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"Activating Aroha for Te Araroa" - MAF and Kai Aroha fly relief to East Cape communities

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has partnered with local charity Kai Aroha to fly essential supplies to families left isolated due to recent weather events.People in Te Araroa and surrounding communities have been cut-off due to roads being destroyed by flooding and slips. Without any access in or out, they have been left without life’s necessities.   MAF made two flights on Wednesday to the region, delivering water, food and medical supplies provided by Kai Aroha in their Cessna 2...

Amber's Journey from PNG to Arnhem Land

Across MAF programmes, we’re seeing more people from the very regions we serve stepping into vital roles - people who understand their communities deeply. Some, like Papua New Guinean aircraft engineer Amber Mori, are going on to serve in other MAF programs. Their journeys show how the future of MAF is being shaped by those rising from within.Amber’s path began as a determined young woman with a passion for aviation and a quiet confidence in God’s provision.“I went to church with a guy c...

A Change of Course

All day long, Esther Dii has been walking around with clammy hands. She can’t eat a thing. Her mind is racing. For days, one question has been on repeat: What am I going to say to the man who saved my life? Nervously, Esther sits down behind her laptop. With trembling hands and a radiant smile, she presses the button. It’s going to happen. Today, she’s finally meeting the man who saved her life 36 years ago. And, Esther has surprising news to share with him.It is 1989. Deep in the remote h...

When a Flight Brings Back Sight

One who sees the effects of this gap every day is Dr. Amos Mahona. “Our patients travel long distances, sometimes 200 kilometres, just to reach this hospital,” he said. “And when they get here, we have to tell them we can’t help.We feel bad because this hospital was built to help the poor. But we don’t have eye specialists.” He is the medical officer in charge of St. John Paul II Hospital, which lies in one of these rural districts in Tabora.Thanks to MAF, hope for a brighter future ...

Reviving Bougainville Skies

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville, situated east of Papua New Guinea, is home to numerous isolated communities nestled among dense mountains and rugged terrain. These people, like many that MAF serves, have no access to vital services. Civil war and political unrest have left them struggling in silence.MAF has a history in Bougainville, operating here from 1965 to 1975. Operations helped to launch Bougainville Air Services (later called Boug-Air), bringing economic and community development....

Encouragement in the Outback

Located in Australia’s Northern Territory, Arnhem Land is a legally recognised reserve in which the indigenous Yolŋu people live on their traditional land and determine their own future.The area’s vast geography and prolonged wet season make overland travel very difficult and access to healthcare, fresh produce and economic opportunities is restricted for many. MAF has been serving the people of Arnhem Land since the 1970s.Responding to direct requests from homeland communities, MAF staff r...

Life Saving Food and Healing Play for Refugee Children in Uganda

“The children were crying because there was no food to eat,” says 63-year-old Vicky Eimane, a refugee from South Sudan. “Even the portions we used to receive have been totally removed.”Vicky bears the challenging responsibility of caring for her four grandchildren and her daughter-in-law after her son abandoned the family. Keeping everyone fed has become even more difficult since her arm was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes.Now, hope is returning. Vicky smiles broadly...

From Two Days to Six Hours: MAF Flight for Sick Children

Seven-month-old baby boy Nanok Lochok Lojale belongs to the Toposa tribe in South Sudan, a semi-nomadic community that raises cattle according to their traditions.The youngest of mother Marie’s four children, Nanok, was born healthy, but his head began to swell when he was one month old. Doctors diagnosed hydrocephalus, a condition that leads to swelling of the head. Nanok was among six babies flown to eastern Uganda by the Christian charity organisation, MAF, to receive surgery at CURE Childr...

"Mother is Back": Nyabuom grateful as Responsibility Relieved

Six months ago, MAF joined Khayamandi Foundation to support a struggling family at Uganda’s Rhino refugee settlement. The children were then cared for by their eldest sister, 16-year-old Nyabuom Puok.The children had been abandoned in a house with a leaking roof. They slept on a dusty floor and went hungry for days. The community saw the family’s plight and alerted staff from the Khayamandi Foundation.The children appeared pale and unhappy, suffering from conditions including malnutrition an...

