Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 4:8-11 (ESV)

Between Top Gun and living under a flight path, Jacob was defenceless against a love of aviation. After achieving his Commercial Pilots Licence, he faced unexpected challenges in both health and opportunity, and waited another seven years before God gave him work in aviation. His love for God and passion for flying directed him to MAF, and as he waited, he prayed that God would give him someone to do mission work alongside.   

Eliza felt called to missions as a child, her home church regularly hosted missionaries, and their stories of faith, challenge and adventure inspired her to the point of tearful frustration (“Why can’t I be there now?!”). Between multiple short- and medium- term missions she completed a nursing degree and practiced paediatric and neonatal nursing. All these experiences fostered a deep love for vulnerable people groups, and cross-cultural ministry. 

Jacob and Eliza met at a church plant in 2018 and spent three years sussing each other out in a Bible study before they married, and one month later they contacted MAF. They began serving in Arnhem Land in 2023, where they were blessed to have their son, Oscar. 

Now God has led them to Timor-Leste. 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 1:3 (NIV)

While their family were young, James and Ruth served in PNG with CRMF (now MAF Technologies). Desiring to return to cross cultural mission, they have been with MAF South Sudan since 2017.  James is the Facilities Manager, and has the responsibility for a team of MAF maintenance, security and housekeeping staff, who together look after new construction projects, housing, work spaces, vehicles, utilities and security services.

South Sudan is a country recovering from generations of war. Recent decades have left the country with very little infrastructure and great need for committed friends to help build this nation. MAF provides air transport and technology services for missions, churches and NGO’s working in remote parts of the country. In this young nation, James and Ruth enjoy many opportunities training South Sudanese and working alongside them. Ruth uses her nursing skills in a clinic and has regular opportunities for teaching English and Bible to children and young adults. They are both involved in the small local church in the village where they live and James works with the young men responsible for leading the English service.

James and Ruth feel privileged to have the freedom to share and show God’s love in South Sudan. They value your prayers as they serve the Lord with MAF in Juba.

Before Dean and Christie met, God placed a call on them to serve Him through mission work. Christie grew up on the mission field in Indonesia and felt strongly called to some form of mission service, while Dean felt called to use his chosen occupation as a pilot, to serve the Lord.

Dean and Christie commenced their journey with MAF in Arnhem Land in 1999 as a young couple. During their time in Arnhem Land, their family grew with the arrival of their 4 children – Emily, Bianca, Nick and Kira.

Whilst with MAF, Dean has been a Pilot, Operations Manager and Assistant General Manager. Christie has also had many different roles involving tutoring, hospitality and working as a Teacher’s Aide.

At the end of 2015, the Giles family relocated from Arnhem Land to Cairns where MAF has a regional support office. Dean now works in the area of Operations Support for many MAF programmes around the world and Christie is working at a Christian School in Cairns.

‘You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’

Matthew 5:14-16 (HSBC)

Matthew grew up in Melbourne, and from a young age dreamed of becoming a pilot.

Throughout Matthew’s high schooling in Melbourne, he met with a MAF staff member who spoke about MAF’s mission. It was through this connection that Matthew realised one day he wanted to serve alongside MAF, bringing help, hope and healing to isolated communities around the world.

In response to God’s call, Matthew left Melbourne in October 2022 and joined the MAF team in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Throughout 19 months he had the incredible honour to do life alongside the Yolŋu people; flying a range of evacuations, health, education, mission and community development flights.

In early 2024, Matthew was challenged with the great need for pilots in MAF bases overseas. Through prayer and fasting, God’s calling pointed Matthew towards working in Papua New Guinea in early 2025, with a short interlude training upcoming Mission Pilots at the MAF Training Centre in Mareeba, Queensland.

Matthew looks forward to using his skills and gifts to serve the people of Papua New Guinea, and seeing the way that God works through His follower’s obedience.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.

JOHN 15:16 (NIV)

Phil and Margaret Snell began serving with MAF in 1996. Previously, Phil worked as a Telecom Technician and Margaret as an Occupational Therapist.

Their first MAF posting was to Alice Springs, Australia where Phil worked as a Pilot serving remote Aboriginal communities, and later gaining his avionics engineering licences. Three of their four children were born during this time.

In 2003, the family relocated to Arnhem Land where Phil worked in avionics and maintenance control and their fourth child was born.

2005 saw another move, this time to Papua New Guinea. Phil’s role there was managing the maintenance of the MAF aircraft and Margaret supervised the children’s schooling through distance education.

The family returned to Australia for the children’s further education in 2010 and settled in Mareeba.

Margaret was able to take up her OT career again. She now works in schools with students requiring additional needs.

Phil provided regional Avionics support for MAF International until 2023, when he accepted a new role as Manager of Maintenance Support.

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.”

Psalm 96:1-3 (NIV)

Michael and Naomi have always felt God’s call on their lives to serve Him. The Bible explicitly instructs all followers of Christ to reach out and help the marginalised and vulnerable and God has been working to prepare and enable them to do just that.

As a second generation MAF pilot, Michael has always been fascinated by aviation and the ways in which it can be used to serve people in need. Growing up in Arnhem Land and Indonesia gave him an insight into the physical and, more importantly, spiritual poverty that exists in the world.

Naomi grew up in Alice Springs and has a heart for mission. She completed a Bachelor of Education in 2019, with a desire to one day invest in the lives of children from other cultures. Whether the journey takes her into rural Australia or other parts of the world, her passion is driven by the love God has for us.

With gifts they have both been given, Michael and Naomi believe that there is no higher calling than using these gifts to bring Jesus’ message of love and hope wherever they can. They are currently based in Mareeba as Michael works as a flight instructor at the Flight Training Centre while Naomi teaches a Year 6 class at Jubilee Christian College.

