues his flight training with Erick, he’ll be working toward passing MAF’s Technical Evaluation and then Standardization.

When he passes, God willing, he’ll likely serve at an MAF-US program until he builds up enough flight hours to qualify to serve in PNG (which has a higher hour requirement).

MAF pilot Philip Sutter flying with Ricky Poki in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Ricky Poki.

“My ultimate goal at this stage is surrendering to the Lord and to see what he has in store for me,” Ricky said. “If it is to fly, I would like to be an encouragement to my people and to children who want to do this and serve God in this capacity.”

“For me, the purpose is to follow the calling that the Lord has for me. He’s called me to fly. It’s going to be that way.”

Empowered to Serve Knowing that the pilots he has trained are now serving with MAF back in their own countries, or in other countries, Erick feels he’s been part of their journey to the mission field.

“It feels like I’m going with them, wherever they’re going,” Erick said. “And I just love seeing them serving the Lord in different parts of the world.”

Since October 2020, Erick has trained one pilot each from Ecuador, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and now, PNG. “In the places that we serve, you see people with the heart of Christ who really want to glorify the Lord and use their skills and talents in their own country, to help their own people,” Erick said. “It’s important for us here at MAF to empower the nationals and give them the tools they need to accomplish the mission of bringing help, hope, and healing to isolated people.”

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Erick Paradizo teaches a ground class at MAF’s Nampa, Idaho headquarters. Photo by Lemuel Malabuyo.

MAF Foreign Staff Studying in the U.S. Some foreign staff don’t have the ability to obtain certification or licenses in their own country, either because the cost is prohibitive or it’s just not offered there. One solution is to bring them to a school in the U.S. This year four of MAF’s national staff members are pursing pilot or mechanic training.

Zacharie H. François After obtaining his Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificate from the School of Missionary Aviation Technology (SMAT) in 2018/2019, Zacharie François has returned this fall to start his flight training. He is the first foreign student admitted to the flight program. And, he’s the first certified Haitian maintenance specialist on the MAF Haiti program. Prior to that he served in an apprentice role. You can read an earlier story about Zacharie’s dream to be an MAF pilot at maf.org/zach.

Waren Lelewa Waren Lelewa and his family arrived in Waynesboro, VA, in early August.

Waren is continuing his studies towards a U.S. A&P certificate at Blue Ridge Community College. He has completed three semesters worth of theory online, and now needs to complete his practical labs and Basic Electricity.

Waren is an apprentice mechanic with MAF Papua (Indonesia). He’s served with MAF since December 2014, starting in the warehouse, becoming head of the warehouse, and then moving into the hangar for the last 4.5 years.

Mantlibi Mafa As part of her automotive maintenance schooling in Lesotho, in southern Africa, Mantlibi Mafa acquired an internship with MAF in the capital city of Maseru. After she graduated, MAF Lesotho called her for odd jobs and then asked her to come on permanently as an apprentice aircraft mechanic in 2017. After a delay due to the pandemic, she’s started her classes this fall at SMAT to receive an A&P certificate. You can see an earlier video of Mantlibi at maf.org/mantlibi.

Juan Antonio Rivera Growing up in a missionary family in the remote mountains of southern Mexico, Juan Antonio and his family collaborated with MAF. Eventually, his father became country director for Alas de Socorro Mexico (ADS), as MAF is known in Latin America. As a teenager, Juan Antonio started doing projects with ADS and today he and his wife, Amy, are in Michigan. Juan Antonio is attending SMAT and working towards an A&P certificate, which is a one-year program.

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A Day of Celebration After decades of work, four New Testament translations are dedicated on the same day

By Natalie Holsten

Pagabete people, the journey required travel by truck, dugout canoe, and bicycle. The trip, which took several days, was exhausting.

The day was a mix of joyous celebration and solemn ceremony. The sounds of exuberant singing and traditional harp and drums filled the air. Some participants danced, wearing outfits made from the same blue patterned cloth, a Congolese tradition to mark a special occasion.

