Mission Aviation Fellowship
MAF is a worldwide
team of specialists who provide the aviation and communications
needs to overseas missions serving those living in the most
remote parts of the world.
Over 450 missionary
staff families (currently 30 of them Canadian) perform specialized
tasks which aid the ministries of local churches and relief and
development agencies through aviation, and radio and internet-based
communications.
Perhaps best
known for our aviation, MAF pilots and mechanics currently operate
and maintain over 145 aircraft flying in and out of some 4,000 airstrips
around the world.
Together, Mission
Aviation Fellowship reaches out on Wings of Love to put Christian
faith into action by providing for the transportation and communications
needs of hundreds of missions and relief and development agencies,
as well as local churches around the world who depend on the ministry
of Mission Aviation Fellowship.
How it
all began
At the end of
World War II, several Christian military airmen, encouraged by missionary
George Fisk, decided to use the airplane as a tool to reach out
in Christian love to isolated people.
In 1945, pilots
in Australia, the UK and the United States formed Missionary Aviation
Fellowship. It was in 1946 when MAF officially began operations
into Latin America with Betty Greene piloting the inaugural flight
to Mexico.
Throughout the
late 1940s and into the early 1950s, MAF began ministering throughout
Africa, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.
In 1956, MAF
made headlines through the tragic deaths of five missionaries (including
MAF pilot Nate Saint) while trying to bring the news of God's love
to the Auca tribe in Ecuador, South America.
In the 1960s,
MAF’s name was shortened to Mission Aviation Fellowship.
To serve the
growing number of Canadians working with MAF projects worldwide,
Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada was formed in 1972.
The work of
MAF in providing support to relief and development organizations
proved invaluable during the disastrous earthquakes, hurricanes,
and famines of the 1980s. During this time, MAF began using
larger aircraft like the Twin Otter and the Beech 99.
In 1989, Mission
Aviation Fellowship of Canada began using a Cessna Caravan to work
in the drought stricken and war-torn African country of Angola.
Today, MAF is
a global ministry partnership, serving the aviation needs of over
30 countries from head offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe,
Mexico, South Africa, Surinam and the United States.
Every four minutes,
somewhere in the world, an MAF pilot and plane take off on a mission
of service, covering more distance in six hours than David Livingstone
did in his entire 28 years as a missionary in Africa.
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