Info on Mission Aviation Fellowship

[please]

Hi everyone,
I am trying to gather some information on Mission Aviation Fellowship, and was wondering if there is anyone out there who has worked for them and could tell me more about the sort of work they do.
I have visited their website, but would like to know more with a view to applying as a volunteer. Any replies would be appreciated.
Is it mainly Christian Missionary work or more providing medical and logistical aid?
What sort of environment do volunteers work in? Are they provided with accommodation?
Where do they currently have projects?
Has anyone out there worked for them and could give me a deeper insight into their work?

Thanks for any input. It is REALLY appreciated. :)

[biped]

I think it's difficult to get into. I heard somewhere you have to be sponsored by your local church.

I've got a press clipping I could email you if you want.

I'm also researching it by the way. Don't hold out much hope though, but then I'm a pessimistic git.

Good luck with it. If you find out anything, let me know.

[KASAC 7]

MAF SA operate like all the other branches as far as I am aware. You have to raise your own support as the organisation runs largely on donations itself. That means you would have to pay for your own accommadation and living expenses. In South Africa most of the flying is done in support of Christian ministries but in Lesotho they support the local population in almost inaccessable areas, with medical assistance, etc. If you check their SA website you can receive their newsletter which will give you a better idea of what they do. Hope this helps! :)

[please]

Thanks for both those replies. Very much appreciated.

Further to that advice, can anyone else give me an insight into the type of work done by the volunteers? Someone who has "been there, done that, got the t-shirt", so as to get a real idea.

Thanks again everyone!! :cool:

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Been there and I even have t-shirts made!
I didn't fly for MAF but worked side by side with them. I was with a 2 plane missionary deal in East Africa for five years. Its a blast!
REAL bush flying. Be ready to turn some bolts, get dirty etc...
Airstrips? Who needs them.
I got housing with the other two pilots, we shared transport, and I got a few hundred bucks a month to use for what ever. They also fed me.
We'd spend a few days in the bush at mission hospitals using a spoke and hub type thing for medical work and furthur go in to the bush...DEEP bush.
All these guys looking for jobs in africa could greatly increase their chances if they suck it up and go volunteer for a few years. Get your name around and get the skills. It is much more difficult flying than the other stuff.
To get more info, try writing to `Wings Of Hope' in St Louis.
They send planes over to some of the mission groups in Africa and Central america.
Clear Skies

[ClearBlueWater]

Please excuse me going off at a bit of a tangent but does anyone know of organisations like MAF that use rotary wing instead of or in addition to fixed wing? I'm sure help is needed in places accessible only to helicopters although I don't think MAF uses them.

Thanks

[Sector3]

The Mission Aviation Network (http://www.missionaviation.net) is a resource for all students, missionaries and interested persons who work as Christian pilots, engineers or support staff in mission aviation and aviation relief organisations around the world.

Has anyone out there worked for them and could give me a deeper insight into their work?

Why not give MAF in your area a call or send them an email and ask them to put you in contact with a current missionary pilot and ask them as many questions as you can? (I currently serve as a pilot with MAF, but I am in Australia and can't answer any questions about Africa....yet!)

Does anyone know of organisations like MAF that use rotary wing ?

JAARS (http://www.jaars.org) uses rotary-wing aircraft in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

[Doudou]

Shenzi,
I agree with you, I guess Volonteer in Africa or South America can be a really great experience (human and aviation), I wanted to ask you if you know the minimum required, (I don't even have my commercial but working on it), cause I guess they're cannot afford to give their plane to a inexperienced pilot who gonna crash it in the middle of a jungle (what is logical).
Thanks

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Requirements vary I am sure. Since some are foriegn based, ie US company's and aid agencies, a local license may not be required. Or some still may only need a private local license. I went over with 400 hours and a US CPL and was o.k. since the planes were US reg and the chief liked low time guys better since he could train them the way he wanted. Ironically, guys he had with lots of time and experience in the US and Canada and Europe were a failure. They had their own way of doing things which just wasn't a safe way for the kind of flying/person he wanted. He spent three months training too, so don't sell yourself short. Do some research, look around, you can find somewhere. While your looking, work on your Insrument and com licenses.

[Wireless]

Shenzi,

Were Wings of Hope the company that you flew for? If so, do you know if they would take on Pilot's who are not US nationals. I did not know if you would still need a US visa and all that comes with it despite the fact that you will work for them outside of the US.

Thanks Bill

[themax]

I contacted MAF a while back. Seem like a good bunch of people, but you have to be one of those "born again" types. Every organization has there own criteria and I understand theirs.

I am just looking to find somewhere I can help with the relief effort in Africa. I am a mature, experienced pilot with many thousand hours and an A&P, so you think there must be a need for people like me who wish to contribute. So far, unliess I am willing to stand on a soap box, no one is interested.

So If 'Preachin" and Flyin" is your bag, this group probably warrents more research.