An MAF pilot, Phil Smith, accompanied Sharon and her coworker on a subsequent trip to the village, to see if an old airstrip there could be used.

The pilot instructed the villagers to trim palm tree branches and take down a huge termite mound at one end of the airstrip. After that, pilot Rod Hochstetler did the first flight for the missionaries, and the difference was profound.

If there was ever a special occasion to mark, this was it: the Pagabete, Mono, Lobala, and NgbandiNgiri—four people groups in the northwest part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)— were receiving the New Testament in their heart languages. These four groups combined are almost half a million people.

“That was so wonderful, as after that we could go in and out by plane, so rather than taking a couple of days of tiring travel, we could be there in about half an hour,” Sharon recalled. “I remember the first time we flew in that way, and I was expecting to be too tired to do much the first day, needing to recover, but of course, we weren’t tired!”

“Today is a great day for us,” said Rev. Bolobo Obed, coordinator of the Lobala translation, who attended the April 25 dedication in Gemena. “We are very happy that now the New Testament in Lobala is completed. Now the Lobala people have the Book in their hands, and we pray that this Book will change lives for the glory of God.”

When war broke out in the DRC in 1996, the missionaries were forced to leave, and it soon became evident that they would not be able to return and continue their work.

The translations didn’t come easy. More than three decades ago, western missionaries from Wycliffe Bible Translators began working in several tribes that did not yet have the Bible, or even a written language, in their mother tongue.

The Congolese, determined to see the scriptures in their languages, took over the translation, encouraged and advised by the missionaries from afar. The national translators persisted through many difficulties, including the ongoing disruption

When missionary Sharon Morgan first traveled to the village of Ngakpo in 1995 to work with the

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Bottom Left: MAF was able to fly in a group of missionaries for the dedication of four New Testament translations. From left to right are SIL missionaries Jessica and Ken Olsen, Galen Johnson, MAF pilot Dan Carlson, MAF staff Valerie Hochstetler, missionary Barb Shragg, and MAF pilot Rod Hochstetler and Wane Maloso behind the wing. Bottom Right: MAF pilot Rod Hochstetler straps down a bicycle belonging to a Wycliffe missionary who worked on the Lobala translation in the early 1990s. Photo credit: David Morgan

of civil war, sickness, and the loss of co-workers. As MAF was able, flights were done to support to the translation work.

“It was a gift of God to see the thread of Him working in people’s lives over the span of thirty years,” Rod shared. “As pilots we have a bird’s-eye view of God’s creation; being at this dedication was a bird’s-eye view of God at work over time.”

“MAF has been very useful and at the heart of Bible translation works, and especially the Lobala Translation Project,” Rev. Bolobo shared.

Each translator received a copy of their New Testament translation, and after the service, members of the different language groups were able to purchase New Testaments of their own.

Rev. Bolobo has seen firsthand how hearing God’s word in a heart language can change lives. He recalled one Lobala preacher who had abandoned his faith for many years. “But after hearing the living Word of God preached in Lobala during one of our visits to the Lobala language areas, he repented and came back to God. We prayed for him and he resumed his preaching work as a catechist.

This was so touching to the Lobala translation team during our visits.”

“My hope is that by receiving these New Testaments, people’s lives will be transformed, people will be nourished by the Word,” said Rev. Goma Mabele, director of ACOTBA, the Congolese Bible translation organization that oversaw the translations.

Despite the challenges, the work moved forward, and in April of this year, the four New Testament translations were dedicated. MAF staff Rod and Valerie Hochstetler and Dan Carlson, along with several of the missionaries who did the pioneer translation work, were able to fly on MAF into Gemena to join in the celebration.

MAF will continue to support efforts in the DRC and other parts of the world to help people have the Bible in their heart languages. Your support and prayers play a part in seeing translations like these come to fruition.

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NEWS

MAF delivers oxygen concentrators to fight COVID-19.