MAF responds to South Sudan's Worst Cholera Outbreak

MAF is active and present, supporting long-standing partner Medair to deliver cholera prevention, vaccination and treatment to the people of Torit.A mother of six in the community of Torit shared that “This sickness in my stomach, it came with watery diarrhoea, and I felt pain inside”Esther’s symptoms developed over the coming hours until the pain became unbearable. She set out to walk to the hospital in search of help.“I live on the other side of the airstrip..When I came, it took time ...

MAF Funded Solar Kits Transform Myanmar's Healthcare

MAF-funded solar lighting kits are transforming the effectiveness of village healthworkers in some of Myanmar’s most isolated communities – and the number of kits is about to increase more than tenfold.“Most patients come to me in the evening or at night after they return from their farms,” said the village health worker. “That’s really the best time for consultations.“But without proper lighting, I have to use my phone’s flashlight with one hand while trying to do patient check-...

A Discarded Book led Lobs to Faith & to MAF

While walking home from school during grade 6, ten-year-old Lobitos de Jesus Alves stumbled upon a small book in a trash bin in Dili, Timor-Leste.“I was curious when I looked at that book,” Lobitos, known as ‘Lobs’, said. “I brought it with me.” It was a New Testament in Indonesian language. Reading it, Lobs discovered a truth.“‘I am the way, the truth, and the life,’” Lobs quoted. “‘No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ From that, I realised that Jesus Christ ...

Flying Hope: MAF Transported CURE Team for Life-Changing Child Checkups

Samuel Ekai, a 5-year-old boy from northern Kenya’s Turkana County, was born with club feet. Thankfully for Samuel, his condition hasn’t stopped him from going to school.However, in areas like Lodwar, children born with disabilities often face stigma and are at times hidden at home, rarely interacting with the community.Joseph Moru, Samuel’s father, said, ‘‘It was my first time hearing about CURE, and we decided to bring Samuel so that he can be checked and hopefully treated.”CURE is...

MAF Brings Life-Changing Technologies in Bougainville

The donor-funded initiative marks a significant step forward in delivering safer, more effective health and communication services to isolated communities across the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB).Roreinang, located in Bougainville’s mountainous interior, has no reliable power or communication due to challenging terrain and limited infrastructure. More than 5,000 people rely on the local health clinic, which is the first facility to receive this life-changing technology.“We are rea...

Serving the Lord, Supported by MAF: Ten Years in the Lopit Villages

Robert Bett, a Kenyan missionary with African Inland Church, reflects on ten years working with Lopit villages – and the enabling support of MAF.“I used to tell everyone: we wouldn’t be there without MAF,” said Robert Bett, a missionary who has spent the last decade living alongside the Lopit communities of Eastern Equatoria.“Everything we’ve done in Lopit, MAF has really played a big role in getting us there. We didn’t have a car, we didn’t have a bicycle, we didn’t have a mot...

3-year-old Elisha Finally Gets Correct Diagnosis

At the tender age of three, Elisha Francin’s parents have lost count of how many times their son has suffered from malaria.Elisha presents with a swollen stomach and pale skin pigment. The many infections have taken a toll on the boy’s health, exacerbated by partial treatments and in some cases, no treatment at all.During a medical outreach to Lwanabatya fishing community, Doctor Daniel Senjala diagnosed Elisha with a swollen liver and spleen.“If this is not treated, it could injure the sp...

Helping Vulnerable Communities Prepare for Flooding in South Sudan

The surrounding area forms a vast drainage basin that passes through 11 countries, covers around 3.2 million km, and is home to over 257 million people.Approximately 90% of South Sudan’s landmass lies within this basin. In recent years, climate change and the complex hydrology of the Nile system have left an increasing number of people vulnerable to flooding. In 2024 alone, 735,000 people in 38 counties were displaced by floods.Flooding has sadly become a regular occurrence. Since 2012, Nile B...

