Yet as someone whose attention is fully arrested when I see a tool for the Gospel, my perspective on a certain object changes. I’ll never forget the first time I realized I could go into a chat room online and talk about the Gospel with people who were searching for answers. That same “ah-ha” moment for me happened when I first experienced how effective airplanes are at taking the Good News of Jesus into isolated and remote areas.

On Saturday, April 28, at our headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, MAF will dedicate a Cessna Caravan for the program in Haiti in a special ceremony. And after my recent visit to the program, I realize just what an impact that plane is going to make in Haiti.

With a litany of projects that could never be finished by missionaries alone in a lifetime, work teams coming from all over the United States and other countries around the world routinely descend on Haiti to lend a helping hand. Once these teams arrive in Port-au-Prince, there’s not a minute to waste in getting to a remote location. Missionaries only host these teams for a short period of time, so they want to ensure they maximize their time in Haiti.

Without MAF, that time would be diminished greatly, perhaps by as much as two days. Bouncing along the rough dirt roads that splinter throughout Haiti consumes hours of time, perhaps even a full day going and a full day coming. But not if mission teams fly—and the Caravan enables MAF to transport entire teams in an efficient and cost effective manner that saves hours of time.

I know this Caravan is going to get a full workout on the field—and the people it will be carrying are going to present the Gospel in a powerful way. It will be an effective tool and just might be the catalyst that results in a greater impact for the Kingdom.

Watch a video and read the MAF Haiti Outlook Report to learn more about Mission Aviation Fellowship being the catalyst for change in Haiti.

On my latest trip to the cavern of creativity, John Miller showed me the propeller feathering spring compressor – a necessary tool for removing the propeller on a Caravan.

John Miller shows off one of the Feather Spring Compressors made by the MAF machine shop volunteers.

So, how did they do it?

“We used reverse engineering with one that we had purchased and were able to draw up the schematics and specifications to make them ourselves,” John said. “We’ve already made quite a few and the mechanics on the field seem to like them.”

MAF volunteers Steve Broughan and Jeff Morgan are responsible for the production of the tool, with Steve serving as the machinist and Jeff taking care of the welding.

Without this tool, mechanics and maintenance specialists in the past would have to borrow them from other programs, putting the plane out of commission while waiting for the part to be shipped. But that is no longer the case.

“This isn’t a tool you use everyday,” John said. “It just sits up on the shelf most of the time. But when you need it, it sure is good to have it handy.”

The remote airstrip we landed on near Ans Rouge, Haiti.

On our final day in the interior of Haiti, we experienced remote in every essence of the word. We landed on an airstrip near Ans Rouge in a place called Gran Diab (also known as the “Great Devil Plateau”).

As our pilot and MAF Haiti program director David Carwell made our final approach to land, I scanned the ground for signs of civilization. And I found them. Donkeys, horses, thatched roofs, tin shacks, small burning fires. But no power lines. No paved roads. Nothing close to what we had seen in other rural areas around Haiti. This was remote. Haiti’s national Highway 1 runs right through this region, and the dirt road “highway” is used more by domesticated livestock than automobiles.

While there we visited with Judy Dilus, who, along with her husband Manis, runs Lemuel Ministries, a holistic ministry focused on exemplifying the love of Christ in the community in which they live. It was so remote that Manis, who is from the area, never wanted to return. But he did—and the ministry is thriving.

One of the girls enrolled at the school run by Lemuel Ministries.

A burgeoning school that goes through fifth grade, a tree-planting project, and new wells are helping ease the burden of surviving for the people of Gran Diab. There’s even a new church there as well that is discipling people and mitigating the influence of voodoo.

So determined were the people in the community to give MAF access that they cleared the airstrip, which was previously an area covered with dense thorn bushes as high as 3-4 feet. With that access, the development became greater and faster.

It once again gave me a great perspective on just how necessary MAF’s services are in places like these—and how it can transform a community in ways previous unimaginable.

Tommy Schwindling runs Children's Hope orphanage in Jacmel.

One of my favorite stories was that of Tommy Schwindling, the unassuming man from Alabama who runs Children’s Hope orphanage there.

When Schwindling greeted our team, he made no attempts to hide his thick Southern drawl that was as smooth as molasses. He meandered up to our truck and began answering any and all questions we peppered him with to get started. Then he told us the story of Samuel and the beginnings of Children’s Hope, which regularly uses MAF to transport in work teams from Port-au-Prince.

