About
the chris coffee aviation foundation
The Chris Coffee Aviation Foundation* was established by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) with the support of the family of the late Chris Coffee, a much-loved MAF pilot who was tragically killed in a car accident on his way to work in Arnhem Land in January 2025. Chris devoted his life to serving God, mentoring others and bringing hope to some of the world’s most isolated communities. Read more about Chris here.
The Foundation honours his legacy of faith, service and passion for helping others flourish in their calling. Through the provision of scholarships and fellowships, including opportunities for mentorship and hands-on mission experience, we equip aspiring and locally trained pilots and engineers from within the regions where MAF serves, to become mission-ready and step into vital aviation and leadership roles.
Your support will help these men and women develop their skills, and will help build long-term sustainability for MAF’s operations – ensuring that life-saving help, hope and healing can continue reaching isolated communities for generations to come.
Our Vision
Local pilots and engineers from within the regions where MAF serves are equipped and empowered to deliver help, hope and healing through aviation, ensuring isolated communities have access to life-saving services for generations to come.
Our Mission
We identify, train and equip men and women from within the regions where MAF serves to become mission-ready pilots and engineers. Building on Chris Coffee’s legacy of mentorship and service, we provide financial sponsorship, training and mission experience that encourages and guides individuals to grow and flourish in their calling, empowering local leaders to sustain life-saving aviation for isolated communities.
Why it matters
MAF’s work in remote regions is increasingly challenged by a shortage of long-term, mission-aligned pilots and engineers. Many local men and women have the passion and potential to serve, yet financial, training and structural barriers often stand in their way.
The Foundation addresses this need by equipping and mentoring local aviation professionals – empowering them to build sustainable, in-country aviation capacity and to bring help, hope and healing to their own communities for generations to come.
Graduates of the Foundation’s programs will serve in some of the world’s most remote and disadvantaged places, where isolation limits access to healthcare, education, safe transport and emergency assistance. They will fly patients in medical emergencies, deliver doctors, teachers and essential supplies, maintain the aircraft that keep remote villages connected, and respond to crises such as floods, famine, or conflict.
Ultimately, these men and women will reach the isolated, the vulnerable and the forgotten – people who, without aviation, would otherwise remain out of reach.
Watch the stories of Joseph and Amber from Papua New Guinea and Mantlibi from Lesotho.
The Impact
We envision stronger, more sustainable MAF operations powered by local staff, who are equipped not only with technical excellence, but also with a heart for mission, discipleship and service. Through their work, isolated communities will encounter hope, seeing lives changed through the practical and spiritual impact of MAF’s mission. Over time, this will strengthen MAF’s impact, build local ownership of life-saving services, and raise up a new generation of leaders who can carry the mission forward, for decades to come.
Your partnership with the Chris Coffee Aviation Foundation will:
Deliver help, hope and healing through aviation services – from flying patients in medical emergencies and delivering doctors, teachers and supplies, to maintaining aircraft and responding to crises such as floods, famine or conflict.
Empower individuals with deep cultural understanding, long-term commitment and the opportunity to flourish in their calling – serving people in some of the world’s most remote and disadvantaged communities where isolation means a lack of access to basic healthcare, education, safe transport and emergency assistance.
Strengthen MAF operations by building a workforce powered by local staff with technical excellence and a heart to serve – ensuring continuity in life-saving flights, reducing reliance on expatriate staff and fostering local ownership of mission aviation.
Raise up the next generation of skilled local leaders, pilots and engineers equipped to carry MAF’s mission forward within their own countries – inspiring personal and community transformation, sustaining the work for decades to come, and honouring the legacy of Chris Coffee.
Partner with us today to transform lives, empower local leaders and sustain mission aviation for generations to come.
“There is growing excitement and shared sense of calling as more Africans take up their place in MAF’s service.
For years, Africans have been a part of MAF’s story, but today we celebrate the increasing number stepping forward – especially those wanting to train as pilots and engineers.
Many are eager to serve with passion and commitment, though financial constraints often stand in the way.”
– Susan Kigen-Kolum, Country Director, Kenya.
*The Chris Coffee Aviation Foundation is an internal fund of Mission Aviation Fellowship – MAF Assist Limited.
Gifts and sponsorships over AUD$2 within Australia to fund approved public relief work of MAF,
raised through MAF Assist Limited (DGR Item 1) ABN 27 654 417 544, are tax deductible.
Find out more: www.maf.org.au