Apr 14 2012
MAF is about assisting people and nations. Whether the need be due to natural disaster or developing infrastructure, Mission Aviation Fellowship supports NGOs and other organisations accomplish their goals. At times, MAF is the only means for groups to reach the destination of an isolated interior village. When the need arises, MAF is there helping people to reach out.
Apr 13 2012
Alex Bahati Okuonzi was born in Nyankunde, D.R. Congo in 1988. After he finished his high school education he wanted to study technology. In 2007, he went to Kenya where he spent four months learning English (he also speaks French, Swahili, and Lingala), so he could study IT at a university there.
The cost of attending the school was very expensive for Alex and his family, and it appeared that he would not be able to complete his program. Through one of the MAF wives, the man in charge of MAF’s IT programs in Africa learned of Alex’s predicament and contacted him with a proposition: MAF would pay for his second year of schooling if he would agree to work for MAF’s East DRC program when he graduated.
Alex finishes his first solo VSAT Internet installation at Garamba National Park, DRC in January.
For the last year and a half Alex has been working for MAF in Bunia as an IT Technician. His day to day tasks include troubleshooting network and computer problems, keeping our partners connected to our network, doing system maintenance, and installing anti-virus software. He has assisted with the installation of four VSAT satellite Internet systems in eastern DRC, and recently performed his first solo installation. He is a great asset to MAF’s ministry in Congo, and has a passion for the work we are doing.
“We are glad to serve, and we are glad to bring tools like VSAT Internet that give people access to the outside world,” he recently told me. “Being part of MAF technology…I wake up every morning and say, ‘No matter how hard it is, I’m going to do it!’”
One of the ways MAF seeks to minister is through training and development of the nationals where we serve. It’s clear to me that Alex is one of the success stories! I look forward to working with him once again in a few months, and teaching him what I know about IT. I also look forward to what he will teach me . . . about the culture, languages, and serving God in Congo.
Apr 12 2012
MAF personnel in Banda Aceh, on the Indonesia island of Sumatra, are evaluating the situation to determine how to best respond following an 8.7 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra Wednesday.
Amber Desist, an MAF pilot/mechanic in Banda Aceh, reports that all MAF personnel are safe.
Desist said that the ground shook for 4.5 minutes. Phone service is unreliable and “roads are crazy” as people attempt to reach high ground.
At this time there does not appear to be major damage in the area. A tsunami warning issued earlier has now been lifted.
MAF has three international families and five Indonesian staff members in Banda Aceh.
Apr 12 2012
By Sean Cannon – Of the numerous items that would be considered challenging to an MAF pilot, dealing with weather would probably rank in the Top 3. MAF flies its airplanes in extreme places around the world and those same extreme places can be accompanied by extreme weather. Although numerous options exist nowadays for weather reporting and 
predicting, most of those are not applicable to the areas we fly in.
Many days when the weather is questionable, it comes down to how well you know the local area and its weather patterns that determines how much you fly and where you go. Sometimes though, it doesn’t matter how much you know about the area or how much flight time you have. When big storms occur, the best thing to do is get on the ground and wait; or in my case, that means get on the river and wait.
A few weeks ago while returning to our home base, I made it to within seven miles of home and I could not continue any further. The rain and subsequent turbulence was simply too much for this pilot and I turned around and made a straight line for a clear section of river.
Thankfully, I landed on the river just as the deluge hit and I enjoyed an hour in a “new to me” village. I was warmly invited into someone’s home and we talked and enjoyed tea while the heavens cut loose just out the front door. An hour after I landed, the skies cleared up as though nothing had happened and I took off and landed at our home base nine minutes later.
From the sister of a MAF engineer… 
Discovery Day is THIS Saturday! 
Sharing the Journey – MAF Arnhem Land 
Two little miracles 
JEM Team Visits Arnhem Land, Australia 
A request from MAF Indonesia… 
Video – Coffee from PNG Village to the Cup 
MAF Australia
MAF USA