VOL. 3 2022 | MAF.ORG “ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER…”
Mission Aviation Fellowship PO Box 47, Nampa, ID 83653-0047 1-800-FLYS-MAF1-208-498-0800 (359-7623) 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. 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!
Right: A young girl carries her sibling through the IDP camp.
In this edition of FlightWatch you will read about our efforts to bring light to dark places as an MAF pilot worked with a tribal missionary to deliver an important message of encouragement to a group of new read about how internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have experienced unimaginable trauma after years of relentless wartime violence. In response, MAF has hired counselors and coordinated training for them to provide help and healing for IDP camp residents.
Our vision at MAF is to see isolated people changed by the love of Christ. As followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to bring light, joy, and hope to others! It can be hard not to feel overwhelmed by the flood of negative headlines that seem to dominate our world these days. The darkness of world events right now can be heavy, threatening to rob us of our joy and hope.
Oftentimes, these are the same feelings experienced by those living in isolation, by those who are cut off from needed resources and struggling to find hope. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah as a light that would dawn on a land of deep darkness. If you’ve ever stumbled around in a dark place, you know the difference a source of light can make. So, I find this description of our Savior’s presence to be very fitting.
Youbelievers.willalso
Serving together, David PresidentHolstenandCEO
It’s also important to care for those who are caring for others in isolated places. The ministry spotlight in this edition focuses on MAF member care specialists Paul and Beth College. They are an example of how MAF seeks to show intentional care and encouragement to staff members living on the front lines of ministry. Thank you for partnering with us to reach the isolated and those living in darkness.
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 Greenlee, Designer Natalie Holsten, Jeanelle Reider and Jennifer Wolf, Writers/ Resourcing
Photos by Bernhard and Marleen Vreugdenhil. 2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. —Isaiah 9:2 NIV FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
FLIGHTWATCH
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
Front Cover:Women crocheting at an IDP camp in Bunia, DRC.
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You wouldn’t know it from Papa Mambo either. He follows his wife into their home, ducking under the low tarp roof. His gentle voice fills the space with peace.
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As she enters her immaculate 7 x 10 mud hut, an infant strapped to her back, her serene smile warms up the room.
MAF comes alongside those who have experienced unthinkable tragedy in the DRC
Out of Ashesthe
You wouldn’t know it by Mama Celestine’s face.
Their visitor glances at the bright-colored clothes strung along the wall and thinks, “There’s beauty here.”
You would never guess the ashes from which it rose.
By Jeanelle Reider
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NyankundeIturi Bunia North Kivu
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By the time Mama Celestine and her family arrived, a lot had changed in MAF’s ministry to the IDPs. Pastor Bisoke and his MAF coworkers had hired sewing teachers and started a sewing class for women desperate for hope and a means to support their families. Through the generosity of U.S. churches and compassionate donors, MAF had purchased fabric, supplies, and sewing machines. Seeing that no one else was addressing the trauma of the IDPs, they had also hired counselors to help minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of those VIOLENCE COMES NEAR In February of 2018, ash filled the skies near the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Violence—fueled(DRC). by a tangled mix of motivations— had once again visited the people. Scores were driven into the bush as their villages burned. In the weeks that followed, thousands of people made their way to the city of Bunia, where makeshift camps sprang up overnight. They arrived heartbroken, destitute, maimed. As torrential downpours drenched the survivors, they stretched tarps over sticks anchored in oozing mud and wondered where their next bite of food would come Infrom.the village of Nyankunde—an eight-minute MAF airplane flight away—staff serving in MAF’s East DRC program began raising funds to purchase and deliver food, firewood, and other essentials for the internally displaced people (IDPs). MAF chaplain Pastor Bisoke oversaw the buying of food and organized local church members to cook meals, while the MAF team visited and brought encouragement. Much of this was out of their comfort zone. And they questioned how effective MAF’s small efforts could be in the face of such overwhelming need. But Pastor Bisoke distilled it down to this: “My heart is here with these vulnerable people. I want to suffer with them. I want to cry with them. This is the work God is sending me to do.” God had brought the need into MAF’s “back yard.”
What else could they do?
