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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...

Zoë Davies

Zoë’s childhood years were spent on campus at EastWest College and WEC NZ with her parents as students and staff for over 10 years. The family dinner table was often surrounded with family friends sharing stories of their most recent missions trips and how God had moved. From an early age, it sparked a desire within Zoë to devote her life to ministry.After completing high school, Zoë moved to Sydney, Australia to attend Hillsong College. After achieving her Diploma in Christian Ministry, sh...

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...

Michael & Naomi Lindsey

Sent from AustraliaMichael and Naomi have always felt God’s call on their lives to serve Him. The Bible explicitly instructs all followers of Christ to reach out and help the marginalised and vulnerable and God has been working to prepare and enable them to do just that. As an aspiring second generation MAF pilot, Michael has always been fascinated by aviation and the ways in which it can be used to serve people in need. Growing up in Arnhem Land and Indonesia gave him an insight into the phy...

Give a gift that reflects the meaning of Christmas!

By purchasing a Jerrycan Christmas card, you are making it possible for MAF flights to continue. This means medical aid, education, essential resources and the Christmas message can get to those cut off by conflict, natural disasters and geography. We can quickly and efficiently fly church and relief and development teams to the areas of greatest need. And of course, we have flown hundreds of emergency evacuations to transport people in serious physical need for treatment. While many stories in ...

Abigail Vincent

Office AssistantAbigail was born in Hamilton as the youngest of five children. She was home-schooled for her entire primary and secondary school education. Her Year 13 studies were completed in June 2020 and she is currently studying a double bachelors in business and communications. When she was five her family moved to Mareeba, Australia and lived there for four years where her mum started working with MAF. Ever since then she has been helping out at events where needed and volunteering for va...

Amazing Stories!

An old proverb about making soup illustrates the importance of working together. Somebody brings a pot. Somebody else brings water, another wood, another matches, somebody else potatoes, carrots and salt. If just one person fails to bring what God has given him or her, no soup can be cooked. In the same way, without MAF Jonathan Kopf and his family couldn’t get in or out of the remote villages they live and work in. Without fuel our planes cannot fly. Without an airstrip, like the one painstak...

An Incredible Day!

Tod Aebischer, Programme Manager in PNG, said, “What an incredible day it was to welcome the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta (New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs) along with the High Commissioner, Hon. Phillip Taula, and entourage, to the PNG Programme!   Much preparation, by so many of our team members, went into making this a very special day. Decorating the facility, cleaning, arranging, setting up chairs, sound equipment, media, coordinating logistics, cooking food, cutting up fruit, shop...

One Last Push

None of us like to wait. But most of what we want to achieve in life does not happen instantly. It takes time and effort and often involves delays and setbacks. We talk about life being a “journey, not a destination” but in reality, we want to “arrive”. The Bible is full of stories of waiting. In Genesis 12:2-3 God made a promise to Abraham that continued far beyond his lifetime. This promise included the promise of fame, divine protection and that Abraham, through his descendants, ...

Closing the Loop

Closing the Loop is about walking alongside people, from the initial emergency evacuation, through the stressful stay among strangers in a hospital in an unfamiliar city to offering a fast, comfortable return home – in the same plane that flew them out. Closing the loop means being the Christ who walks through the valley of the shadow of death and out the other side. The reality for a number of our medevac patients is that they find themselves discharged from hospital onto the street, wit...

Derek Harding

I grew up in England where our local church supported MAF UK and we often had MAF missionaries come to speak. As time progressed I married and served in a parish in the South East of England, where I was licenced as a worship leader and lay-minister and in due course became a Deacon and Priest. In 2007 I came to New Zealand to work in Blenheim on a Missionary Visa. Once again I came into contact with aviation and MAF. In 2011 I was able to develop my own interest in aviation by earning my Privat...

Renee Brewer

I was born and raised in the beautiful Taranaki region in a Christian family with three siblings. I was fortunate to begin learning to fly at the age of 15. I loved the perspective from above, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of the beautiful world God created.I learned about MAF whilst still in school and deciding on what career path to take. As I learned about MAF’s mission, I was inspired. I was excited to learn of an organisation where I could fly and serve people in such a practical wa...

Now It’s Moving!

These words are from Margrit Kundig as she describes the momentum happening in Guinea as God provides step by step. From its earliest days MAF has been involved in bringing hope and healing to parts of the world in greatest need—and today pioneering efforts to start new programmes continue. Medevacs will transport those who are sick or injured quickly to the nearest hospital. MAF flights will greatly aid Bible translation as well as help the church in Guinea grow. Nearly 100,000 children ...

Jane Eddy

After nearly 40 years overseas, my husband David and I returned to New Zealand, serendipitously just before COVID-19 hit in 2020. We believe God has directed our course home, helped David find employment and provided me an opportunity to work in the wonderful family of dedicated talent called MAF. Every skill the Lord has blessed me with will now be used in His service to meet the needs of the families who cross my path.My background has been varied; from early days in advertising, sales an...

MAF launches new programme in Guinea

Like people everywhere, the eleven million living in the West African nation of Guinea have dreams and aspirations. But all too often their hopes are restricted by the lack of resources. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 A “new thing” is already taking place in Guinea. Through MAF, God is bringing a new “pathway”—in the air!—to...

Leigh & Inneke MacRae

Leigh was born in Napier and Inneke in South Africa, and they met in South Africa. Leigh is a qualified electrician and a refrigeration mechanic and has managed his own business for the past four years. Inneke is a physiotherapist, Mum and has helped with administration in the business. This experience has enabled them to work together as a strong team and overcome the challenges of finding practical solutions to unexpected situations. They have three children Cameron, Levi and Mikaela. They bot...

Phil & Tania Sproul

Phil & Tania joined MAF in 2022.  They met at a church in Christchurch, this is where Phil’s career in aviation had begun as an apprentice with Air New Zealand.  Together they have served in churches in Christchurch, Seattle, Nadi and Auckland, and enjoyed being part of what God has been doing in each location. Phil has been on mission in various airline engineering and maintenance roles for over 30 years prior to joining MAF.  They have two adult daughters who live in New Z...