Lately, the MAF Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMO has sensed that her flights encompass the full cycle of life—from beginning to end. Two recent flights serve as examples of this.

MAF pilot Kevin Spann recently received his “checkout” in the Caravan, which means he can now fly the airplane solo and land at any number of airstrips throughout the vast country of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He says his checkout couldn’t have come at a better time.

Usually, flights are so long that a pilot will do one leg out and then one leg back per day. But on this particular day, Kevin fit in two complete flights—two polar opposites, as far as the reason for each flight.

The first one was to take the body of a recently deceased man, and his family, back to his home village. Several thousand people waited for the arrival of the airplane, ready to mourn for this man.

On the second flight, Kevin brought an MAF family out to the mission hospital in Vanga to get ready for the birth of their fourth child—the first MAF expat baby to be born in-country in 18 years. (It’s a girl, by the way!)

“It was an honor to pray with my passengers before takeoff on each trip, as they were going through a significant life event,” said Kevin.

Life is precious, and God has called MAF families and 9Q-CMO to serve people during many of life’s significant events—good or bad, happy or sad.

Would you like to help 9Q-CMO be there for Congolese people in their time of need? You can adopt this airplane with a one-time or monthly recurring gift and play a role in life events happening throughout the DRC.

The post 9C-CMO appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Lately, the MAF Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMO has sensed that her flights encompass the full cycle of life—from beginning to end. Two recent flights serve as examples of this.

MAF pilot Kevin Spann recently received his “checkout” in the Caravan, which means he can now fly the airplane solo and land at any number of airstrips throughout the vast country of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He says his checkout couldn’t have come at a better time.

Usually, flights are so long that a pilot will do one leg out and then one leg back per day. But on this particular day, Kevin fit in two complete flights—two polar opposites, as far as the reason for each flight.

The first one was to take the body of a recently deceased man, and his family, back to his home village. Several thousand people waited for the arrival of the airplane, ready to mourn for this man.

On the second flight, Kevin brought an MAF family out to the mission hospital in Vanga to get ready for the birth of their fourth child—the first MAF expat baby to be born in-country in 18 years. (It’s a girl, by the way!)

“It was an honor to pray with my passengers before takeoff on each trip, as they were going through a significant life event,” said Kevin.

Life is precious, and God has called MAF families and 9Q-CMO to serve people during many of life’s significant events—good or bad, happy or sad.

Would you like to help 9Q-CMO be there for Congolese people in their time of need? You can adopt this airplane with a one-time or monthly recurring gift and play a role in life events happening throughout the DRC.

The post Significant Life Events appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

The singing started before CMO’s engines shut down. Then the passengers disembarked:  a brother and sister, the grandchildren of the missionary who first shared the Gospel in this village almost 100 years ago. They came to continue the family legacy, to share Christ’s love, disciple, and encourage believers.

The group, which included other family members and a few friends, came for a four-day trip to minister to the hearts of the people. They jammed a lot into those four days, including Christian movies at night, soccer games, church services and seminars. An older man who was one of the first believers to be discipled by the grandfather travelled five days to take part in the festivities.

One evening, the family showed the “JESUS” film in the villagers’ native tongue for the first time. On another night, the movie “Courageous” was shown, in French, while a local pastor translated it into the Congolese language Lingala. The missionaries and MAF staff hope the men of the village were challenged by the film to be Godly fathers, husbands and community leaders.

By adopting 9Q-CMO, you play a part in the work these missionaries are doing to reach remote villages like this with Christ’s love. Because of you, they can care for these people and bring renewed hope and life to the area.

Please continue to pray for the pilots and passengers of 9Q-CMO, and the people they are sharing Christ with in the DRC. Thank you!

The post A Family Legacy appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Among the group was Paul Law, MD, an American doctor who was returning to his roots. His grandparents served at Wembo-Nyama from 1950 to 1964, and constructed the hospital. The aging building is decaying, and he and the group were there to assess what repairs needed to be made.

The hospital serves the village of 19,000 and, on a wider scale, the entire Wembo-Nyama Health Zone, which consists of 100,000 people. In its current state, the hospital only has enough beds for 60 patients, but it has potential capacity for 200. While the structure was deemed solid, there’s a lot of work to be done. The group determined the rehabilitation project will take two or three years to complete—and propel the hospital closer to its full potential.

These improvements will allow the hospital to meet requirements for Congo Protestant University’s (UPC) rural hospital internship program. More importantly, the upgrades will benefit the area residents, as it will allow the hospital to serve more people.

It’s likely that 9Q-CMO will be called on again for future flights related to this ongoing project, and later as it brings in UPC students to prepare for serving this vast country. The Cessna Caravan is more than happy to oblige, since it means health care will be available for more people in this remote village, surrounding area, and throughout Congo as a whole. And your adoption is making this possible! Thank you for supporting 9Q-CMO and, in turn, blessing the Congolese people.

Please continue to pray for 9Q-CMO’s pilots and passengers, as well as the Methodist Mission hospital and this important project.

The post Hospital Rehabilitation appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.