The MAF Charity Foundation

Many men flew all over the world during World War II, and to many of them they could not believe the conditions in many of the places they operated.  To say many of those places were remot and poor is an understatement.

 

A photograph from the TV WWII series 'Masters of the Air' showing a pilot in front of a B-17 bomber.

 

After the end of the Second World War, a few veteran pilots in the United States and the UK dreamed about how they might use the flying skills they acquired to help those less fortunate and isolated people in the world. 

 

One of  the WWII pilots by the name of Edward Rodgers, who was a B-24 pilot flying missions over Europe, envisioned using aviation to help those who lived in isolation around the world. His grandson was Aaron O. Bear who registered MAF in Nampa, Idaho on February 6, 2007.

 

Rodgers completed 43 successful missions before being shot down on his 44th mission, St. Patrick's Day, 1944, when his aircraft was struck multiple times over Nazi Germany causing a fire in one of his engines, leaving 10 other crewmen on board the aircraft and their lives in his hands.

 

He was captured by the Germans and became a POW during which he was subject to beatings and mistreatment. Upon his release he testified to the war crimes investigators concerning his treatment while a prisoner of war.

 

So, in 1945, on May 20th, Jim Truxton, Grady Parrott, Charlie Mellis and Betty Greene launched the CAMF/MAF (Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship/Mission Aviation Fellowship). The Mission Aviation Fellowship incorporated in Los Angeles, CA on 6-04-25 as a Nonprofit Corporation - CA - Religious. Later MAF moved first to Fullerton, Ca before settling in Nampa, Idaho in 2007.

 

At the same time, Australians Bruce Morton, Harry Hartwig and Ken Cooper, WWII pilots, dreamed of using aviation for mission work. By 1946, they were at Melbourne Bible Institute, joined by others in prayer and planning. In 1947, Harry felt called to start an Australian MAF. With MBI’s support, MAF Australia was formally established on 30 June 1947, joining the global mission to bring help, hope and healing through aviation.

 

The First Airplane

 

 

Betty Greene standing in front of the very first MAF aircraft, a 19933 Waco biplane.

 

Elizabeth Everts "Betty" Greene was born in Seattle, WA in 1920, along with her twin brother Bill Greene. Their parents were strong Presbyterian Christians who nutured their children with their faith. 

 

Betty, like many young women, developed an early love of aviation and was impressed tith the flights of Lindbergh, Byrd, and Earhart. She took flying lessons as a teenager including a solo flight.

 

Of course, World War II gave her an opportunity to advance her career in aviation when she served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). During the war she flew a number of different military aircraft and was involved in experimental work on high-altitude flights.

 

On February 14, 1946, the group purchased their first aircraft, a 1933 Waco biplane with a brand new 220 hp Continental engine. On February 23rd, 1946, Betty Greene flew MAF's new airplane for the first time taking two Wycliffe workers from La Habra, CA to Mexico City, Mexico.

 

While enroute to Mexico City Betty saw "flakes" of something coming off of the airplane, so she landed in Tuxpan, Mexico to check it out. Her passengers elected to take a commercial flight to their final destination, Mexico City.

 

The next morning Betty took to the air and headed to Mexico City where she connected with Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliff Bible Translators. He asked Betty if she could take him to their camp in the jungle near Tuxtla Guitierrez located south of Mexico City.

 

Once again a problem arose when they encountered a bad storm, and during the return to Mexico City the engine quit. Switching gas tanks quickly the engine sparked into life and they safely returned to Minatitlan where they had refueled earlier. She dicovered that the fuel drum they used to refuel the Waco had water in it.

 

After the war Betty helped found the Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship which later became the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).  Betty continued flying for the group for the next 16 years. During her career she flew into 12 different countries and landing in over 20 more contries.

 

By 1962 Betty was working at the MAF headquarters, then served as an advocate for the MAF until her death in 1997.

 

The "Auca" Incident

 

Jim Elliot grew up in Portland, Oregon and became fascinated with the stories visting missionaries told him about faraway mission fields. Jim asked a lot of questions, and he dreamed of becoming a missionary himself someday. 

 

On february 2, 1952, Jim boarded a ship for the 18 day journey from San Pedro, California to Quito, Ecuador in South America. He and his missionary partner, Pete Fleming, spent a year learning how to speak Spanish in Quito, moving later to a small Quichua Indian village to replace the retiring missionary.

 

Three years later Jim had helped many Quichuas to become faithful Christians. During that time Jim learned of another small Indian tribe called the Waoranis. Over the years many of the Waoranis had killed many Quichuas, as well as several workers at a nearby oil drilling site.

 

Enter Nate Saint, a missionary supply pilot who flew a Stinson Voyager, came up with a way to lower a bucket filled with supplies to people on the ground while flying above them. He thought this would be a great way to win the trust of Aucas without putting anyone in danger.

 

Nate Saint works on a Stinson Voyager in Ecuador. Photo MAF Archives.