In the months that followed, town after town in the northeastern regions of Ituri and North Kivu succumbed to the onslaught of brutality. Tché was one of those towns. Caught up in a wave of local massacres that began in June 2019, its houses were burned. Its health clinic was destroyed. Its people were mercilessly killed in a frenzied torrent of guns, knives, and machetes. One day, Mama Celestine found herself lying among the Throughdead. a translator, she later told her story. “They cut my arm. I collapsed among the dead people. Then when people came to bury the dead bodies, they found out that I was really not dead. They took me to the hospital, and they removed the arm that had been Mamacut.” Celestine, Papa Mambo, and their five children eventually made it to one of the IDP camps in Bunia.
STILL BREATHING
MORE THAN A STOPGAP
traumatized by unimaginable atrocities. And they had built a wood and tin roof building for the sewing and counseling activities. Though humanitarian organizations had eventually stepped in to meet basic needs, MAF continued to provide supplemental food for malnourished children and pregnant women as well as simple medications to dispense through some of the counselors.
Top left: Camp counselor, Papa Mambo, Mama Celestine, and Sheryl Strietzel. Photo by Pastor Bisoke. Top right: Pastor Bisoke with children at the IDP camp. Photo by Bernhard and Marleen Vreugdenhil. Bottom left: Women crocheting at the IDP camp. Photo by Donna Jacobsson.
Bottom right: Women at the sewing table. Photo by Donna Jacobsson.Continued on the following page.
What had begun as a stopgap measure was starting to grow into a robust ministry in three separate camps in Bunia.
FORCING ITS WAY IN In the spring of 2021, the violence that had stormed into MAF’s “back yard” three years earlier now forced its way into the “house.”
Some of MAF's Congolese staff—along with most of the 25,000 residents of Nyankunde—had already fled into the bush or to nearby villages. A few of the men courageously elected to stay in Nyankunde after the evacuation to help protect MAF property and be a presence of hope for the few villagers who remained.
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Over the next few weeks, MAF made the difficult decision to relocate indefinitely to Bunia. The Lord had kept all of MAF's Congolese coworkers safe from physical harm, but many of them grieved the loss of crops and household belongings—besides the emotional trauma of having to process yet another occasion of violence, threats, and uncertainties that had continued since a horrific attack on Nyankunde in 2002.
On April 16, fighting broke out between the DRC military and local militia near the MAF base in Nyankunde. MAF pilots spent the next three days flying planeloads of expat missionary families and others to safety in Bunia. Then, MAF evacuated its own team as well.
THE STORIES THEY COULD TELL
With little formal education and an abundance of faith, the counselors—many of whom process tragedies of their own—willingly minister to each person God puts before them.
• Murefu, whose 13-year-old son was shot and killed after an attack on his village, is now a respected leader of one of the smaller communities into which his camp is divided.
• Then there’s the ex-militia camp liaison who had a radical conversion to Christ and now, through the mentorship of Pastor Bisoke, is training to become a pastor.
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Each displaced person who enters the camps in Bunia brings a story with them.
THE POWER OF LAMENT
• Mama Vive steadfastly continues with the Lord after losing her husband, mother, and children in an attack on her home town. She credits her mental and emotional healing to the ministry of the MAF sewing class.
Some stories whisper God’s power and grace strong and clear above the mayhem of violence from which they’ve emerged:
Other stories still await God’s intervention. Desperate women who have turned to prostitution, stuck in a Catch-22 between self-preservation and self-respect. The vengeful who have stopped believing in a just God. The raped and abused cowering in fear.
A hand-cranked sewing machine in the IDP camp sewing room.
Photo by Bernhard and Marleen Vreugdenhil.
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Left: Annaliese and mother-in-law Donna Jacobsson on an MAF flight. Photo by Annaliese Jacobsson.
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daughter-in-law of MAF’s East DRC program director Dave Jacobsson and his wife, Donna, traveled to the DRC in February. While there, she visited all three IDP camps where MAF is serving.
Annaliese explained, “As Christians we have the practice of lament for a reason. The Psalms and Job and Jesus’ story give us really beautiful roadmaps on how to feel these things well, without being consumed by them to the point of despair.”
When asked what she would like readers of FlightWatch to understand, she answered that it can be very difficult for the western culture to sit in pain—it makes us uncomfortable. She hopes that people will “just remember. Remember that the conflict in Congo is not over.”
Right: Counselors and other participants in the training class led by Annaliese Jacobsson. Photo by Pastor Bisoke. The trauma they seek to address is multilayered and Annaliesecomplicated.Jacobsson,
Part of the training focused on how to allow oneself to feel the pain while also being anchored in the love of God and in community.