After the earthquake, Samuel’s aunt had 14 children in her orphanage – and she had nowhere to put them. She gave them to her 21-year-old nephew and told him that she would be back. In the meantime, she was going to the U.S. and would raise funds to ship back to him so Samuel could sustain the children.

But that never happened.

A picture of Samuel and some of the kids he was responsible for.

Instead, what happened was Samuel was left to fend for himself and feed 14 mouths – all while they lived in a tent.

After two months of this, Alabama Baptist Missions Board got a hold of the information and through a series of connections, eventually opened an orphanage. But they still needed someone to run it full time.

This is where Tommy saunters onto the pages of this story.

“I had told God I would go anywhere he led me to go – and even though Haiti wasn’t high on my list of places to serve, I went,” said Tommy, who was bit by the missions bug when he went to Niger several years ago and thought he might serve in Africa.

What transpired in the months following the earthquake was an incredible story of God’s hand on Tommy’s life, which led him and his wife to Jacmel to run the orphanage. He and his wife sold or gave away everything they had and moved to Haiti.

Now they care for all 14 of Samuel’s kids along with five others. Their facility is quickly growing with hopes of expanding to a capacity of 60-80 children in the next year.

“I’m just a plain guy,” said Tommy, who worked for a car salesman in Alabama. “It’s amazing who God will use if you’re willing to obey Him. I never would’ve thought I would be here, but now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”

Roge Michel shows off the water from one of the Haiti Outreach wells.

Roge Michel is one such example of a Haitian empowered. For the past 13 years, Roge has worked with mission organizations, including the last 11 for Haiti Outreach, an organization that relies on MAF for transportation needs in the interior. His most recent assignment as the community director of Haiti Outreach’s clean water program was to help figure out a way to make wells truly sustainable and maintained by the people.

What brought this about was the startling discovery that around half of the wells being built were no longer operational. There was no ownership by the Haitian people. They were wells dug by short-term American missionaries, wells they used until they broke.

But Roge and the Haiti Outreach team put together a way to empower the people to maintain the wells – their wells. They created a system where each family contributes to the upkeep of the well, as well as its protection. Wells are now locked and only opened during designated times by the well’s president. Each community also establishes their own rules about how they will maintain the wells, such as requiring the removal of your shoes before pumping your water.

“Haitian people are taking responsibility for their wells, and it is giving the wells more value,” Roge said. “We’re also educating them about the difference between well water and river water.”

Making such a change in a country accustomed to government handouts hasn’t been easy—but it is rewarding.

“Establishing the wells this way, it has definitely brought a change about in the culture and in the mentality of the people,” Roge said.

We stopped at a well on the outskirts of Pignon and met Rony, the well president. Rony was a young man in his late 20s or early 30s and beamed with pride as he unlocked the well to show us how it is operated.

Roge posed next to Rony for a picture. It was obvious that both men had pride in what they were doing. Roge also seemed eager to share just how effective this new program is in Haiti: over the last two years, of the approximately 100 wells under Haiti Outreach’s direction, there have been only eight total days of downtime on the wells.

It’s that kind of progress and shift in culture that will turn small change into sweeping transformation soon. Hopefully, very soon.

The evening before our trip to Haiti began, I went out to dinner with my long-time friend, John. Through the years, John has worked in missions–both short-term and longer-term. And he’s been coming to Haiti off and on for nearly 20 years.

“You’ve never seen anything like it,” he told me.

Now less than 24 hours later, I can affirm he was right.

A typical scene along a Haitian street corner.

I caught very few smiles amidst the hum drum routine of Haitian life that is anything but normal by western standards. I couldn’t help but wonder how a nation could reach this point.

A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away. – Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)

The sentiments of that verse captures the feel and mood of Haiti–and it’s also the very reason MAF is serving here, to help bring justice for the broken and hurting. It’s easy to get jaded while attempting to help some people lost in a sea of injustice. One government aid worker I spoke with on the plane was passionate about her work yet expressed no confidence that things would ever change in Haiti. It was a douse of cold water to what I wanted to find during my time here.

However, she’s right. Things won’t change … if we’re simply counting on people — in their own strength — to overcome a dark spiritual oppression and a culture of corruption.

But that’s why true hope is grounded in something so much more. It’s grounded in Jesus. As dark and desolate of a place as Haiti may seem to the casual observer, you can’t ignore the stories of God’s grace, shattering the cycle of hopelessness.

