FlightWatch - 2022, Volume 1

RESPONDING TO THE CALL VOL. 1 2022 | MAF.ORG

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

—1 Cor 13:13

“Love” is a word that is probably overused in our vocabulary (I love this ice cream! or I’d love to go to the beach!) while being underused in our obedience to God. 1 Corinthians 13 depicts love as being the foundation that should undergird our most meaningful actions. It is described as patient and kind towards others while being hopeful and persevering. In this edition of FlightWatch you will find stories that clearly depict these deeper expressions of love and how it can connect us to the work God is doing around the world.

The story about reaching the Dem tribe is particularly meaningful to me. I previously served as an MAF pilot in Papua and vividly remember the excitement of those first flights to deliver supplies for the construction of the missionaries’ homes. I also recall times of tension in the early days as the Dem people struggled to communicate with these newcomers. Those missionary families have persevered, with hope and kindness, as they have been accepted by the community. They have shown love to the Dem, and as a result the Dem now understand the love that God has for them.

You will also read about parents of MAF staff, whose love allowed them to let go so their children could faithfully pursue the calling God had placed on their lives. While this is a sacrifice for the parents, it has also brought them great joy.

I hope you’ll enjoy learning about the efforts of a team of talented individuals who set out on a winding and unpredictable journey to tell a story, through MAF’s just-released documentary, of how God’s love is reaching isolated people.

I often find myself saying, “I love the work of MAF!” I pray that the inspiring stories in this FlightWatch will grow your love for this ministry, too. More importantly, I pray that your love for our Savior will deepen as you see His heart for the nations and the people he is using to reach them.

Serving Together,

Cover Photo: The first graduating class from the École Biblique Portatif (Portable Bible School) in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo by Chad Dimon.

David Holsten President and CEO

FLI G H T WATC H 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.

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

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!

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Stephanie Greenlee, Designer Chris Burgess, Natalie Holsten, Jeanelle Reider, and Jennifer Wolf, Writers/Resourcing 2

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/accountability.

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

The Bridge to Hope To what lengths will a village go to find God?

By Jennifer Wolf One day in 2012, a few men from Bina, a village in the highlands of Papua, Indonesia, started a two-day trek to traverse a huge valley. When they reached the rushing river in the middle, they stepped barefoot and sure-footedly on a narrow vine bridge to cross to the other side.

The bridge had been torn down years before due to tension between their tribe—the Dem—and the Wano people. They had recently rebuilt the bridge because they’d heard a group of missionaries were visiting the Wano in Mokndoma and they hoped to bring them to Bina.

In Mokndoma that day, four men were helping a fellow missionary with a project. They were all expatriates from the same Christian organization.* As they were working, they got word that some men had come from Bina and wanted to talk with them. They put down their tools and met them at the local meeting area.

The bridge the Dem rebuilt to cross over to Mokndoma. Photo by Jay.

*Some of our partners prefer to be anonymous, particularly when they are in the early stages of working with a new tribe.

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Through a translator, the Dem men shared how they felt like forgotten people; all the tribes around them already had missionaries come and translate the Bible in their language.

“We know when Jesus comes back we’re going to die. We are in darkness,” said one of the Dem men, wiping tears from his eyes.

Although missionaries had passed through Bina around 50 years ago, they hadn’t stayed.

They were on their way to bring the gospel to another tribe. But they told the Dem that if they were to build an airstrip in Bina, missionaries would be more likely to come. So they did, but no one came. And while a few Dem people had some brief Bible training, it wasn’t in their mother tongue. What little the people knew was mixed in with their animistic beliefs—the belief that spirits live in inanimate objects. And they continued to live in fear of these spirits.

Dylan, one of the four men helping at the time, and his wife had been asking God to reveal where He wanted them to serve. They had committed to go to a people group who were asking for the gospel, which is how they came to be in Papua, Indonesia. The visit to Mokndoma was an unplanned, last-minute trip.

“I knew right away that this was the answer from God we had been waiting for. It couldn’t have been any clearer,” said Dylan.

