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"Ate logu, Timor-Leste"

After three years serving in Timor-Leste with Nick as the Country Director, the Hitchins family are relocating to Cairns, Australia, where Nick will take up the role of Business Analytics and Innovation Manager with the MAF International Strategic Development Department.“As we share our baby lemon-grass plants, moringa tree-food, and hibiscus cuttings with those we are leaving behind, and sell other “plant babies” to raise funds for the schooling of one of our Timorese sons, we are so grat...

Flying with Purpose

From a plane filled with laughter and vegetables to solemn funerals in remote villages, experience the unique flights and rich customs of Papua New Guinea through the eyes of Kiwi MAF Pilot Bridget Ingham.“Balus i pulap tru!” I remarked (‘The plane is really full!’) - and the nine ladies on board laughed. They were joining hundreds of other women from Baptist churches throughout the Min area for their annual ladies’ conference at Tabubil.Telefomin, Eliptamin, Oksapmin, Wobagen, Ok Isai...

Surrendering to the Call of God

The new student sits alone in the sun on an outdoorchair. His notes on his lap and his eyes closed. Hespeaks to himself, methodically working through a checklist with his hands reaching for switchesaround his mental cockpit.Meet Ezra Tan, who recently commenced flight training at the MAF Training Centre, with Aviation Australia’s Diploma of Aviation.“It’s quite a remote, outback place,” Ezra said. “I arrived about two weeks ago. I was very impressed.The first few times I got to touch t...

A Light in the Darkness

While the lights remain on at Mouglu’s health centre, villagers know they have access to help, hope and healing.Having reliable solar electricity is literally a matter of life and death for the people of Mougulu, a remote community in the foothills of Mt Bosavi in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province.Missionary Sally Lloyd remembers a time when a critically ill child, who was admitted to the health centre and was relying on an oxygen concentrator, tragically passed away due to the lack of a p...

Welcome to Papua New Guinea

Cobus & Tronel and their three children Isak, Jana and Karlien moved to Papua New Guinea in March 2024 to serve with MAF. When joining the MAF program in PNG, new staff and families take part in The Village Experience - spending a week living in a remote community. This helps them gain insight into the lives of the people they will be serving, build relationships, and learn the Papua New Guinean culture. For their Village Experience, the Van der Merwe’s spent a week perched high up in the ...

MAF rescue reunites mother and daughter

The team at MAF Arnhem Land work closely with women’s shelter to help pair fleeing domestic violence.Rescue flights are unexpected and unplanned, whether for accidents or sickness or domestic violence, and MAF pilots in Arnhem Land regularly fly all three.“I thought I was finished after my charter flight, and I was gearing up to do some office work in the afternoon,” says Arnhem Land pilot Matt Kaye (pictured below), recounting a recent flight to bring someone out of a domestic violence si...

Overcoming the barriers: How MAF helps medevac patients return home

Imagine being rushed to hospital in an emergency, far away from family, and then having to make your own way home during a painful recovery.MAF Timor-Leste’s Closing the Loop project is overcoming those barriers by supporting patients in hospital and flying them home for a joyful reunion.Teenager Virgilio Magno was flown to the capital by MAF from the regional town Maliana, after suffering a fractured leg. The 15-year-old feared a long, difficult road journey after treatment.“I am very grate...

Take a look inside MAF's Mareeba hangar

MAF is known for its work in the air, but some of the most important tasks are done on the ground by our talented team of engineers. Thanks to the generosity of MAF supporters, a new $4 million hangar complex was built at Mareeba Airport in Queensland and it provides a state-of-the-art home for engineering staff to carry out maintenance and bigger projects. ...

Silent tragedy: Mission to support Tanzanian mums

In just 45 minutes, a team from Maternity Africa flew with MAF to a dusty airstrip in northeast Tanzania with a mission to raise awareness on the devastating impact of obstetric fistula.MAF provided transport from Arusha to Malambo, for a team from Maternity Africa, who run the Kivulini Maternity Centre.Michael Hynds, the Country Director for Maternity Africa shared his gratitude for the partnership with MAF, highlighting the efficiency of air travel that reduced a nine-hour journey on road...

Expectant mothers in rural PNG benefit from MAF's solar power project

PNG ranks in the bottom half of the global maternal mortality index according to World Bank data. Rural areas without reliable electricity pose the greatest danger to women in labour. MAF is partnering with Dr Freda Wemin to roll out ‘Mama’s Waiting Hut’ initiative, which uses solar power to light remote clinics, making childbirth safer. MAF’s Joy Suarkia reports…Papua New Guinea ranks 129 out of 185 countries in the World Bank’s maternal mortality index.PNG has a population of ...

Flights supporting missionary workers in Arnhem Land

The Jamir family are missionaries with Pioneers, living in the community of Gapuwiyak in Arnhem Land. Gapuwiyak is a remote indigenous community of approximately 900 people. By air this community is located just 40 minutes away from Nhulunbuy, the nearest town, and by road it is more than 200 kilometres on a mostly dirt road that can only be used at certain times of the year. This letter was written to say thank you to the MAF Arnhem Land team for partnering with them in their ministry in t...

Audio Bible Impacts

Bill Smith and his wife Lori Smith are both missionaries who are highly involved in church planting through medical evangelist & theological education with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) in Papua New Guinea. Bill is also the chancellor of Goroka Baptist Bible College and his wife Lori runs the Seigu Baptist clinic in the Eastern Highlands Province of Goroka....

