The “Patient House” sits across the street from the air base used by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Joe Adams, MAF Lesotho director and pilot, explains, “The patients come from the mountains. They’re very, very low-income people. They don’t have enough money to afford being in the city. They couldn’t rent a room for the night.

“So when they’re done with their medical appointment – or sometimes they’ve been discharged from the hospital – they have no place to go.”

(Photo courtesy of MAF Lesotho)

Working closely with Lesotho Flying Doctors, MAF connects remote clinics to hospitals that would otherwise take hours to reach by road. In some cases, the journey by vehicle can take half a day across rugged terrain. By air, it takes minutes.

Years ago, MAF helped start the Patient House to give patients a place to stay while waiting for treatment or a return flight home. Today, the ministry is operated by Lesotho Mountain Discipleship, a Christian group focused on discipling local believers.

“They keep the patients there, [and] we make sure they have food,” says Adams. “Some of them don’t know how to use anything but an open fire, so we have people that will cook them food with an electric stove or whatever we have in there.”

The Patient House also creates opportunities for spiritual encouragement. Every worker at the Patient House “is also a follower of Jesus and is there to also pray with [patients] and to share the Gospel with them as appropriate.”

Partners in aviation

Pray for those who stay at the Patient House run by MAF’s partner, Lesotho Mountain Discipleship. The house offers patients and their families a place to stay while they receive medical treatment or recover. (Photo, caption courtesy of MAF)

More than 80% of Mission Aviation Fellowship flights in Lesotho serve the medical needs of about 300,000 people living in remote mountain communities, many in partnership with Lesotho Flying Doctors.

Now, with a new leader at the helm of Lesotho Flying Doctors, Adams says the partnership has grown stronger.

“Karabo Lelimo, the leader of the Lesotho Flying Doctors, has been working at the Lebakeng clinic for eight years prior to being appointed as the director,” says Adams. “So he really understands what it’s like to be in the mountain context, to be supported by the aircraft, and be dependent on what is brought on the airplane. He’s also a fellow follower of Jesus – not everyone in Lesotho Flying Doctors is, but he is.”

Lelimo’s faith-filled leadership came out recently when he arranged for food to be delivered to the Patient House – something MAF has typically provided alone.

When Adams thanked him, Lelimo’s reply was simple: “Glory to God.”

For Adams, the moment represented something bigger: ministries working together to care for vulnerable people both physically and spiritually.

“It’s just amazing to have a partner like that in that position,” he says. “That is a blessing we’re thanking God for…. It’s really symbolic of how leadership is changing things.”

(Photo courtesy of Lesotho Flying Pastors, MAF)

Pray for patients served by MAF, Lesotho Flying Doctors, and the Patient House to know deeper spiritual healing in Christ. Pray also for the encouragement of MAF staff and their families.

“We can’t succeed if we try to do it in our own strength,” Adams says. “We need the Holy Spirit to guide us. We need Him to strengthen us and to empower us.”

Learn more about MAF Lesotho and support opportunities at their website here.

Header photo courtesy of MAF.

(Photo courtesy of MAF)

David Holsten, MAF’s President and CEO, says, “From the beginning, when MAF was founded, the founders of the organization had a vision that the airplane would be able to serve a multitude of different organizations that were involved in Kingdom work. Early on, a lot of our passengers were Western missionaries who were trying to reach hard-to-reach parts of the world.”

Today, the makeup of those who fly with MAF has changed dramatically. Many passengers are local nationals — villagers, medical patients, and refugees — who depend on MAF’s flights for vital transportation.

As the passenger log has shifted, the face of missions has also changed over the years.

“We used to see larger numbers of Western missionaries who were serving in remote parts of the world,” Holsten explains. “Unfortunately, the number of missionaries that are going to some of those pioneering parts of the world has decreased.

“Now there are national missionaries who are responding to a call that God has placed on their life to reach their own people.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo offers a clear example. Holsten says, “Twenty or thirty years ago, there were thousands of missionaries that were serving in that country. Today, there could be less than 100 who come from North America or Europe or places like that. But yet, there’s a generation of Congolese who are seeking to reach their own people.”

Zacharie Francois, MAF Haiti pilot/mechanic. (Photo courtesy of MAF)

MAF’s vision for the future includes recruiting pilots and mechanics from all over the world. These faithful believers may even minister to places far from home — serving as Gospel ambassadors in difficult environments.

“It could be that an Indonesian pilot joins us to serve in Ecuador, or a pilot or mechanic from Mexico joins us, and they’re able to serve in a place like Nigeria,” Holsten says. “That’s an exciting thing to contemplate, and we’re praying for God’s leading as we move into the future.”