Dylan told the Dem men, “If it was up to us we would grab our bags and come to the village to live with you.” But first, they needed to return to the city to finish tasks, check with their organization’s leaders, and talk it over with their families before they could come to Bina.

But they did come. Almost a year later, Dylan returned to build a home so his wife and three young children could live there. Near the end of Dylan’s visit, MAF officially opened the Bina airstrip and began serving Dylan’s family and the other three men who were with him that day—and their families, who followed shortly after.

Over the next seven-plus years, MAF airplanes landed in Bina often, bringing the families in and out; transporting zinc roofing for their homes, a literacy building, and a large gathering place; and delivering appliances, food, and other supplies needed to live in the remote village. MAF also did medical evacuation flights for the Dem people.

Together, the missionary families learned the culture and the language of the Dem. They taught literacy classes so the people could one day read God’s Word. And, eventually, they were able to translate and prepare a series of 79 Bible lessons covering Creation to Christ— “God’s Talk.”

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The Bina missionary families, Dem men, and the MAF work team, including Mike and Christy Brown, and Jack Hamstra and his kids, Emma, Jackson, and JR. Photo by Angie Hamstra.

The Hamstras’ Path to Papua Just days after Christmas 2020, Jack Hamstra, an MAF maintenance specialist, his wife, Angie, and their three teen children, along with other teammates, were spending a few days in the village of Bina to help with a special building project—a large gathering place where the Dem people would soon be hearing about the God who loves them.

Jack had been serving with his family in Papua, Indonesia, for a few months and he was happy to do this work project for the Bina missionaries who were supported by MAF flights. As Jack thought and prayed about what would soon transpire under the shelter they were building, he was amazed at the goodness of God and the path He had brought them on to get to this point—even though that path had included some tough things along the way.

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A few years earlier, Jack and Angie had stepped out in faith in their first “mission field”— fostering and adoption. Angie had cared for their four children, including an adopted daughter who had several medical needs. Jack had been working on corporate jet engines for several years but was beginning to feel unsettled at work.

“I liked my job fixing airplanes, and the guys I worked with. I just felt like there was something more.”

His discontentment had gone on for three years while the couple had prayed together every morning for the Lord’s direction. As time went on, their daughter’s health had begun to decline. The family had been through some difficult times before, but when Laila died, it was the most heart-rending trial they’d experienced. They hadn’t known it was coming, but the Lord knew.

Six months later, after they’d taken time to grieve, God finally began to reveal what he had in mind for them next.

In 2017, they sent an inquiry to MAF, trusting that God would open the doors if it was His will. God opened them wide. Three years later, the Hamstras were in Indonesia serving at the MAF base in Sentani, which is how their family came to be in the village of Bina in late 2020.

They had a sweet time of fellowship during that visit with the four missionary families and learned the amazing story of how God had called them to Bina. They also met the Dem people and heard about their culture, their beliefs, and their fears. But now, the Dem were so close to hearing God’s Word in their own language for the first time; it gave Angie pause for thought.

Top: Dylan and Jared greet the Dem men who were seeking missionaries for Bina. Photo by Mike. Middle: Dylan with his language helper, Eriak, the first Dem believer. Photo

by Angie. Bottom: The Dem people gather for “God’s Talk” under the new shelter. Photo by Jack Hamstra.

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With Laila’s death and other hardships her family had been through, plus the general craziness of the world in 2020, Angie had sometimes found herself thinking, “Jesus, can you just come back?”

But as she stood in the middle of a village of five-hundred people who didn’t know Christ, it gave her a different perspective. “Maybe wait a little bit longer, Jesus. We need these people to have the Word.”

Hope Comes to the Dem In early January 2021, Dem villagers walked across the dewy grass and took a seat on the ground under the new shelter. They may not have realized it at the time, but God was calling them to His heart. He wanted them to know the extravagant love He had for them—the salvation that awaited each and every one.

