NAMPA, Idaho – Mission Aviation Fellowship celebrated its 70th anniversary Saturday at the organization’s headquarters at the Nampa airport. Some 600 guests attended the open house and enjoyed airplane rides, games, face painting and a breakfast fundraiser.
Grace and Faith Olenik of Nampa enjoy a ride on Petey the Plane during MAF’s 70th anniversary celebration. Some 600 people attended the event Saturday at the Nampa airport. Photo by Paul O’Brien.
Five members of the Johnson Family —Emme-Elise, Levi, Amber, Seth, and Adam — listen intently as Jim Manley of MAF gives instructions prior to their airplane ride. Manley served as a pilot in Ecuador for a number of years. Photo by Paul O’Brien.
Lisa Byce and Diana Finnigan from Clown Connection decorate faces and make balloon creatures at MAF’s 70th anniversary celebration. Some 600 people attended the event Saturday at the Nampa airport. Photo by Paul O’Brien.
“Seventy years ago, MAF was founded by those who realized that small airplanes could be used to take the Gospel to isolated parts of the world,” said John Boyd, MAF president and CEO. “Pilot Betty Greene flew the first flight to Mexico. Since then we’ve expanded across the world, and serve on every continent except Antarctica.”
Today, MAF operates a fleet of 132 airplanes in 31 countries, enabling the work of some 1,500 churches, mission organizations, medical groups and relief agencies. MAF also provides IT and communication tools to support mission and development work, and make life better for isolated people.
In addition to the work at its permanent bases, MAF is currently enabling disaster response efforts in Nepal. MAF is partnering with Fishtail Air, a Nepali company, to coordinate helicopter transportation to remote villages in the mountains of Nepal that have been devastated by earthquakes in April and May. The MAF-Fishtail partnership has conducted more than 800 flights to 150 different communities in Nepal. They have helped 48 different aid groups, transported more than 1,100 relief workers, and delivered 131 metric tons of relief supplies.
4 Comments
I am interested in participating in your mission. How does one go about this??
I am in El Paso Texas … do you have MAF Participants here????
Hello Jeri, there are many ways to get involved with MAF. Please visit http://www.maf.org/serve and learn how you can volunteer or advocate, work at MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, ID, or become an MAF missionary. You can also get involved financially at http://www.maf.org/donate.
We didn’t see the names of Ralph and Melba Maynard….
nor did we see their son and his wife…..Tim and Kathy
Maynard. WHO KEEPS THE PLANES FLYING WHERE THEY
WORKED…..AND WHERE tIM AND Kathy STILL WORK????
Lacy and Irene Hall
Hello Lacy and Irene and thanks for the comment. Ralph and Melba were missionaries with CrossWorld. Their son, Tim, and his wife Kathy are missionaries with MAF serving in Indonesia where Tim is a mechanic. Feel free to check out their webpage at http://www.maf.org/maynard where you can read their latest prayer letters and find out a little bit more about what’s going on in their lives and ministry.