NYANKUNDE, DRC — On Monday, Mission Aviation Fellowship evacuated missionary Maud Kells from Mulita to Nyankunde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, after she received a gunshot wound during a robbery attempt. Maud, age 75, is a WEC International missionary who has served in the DRC since 1968.

Maud Kells is carried to the waiting MAF airplane for evacuation to Nyankunde. Photo by Jon Cadd.

MAF’s Donna Jacobsson, serving in Nyankunde, shared, “We received the call first thing [Monday] morning, and the team went into action. Laura shuffled the flight schedule, Dave made phone calls to the missionary doctors in Nebobongo and the CECCA16 (WEC) church office in Isiro, and made contacts with the medical staff here. By the time the ground fog lifted, Jon was able to take off with medical personnel aboard and continued on to Mulita. Maud was evaluated and a blood transfusion started. They decided to bring her to Nyankunde hospital for care and arrived here at 16:00.”

Maud is in the ICU at the Nyanbkunde hospital being treated for a bullet wound in her shoulder.

Jon Cadd, MAF pilot and East DRC program manager, said, “It was great to be a part of the MAF Nyankunde team helping get Maude out and recovering. The trauma team cleaned up the wound this afternoon and things are looking good. We have been just a part of many people helping, from doctors to drivers, fuelers and flight followers. It made me happy to be one of the pieces in the puzzle. We just took some supper to Maude down in ICU and she actually sat up to eat. She asked us to pray and thank God for taking care of her.”

MAF has flown Maud often, including an evacuation when rebels took the nearby town of Punia in 2013. In an earlier interview with MAF, Maud said, “I’ve been flying with [MAF] since they started flying here way back in the 1980s.”