Annaliese has a master’s degree in social work, with a minor in refugee studies. Most of her clients in the U.S. are experiencing either complex trauma or shortterm trauma. She cites research that shows that trauma in IDP and refugee camps is not only past, it’s also current. People are not always welcome in their new community. Ethnic conflicts are still alive and well, even inside the camps. Women and girls who must venture far from their homes to find a bathroom and privacy are at risk for sexual violence. Then there’s the social reality of family breakdown and domestic violence as people expend monumental effort simply staying alive. During her visit, Annaliese presented a two-day trauma-focused training for the MAF counselors, sewing teachers, camp liaisons, and others. Her goal was to give them tools both for their work with the IDPs and for their own healing.
GOD OF JUSTICE
Women crocheting in the IDP camp sewing room. Photo by Bernhard and Marleen Vreugdenhil.
CAN YOU SEE IT?
Mama Celestine thanks her visitor, Sheryl, for coming to her home. She stands up from the bench and, with her good arm, deftly tightens the ties around her baby. With the other, she props him in place. She walks through the door and out into the sunlight, down the dirt road, past a circle of boys juggling a ball on the backs of their hands. She greets a young woman washing a garment in a metal bucket.
In December, MAF staff member Sheryl Strietzel shared information from Christian psychologist David Riddell’s “Living Wisdom” course during the IDP workers’ monthly Theretreat.group was reminded that, though life may not be fair and just, God is just. He sees, and He will vindicate. They absorbed the truth that cycles of retaliation can only be stopped when we see perpetrators of evil as victims held captive by Satan’s lies, and that only knowing the Truth (Jesus) can set them free. These are difficult concepts for any wronged person to assimilate. How much more so for those who have experienced violence beyond what most of us can fathom? Yet those who attended received the teaching with tender hearts. They left deeply encouraged and invited Sheryl to return for future presentations.
At a building marked “MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP,” she stops. Even before she enters, she hears the happy banter.
Throughout the crisis, MAF staff have sought ways to creatively and compassionately demonstrate to those in distress, “We see you. We grieve with you. We look to Jesus with you.”
Inside, women sit on wooden benches crocheting hunter green trim on white cloth swatches. Others pull brightcolored fabric through hand-cranked sewing machines. The women make room for her, and Mama Celestine sees it on every face: Beauty, rising from ashes.
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MAF also conducts a weekly shuttle over 175 miles of dense jungle to the city of Isiro, a large center for SIL International's ministry in the DRC. Bettina Gottschlich-Modibale, a missionary originally from Germany, serves with SIL International in Isiro. She and her Congolese husband, Reverend Modibale, also travel from Isiro to other regions of the DRC conducting trauma healing workshops.
The workshops address questions that hurting people often struggle with:
• Is it even possible to forgive?
People are reminded through scripture that God created them in His image, loves them, and has a purpose for their lives, no matter what they’ve gone through. And that, through Jesus’ death on the cross, they can be reconciled to God and to one another.
From its new location in Bunia, MAF continues to serve the Congolese people through a high-demand “air bridge” that flies missionaries, church leaders, medical workers, and NGOs to three locations over dangerous and insecure roads several days a week.
The couple has a passion to integrate trauma healing into church life “so that churches can become places of shalom in our traumatized world.”
FLIGHTS TO SERVE THE TRAUMATIZED
“Thank you so much for what you are doing to bless MAF to do the ministry that they are doing here. We have done some training seminars in far regions that we wouldn’t have been able to do without this support.”
Top Photo: Women singing in the IDP camp sewing room. Above: Bettina shares insights from God's Word. Photos by Bernhard and Marleen Vreugdenhil.
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Bettina would like those who support MAF’s ministry to know how valuable their partnership is in the lives of the Congolese people.
• If God loves us, why do we suffer?
• How can a wounded heart ever heal?
MAF delivers letter of encouragement to new believers
*Yagwe is Dem for Yahweh †Some of our partners request that identifying information be withheld for security reasons.
Nowadays, with Zoom, email, Facebook, and texting, sending a letter on paper seems almost antiquated. But for the Dem people living without cell service or electricity in the highlands of Papua, Indonesia, a letter is sometimes the only option for Lastcommunication.summer,the
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Jay wrote out his letter of encouragement in the Dem language and emailed it to Peter, who printed it and delivered it to Bina, along with a load of cargo. “It was pretty cool,” Peter said. “We brought in this letter, kind of like Paul writing a letter to the church, but it’s from Bali to the Dem in the middle of Papua.”