MAF Enables Uganda Village Quicker Access to Free Medical Care

MAF partners with Jesus Film Ministries and Medical & Dental Missioners Africa to provide free medical services to residents of Patongo village in northern Uganda’s Agago district.“We are thankful that Papa has received free treatment!”On a bicycle, she rode more than ten kilometres to bring her ailing father to receive free treatment. Okot Albino is battling prostate cancer.The kind of medical assistance Okot received is not readily available in Agago district. When it is, only a hand...

MAF Flight Brings Hope and Relief to Guinea Patients

“It’s one of the travel experiences I want to forget,” said Dr Daniel “I accompanied my wife, who was almost dying, in an ambulance from N’zérékoré to Conakry.A father of five children, Dr Daniel is the Director General of the Regional Specialised Hospital Centre of Macenta in Guinea; he knows all too well what it means to rely on road transport.“Transporting a sick person from the forest region to Conakry is very painful. And having experienced it, it’s a great blessing to have...

Bringing Sight to the Unreachable

MAF Tanzania made its first long-range medical flight with the Cessna Caravan, flying an eye surgery team to one of their most remote communities.“This eye surgery camp was a trial run after many years of not having the necessary resources,” said Stewart Ayling, MAF’s Country Director in Tanzania. “But having seen the impact of the work, our whole team is motivated to ensure this camp is the first of many.”Mission Aviation Fellowship flew renowned Tanzanian eye surgeon Dr Erick Msigomb...

MAF Flight brings Hope: Hearts begin to change in Katahe

“The clouds were heavy,” said Evangelist Elisha Moita. “The pilot said we would have to turn back because we couldn’t see the airstrip.“My heart sank because the people in Katahe were already waiting for us.”In that moment, Elisha turned to prayer. “I asked Jesus, ‘Please open the sky. Don’t let us turn back.’ I prayed this three times. Then suddenly, the clouds opened up, right on the side where I was sitting.”Elisha quickly alerted the pilot. “He saw it and flew straigh...

'School is more than just learning, it's my future.'

At 14 years old, Elinami Thomas is one of the few girls in her remote Tanzania village who isn’t a wife or a mother.Instead, she’s a student at Naserian English Medium Primary School in Malambo, run by Help for the Maasai and supported by Mission Aviation Fellowship flights.“Many girls of my age are married and some of them have children too,” she said.Child marriage is a common occurrence for the Maasai in remote Tanzania. It greatly increases the risk of violence, abuse, ill health, an...

Emergency Flights brings Vital Care for Law Student in Coma

In a flight of less than three hours’ duration, MAF in Guinea has transferred a patient from N’Zérékoré to Conakry – avoiding a difficult road journey of 24 hours or more.Israel Kourouma is a young university student with his life ahead of him. He’s in his third year of studying law in N’Zérékoré, a region in the country’s southeast.“Unfortunately, on September 2, he was the victim of a serious motorcycle accident that left him in a coma,” said Mr Jean Guilavogui. Jean is t...

New Airstrip Brings Hope to South Sudan

“You find young girls of 25 who are already widows because their husbands are killed in revenge,” said Minagano Kape, a Peace Building Advisor.“When they tell you the stories of how they have to run when they hear of an attack, how they hide, and how they carry their children, it’s really sad. We really have a community that lives in so much fear.”It was into this hotspot of conflict that Minagano flew with MAF to work on a project healing communities and breaking the painful cycle of ...

Hope for the Next Generation - How MAF Brings Healing to Young Lives in Crisis

Around the world, young lives hang in the balance every day due to medical emergencies, lack of access to hospitals, or the absence of specialist care in remote communities. MAF helps bridge that gap - flying patients, doctors and supplies to bring help, hope and healing. The stories of three young patients - Neema, Yelikha and Angeline - show how MAF is helping bring healing to the next generation....