Among them were Tigitogon, Liut, Nambal and his son, Yanet, the ones who had crossed the bridge several years earlier. Terisi, whom God had saved the year before through an MAF medevac flight, was there with her twin babies. Many others filed in, some who had hiked from over an hour away to hear the teaching, even three people who were crippled and endured difficult, muddy mountain trails.

The teaching began in the Old Testament with the Creation story and continued every weekday for several weeks. By March, they were in the New Testament. In mid-April, the Dem heard of Jesus’ death and resurrection and learned how they could be made right with God. Many tears were shed and confessions of faith were shared that day.

“Jesus did nothing wrong. He took my punishment so that I wouldn’t have to die and be separated from Yagwe,”† said an elderly woman through her tears. “I believe He did that because I couldn’t do it myself; no one can. Jesus did that for me. That Talk is very true.”

One man, after he’d believed in Christ as his Savior, said, “We have always thought Yagwe was white man’s Father.”

God in His sovereign, merciful way called the Dem men to cross the bridge that led to the four missionary families coming to Bina, which led to MAF opening the Bina airstrip. All continue to be obedient to God’s call on their lives: the Dem seek after God, the Bina missionaries teach and disciple, and the MAF missionaries partner with them.

Now the Dem people know that the good news is for all people, even for those who feel like the forgotten ones—even for those who live at the ends of the earth. †Yagwe – Dem word for Yahweh

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A Journey of Trust When loved ones are called to serve overseas

by Jeanelle Reider Jake and Ada Breugem had no doubt God had called their daughter and her family to serve with MAF in the South American country of Suriname. But that didn’t make it easy to let them go.

As they thought about the moment when they would have to say goodbye to Miriam and Peter De Winkle and their five children, a sea of emotions crashed up against their bedrock faith. What do we do? We love them so much, and we will miss the grandchildren so much! How can we do this?

Great Expectations At the age of nine, Miriam had told her mom and dad that God had called her to be a missionary overseas. They had been delighted.

But years later, Miriam fell in love with Peter. He, like Miriam, had a strong heart for missions, but he believed God’s plan for him was to marry, have kids, and run a dairy, as his parents, Bert and Tina, had done.

Peter and Miriam got married, and Miriam and her parents concluded that God must be asking them to adjust their understanding of His call on Miriam’s life.

“We can talk easily about it now. But it was really not easy to bid them farewell.”

-Ada Breugem Miriam and Peter De Winkle. Photo by MAF. MAF.ORG

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Peter continued to be heavily involved in the operations of his parents’ dairy farm, fully expecting that he would remain a farmer for the rest of his life. But then, in Peter’s words, “God just turned that on its head.”

Through a series of events, God surprised Peter with a new calling: serve with MAF as a pilot/mechanic. Now it was Peter’s parents who were being asked to release a dearly-held hope for one of their children and to trust God for a new direction.

Mixed Emotions On October 25, 2019, Jake, Ada, Bert, and Tina were seated in an auditorium at MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. They had joined other families and friends who were there to see their loved ones commissioned for service with MAF.

The De Winkle family at a park in downtown Paramaribo, Suriname. Photo courtesy of the De Winkles.

A Special Calling?

Ada was overcome with a sense of peace. She thought to herself, “It cannot be better.”

The struggle is real for those whose loved ones are called to serve overseas. They miss them more than words can express. They worry about their safety and well-being.

They hope they will stay in touch. They wonder if their loved ones are giving up too much.

It’s likely, however, that there were others in the room who did not share that same peace.

As MAF president David Holsten reminds families and friends during these send-offs, “There can be a sort of heaviness that surrounds it as well. Maybe you’re bringing some anxiety, some fear. I just want you to know if that’s what you’re experiencing, it’s really normal. We’ve all felt that mix of emotions at times.”

Some wrestle with why their loved ones would travel around the world to serve people they’ve never met. As Peter explained, “It’s not because we want to go over there and have an adventure. It’s because we want to help God’s kingdom grow around the world.”

Ada herself admits, “We can talk easily about it now.

But it was really not easy to bid them farewell.”