If you have any ideas of how I might expand my own search, please give me a post. ([email protected]) Thanks!

[please]

I have a place with MAF starting in November!! Thanks for all the replies. I will be working for their project in Madagascar, where they are now flying polio vaccinations to the entire population (the new president has given the go-ahead). They also fly for conservation companies and other missionaries. I'm off to California next week for the pilot course. :)
Rotary wing mission flying? Try heli-mission. Not sure about the web adress.
Ta ta!!

[Wireless]

Blimey Please!

That didn't take long. Well done mate!

I went to one of the enquirer's days in Kent and they said that applications normally take a year. I understand that you have to take a Pilot assessment in Amsterdam, plus numerous interviews and a mental assessment! Did you have to do all these things. The procedure may have changed since I enquired two years ago.

Could I be nosey and ask what your hours and previous experience are? I am a wannabe and always find it useful to hear from someone who has made it.

Congrats, Bill

[4HolerPoler]

Congrats http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/arms.gif please - it's great to see a dream come true. Keep us posted on your time in Mad.

[Doudou]

Congratulation!
So, how did you get there? with how many hours and is it really a lot about religion like some people seem to think and say?
Keep giving news, and do a great job in Mada, I'm sure you will.

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Rock on dude! Have fun! Plant some trees over there too!
Keep a journal, makes for good reading after you leave!

[Sector3]

I'm off to California next week for the pilot course.

And which pilot course would that be??

MAF usually requires all staff to complete their own training apart from company Check and Training.

[nosefirsteverytime]

a little off topic, but I just wonder, about Joint Christian Aid, the forerunne to all these guys (commonly referred to as Jesus Christ Airlines). Is it true that the churches funded them?

[4granted]

Found these guys....dont know if theyre looking..www.jaars.org/aviation.shtml
gotta be godsquad..;)

[Wireless]

Nosefirst,

I think it was set up in Biafra by Catholic Missionaries who recognised need to bring in aid. They approached a local gun runner who agreed to his aircraft being used for the cause.

Apparantly Pilot jobs even appeared in Flight International!

That's all I can drum up anyway.

Cheers, Bill

[nosefirsteverytime]

Thanks Wireless!

Hmmm, that gives me an idea, I wonder if the Guv can be persuaded by religion..........:D :D :D

[Agaricus bisporus]

Well perhaps the Guv can be persuaded by religion!

Why not send a bunch of smug sanctimonious animists/buddhists/hindus etc to convince him of the error of his heathen ways? (except the animists/buddhists etc I've met are neither sanctimonious nor smug...) Perhaps his life would be enhanced by this arrogant approach?

I doubt it too, any more than the lives of the poor people subjected to the arrogance of the latter day colonialist "missionaries" are. The imposition of western false-values and religion are the root cause of much of the social collapse in societies all over Africa, Asia and Oceania and frankly amount to little more than cultural genocide. In the light of the society we live in how dare we seek to impose such appalling values on others at the cost of destroying core values they have held for milennia? What stupendous arrogance!

For God's sake, and I mean that literally, please leave these people their culture, society and self regard intact, and keep your pernicious foreign gods and morals to your own sick societies.

Africa in particular has far too many problems to be subjected to further self doubt and cultural asassination by western god botherers.

Put your own house in order first, will you, sort out your own problems before you seek to impose this foreign claptrap on other societies!

How would you like fanatical Moslems, Mormons or Branch Davidians flying into your local airstrip and browbeating you on your doorstep to abandon your culture of centuries just because they said so? Threatening you to do so for fear of eternal damnation, or just for fear of missing the next food handout (yes "missionaries" do, I've seen it.) Just how bloody angry would that make you?


Leave them alone will you!!!


:( :( :(

[ShenziRubani]

Agaricus Bisporus!

Are you talking about Aviation or about how lucky he's been to score that job?

I can see from your comments that you have spent quite some times in Africa and the "3rd World Countries", and the experiences you got from there were great, memorable.

I am from Madagascar Dude, and my country needs this kind of help at the moment, from where ever it comes. And I envy him for the flying he's going to enjoy, and the people he's going to meet, and the beauty of the country.

Please, super well done mate and tonga su à Mada!!

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Hey Ab Bis Quick,
First of all, Moslim is spelled with a `U'. I guess your good old missionary school did not teach you spelling!
Second, if you don't like what missionary's preach, don't listen! Your god gave you a brain and therefore the power to choose. Its good you have learned to think for yourself and it looks like you have such worldly wisdom, so abide by it and let others choose for themselves too. Missionary's may have their own agenda in parts, and yes I have seen that too, but they do a he%$^ll of alot more for the people of poor Africa than their own governments and `brothers' do. So learn from your bad experience which is so obvious and chill out bro....

Shenzi, what would all the g squad in Arusha think of this freak?
Such `bad' people they are, eh?

To our wives and sweathearts, may they never meet!