At the heart of MAF’s ministry is a commitment to Jesus and the Great Commission. “Following Him is also a life of impact, of purpose… something that’s bigger than ourselves and is ultimately rooted in His way of living life and kingdom principles.”

Holsten encourages fellow Christians anywhere in the world to partner with MAF — through prayer, giving, advocacy, and even serving! “It takes every individual, all of these parts of the body of Christ, to allow the work of MAF to move forward.”

To learn more or get involved, visit www.maf.org.

Header photo courtesy of Becky Fagerlie/MAF.

More refugees are spilling over the border from Burkina Faso into Niger as they escape the rising violence from jihadist-linked insurgents, according to the UNHCR.

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach (CWO) says, “The extremist groups have been coming into the country, trying to take over from the north and the east, from what our understanding is.”

Humanitarian and ministry efforts in Burkina Faso are feeling the impact of deteriorating security.

One of CWO’s critical initiatives, a mobile clinic that provides medical care to remote villages, has been suspended due to safety concerns.

“It’s too dangerous,” Yoder says, emphasizing the heightened risk to their staff and volunteers. “But I have heard that the military has started to take some mobile clinics to some of the areas that are being attacked through these extremists.”

Village of Opportunity graduation in Burkina Faso 2023. (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)

The violence has also impacted CWO’s educational programs, particularly the Village of Opportunity, a boarding school for young women. Yoder expressed concern about the potential drop in student attendance this fall, as travel restrictions may prevent many from reaching the school.

Despite the challenges, CWO remains committed to its Gospel mission. “People are going to be searching for answers and in ways that only God can answer.”

Yoder says, “We haven’t had any direct impact with any of our staff. But it’s always a concern of ours to know that they are safe and that they take care of themselves and be careful as they do travel out.

“They have a heart for ministry, and they’re not going to let this stop them from sharing the Gospel. So we just ask people to pray for our staff that they have wisdom when they can go out, when they should go out, and for their safety as they do.”

Learn more about CWO’s ministry here.

Header photo of children in Burkina Faso, courtesy of Pixabay.

“They’re willing to endure the social ostracization and outright persecution. What gets really tough is when they’re starving,” says Bruce Allen with FMI.

“One pastor told me that he was fasting, he and his family and he had a two-year-old daughter at the time. [They] were fasting four days a week, ‘not because we’re super spiritual, but because we have no food.’

FMI-supported church planter in Indonesia. (Photo courtesy of FMI)

“He was seriously looking at leaving this remote village in a rainforest to go to a big city on the island where he might be able to find employment, not in vocational ministry.”

FMI began financially supporting this pastor, allowing him to continue ministry. His church is the only one in that rural area and continued to grow over the next year.

“Even the local witch doctor had become a follower of Jesus Christ and one of the elders in the church now!” says Allen.

“So I just think, ‘What would happen to these areas if the pastors didn’t stay?’ Ministries like FMI really play a vital part in sustaining and helping local churches in challenging areas to thrive.”

You can support an FMI church planter making a difference for Christ in rural Indonesia! Learn more at FMI’s website.

Then, Allen asks, “Pray for people who would like to partner with FMI, that God would raise up people to help support the work of so many churches in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.”

Pray also for church planters in rural Indonesia, for their spiritual encouragement, creativity, and endurance to proclaim the Gospel in remote areas.

Header photo courtesy of FMI.

Now, with temperatures dropping, Chitry with A3 says, “Just this week, five people died because of cold. Some of them are very much afraid to spend the night under the sky, so they move to the thick jungle area.”

Aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal, November 2023. (Photo courtesy of A3)

A3 alumni in Nepal are trekking to the area with food, warm blankets, clothing, and tents – something easier said than done.

“The area where the earthquake hit is very remote, hilly, and very difficult to reach. Not every area has a motorable road. So people are really struggling and suffering not having necessary things,” says Chitry.

“But our brothers and sisters who graduated from A3 are going there, risking their lives, and struggling to reach there and trying to show Christ’s love and care to the people.”

It is Jesus that will make a lasting difference long after ministries and NGOs have left. Following the earthquake, Nepali villagers need God’s comfort and the promises of Christ.

“People are desperate. They don’t find any other hope there. But at that moment, with our believers going there, showing Christ’s love to them, meeting their needs and comforting them and taking care of them — especially the wounded people or the needy people — they are very much moved. They are willing to know Jesus and hear about Jesus.”

