WELCOME TO THE FLIGHT CREW
Feet on the ground. Heart in the clouds.
Welcome video from MAF Senior Engineer, John Hermanus
Welcome to our June eNews. As someone who gives regularly to the mission of MAF each month, your continued support makes a real and lasting impact for people in Timor-Leste and other isolated communities.
This month, we’re excited to share an update from Ping, MAF’s Country Director in Timor-Leste, a story of impact from Timor-Leste and a story from Papua New Guinea.
MAF Medevac Flights are Game Changers
Timor-Leste
For 30 years, Manuel Pereira has served as a nurse on Atauro Island in Timor-Leste. He spoke of the challenging time before Mission Aviation Fellowship came to offer life-changing medical evacuation flights.
Story by Matt Painter
“When there was no MAF, we relied entirely on boats for transportation,” said Manuel Pereira, head of the health centre in Atauro Island. “When the sea was rough, the boats could not travel at all. Even when the sea was calm, the journey still took a long time.
“When we look back at those times, it was very difficult.”
Atauro Island is separated from the main island of Timor – and its national hospital in Dili – by a deep-water channel. When their government ambulance boat broke down, Manuel explained that they had to rely on community boats.
“Boats travel slowly, and they take a long time to reach Dili. This made the situation very difficult for both patients and health workers,” he said.
“Sometimes the journey took so long that patients sadly passed away while still at sea. There were also times when the sea conditions were too rough, making it impossible to evacuate patients. In those situations, the doctors had to assess the weather and sea conditions, and if the boats could not travel, even urgent patients had to wait.”
Manuel explained that during those moments, they could only do their best with the limited resources available to try to save the patients while waiting for the sea to become calm.
“The most important factor is speed,” he said. “Especially when a patient is in a critical condition and needs to be evacuated quickly to the national hospital.”
Mission Aviation Fellowship began operations in Timor-Leste in 2007 and helped to reopen the Atauro airstrip. In close partnership with the Ministry of Health, MAF provides medical evacuation services to communities all across the nation, flying an average of one medevac almost every day.
“We are very grateful that whenever there is an emergency call, MAF can respond and assist with evacuating patients from Atauro to Dili. In just about 15 minutes, the aircraft can reach Dili, which is extremely important when dealing with life-threatening emergencies.
“It is very good that MAF is operating in Atauro. MAF can help patients very quickly,” Manuel added.
In the last year, Manuel took on the leadership of the health centre, which functions as the primary lifesaving service for all the communities on the island. He’s personally accompanied patients on MAF medical evacuations, a witness many times to the life-saving impact that just one flight can have.
“The presence of MAF has greatly supported our communities,” Manuel said.
“Many patients’ lives would not have been saved if MAF had not been available. Especially for pregnant women, without an aeroplane it is extremely difficult to evacuate them, because transporting them by boat is very risky.
“I cannot count exactly how many, but there have been many patients whom my friends and I have been able to save.”
Luxury Items Ensure Basic Necessities
Vanilla gives families taste of a better future
Farmers in the Karimui district of Papua New Guinea walk for days just to bring their precious harvest to the airstrip for collection by MAF. Without delivery by plane, families would miss out on the income to sustain their communities.
Story by Aquila Matit
Vanilla is more than just a flavour for farmers in central Papua New Guinea’s mountainous Simbu Province – the sought-after commodity brings in the income to feed isolated people and support economic growth.
But it takes a long journey to bring vanilla to our tables in the form of sweet treats such as cakes and ice-cream. Growing and harvesting vanilla is a labour-intensive process, and the dangerous journey from farm to airstrip can take days.
Mopa Paleah, a father of four from the Karimui district of Simbu Province, leads the effort by local farmers to get their crops to buyers.
“We have 7000 to 8000 farmers in Karimui, many of us are subsistence farmers. We grow vanilla, each have 3000 to 4000 vanilla pods,” Mopa explains.
“Towards the borders of Eastern Highlands, one place they call Mengino, this place grows quality vanilla, and many farmers come from there.
“They walk for three days to get to Karimui. Sometimes, when the big rivers are flooded, it takes some days to stay along the way and then travel. Sometimes they risk their lives crossing.”
Mopa explains what it means for the farmers in the remote region to get income for their work.
“I receive their vanilla and sell it,” he said, holding a heap of vanilla on the palm of his hand. “I bring the farmers’ money back and they buy their salt, their cooking oil, whatever they need, and they go back home joyful.
“For me, I create a budget and some money I pay for my children’s school fee. Some of this money I save up. Whenever there is any emergency or if someone is in need and because I buy vanilla, I remove this money and give it to them to purchase their needs.
“The people in the bush bring their vanilla, I bring mine as well, and we go to the MAF plane.
“If the MAF plane never fly to this place full time, I think all our produce would be a waste.”
MAF pilot Brad Venter knows the importance of providing this economic lifeline to the farmers of Karimui.
“This people have good vanilla, yet they have limited market space,” Brad said. “The more the vanilla remains with them it gets spoilt, so we look for buyers for them.
“As soon as there is one, we fly the vanilla to Goroka and sell it.”
The farmers rely on Mopa to sell their produce and he knows he can rely on MAF to deliver.
“The MAF pilots advise me whenever there is a buyer, and I inform the farmers,” Mopa said.
“The buyers pay, and the pilots bring the money in cash. I pay the farmers, and the work of vanilla pays off and blessing continues. “I see the hand of God through MAF’s mission, they do a good work serving us, regarding vanilla.”
Ping Domtta – Program Director and Pilot, Timor-Leste
Coffee to Equip MAF
With the onset of winter a hot cup of coffee is just the ticket to chase away the chill.
Our special Chris Coffee labelled coffee beans will do more than warm you up on the inside – every bag helps equip and empower locally trained pilots and engineers in the countries where MAF serves – funding scholarships, training and real mission experience so they can fly medevacs, deliver supplies and reach isolated communities.
About the coffee: single origin from Papua New Guinea. Medium Roast – freshly roasted with flavour notes of lemon butter and butterscotch.
ABOUT CHRIS COFFEE
Chris Coffee was a husband, father, musician, mentor and highly skilled pilot. He lived with a deep faith in Jesus, a love for his family and a passion for using aviation to bring help and hope to others.
In May 2023, Chris and his wife Ali joined Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Arnhem Land, serving remote Yolŋu communities with dedication and joy. Just over a year later, Chris was appointed Deputy Country Director of the program, continuing to invest in others through leadership, mentoring and care.
In January 2025, Chris passed away in a car accident while serving with MAF in Arnhem Land. His life was full of love – for God, for his family and for the people he served.
Though he is deeply missed, his legacy continues to inspire. Through the Chris Coffee Aviation Foundation, others will be trained, mentored and encouraged to live and serve with the same faith, courage and joy that Chris carried into every part of his life.
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