Mission Aviation Fellowship

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The plane of Mission Aviation Fellowship missionary Nate Saint is on display at MAF headquarters.

Mission Aviation Fellowship is a Christian missionary organization whose primary purpose is to provide air transportation in support of missionary efforts and humanitarian needs in hard-to-reach areas of the world.

Mission Aviation Fellowship was founded after World War II by a combination of Christian pilots from Britain, America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia who saw the increasing usefulness of air transportation in the mission field. It was initially called Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship (CAMF). MAF's first flight was made in 1946 when Betty Greene flew missionaries in a Waco biplane to a remote part of Mexico. Branches of MAF were founded in many countries, including the UK and Australia, within a few years. One of its planes was used in Operation Auca, in which five missionaries, including pilot Nate Saint, were killed in Ecuador by Huaorani warriors.

MAF PNG Twin Otter at Kafa, Papua New Guinea

Currently around 20 national branches of MAF operate in many parts of the world where travel is difficult, including Africa, Aceh, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor, Mongolia, Madagascar, Arnhem Land and Papua New Guinea. As well as providing transport for missionaries they also provide medical emergency flights, relief flights in case of natural disaster and transport for government agencies and NGOs.

MAF also provides internet, I.T. and RF communications to its various projects around the globe. They have developed a mobile VSAT terminal which can be 'checked' onto most commercial airlines as baggage. This terminal can provide emergency communications anywhere in the world and can be quickly deployed. MAF's technology services played a critical role in the infrastructure and emergency aid to Indonesia's devastating tsunami. They have been providing aviation and communications support to remote parts of Indonesia for decades.