(Photo courtesy of A3)

Chitry asks, “Pray that this is the right time to reach people who can turn to God. [Pray] also [they would] see how Christians love them, hear them, support them, meet the immediate needs of the people, and they see Christ’s love there. Also, pray for the recovery of this area.”

You can give to A3 and help Christians respond with God’s love in critical areas like western Nepal.

“Thank you for this concern…and I hope that brothers and sisters can pray…and also show their love and concern and extend their helping hand to Nepal.”

Header photo shows the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal, November 2023. (Photo courtesy of A3)

Sefiri Seepheephe with Mission Aviation Fellowship Lesotho says syncretism is even a problem. “Some of them in growing up, they have been going to church, but they mixed things.

(Photo courtesy of Lesotho Flying Pastors, MAF)

“They know there are some ancestors. They know there was Jesus who died for some people or who died a long time ago. So they know the name Jesus, but really what is happening with Him, they don’t have any idea…. So you want to be in their shoes when you evangelize.”

Through the Lesotho Flying Pastors ministry, MAF flies local pastors to minister in the Lesotho mountains. But they still often have quite a trek to reach remote villages.

“Sometimes it’s hard because you walk for, let’s say, five to six hours to get to the house and you get there. All the answers are negative. People want to drive you out. They tell you they don’t need you, and then you walk back and you’re tired. So pray for their strength to face each day’s challenges.”

Please pray also for softened hearts to the Gospel in Lesotho.

The biggest need of the Lesotho Flying Pastors is for more audio Bibles. Seepheephe says, “The solar-powered audio Bibles…are very, very key for the ministry because we have most people who struggle to even write their own names. So reading is not their thing. The only [way] they can know the Bible is through audio.”

You can donate to MAF’s Lesotho Flying Pastors fund here and support this critical Gospel ministry!

Header photo courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship Lesotho.

That’s why Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) teamed up with Seed Company to reach the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) remote communities with the Gospel through oral evangelism training.

These communities have no Bible translations — either because their language is unable to have a written form or because they are still waiting for a written Bible translation in their heart language.

MAF flies remote pastors and Christian leaders to a centralized location in DRC for these oral evangelism trainings with Seed Company. There is follow-up roughly every six months to make sure the oral Bible stories and doctrines are remaining true to God’s Word.

Brett*, a pilot and mechanic with MAF says, “Part of the teaching is not just imparting a biblical story, but part of the discipleship that happens with these pastors is they take the time with them to talk about, ‘How does this story change the way I live today?’”

Stephen Hale is also an MAF pilot/mechanic and serves as the program director in the west DRC. Hale says, “It’s a three-year project with multiple workshops, with the same people coming back again and again and again, sharpening themselves in the Word and through fellowship and prayer and then going back out.”

(Photo courtesy of MAF)

MAF and Seed Company are currently focusing on seven or eight languages for this oral evangelism training.

“Among these seven or eight languages, they are trying to identify which of them is an ideal candidate for a real written [Bible] translation project,” Hale explains.

Brett shares an interaction he had with a chief in a remote village. “We were explaining why the Seed Company is here and what they are doing, and he said, ‘Why don’t you have any Bible translations in my language?’ So we had this great opportunity to say that’s why we’re here.

“He said to our group, ‘It’s like we are forgotten. The Church has forgotten us.’

“So I turned to him and I said, ‘People may have forgotten you. But God hasn’t forgotten you. That’s why we’re here is to bring that element of the Gospel here and…the beginning of this work is starting with us today.’”

Brett says, “That just brought a total sense of peace to the whole situation and it was really powerful. They were very excited to see people reaching out to develop a work. Ultimately, the end goal will be to bring a Bible translation to those people. But the storying value of it is, as they are developing the Bible, they are using that as a discipleship tool along the way.”

Without MAF planes, many of these remote pastors and Christian leaders would have to travel for two weeks or more one-way to access the training. But with MAF flights, the trips are typically an hour or two.

Still, to reach the closest remote airstrip to fly to the training site, the pastors and Christian leaders sometimes have a long trek from their village.

(Photo courtesy of MAF)

Brett says, “We heard from the storying project after I dropped them off…. They had to go at least one day around a certain area because these two tribes were not getting along. They were in conflict with one another and it was dangerous, they would threaten each other. So they circumvented their area to get around [and] they went to the training.

“Then during the training, [a man in] the group that was from that village really felt from one of the Bible stories…that he needed to make peace with that tribe that they were in conflict with. And so he did! He came back and they started a conversation and started the reconciliation process and explained why in relation to the Gospel with using the Bible and these storying things they had just learned.