 

Nate then began dropping gifts to the Aucas and used a bull horn to speak to them in friendly Aucas phrases. Many months later they sent a gift back up to Nate in the bucket which then encouraged Jim and his fellow missionaries felt it was time to meet them face to face.

 

Nate had noticed a beach which was long enough to land the plane on for the missionaries to meet the Aucas face-to-face. On January 3, 1956 the five missionaries and Nate set up a camp on the sandy beachwhich they nicknamed "Palm Beach" on the Curary River. 

 

Nate Saint, a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship, on Palm Beach in Ecuador.

 

After a few days, on January 6th, two Waorani women and a man visited with the missionaries at Palm Beach. Unfortunately, two days later on January 6th, six Waorani Indians killed the five missionaries. On  January 12th the USAF Air Rescue Service discovered the bodies and buried them the next day on January 13th.

 

Jim Elliot's mission and legacy carries on as many were inspired to become missionaries. Far from slowing down the dream of those early WWII pilots, this incident catapulted the idea of missionary aviation across the globe. As a result, young Christians caught the vision of using airplanes to reach the lost—and MAF grew rapidly.

 

In 1985 the MAF-US fleet introduced the first Cessna Caravans with three of them assigned to serve Ethiopia, Mali, and Zaire (which is now knwn as the Democratice Repbulic of the Congo- DRC).

 

The Mission of MAF Aviation

 

The MAF Aviation vision is to see isolated peoples around the world changed through the love of Christ. Their stated mission is to serve together to bring help, hope and healing through aviation.

There are many people who, simply because of where they were born, have never had a chance at the same life many of us in the developed world have: a life where their children can get an education, where they can get medical care, where they can get disaster help, and where they can experience the love of Jesus.

 

Every year MAF provides air services to more than 400 missions, churches and humanitarian organizations around the world. Without aviation, many of these organizations would not be able to reach people who need to be helped.

 

The Life of An MAF-Aviation Pilot

 

Let me introduce you to an MAF-Aviation pilot by the name of Marcus Grey.

 

For Marcus Grey there is no such thing as a typical day at the office! Instead, this Australian Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) pilot has spent the last 40 years flying aircraft into some of the most remote places on the planet!

 

A photograph of Marus Grey on the right and Arjan Paas, his student, to his left.

 

Marcus had begun his flying career in a remote region of Australia's Northern Territory, and it was just a continuous learning curve. He had to learn new airstrips, new types of weather, and that pilots who are brave enough to fly around the Pacific island must always be ready to adapt and improve.

 

They are standing in front of a brand new 10 passenger Cessna 208, an airplane that will provide even more assistance to reach areas like Papua New Guinea (PNG)) where many locals depend upon their services for medical and other help.

 

PNG is located approximately 3 miles from Australia, but life on the island is very different from the life in Australia. It is a beautiful area of the world with rugged terrain and mountains and tribes scattered across the island.

 

For many villagers it could take hours and even days to get medical assistance, sometimes carrying their children, some elderly, some even expecting mothers trekking through the rugged terrain.

 

To make things worse there are land disputes and attacks by gangs which are becoming more common and dangerous. The proliferation of modern weapons combined with the breakdown of traditional values is disrupting life that once was protected by community leaders like elders.

 

The lack of improved runways and landing areas, combined with the lack of reliable weather information, make flights into those areas not only difficult but sometimes even dangerous.

 

Grey recently shared with the newspaper The Epoc Times the following story:

“I had to do a night landing in Goroka in the middle of Papua New Guinea,” Grey said. The airstrip isn’t rated for night flying, and a little girl got bitten by a death adder. I went to pick her up, but she couldn’t be moved until later in the afternoon.

To complicate matters further, only one location in the entire country had the antivenin—and it was at Goroka Airport.  While some airports in the region had landing lights for night flying, none had the medicine the girl needed.

The pilot explained his dilemma to staff on the ground, and soon MAF workers had gathered other people to park along the runway.

"All the people on Goroka Airport got their cars and lined the airstrip with their headlights—it’s only ever been done once before,” Grey said.

They all chipped in to help, which was really nice. It was a community effort. The doctor was at the airport to meet the little girl, gave her the antivenin in the aeroplane, and I took her home the next week. She recovered so quickly.”

Grey said the experience was “one of the hairy ones,” and working in PNG is not for the faint of heart.

 

In 2007 the helath department in East Timor had requested that MAF fly missions into and out of the country. East Timor's unforgiving terrain and lack of infrastructure made medical access very difficult. The country had very old amulances and bad roads.

 

MAF Aviation was able to replace a six or seven hour trip in a rickety old ambulance traversing terrible roads with a 20-30 minute flight. Marcus says that he loves being able to help people in all different ways using airplanes.

 

For the last 20 years Marcus combined his flying missions with providing flight instruction at a flying school in Mareeba, North Queensland, Australia. Many of his students, like Arjan Paas, have picked up the torch and come to work for MAF and help provide vital flight services.

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this newsletter, sign up to receive your own weekly newsletter here: Subscribe here!

 

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!