On Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, MAF had the honor of flying Maud Kells back to the village of Mulita, where she was the victim of a shooting attack in January 2015. Less than a year after the medical evacuation flight that saved her life, she returned to a joyful celebration.

Hundreds of people gathered at the small grass airstrip to greet Maud as she stepped off the plane. A brass band played while the crowd waved and cheered her arrival.

“Great excitement!” she exclaimed. “It’s really nice to see them again…they’re always very welcoming.”

After exchanging greetings with local village and church leaders, Maud and MAF pilot Dave Jacobsson were escorted through the village in a parade of celebration. The procession ended at a makeshift amphitheater where a ceremony with singing, dancing, and preaching was held in Maud’s honor.

“The whole community was there,” Dave said. “I think we got a slice of the appreciation, the love, and the concern that the people had for her, and the joy of having her back again.”

MAF pilot Dave Jacobsson and Maud Kells arrive in Mulita, where they attended a celebration in Maud’s honor.

After the ceremony, Maud returned to the airstrip to help unload the plane full of medical supplies and gifts she brought with her to Mulita. “I brought quite a lot of stuff out from home…baby clothes, supplies…literally, everything under the sun.”

MAF pilot Dave Jacobsson and Maud Kells arrive in Mulita, where they attended a celebration in Maud’s honor.

Maud, age 75, is a WEC International missionary who has served in the DRC since 1968. Her work in Mulita includes helping to build a primary school and hospital, training staff, and teaching at the local Bible school.

“All during the years, I could never have continued the work at Mulita,” she said. “Without MAF, I couldn’t have done any of it.”

But she’s not finished yet. On this trip to Mulita, Maud is hoping to finish work on a nursery that she started building before the shooting.

On the night of January 4, 2015, Maud was summoned from her house in Mulita to the hospital. When she returned home, she was confronted by two masked bandits, one of whom pointed a gun at her. Not realizing it was real, Maud reached to grab the weapon, and was shot in the chest. “I yelled at the top of my voice, but nobody came to help me,” she said.

Eventually help did come, and Maud’s condition was stabilized. However, there was no means of communication available in Mulita. Someone would have to travel through the night to the nearest town, 30 miles away. The next morning, MAF received a call requesting a medical evacuation flight for Maud. “We were really upset when we heard that she was shot” MAF pilot Jon Cadd said. “The whole team just jumped into action.”

MAF staff quickly contacted local doctors and rearranged the day’s flight schedule, A few hours later, Jon landed in Mulita with medical personnel onboard and was able to evacuate Maud to MAF’s base in Nyankunde.

After receiving treatment in the Nyankunde mission hospital, Maud spent a week recuperating in the home of Jon and Cher Cadd. “So much of the healing process was really MAF caring for me, loving me, and just being so kind and so hospitable,” she said.

“I probably wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for MAF.”