December 28, 2021 The Giving Season, Part IV - MAF

The Liberty Gazette

December 28, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

We hope you enjoyed a blessed Christmas and are looking forward to 2022. We round out our series for the Giving Season, aiming to create awareness and present opportunities for all of us to help change lives. We’ll finish the series with the Christian mission organization, Mission Aviation Fellowship, MAF.

Based in Nampa, Idaho, MAF was founded in 1945 by WWII pilots who had a vision for using aviation to spread the gospel. Since that time, MAF has grown to a global family of organizations serving countries in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Indonesia, and Latin America, supporting the work of missionaries, Bible translators, and relief and humanitarian agencies. 

They fly to more destinations than the six largest airlines in the world combined. And they land on dirt and grass airstrips in jungles and on mountains. Often, the only safe way for missionaries to travel is by MAF airplane. They can reduce an all-day walk to a 12-minute flight.

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had been born in another country? An underdeveloped country? In poverty? In times of war? Life in those circumstances is far different from our experience here. For many people living in these remote areas, it is because of MAF airplanes that they hear about the love of Christ. Through swift air travel, missionaries bring help, hope, and healing to isolated people.

MAF serves people in 13 countries, using aviation to overcome geographic, political and religious barriers. They bring medical care, educational opportunities, technology for clean water, community development, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. MAF also serves in six restricted access nations which they cannot name. They collaborate with their Latin American affiliates to boost the total to 34 countries.

Here are some interesting statistics: Every 19 minutes, an MAF aircraft is taking off or landing. Every flight hour saves five days of travel by foot or other ground travel. MAF’s fleet flies over one million miles each year.

You may recall the movie or book, “End of the Spear,” about Nate Saint, the MAF pilot who was martyred by Waorani Indians in Ecuador in 1956, alongside missionaries Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully. Much of the tribe later came to Christ. But you might not have known that it was Betty Greene, a WASP (Woman Air Force Service Pilot), who flew MAF’s inaugural flight in 1946, taking two Wycliffe Bible translators into a jungle in Mexico.

A new inspirational documentary, “Ends of the Earth,” was released in 700 theaters nationwide in October. The film shares true stories about the commitment of MAF pilots and others who serve around the world. The documentary explores faith, the passion to help others, and how hope emerges from tragedy. It was created to inspire viewers to consider serving others, whether we do it on the other side of the globe or right next door.

Here’s to a better “us” – all of us – in 2022.

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