“Now those two villages are at peace with one another and they now have a healthy exchange! So that was a very direct impact of that work that they’re doing.”

Please pray for traveling safety for the training attendees and MAF pilots — and for spiritual protection.

Brett says, “We have felt and experienced opposition for doing this work, whether it was in the flights or whether it was the individuals who came. Challenges were faced and so we just pray and continue to pray for them.”

Also, Hale adds, “The airplanes are expensive to fly, fuel is expensive and getting more expensive, so if people want to contribute in that way, they can always give to MAF…with [an] indication that they would like this support to go to the Seed Company project in Congo.”

Click here to give to MAF!

Header photo courtesy of MAF.

*First name only for security purposes.

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and local believers began this discipleship program just before the world shut down in 2020. Now, the program can restart, and not a moment too soon!

We spoke with Jeremy Toews, a pilot mechanic with MAF in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Normally, MAF focuses on supporting the local Church, medical work, and reaching isolated communities with essential services in the name of Christ.

(Photo courtesy of Jeremy Toews with MAF)

But Toews says the idea for a discipleship program started in the summer of 2019. “Another one of our pilots and I were having a conversation and just really wanted to pursue additional opportunities to come alongside the local church and serve them in the most effective ways possible. So we sought out a couple of the local church leaders that we felt would be in a good position to analyze the needs that the church was experiencing.”

They eventually connected with Pastor Moses, head pastor over 16 churches in the Long Pujungan area of North Kalimantan, and Esther who leads children and youth ministry for the Indonesian CMA Church in North Kalimantan.

North Kalimantan has a strong history of Christianity. Missionaries came in the 1930s and 1940s, and whole people groups embraced relationships with Jesus Christ!

“Over the last few generations, a major challenge that the Church has been facing there is passing on their faith to the next generation,” Toews says.

“They’ll come to church on a Sunday morning. But do they really honestly understand what Christianity even is? What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? And how does that impact my day-to-day life in my marriage, raising my children?

“They’re dealing with some really significant societal issues with substance abuse, with sexual abuse and physical abuse, marriages that are just really falling apart, and children that are growing up with maybe one parent or, in some cases, no parents in the home.”

(Photo courtesy of Jeremy Toews with MAF)

What the churches in Long Pujungan need is spiritual support for growth — and the idea of a discipleship program was born.

The discipleship program team had just formed. Then, Toews says, “Of course, 2020 hits and the pandemic hits and everything shut down. We ended up in a situation where we could not fly passengers for some time. The communities interior didn’t want people from outside coming in. They wanted to kind of hermetically seal their own communities and protect their own people from what was going on in the rest of the world. So we ended up in a situation where we were forced to put that on hold for the better part of two years.”

Now that the communities in North Kalimantan are loosening restrictions, MAF and local believers are excited about restarting the discipleship program. MAF will fly teams in and work with the remote churches in Long Pujungan.

“Starting in March, we’re planning to start back up on those regular trips,” Toews says. “Our target is 12 trips into Long Pujungan this year. We’re just thrilled that the doors seem to be open again for us to step back in and pick up where we left off.”

They use a holistic curriculum that encourages Scripture memorization and deals with spiritual questions and practical issues.

(Photo courtesy of Jeremy Toews with MAF)

Toews explains, “It was a lot of work on the front end. You need to be really careful when you’re going in and doing something like this to make sure you go about it in a way that’s very respectful and make sure that you have the invitation of the community right from the get-go.

“Thankfully, as MAF, we’re the only Westerners. Everyone else we’re working with there is Indonesian. So they understand that [culture] a whole lot better than we do and we let them do all the talking. We let them negotiate all of that and figure out the most culturally appropriate way to step into a community in that sort of context.”

Please pray for MAF and the rest of the discipleship program team as they serve the local community. Ask God to raise up more Gospel workers in Indonesia and soften hearts to His transformative truth.

You can support MAF’s ministry in Indonesia here!

Header photo courtesy of Jeremy Toews with MAF.

The national army and foreign reinforcements recently made some headway in pushing back the insurgents. However, Mozambique’s northern region still faces insecurity and the extremist group continues to be a significant threat.

The insurgents also make ministry harder for Christian organizations like Ambassador Aviation — the in-country name of Mission Aviation Fellowship.

According to Ambassador Aviation pilot Dave LePoidevin, “They’re attacking and killing people, beheading people, burning down their villages [and] houses, so it’s been very difficult.

