The MAF Blog: Worldwide Pulse

Posts Tagged ‘ministry’

IT as a Ministry?

Posted on: April 26th, 2012 by Owen Fuller | Leave a comment

As an information technology (IT) specialist with MAF, I’m part of one of the organization’s most cryptic ministries. Many people easily understand the role MAF airplanes play on the mission field––bringing workers and supplies across jungles, rivers, mountains, and deserts while saving days of ground travel time––yet few people seem aware of our IT work. To be quite honest, until a few years ago, I didn’t know anything of MAF let alone their IT ministry.

My wife Stephanie and I felt called to missions, but we didn’t know how we would be able to serve. Neither of us was trained or experienced as a teacher, pastor, church planter, or other “typical” missionary occupation. My schooling, military training, and work experience involved working with computers, networks, and radios. Stephanie was enjoying being a mom. How could we serve? A little searching on Google led us to MAF’s website.

MAF flies doctors, missionaries, humanitarian workers, and teachers to parts of the world they might otherwise never reach. Have you ever stopped to think about the needs these workers have once they get there? Doctors need to research diseases and treatments. Bible translators need to submit their translation work for review. Humanitarian workers need to submit supply requests. Teachers need access to teaching material. These workers get lonely, and miss talking to friends and family back home. Often the resources we take for granted every day are not available on the mission field.

This is where MAF steps in with IT as a ministry. We provide tools like satellite Internet access, consulting, and technical support, which allow all these ministries to carry out their work more effectively. With communications technology in place, these workers can order supplies, conduct research, collaborate on projects, access online learning resources, and stay in contact with loved ones more easily than ever before. As with the airplane, the technology MAF uses is overcoming barriers and bringing new ways to teach, serve, and communicate to the ends of the earth.

“What Is Your Ministry?”

Posted on: March 19th, 2012 by Karen Broyles |

This is a question I’m often asked by well-meaning short-term visitors. I could give the cursory answer: I’m a wife and mom, a hostess to many, financial assistant to MAF-Haiti, a graphics designer, youth leader, worship leader… the list could go on. But, I truly don’t see these as the definition of my ministry here in Haiti. They’re simply the outflowing of ministry. Ministry—whether we’re talking about mothering or how I relate to the community around me—is not something that I switch on and turn off, as if I’m clocking in and out of a 9-to-5 job each day. It’s simply my life … a broken, poured-out vessel before our Lord. When I’ve finally lost all sense of “ministry” vs. all the rest of my time/life, God can and will work through me in the most awesome way. This is not because I’ve said, “I need to minister to my child right now,” or, “I need to minister to the woman who lives on my street.” It happens naturally as an overflow of the love and grace that permeates my whole being.

As I continue to seek His face and His love, He’ll fill my heart each and every day anew. I must allow God to refill my heart with a new outpouring of His Spirit in order to be the follower of the Cross that He’s called me to be. And as I do so, He will give me strength, not just to walk, but to run and even soar (Is. 40:31) In Haiti, especially, this is vitally important to truly be able to face the spiritual warfare that is so tangible here.

May your own ministry—your entire life—be a shining beacon, reflecting the very heart of God to the world around you, so that all may see and honor your Father who is in Heaven (Mt. 5: 16).

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Having a Baby Changes Everything

Posted on: February 20th, 2012 by Suzanne Lincoln | 4 Comments

I love that soap commercial that says “having a baby changes everything.” Any mama knows it’s true. I quickly found that my baby would not only change my life and the focus of my ministry, but that my little 7-pound screaming bundle would change the receptiveness of those to whom I was hoping to minister.