“You Dem there who have put your faith in Yagwe*, trust Him. Yagwe has not forgotten you. He loves you so much. You also are now my family and I want to be there with you but right now I can’t.”
body of Dem believers in the village of Bina was brand new. After months of hearing the teaching of the redemptive story of Christ, many had made decisions to place their faith in the Lord. It was time for the missionaries to take a break—some for a longer time of furlough in their home countries, and for Jay† and his family, a short vacation on the island of Bali. But that short vacation turned unexpectedly long because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, and Jay began to worry about how the new believers were Likedoing.the
Jay happened to see on the MAF flight schedule that a flight was going to Bina that week, so he reached out to MAF pilot Peter Santana. “He sent me a message and said, ‘Is there any way if we email you a letter, can you print it out and drop it in to Bina?’” Peter shared. “I said, ‘Yeah, we can figure that out.’”
These heartfelt words, written from a missionary to a group of new believers from the Dem tribe, are reminiscent of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote to the early church 2,000 years ago.
DeliverySpecial
Missionary Jay and his family are greeted by Dem in the village of Bina. Photo by Peter Santana.
By Natalie Holsten
Apostle Paul writing to the early church, Jay wanted to write the new believers and remind them of the good news they had heard and believed, and to reassure them that they were not forgotten. But how to get a letter to the Dem believers?
“The letter … reminded them of what God had done for the Dem in sending a payment for their sins and that they are now children of God and how God knows all things and we do not, so we need to trust the Lord and follow His words that we have learned.”
In his letter, Jay told the Dem believers that the missionaries were coming back soon, and the believers should continue to trust the Lord. “I wanted to make sure they knew that we hadn't abandoned them,” Jay said.
Not only was the letter meant to encourage, but also to convey their regret that they couldn’t be there to help with medical needs. The first morning after Jay and his family took off from Bina, they received word that a close Dem friend of Jay’s son was seriously ill. MAF flew him to a nearby town for treatment, but sadly, the boy died a few weeks later. “We felt so burdened because we were supposed to be there to help with meds and there were some other health issues going around, and so in the letter I addressed that as well.... just that we were sad we weren't there to do medicine, but God is in control and knows all things,” Jay said.
Delivering the encouragement letter is just one way that MAF has supported the work of Jay and his coworkers in Bina. Through the years, MAF planes have flown in cargo and done medical flights, and MAF staff have assisted with the construction of the building where the teaching is done. “We have such a unique role as the transportation arm of missions and the church,” Peter said. “Sometimes that comes in the form of flying in church leaders, sometimes missionaries, sometimes pigs, and occasionally we get to deliver a message for the young church in Dem. One flight like this is such a boost not only to their work leading a group of new believers, but also for each of us that God allows us to play a part in His story.”
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“What we're trying to do is actually offer the good news to MAF staff who are intending to then offer the good news to the world around them,” Paul said. This is how Paul and Beth are fulfilling the mission of MAF to bring help, hope, and healing to isolated people. Beth adds, “We just get to do it for MAF staff.”
“We’re in the 'companioning' department. We want to connect with people on a heart and soul level."
MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT
Member Care is such an important piece of the MAF puzzle, and the Colleges know they can’t do this alone. They’re seeking to grow their team of financial and prayer partners, so they can take even better care of staff that are in difficult places. Visit maf.org/college to join them.
Paul and Beth stress that missionaries aren’t superheroes. They carry the same fragility that all people do. They need to hear the same message that they’re taking to isolated people.
MAF’s Member Care department could see they were naturally caring for staff and invited them to join the team. The Colleges have been serving in Member Care remotely from the East Coast since 2017, working mainly with overseas staff. “Most people are looking for someone to listen, to understand them, not to fix them. Being able to offer that has been fulfilling,” Beth said.
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MAF is a technical organization that relies on checklists and manuals, and it cares for complex “Butmachines.humans can’t be treated like machines. You can’t just apply a certain process and then they’re good to go,” Paul said. “We’re not in the fixing department.”
“Most of MAF’s staff are isolated from things most of us take for granted—reliable power, access to good medical care,” Beth explained. “They live in places where they can experience high stress.”
PAUL AND BETH COLLEGE
“There are 100 ways to be isolated,” said Paul College. He and his wife, Beth, are part of MAF’s Member Care department. They explain that for missionaries on the field, isolation can look like being the only Westerners in a place, which is what they experienced in Kalimantan, Indonesia, where they served with MAF as a pilot/ mechanic family for 10 years.