[Agaricus bisporus]

shanzi, your spelling may not be wrong but it certainly isn't right. My dictionary spells "Moslim" (sic) four ways, and none are the one you used to correct my (correct) spelling. Still, I get the impression you are not one to let facts get in the way of a demonstration of moral superiority.

I think your post has made my point about arrogance and patronising interference all too real.

Help people, certaiinly - NGOs do that, but dont poison their minds with flat earth style nonsensical superstition which is no more or less worthy than their own. And to have the arrogance to assume that it is!!! Words fail me.

And what an extraordinary footer from one who seems to profess such sanctimonious piety, or are you one of those bigamist "Christians"? Thats OK then, perhaps God won't mind after all. But then if He doesnt like it perhaps He shouldnt look? Is that the answer?

[flying masai]

All those non aviation related topics have nothing to do in this forum specialy those regarding religion.

When I was Flying in East Africa I came across those MAF pilots, they could be very usefull to the local population and other pilots. They did help me a lot with fuel in remoted places.

[shenzi_rubani_HTAR]

Aga
NGO's do that? I hardly think NGO's are much better than what you percieve the missionary's to be. How much time have yo spent with them? Brand new land cruisers? Six figure salary? Please, they are hardly helping. Consider it a raping of the west, play upon the ignorance of the good people in the first world; `send money, a dollar a day'. How much of that dollar actuallly is spent on the one who needs it?
Poison their minds? I merely suggest that people have a mind of their own. If yo don't like what someone is saying, don't listen and surely don't follow. Missionary's, christian, muslim, what ever are at least giving people a choice. Some do try to use material gain to lure people to their religion, which , yes, is wrong but people still have a choice. Flying Maasai is right. They helped him out a few times, me as well. There is a lot of good coming from the majority of the missionary's out there. Alot more than from some fat a@$ sitting in the west sending their pound or dollar a day, writing it off their taxes and saying they are helping people. You want to help someone, go try it dude. Don't sit in your palace in the UK preaching and go and try it. Go be a volunteer, work for free where your only payment is some poor guy looking up and saying thanks. I spent five years as, yes a missionary. I didn't have anything to do with trying to push a god on anyone. We did medical work. I got paid with thank you's. Though we were considered missionary's, we helped anyone in need, christian, muslim, atheist, .....
missionary's come in all types. Don't be so quick to write them off as controlling, brainwashing, colonizing, or what ever else your little dictionary can come up with .
Back to the facts, shenzi is also spelled with an `e'.

[Mobotu]

STOP

Will everyone stop trying to ram their personal views down the throats of the other 'intelligent' readers of this forum!

I believe the question asked was for information on Mission Aviation in Africa - Too be blunt 'For God's sake' does any of your prattel HELP the poor prruner who seeks nothing more than some assistance.

ANSWER THE QUESTION YOUR WORSHIP!

IMHO

Ask any 'Real' experienced African pilot what they think of Missionary pilots and most will tell you they are some of the most dedicated, honnest and helpful people you will find on the face of Africa. There are always exceptions, but these you will eventually learn (If you stay long enough) are the exception and NOT the rule.

How many times have you asked your local MAF pilot for information about a runway that you have never heard of so you can fly your 'Big Bucks Charter'? Did one of them ever refuse or worse still ask money for a response????

I would swap the Boeing for a Cessna any day if I could find the courage to do, day in day out what these remarkable people take for granted!

Just think we would still be living in the forrest if it wasn't for them!

[ShenziRubani]

Agaricus bisporus,

As Flying Masai said this forum was meant to help a pilot in search for a job. Your comments on Missionary work in Africa and the neo-colonialist was way off subject and irresponsibly useless. I have to go along Shenzi_rubani_HTAR, Flying Masai and Mobutu and I have to say that your basic, little bourgeoisie, ignorence is scary because there must be a lot of others like you sending their money to Save the Children or CARE or other NGOs who spend in Africa, on the projects and the people themselves, 12% of the donated money as the other 88% go in running cost, salaries, cost of living (why do you need to drive a luxury $45,000 Toyota when you are supposed to help people who do not make $20 a month???).

The work done by most of the missionaries in the part of Africa I have been (20 years in Madagascar, 13 in East Africa) has more value and brings more to people than the "Luxury NGOs" will ever dream of. And whatever you said in your first thread, African need help, they need medical support and presence, they need guiding, and most of it, they welcome and praise it.

The sad thing is that you do not know what you are talking about and I don't think it is worth discussing with you. Enjoy where you are from, and what you have, and don't try to preach things that you know, things that you have no clue of.

Ignorence could be so armfull at times...

[4HolerPoler]

Enough of this. Some really good conversation here but the man had his question answered, got the job and this thread would now do well in Hyde Park Corner.http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/soapbox.gif

So, sadly, I'm going to terminate the current thread. Please feel free to continue your theological debate in the more appropriate hallowed halls of Jet Blast.

4HP