From darkness to light: transforming lives through eye surgeries in Moyale

MAF is crucial in transporting eye specialists from Kenya’s capital Nairobi, to Moyale to offer life changing surgeries.Omar (not his real name) * is overjoyed after his sight was restored following four years of vision loss during which he had to rely entirely on his son....

Healing Hooves and Hearts: MAF & VMP's Journey to Enairebuk

MAF Kenya partners with the Veterinarians with a Mission Progarmme (VMP) to support isolated farmers who have no access to vets or who can’t afford treatment to protect their animals. In 2023, MAF enabled VMP to save over 74,000 animals in Kenya. Read below the story of one such trip....

MAF Brings Cheer to Dusin, Papua New Guinea

The flight from Dusin to Mt  Hagen takes less than 20 minutes – to travel by foot would be 3 days. Read the impact this 20 minute flight – just $50 worth of fuel – has:As he banked his Cessna 208 Caravan onto the final approach for his second landing of the day at Dusin, MAF’s Jan Ivar Andresen observed how the crowd was cheering when they saw the plane.  “Knowing the coffee could go out and they could get the money. That’s why they were cheering…”, said Andresen....

Meet Rachelle Shilston

I was introduced to missions as a university student, while I was studying accounting.Together with my husband, Colin, we previously pastored The Gateway, a small church in Warkworth, for 14 years. We have 3 children and one grandchild.While pastoring, our church supported four missionary couples, including one who was serving with MAF in South Sudan. It was always a joy to be able to support missions with funds and prayer as a Church.Alongside pastoring, I have worked as a chartered accoun...

Meet Stephen Wood

Kia Ora,My name is Stephen Wood and I am very happy to be here working at MAF NZ. I have previously been involved in YWAM for about 18 years 12 of those years as a child being raised in various mission fields. the later in life the other 6 years from 18 to 24. After my time in YWAM I spent 3.5 years working on a Kiwi fruit orchard and then nearly 4 years as a youth pastor in Mount Maunganui. During my time in the Bay of Plenty I met and married my wife Brittany and we have (currently) 3 girls ag...

Karl & Helene Orchard

Karl and Helene are both multi-generation Kiwis. They first met as children at Ruapehu Street Chapel in Kapiti. Karl joined the Air Force at 17 and when he returned to visit his family, Helene and Karl met again and became great friends. Now married for 15 years, they have two beautiful daughters Ayla (7) and Thea (4).Helene has a degree in counselling and now works as a full-time mum home-schooling their children. Helene is also the Wellington regional representative for an organization called ...

Evacuating Refugees from Renk, South Sudan

On Tuesday, 4 July, 16 refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan arrived in Juba on a MAF flight from Renk organised by Citizens Call -Emergency Response Rehabilitation Initiative (ERRI). For Pilot Jonathon Pound, it was a 6-hour round flight battling weather on the outbound journey and the clock on the way back.As Jono flew north on the outbound flight, he skirted the Ethiopian border to avoid the storms.Meanwhile, the same weather system was dumping rain over his destination, Renk, causing floodi...

Trevor Strong: MAF Founder

Trevor Strong is also a true gentleman, and the first thing this soon-to-be- centennial does when I meet him in his rest home on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand is to offer me his chair. He asks me about myself and my work, and laughs easily as we exchange personal stories. His smile is contagious and, despite his years, his eyes still hold a twinkle of good humour and delight. Put quite simply, Trevor Strong is charming.Greeting Trevor Strong is like meeting a long lost friend. His war...

Murray Kendon: MAF Founder

The Beginning Of MAFBorn in Auckland in 1917, Murray Kendon became a Christian when he was 16 years old. He had a growing passion to share the truth of life in Christ, and soon became a passionate and dedicated speaker. When war loomed heavy on the horizon, Murray was called up to train as a pilot. He learned to fly in Christchurch, then moved to Canada to continue his training before finishing his qualifications in the United Kingdom.During this time, Murray worked hard keeping up with his flyi...

Cobus and Tronel van der Merwe

Cobus became interested in aviation during High School and maintained a keen interest in all things aircraft related. His other interest is alarms, and he installed his first system at the age of thirteen! Cobus studied to be an electronic technician in Cape Town, South Africa and became a telecommunication technician specialising in fibre optic and microwave broadband. He owned a telecommunication company with three colleagues and spent more than a decade installing, fault finding and project m...

The Groundwork for a Move of God

God is inviting us to prepare the soil for seeds of great blessing and impact. He has the seeds ready, but it is up to us to do the groundwork. The MAF Kagamuga Development in Papua New Guinea is our opportunity to partner with God for the next chapter of MAF in PNG. Would you consider giving today to prepare the groundwork for a move of God?Read more here...

When The Plane Doesnt Come

We love the stories along the lines of When the MAF Plane Comes. What is it like When the MAF Plane Doesn’t Come? When MAF is the only organisation making the difference between life and death?A heart-breaking plea for the urgent medevac of a sick little girl in the highlands of Papua New Guinea emphasised the importance of MAF planes being able to reach isolated communities. Without access to a MAF flight, the family set out on a long walk for treatment, but miraculously Julie’s condition i...

Closing the Loop

Closing the Loop is a new initiative in MAF Timor Leste to provide more help for medevac patients, than just a flight out to medical care. Country Director of Timor-Leste Nick Hitchins explained why MAF implemented this new project.“Closing the Loop is about taking care of people from the time that we pick them up in the districts when they’re sick, until the time that we take them home again when they’re well,” Nick said.“This project is designed to extend our care of those peopl...