When asked if sending their daughter and family overseas is a special calling from God, Jake and Ada weren’t sure they would put it quite that way.

Shortly after Peter and Miriam and their five children arrived in Suriname, the entire family came down with Dengue fever. Barely settled in an unfamiliar country, they suffered through high fevers, rashes, and muscle and joint pain—unable, for a while, to even communicate with their parents.

“I think a calling from God is your life,” Ada explained.

“You only want to do what He wants you to do.”

Jake added, “It should be for every Christian.”

“When you see that your children are obeying God’s call on their life, and you have a peace about letting them go—is that a calling?” Ada asked.

Bert and Tina had learned years earlier, when one of their sons had suffered a severe brain injury, that their children belonged to God, not to them. Now, they had to remind themselves of this truth again.

Then she thought for a moment …

Because, in spite of the faith that God had built up in them through the years, they—as well as Jake and Ada—felt so far away. So powerless to help.

“I think it’s a joy.”

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“It seemed God was taking His place in the director’s chair.”

Chris Burgess in the village of Mokndoma. Photo by Mark Hewes.

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Beyond 'Ends of the Earth' What telling MAF’s story taught me about following God

By Chris Burgess One day in the summer of 2020, I walked out of my home office/laundry room, plopped onto our couch, and put my head in my hands. The email I had opened seemed like the final blow to a sputtering documentary film project. Four years of work, down the drain.

As I sat there, wallowing on the couch, a phrase I heard from a seasoned director early in this project rattled around in my head: “In a Hollywood movie, the director is god.

In a documentary, God is the director.”

If that was the case, it seemed God and I were having some creative differences.

The Power of Story Jesus would often respond to His disciples’ questions with parables. I don’t believe Jesus did this to frustrate them—although I get the sense that heads were occasionally scratched. Jesus understood the power of story. Stories capture and shape our imaginations. Parables about sowers and seeds, farmers and treasure, and Samaritans and robbers leave lasting impressions.

Finding the Plot Over the years that followed, we picked stories, talked to potential partners, created storyboards, did initial interviews and eventually went back to the drawing board.

We felt that focusing on details in a few stories would allow audiences to get to know the characters and join them on their emotional journeys. But it was challenging to narrow down the number of stories due to MAF’s work, which holds a treasure trove of God’s amazing work.

After much discussion and prayer (and a few fits and starts) we settled on a direction.

Making a Movie in a Pandemic By late February 2020, we were ready to begin production. I boarded a plane and took off for Indonesia. I remember walking through the Tokyo airport to catch the next leg-cramping flight. Crowds of people flowed past me wearing masks to protect them from a strange virus coming out of East Asia. I didn’t think much of it at the time.

In 2016, several of us at MAF dreamed of telling MAF’s story to a larger audience— people who might not have heard about the incredible work God is doing through this ministry. Alongside partners Change Media and Collide Media, we explored the idea of creating a documentary film that would be released in theaters across the country with the goal of challenging audiences to rethink global missions and wrestle with what Jesus is calling each of us to.

I made it to Papua, met Mark Hewes, a long-time video producer with MAF, and we headed to the villages of Mokndoma and Puluk and for the next week we were cut off from the outside world. We filmed the Wano believers, missionaries, and MAF pilots going into Puluk to inspect the airstrip there. This was to be a preliminary shoot that would set us up to come back in a few months with a full documentary crew.

Back then, none of us knew where this adventure would lead.

We got out of the villages in early March and discovered COVID-19 was quickly

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becoming serious. We made it back to the U.S. days before the world shut down.

able to get over there to film, MAF pilot Joel Geaslen and our missionary partners were able to shoot the first landing in Puluk.

It soon became clear we were not getting back to Papua anytime soon.

There was no need for a pity party on my couch that day—God had always been in control.

Before we left, Mark filmed a quick interview with Joyce Lin to acquire footage of her first flight for a different video project for MAF. Weeks turned into months and then early one morning, we heard tragic news—Joyce had passed away.