When we first moved here to Eastern Congo, we had no power. Beyond the everyday stress of changing diapers in the dark, I had to learn just how long meat and veggies would last without refrigeration. Not long, it turns out. Without a means to keep food cold, I had to shop in the open air market every couple of days. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but I quickly found that people here were more suspicious than receptive of me; and even though I knew the local trade language, they simply didn’t know what to do with this white lady shopping around their market. So every few days I’d go to the market and get ridiculed and mocked and end up coming home in tears. For three months I cried every day I had to go to the market. One day I finally got brave enough to take my 5-month-old baby with me to buy my veggies. I was scared to death to take her, but we needed food and I didn’t have anyone to watch her, so I tied her on my back in the local style, held my tears back, and went in. This time I was the one who didn’t know what to do with the people in the market. Instead of mocking and laughing, I heard clucks of approval and acceptance. I wasn’t a foreigner anymore; I was a wife and mommy, just trying to make it through the day and feed my children. Within a week, mockery and ridicule turned to defense and friendship.

Children truly are the great equalizer. Every mommy in the world worries about protecting her babies, feeding them well, educating them, raising them right. God not only gives us children as our primary ministry, but also to make ministry possible. It’s true, you know. Having a baby changes everything.

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Grace Full Mama

Posted on: November 29th, 2011 by Joy Forney | 2 Comments

My family and I live and serve in the country of Indonesia. And last month, I got to do something unusual. It was ministry, just in reverse.

I have a blog called Grace Full Mama, and because of it, I was asked to speak as a keynote at a Christian women’s blogging conference called Relevant. When they contacted me, my first reaction was to say no. No way!

I am a missionary wife, and there are just too many reasons why it could never work. Plus, it was WAY out of my comfort zone, which I guess sounds funny from someone who packed up her family and moved across the world to live in a foreign land. But, somehow, it felt even harder than that.

My husband, the pilot, told me that I should definitely go. And, so after much prayer and discussing as a family, we decided I would.

So, with knees knocking, I got on a plane and flew to the US to be used by God however He wanted, and hopefully encourage the hearts of women at the conference. Flying to the US was certainly not on my list of ways that I could serve the Lord, but He had other plans!

I had a wonderful time at the conference, and I was able to share during my keynote about the ministry that we are involved in here in Indonesia with MAF.

I have learned through living overseas that ministry almost never looks like you think it will. It comes in all sorts of strange shapes and sizes and it almost ALWAYS requires you to step out of your comfort zone. Whether you are flying airplanes, working at a desk, doing laundry, or speaking at a blogging conference, you can bet there will be something that will require supernatural help.

I’m so thankful that I serve a big God that is full of surprises, and that He is there to help every step of the way. I can’t wait to see what He will do next. I say bring it on. How about you?

Learn more about the Forney family and their life in Indonesia serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Avoiding Mission Creep

Posted on: August 23rd, 2011 by John Boyd | 2 Comments

When it comes to ministry, it can be challenging to stay focused on the unique mission to which God has called you. It’s quite easy to get distracted by other interesting ministry opportunities because, at our core, we all want to help people. But such a distracted mentality can create a haphazard approach that dilutes an organization’s effectiveness.

At MAF, our core competency is assisting others through aviation and technology services. We know airplanes and we know technology. We also know how to harness that knowledge into a workable action plan to help other mission organizations accomplish what God has called them to do. By focusing on what MAF does well, we enable other mission organizations to minister to remote people groups without having to worry about transportation and communication issues.

Robert Hodge wrote an interesting article about the penchant for Christian organizations to weaken their effectiveness through the phenomenon known as “mission creep.” In the article, he outlined six different ways this happens and how it can be avoided.

One of Hodge’s solutions is to have a clear and concise mission statement to keep organization members focused. I firmly believe that MAF’s mission statement is written in such a way that every team member understands our focus.

Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology
so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed

It’s that simple.

Sometimes MAF stumbles across ministry opportunities that fall outside our mission … outside our areas of strength. Though we might be tempted to say “yes” to such projects, we know there are plenty of wonderful organizations that are more qualified to help in these areas. So, we simply decline.

By clearly defining our mission (sharing the love of Jesus) and our strengths (aviation and technology) and focusing our efforts in those areas, MAF can avoid mission creep and most effectively meet the needs God has placed before us.