Photo by Jeremy Toews

MAF HELPS COMMUNITIES FIGHT COVID-19 In July, Indonesia became the epicenter of the COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in southeast Asia. “The situation became quite serious in the province of North Kalimantan as hospitals began filling to capacity, oxygen supplies grew scarce, and the death toll grew daily,” said MAF pilot Jeremy Toews. When several isolated communities had outbreaks, the MAF team worked with the Ministry of Health, Indonesian churches, and Christian non-profits to deliver oxygen concentrators and other medical supplies, PPE, basic necessities, and medical personnel. One pilot and one aircraft were dedicated for COVID-19 relief work, which included several medevac flights with meticulous protocols in place. Jeremy was a designated pilot during the peak in July. “We praise the Lord for bringing us through a challenging season,” said Jeremy. “Thankfully, the worst appears to be behind us.”

REMEMBERING A FAITHFUL TEAMMATE Agus Dragerhil Tarung passed away the morning of July 19, in Palangkaraya, Kalimantan. He served as MAF’s office manager for many years, but didn’t limit himself to the office.

Agus humbly served in any way he could—fueling the planes, helping move medical patients, moving fuel from the delivery truck to fuel drums, etc. He genuinely loved and followed Jesus.

Agus deeply loved his wife and two daughters, the people in his village, and anyone who didn’t know Jesus as their Savior. He boldly shared his faith wherever he could and led our national team very well in Palangkaraya.

Agus and his family. Photo by Isaac Rogers

MAF RELIEF EFFORTS IN HAITI Following a 7.2 earthquake in Haiti on August 14, MAF has been partnering with other organizations, like Samaritan’s Purse, and providing logistics support and relief flights. One such flight was for Danita’s Children, located near the town Ouanaminthe, on the border with Dominican Republic—about as far from Jeremie, the affected area, as one can get within the country.

They wanted to help so they called MAF. On August 20, MAF transported their team of three physicians and five nurses, as well as 800 pounds of medical supplies, to Jeremie.

MAF transports a medical team from Danita’s Children into the earthquake zone. Photo by Eric Fagerland MAF.ORG

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PRAYER REQUESTS - Pray for Indonesia as it continues to fight a wave of COVID-19.

- Remember the foreign staff who are receiving training in the U.S. Pray that they will adjust well to life in the U.S., including understanding of the culture and the education system, dealing with the homesickness they may experience, and getting used to winter weather.

- Praise God for the flying doctor program starting up again in Mozambique.

- Please lift up the people of southwestern Haiti as they try to rebuild their lives following the earthquake.

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT

JUAN CARLOS AND JOHANNA PORTILLO Juan Carlos and Johanna Portillo joined MAF in 2007 as a pilot/mechanic family. They have served 14 years in three MAF affiliates—organizations that were founded by MAF but now are operated by local people. These include MAF Suriname, Alas de Socorro (Wings of Help) in Mexico, and AGAPE in Guatemala, where the Portillos are currently stationed. Juan Carlos will soon take on the role of financial advisor to all five of MAF’s Latin America affiliates and hopes to create greater unity among them.

Over the years, Juan Carlos has taken advantage of his giftings in teaching and pastoral care, combined with his technical and financial skills. He explains how these play a part in mission aviation: “Becoming a missionary pilot does not just require technical skills; there is the spiritual aspect too. It’s the right Christian character that helps us show why we do what we do. It’s not just the humanitarian side but showing Christ’s love.”

Juan Carlos and Johanna are looking for financial and prayer partners to join their team. Learn more about their ministry at maf.org/portillo

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You can partner with MAF this Christmas We know that bringing help, hope, and healing to isolated people is important to you.

When you support MAF, that’s what you achieve.

In this season of giving, a gift to MAF will have a significant impact in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

• Give your year-end gift at maf.org/year-end • Choose an MAF missionary family to support at maf.org/missionaries • Experience our newest initiative for monthly donors, Flight Crew, at maf.org/joinflightcrew