You Will Be My Witnesses …

This October, I sat in a theater surrounded by friends and family and watched Ends of the Earth. At the same time, people around the country sat in similar theaters and engaged with the stories of how the gospel is being shared in the farthest reaches of the world. Audiences wrestled with what God is calling each of them to as a part of His Great Commission.

It looked less and less likely that the MAF documentary was going to ever see the light of day. Even if we finished it, the future of theaters looked very uncertain.

But it seemed God was taking His place in the director’s chair.

As the story takes on new life and continues to reach new people, connecting them with MAF and the work God is doing around the world, I am thankful to have gotten a small glimpse of what happens when we let go and God writes the story.

A New Story Emerges The disruption of COVID-19, the story of Joyce’s sacrifice, and the faithfulness of the Wano believers made their way into the story—shaping this documentary into something bigger and more compelling than we could have imagined at the start.

Over the next few months MAF leadership’s commitment to this project never wavered. And partners like Moody Bible Institute, Radical, Christian Community Credit Union, The JESUS Film Project, and Our Daily Bread still wanted to make it happen.

Collide Media and Change Media felt the time might be strategic for a theatrical release. The Lin family graciously allowed us to share Joyce’s story. The work in Puluk moved forward. And even though we were not

Mark Hewes of Tandem Lens filming Liku and his son in Mokndoma, for the documentary. Photo by Chris Burgess.

PRAYER REQUESTS - Praise the Lord with us that the new Cessna Caravan for eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was released after many months in customs and is now in service.

- Pray for our staff who are waiting for visas to enter their countries of service. COVID-19 restrictions and other challenges continue to cause delays.

- Pray for the protection of staff serving in parts of the world experiencing insecurity.

- Pray that the MAF documentary, Ends of the Earth, will be widely viewed and have an impact on those who watch it.

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THANK YOU FOR 2021!

Matthew Monson with a Lesotho Flying pastor group. Photo Courtesy of Matthew Monson.

Your support made the following possible through MAF flights. These are just a sample of the impact you are having in remote areas around the world.

Yonatan Karel, an MAF maintenance assistant in Kalimantan, Indonesia, helped load a patient who was experiencing intense abdominal pain onto the aircraft to be transported to a medical facility in Tarakan. Yonatan continued to be a great help as he cared for the man and the man’s family members who had joined him on the flight.

The MAF-sponsored Lesotho Flying Pastors praise God for the children’s ministry at Matsaile and the impact new believers are having. A teacher told the team of pastors there how amazing it was that the kids were reciting scriptures at school.

MAF pilot Jeremy Toews said, “So thankful for our awesome national staff and the opportunity to serve alongside them!”

An estimated 1,800 people celebrated the first graduating class from the École Biblique Portatif (literally, “Portable Bible School”) in rural Ngilima, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During the ceremony, school leaders awarded diplomas to 31 graduates, who are now equipped to begin new ministries of evangelism, church planting, and discipleship in their respective region.

A large pangolin, one of the most trafficked animals in the world, was confiscated by police in Nampula, Mozambique. Niassa Carnivore, a trusted conservation group in the Niassa Wildlife Reserve, was contacted to handle the rehab and release of the animal, in partnership with other conservation groups. Ambassador Aviation (the MAF partner in Mozambique) was called upon to transport the animal to its transitional home in the reserve.

In western DRC, MAF flew a team of medical ambassadors with the Paul Carlson Partnership to Karawa. They have been working in the area over several years, conducting training with local doctors and clinics on how to resuscitate newborns. One of the doctors on the team said their work has reduced infant mortality in the region by 50 percent!

Through your partnership with MAF you have given remote communities access to medical care, education, food, clean water, and disaster relief. Most importantly, you’ve opened doors for the good news of Jesus Christ to transform the lives of people living at the ends of the earth.

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NEWS DEDICATION AND GROUNDBREAKING HELD AT MAF HEADQUARTERS On September 10, a dedication ceremony for a 2012 Cessna Grand Caravan was held at MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. The airplane will be used in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A new Caravan currently costs around $2.6 million. This Caravan, once used for tourist flights over Las Vegas, cost $1.8 million after purchase, engine overhaul, and equipment installation. The airplane was ferried to the DRC in December.