“We evacuated missionaries out of that area. There aren’t very many left in the north, so that’s caused some complications to our service and disrupted us a bit.”

MAF transports several planeloads of medicine and equipment to the island of Ibo, from where they get distributed to an IDP camp. (Photo courtesy of Dave LePoidevin)

Over the last year, Ambassador Aviation has evacuated several hundred refugees from unstable northern areas. But as people flee their homes and livelihoods, they are often left with nothing. That’s why the ministry also helps distribute food aid and assists refugees where they can.

Although the insurgents have interrupted some of Ambassador Aviation’s other programs like MozMed, they haven’t stopped it. MozMed pilots fly medical teams consisting of doctors, nurses, dentists, and other health personnel to village clinics where they help with critical patient care.

Most of the areas they serve are remote and largely unreached with the Gospel. Dave Holmes, another pilot with Ambassador Aviation says, “We have to initially tread lightly while we develop relationships within the community. But our ultimate desire is, in the future, [to] eventually gain the respect and trust of village leaders and maybe be able to do things like show the Jesus Film or something like that where we can have a little more of an evangelism impact.”

Please pray for open hearts to the Gospel in Mozambique. Pray also for wise leaders to find ways to re-establish peace in the northern region.

(Photo courtesy of Mission Aviation Fellowship)

Holmes says, “Another thing that we would ask prayer for is our program specifically is very short-staffed. We do have one new family that’s joined us recently and we’re very excited about them. We do have another family that is probably about a year and a half away from joining us. But that’s something we’ve struggled with is just having the manpower to continue to serve in the way that there’s demand for here.”

Click here to learn more about Ambassador Aviation (Mission Aviation Fellowship’s name in the country).

You can also give to support the ministry here!

Header photo courtesy of Dave LePoidevin.

In the last two years, the Lebanese currency has lost more than 93 percent of its value against the dollar. Wages alone barely cover basic necessities. Rising inflation means the average family is struggling to buy food or medicine. Many have to run up unpaid bills or borrow money just to put food on the table.

Horizons International works in Lebanon with a focus on evangelism, discipleship, and training. But in this economic collapse, the ministry’s Middle East Center for World Missions launched a new initiative connecting Lebanese believers with Western companies and ministries for remote employment.

Horizons International staff delivering food. (Photo courtesy of Horizons International via Facebook)

Pierre Houssney with Horizons International says, “There are a lot of really highly educated and capable men and women of God who have a lot to offer on the world scale, but they don’t have job opportunities and the money that they’re receiving in the local currency for their current jobs is just not enough to even start paying their most basic bills because it has just lost all of its value.

“We’re working with Western companies and also ministries to provide accounting, graphic design, web development, social media management, [and] all kinds of different services. We can be providing a living wage to Middle Easterners so they can tough it out in the Middle East right now, and specifically Lebanon during this economic collapse.”

Houssney says providing these job opportunities to church members in Lebanon has a direct impact on the Great Commission in the Middle East.

“The Christian presence in these Muslim-dominated areas is one of the most strategic things for reaching the Muslims for Christ,” says Houssney.

“So not only are we providing jobs for these people to be able to put food on the table so that they can remain in the Middle East, we’re also training them for ministry. We’re helping them to equip their churches, to be supporting their churches and families, and this is all part of our strategy for reaching the region for Christ.”

The Middle East Center has partnered with over 90 Lebanese churches, “which is most of the churches in Lebanon because there’s only about 105 churches in Lebanon,” Houssney says.

The language barrier between Lebanese employees and Western companies is a consideration. But many in Lebanon speak English and have done well in markets around the world. For those who come to Horizons International’s Middle East Center and want English lessons, the ministry connects them with the Language Academy of Beirut.

(Photo courtesy of Horizons International)

Interested in getting involved? Houssney asks, “What business are you involved in? Do you have a small business? Do you have a ministry or your church? What are the needs administratively that could be outsourced in your business or ministry?

“If we could just start a discussion about that and you tell us what your needs are in these areas we are offering, then there’s something immediate you can do. You can provide jobs for Lebanese and Syrian believers so they can remain in the Middle East. Then it can also add tremendous value to your business.”

Click here to connect with Horizons International!

Finally, Houssney asks, “We can just be praying that the Lord will provide the right opportunities, that the right businesses will come forward, and that God would provide wisdom and ingenuity in figuring out where these Middle Eastern believers can add the most value to the ministries and businesses that they’ll be serving through the outsourcing project.”

Header photo courtesy of Michal Gadek via Unsplash.