“I think as a human being, you struggle equally just about anywhere you go,” Paul said. “But in these locations you're far more isolated and have fewer resources to deal with that.” Even before they transitioned back to the U.S., Paul and Beth had often found themselves in a shepherding role. Their couch had become the place where their teammates could sit and process things.
“We’re in the 'companioning' department,” Beth added. “We want to connect with people on a heart and soul level.”
• An Avionics Flight Line Test Set purchased for use An engine overhaul for Cessna Caravan 9S-EMO (West DRC) An unexpected engine overhaul for Cessna Caravan 9S-EMP, plus upgrade of a Standby Instrument System (East DRC)
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You did it! Your incredible generosity funded MAF's entire airplane maintenance budget for the year … million!$1.9 Not only that, you helped us meet our matching gift challenge. Thank you for helping MAF take excellent care of our airplanes so we can keep them safely flying to bring help, hope, and healing to isolated people. Here are some of the projects your gifts have made possible this year. Thank you! Your partnership is vital to keeping MAF airplanes in the air. We’re grateful for your generosity. • Disassembly of a propeller and resealing of the blade seals for Cessna Grand Caravan 9S-EMA (West DRC) • A flat tire repair at a remote airstrip (Papua)
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• A hot section inspection for PK-MEE (Papua)
On April 23, 2022, a family serving with one of MAF's partner organizations saved two days of travel on board the first operational MAF flight in Guinea, western Africa. MAF’s Cessna Caravan will meet their transportation needs and deliver essential supplies and equipment to the family—vegetables, buckets, pipes, and solar panels.
NOW TAKING
• Pray for the seeds of faith that were planted during this year’s four Mali Wells projects, where the people were exposed to the Living Water through “JESUS” film showings.
• Lift up MAF MKs (missionary kids) who will be adjusting to life in the U.S. as they transition here for college. May God guide and protect them even as He comforts the hearts of their parents who are far from them.
• Pray for God’s guidance and favor in South Central Asia as MAF seeks to reopen the program there.
CONGRATS
MAF Guinea, a joint project between MAF-US and MAF International, is the first non-governmental air operator in Guinea. Other organizations serving in Guinea have also expressed interest in MAF’s services.
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• Remember the Congolese people in eastern DRC who continue to be displaced by violent attacks. Pray for the light and peace of Christ to penetrate hearts and dispel darkness there.
For Tyler Schmidt, the MAF program director in Kalimantan, Indonesia, two recent work days were anything but ordinary. On day one, he flew a ministry team to Long Pujungan, where they would spend two weeks teaching literacy to young children so they could one day read the Bible. The next day found Tyler taking medical supplies to three different villages, fueling up, and then making one more drop to the clinic at Mahak Baru. After that, he transported two patients to the bigger hospital in Tarakan. Ordinary days with extraordinary results—meeting critical needs and planting seeds that will grow into future disciples. OFF ARE IN ORDER! ‘ORDINARY’ DAYS
Left: A large crowd greets the MAF pilots and crew in Guinea. Photo by Dave F. Middle: Waren Lelewa, right, stands next to Fred Dyen, the professor who nominated him. Photo by ATEC. Right: A lifesaving MAF medevac flight in Kalimantan, Indonesia by Tyler Schmidt.
MAF's Waren Lelewa, an aviation mechanic in Papua, Indonesia, was studying in the U.S. for his Airframe & Powerplant certificate earlier this year when he learned he’d won an award. He was chosen by the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) and Northrop Rice Foundation as this year’s James Rardon Student of the Year. The award recognizes one outstanding aviation maintenance technician student in all of the U.S. In March, he accepted the award at ATEC’s annual conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Waren was the recipient of a scholarship from the Joyce Lin Memorial Fund, which made it possible for him to study in the U.S.
NEWS
PRAYER REQUESTS
Flight Crew is a community of dedicated supporters who give monthly to the organization, so MAF can take the love of Christ to even more isolated people. Join Flight Crew and enjoy a closer connection to the ministry through specially created content—videos, impact stories, podcast episodes—that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the people and places we serve. “I would have donated to your organization in order to be a part of your mission, even without all the cool videos and virtual stuff. But that sure makes it fun! I wish I had done this when my boys were still young. They would have loved it!” —Dena, Flight Crew member Have you considered joining MAF’s Flight Crew ? Monthly giving is a convenient way to ensure that you’re making a lasting impact through MAF. To learn more, visit maf.org/joinflightcrew.