MAF also held a groundbreaking for a new 9,000-square-foot hangar located next to the existing hangar. The new hangar will create savings as MAF will no longer have to rent two hangars at the airport. It will also free up space in the existing hangar to add training classrooms and office space.

Photos by Dave Keyes.

CREATIVE SOLUTION FOR WET AIRSTRIP Wet landings are a frequent occurrence in the village of Turumo, Papua, where missionaries are working to plant a new church.

The missionaries can spend up to 30 hours repairing the airstrip after a wet landing. MAF staff, working with other mission partners, are addressing the issue with the installation of a system of drainage pipes and plastic sheets that will be used to provide a firmer surface and better drainage for the airstrip. Five Kodiak loads of supplies will be flown in and installed, saving the missionaries precious time and energy. Assistant program director Peter Santana said, “Excelling at what we do best enables our partners to excel at what they do best. Serving together to bring help, hope, and healing through aviation. That’s why we’re here!”

Photo by April Beck.

'ENDS OF THE EARTH' DOCUMENTARY PLAYS IN THEATERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY Ends of the Earth, the feature-length documentary about the ministry of MAF, played in over 600 theaters across the country on October 18 and 21 and was seen by nearly 24,000 people. It was one of the top 10 movies viewed on the days it ran! Additionally, many more viewed the film at hosting parties at churches around the country. If you missed it and would still like to see it, go to maf.org/endsoftheearth/ to learn about viewing options.

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MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT

"When parents know their kids are being taught and mentored, it helps them have longevity on the mission field."

KATHERINE MOSHER “My mission field is the students and their parents,” said teacher Katherine Mosher. Katherine has taught missionary kids for seven years with MAF, serving at Hillcrest International School (HIS) in Sentani, Indonesia, and its satellite school in Wamena.

Raised by Christian parents in Snoqualmie, Washington, Katherine had an early interest in missions after her small church sent out a couple for overseas ministry. “I remember them coming back and telling us about it. I remember thinking, wow, that’s amazing they could go out from this small church and do something important.”

Katherine didn’t set out to become a teacher, but after getting her undergraduate degree in English and history, she accepted a one-year assignment to Korea to serve as an ESL teacher. The year in Korea helped her realize that teaching was a natural fit.

After obtaining a master’s degree in teaching, Katherine taught in Washington state public schools for six years before heading back overseas, first in Papua, Indonesia, with MAF, then to Brazil, then back to Papua in 2017. During her teaching career, she’s taught math, history, language arts, and served as a librarian.

While Katherine loves the “lightbulb moments”

when her students grasp a new concept or master a new skill, she also finds great fulfillment in serving as a mentor for her students.

“While I’m teaching, I’m also mentoring,” she shared. “Kids need people who are there for them.”

When parents know their kids are being taught and mentored, Katherine explained, it helps them have longevity on the mission field.

Katherine has found those mentoring opportunities through activities like Outdoor Education(OE), when the entire high school at HIS heads to a remote village for two weeks of work projects, Bible study, and anthropology studies.

“It’s a watershed moment for kids,” Katherine said.

“Kids can be like, ‘This is why my parents are here.’

You know this world exists, but not until you really get into it. Going to the villages, it’s eye opening both on a sociological level and spiritual level.”

Katherine said OE gets kids out of their comfort zone. “You’re sleeping on the floor, going on long hikes. I tell them, if I can make it, you can make it!”

Now, as she is raising support to return to Papua, Katherine says she is “giving people the opportunity to contribute to the work of Christ.”

Katherine is looking for financial and prayer partners to join her team.

Learn more about her ministry at maf.org/mosher.

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There are many roles to fill in Great Commission work.

MAF is always looking for Pilots, Mechanics, Teachers and IT Specialists.

Discover your path to MAF. Visit maf.org/serve.