‘The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.’

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

We both grew up in Christian homes and became believers at a young age and by our late teens we both had a sense of call to mission and outreach and so we went on Youth Dimension coffee shop outreaches together.

We married while we were still at Uni, Donna was studying Early Childhood Education and Phil was studying Aerospace Engineering. We often wondered what God had planned for us. Towards the end of Phil’s final year of Engineering we received a call from a family friend who told us about an opportunity to serve with MAF and use the Aerospace Engineering skills for mission, we were amazed at such a unique opportunity. So we contacted MAF and sure enough such an opportunity was available, they were in need of someone who could design repairs and modifications for their fleet of mission aeroplanes. We met with MAF and continued to gather all the details about the mission and this role and we had a growing sense of God’s hand in it all. So we prayed that God would make his plan clear to us by opening and closing doors. He did just that and by the end of the year, it was obvious that he wanted us to serve with MAF. So we officially joined MAF in December 1997 and starting working with the team at the then head office in Box Hill in Melbourne.

It has been a great joy and privilege to help MAF keep their aircraft in the air and see them be used to bring Gods transforming word to the lives of those in extremely remote parts of the world.

In 2003 MAF moved its head office from Box Hill to Cairns in Far North Queensland and its aircraft maintenance facility from Ballarat to Mareeba, just inland from Cairns. MAF asked us if we would like to be part of this new adventure and admittedly it was a very difficult decision for us to leave home and family. But again God clearly showed us he wanted us to make the move and gave us the strength and peace to do it.   The new location improved our effectiveness in keeping the aircraft operating in all the remote locations they are based.

We served with the team at Mareeba for 12 years.   In 2015 MAF allowed us to relocate to the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane and allowed Phil to set up a home office and work from home designing the repairs and modifications for all the aircraft around the world.

The move to the Brisbane area proved to be a great benefit for our children to study as we had hoped.   Caitlyn was able to complete fashion and childcare courses, Josh is now a Mechatronic Engineer and Jasmine completed Wedding and Event Management at USC.  Sam finished high school and has been working as a retail shift manager.

Our family has grown too.  Caitlyn is married to Cynan and they have a beautiful daughter Violet. Jasmine is married to Jayden and they have a cute son Ezra and Sam is engaged to Jediael.

Since moving Donna has been teaching grade 5, 4 and 1 at Glasshouse Christian College and has found great blessing in being able to teach in a Christian environment and share God’s love with the children.

We are overwhelmed by those of you who pray for us and we trust you too know the joy of being part of God’s team. Thank you, God bless you greatly.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Luke 19:10 NIV

In 2009 God led Andy and Mif to serve with MAF as a pilot family. The adventure has taken us from Melbourne to Arnhem Land, to Kawito and Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea, and then on to be the Head of Training at the Mareeba Training Centre in Queensland. Over these years the family has grown to include Theo, Annabelle, Edyn and Norah.

In 2024 Mif took on the role of PNG Human Resources manager, running a small team who takes care of 200 staff in MAF’s biggest program. Initially this was handled remotely, but in 2025 we’ll move to be on-site in Mt Hagen, PNG. Andy will take the lead in homeschooling Annabelle, Edyn and Norah – and will work towards a part-time flying role. Theo will complete upper high-school at Ukarumpa.

Looking ahead into this next season we are excited to keep promoting the gospel in our roles with MAF, through caring for the PNG staff team and in flying operations. We’re so grateful for the many wonderful people who have partnered with us in prayer and gifts for over 16 years. Please pray that God continues to use us all for his good purposes and that we take every opportunity to share Jesus with those around us.

Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.

ROMANS 12:1 (MSG)

Darren joined MAF in the beginning of 1988 and has held various positions within the engineering teams in Arnhem Land, Ballarat and Mareeba, supporting MAF’s flying programmes in those locations and the wider Asia Pacific Region.

Darren is currently the Maintenance Support Manager for MAF International, a central role heading up a team of technical specialists who provide support and direction to MAF’s maintenance teams around the world.  From his office in Cairns and Mareeba, Darren is still heavily involved in the day-to-day business of MAF’s programmes based in both the Asia Pacific and the Africa Region. Meredith loves to be involved in all the local MAF events, and together they have shared a passion for MAF for many years. From developing aircraft maintenance programmes to sharing their lives with local MAF families, they feel privileged to be a part of what MAF is doing to transform remote communities in Christ’s name.

Darren and Meredith have three daughters – Hannah, Gabrielle and Joanna. Joanna has just completed Year 12, Gabrielle has moved away for university, and Hannah has recently returned to Atherton after completing her university studies.  Meredith works as a teacher within the Special Education Program Team at the local High School. Together they attend the local Presbyterian Church and are involved in the music ministry there.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)

Nigel grew up as the son of a Pastor in Victoria and NSW.  He met Georgina at a church camp in Townsville in 1990 after moving to Queensland with his family as a teenager. They became good friends and got married in Georgina’s hometown of Ravenshoe in 1993.

Since being married they have lived in Far North Queensland where Nigel worked in Communications and Information Technology before starting a company specialising in converged networks. Georgina ran her own home-based child care business for many years.

They have 5 children: Kiarnie was born in 1995, Michael was born in 1998, Jasmine was born in 2010, Danielle was born in 2013 and Matthew was born in 2015.

In 2011 they sold their IT business and joined MAF, where Nigel works in the IT department, supporting the infrastructure that makes it possible for MAF to operate in various locations around the world.

Nigel and Georgina believe that God gives us skills and abilities so that we can use them for the benefit of others, and serving with MAF allows them to work in support of worldwide missions, to see the gospel reach the remotest places on earth.