This week, I want to tell you those stories. The stories where hope prevails in the midst of desperation and loss, the stories of God at work where we simply following His lead. I hope you’ll be inspired by those people who are diligently serving God and shining brightly in a dark place.

While recently talking with Sean Cannon about his time flying for MAF’s affiliate program in Oaxaca, Mexico, he added another interesting – albeit, not so alive – item to unusual things MAF transports: tortillas.

But it’s not the commercial variety either.

“Sometimes, I would be finishing up loading the plane and a mother would come out to me and ask if I still had any room,” Sean said. “And in her arms, she would be carrying a stack of giant tortillas about a foot high. These tortillas were the diameter of a large pizza. It was like a care package from a mom to her son.”

Apparently, there’s nothing like mama’s cooking – especially her tortillas.

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Carrying a team from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Persenaire found himself in a sudden and surprising greeting. Villagers sprinkled water on the heads of Persenaire and the WWF party, followed by pouring flour on them as well.

The Cessna 185 is a float plane MAF uses to reach isolated people living along rivers in Indonesia.

Curious about what the greeting was all about, Persenaire radioed back to the MAF base to inquire from national staff about the ritual’s meeting.

His question was met with gasps. “They put flour on you? That is a sign of great honor and respect.”

But that wasn’t all. While reserved for dignitaries and people the village respects, this ritual was also a way of warding off evil spirits, protecting both the visitors and the village.

“It was definitely an honor to be treated this way,” Persenaire said. “But it also goes to show you how serious the spiritual battle is in the places we serve. However, we’re seeing progress as we helped relocate a church planter to that village recently.”

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After serving as a maintenance specialist for 36 years with MAF at various locations in Africa, Beck has spent the last 13 years helping MAF transport planes to and from the field in this manner. This week, Beck is tasked with pulling apart a 182 so it will fit into a 40-foot cargo container headed for Madagascar.

“You have to make sure that everything is going to be snug and properly secured when you put it in the container,” Beck said. “The plane has a long journey ahead of it – and you just don’t know how it’s going to be treated while it’s being loaded and unloaded on boats and trains until it reaches its destination.”
With the help of volunteer Bill Rogers, Beck carefully places things in marked bags, both to ensure that no parts are lost and to make reassembly as easy as possible.

“I’ve never lost anything major while doing this,” said Beck, who oftentimes oversees the entire tedious process – disassembling on the field, reassembling in the U.S. for maintenance, disassembling in the U.S., and reassembling on the field again.

It’s a process that is surprisingly more efficient and cost effective than ferrying a plane across continents. Due to the cost of outfitting a small plane to make such a long flight and the government permission required to fly over each country, the box is often the best option.

With this particular 182, Beck had to create a temporary landing gear in order to roll the plane into the container. The standard landing gear is too wide to fit in the thin container that also necessitates the removal of the plane’s wings and tail.

“I really enjoy working on these projects,” Beck said. “It’s a lot of fun to work on a puzzle like this.”

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But when people carry this line of thought over into their relationship with Christ, it’s destined to cause confusion, anxiety, and a feeling of inferiority.

As we begin to grow in our relationship with Christ, we recognize our need to grow and develop. And we often want to use a performance-based scale to determine how much we’ve grown. And that’s where we go wrong.

Our relationship with the Lord isn’t one of measuring growth based on how much we’re doing for Him. This performance-based “ladder of success” we try to apply to our walk with Him falls short on a number of levels. We think, “If I get in this Bible study, or I work in this soup kitchen, or I go on this mission trip … the Lord will know I love Him and it will be obvious I’m growing.”

While doing all of those things are great, they don’t equate to growth.

Malachi 3:2 says, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is a like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

God is in the business of refinement. He takes what we give Him–all the broken pieces of our hearts and lives–and begins to transform it into something beautiful, something in His image.

Yet we try to rate our growth, which usually produces a feeling of self-condemnation. In actuality, however, our growth isn’t based on what we do; rather, it’s based on how much we’re willing to give over to Him for the refining process.

The iron of God is hot and painful. As He pounds us and shapes us into the man or woman of God He desires for us to become, we toss and turn. We question His tactics and reasons. We grow impatient. We continue to disappoint ourselves.

But if we’re giving ourselves to Him regardless of those misconceived thoughts, God isn’t disappointed. He just wants the opportunity to hold you over the fire and melt away all the impurities that prevent you from knowing Him more deeply and becoming the person He desires you to become.

When we give God full authority to continue this refining process in us, we grow exponentially in Him as our love for Him grows.