Flight Briefing - Missionary Flights International

February 2015
July 2015
Flightbriefing
Missionary Flights International
3170 Airmans Dr., Ft. Pierce, FL 34946
772.462.2395
www.missionaryflights.org
mfi@missionaryflights.org
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap...”
Ezekiel 22:30a
Enough Food for Everyone
Hosean International Ministries
(HIM) ministers to the people in
Pignon, Haiti - one of the places MFI
regularly flies. They operate a school
and feeding program with over 1,200
children attending. Unfortunately,
because of financial limitations, they
have to make choices on who to feed and often must compromise and feed
only the most at risk, the youngest.
over her head and asked
God to provide food
for her to cook for the
children.
Pignon has a 4,000 foot
grass airstrip and is
located about 30 miles
south of Cap-Haitien.
MFI flies there regularly
to deliver much needed
cargo and to take groups
going to serve with the
missions but rarely stays
overnight.
Recently, the mission did not have
enough money to buy food for any of
the kids attending school. Madame
Ceremy, one of the lunch kitchen
workers,
when
hearing the gravity “Madame Ceremy...dropped
of the situation, to her knees. She then raised
immediately
her hands over head and
dropped to her asked God to provide food for
knees. She then her to cook for the children.”
raised her hands
Children enjoying the food delivered by MFI.
During this period
of need at the
HIM school, God
orchestrated for MFI
to stay in Pignon
overnight with a group
that had brought with
them 100 boxes of Feed My Starving
Children food. This was enough to
feed their youngest children for a
couple weeks.
Madame Ceremy preparing lunch.
Over the next few flights, God again
arranged for the regular cargo loads to
be light enough to allow MFI to carry
more boxes of food for the school.
He answered the prayers of Madame
Ceremy and provided food for all the
children of the school - which served
the dual purpose of providing her
with continued employment. God’s
timing is perfect.
INSIDE
President’s Report
2
3
End of the Piston DC-3 Era at MFI
Upcoming Events
4
President’s Report
I don’t know about you but I feel
a great sense of accomplishment
when I complete a jigsaw puzzle.
I also am pleased when I finish
some complicated project where
everything falls into place. Raising
funds for a third turbine DC-3
is like a huge jigsaw puzzle. The
exciting news is that, figuratively
speaking, we have found all the
edge pieces and have connected
them together to form that
rectangular framework of the
puzzle. We have even started
putting a few of the “inside”
puzzle pieces in place.
Pieces of this third turbine DC-3
puzzle are beginning to fit together
perfectly. Just recently paperwork
was signed to complete the
donation of a third turbine DC-3
airplane to MFI. The bad news
is the plane has no engines, no
radios, instruments or gauges, the
wings are off of it, and it is located
in South Africa! The good news is
we have a plan and we are good
at putting together puzzles. The
Lord has even supplied two very
low-time turbine engines that
MFI recently purchased with the
funds many of you have already
generously given.
This puzzle will still take a
tremendous amount of time and
additional funds to complete. We
know that in God’s perfect timing
this third MFI turbine DC-3 will
be flying much needed supplies
and personnel to help missions.
Will you join us at the puzzle table
by providing pieces to complete
this turbine DC-3 project?
Joe Karabensh, President
2
What a Bargain!
Finally, the good news can be announced that a turbine DC-3 has been donated
and is now registered to MFI. Although we must raise $250,000 to cover a lien
against it, and even though the plane is located in South Africa, MFI stands to
save over one million dollars when compared to the price of a similar plane in
the United States.
One way the Lord has blessed MFI is with respect to engines. MFI recently
located two fairly new engines and purchased them. This is a huge blessing
because finding these types of engines in this condition for such a low cost is
quite rare. A plan is being developed to send a staff member to South Africa in
July to prepare this plane to fly back to Florida - a process that could take nine
months or longer. Other staff members will soon follow to monitor the progress
and help install the new engines.
More work awaits the plane when it arrives back in the United States. MFI’s
mechanics will refurbish the whole interior - including a new lightweight floor,
installing cargo tracks and netting, and adding a galley and bathroom. The
airplane will then be flown to Ohio to install a wing kit which will increase the
amount of weight the plane can carry. Lastly, the exterior will be painted in the
standard MFI paint scheme.
Thank you for praying and donating in support of this new turbine DC-3. So far
31% of the needed 2.5 million dollars has been raised. The needs are great in the
Caribbean and MFI will be able to expand its service with this airplane. More
details will be provided as progress continues in making the plane airworthy for
its half-way around the world trip to MFI from South Africa.
Fresh Faces
Bill and Deborah Tarter joined MFI
in June 2015. Bill is MFI’s Director
of Development with Deborah using
her experience and expertise in grant
writing and donor relations.
Bill and Deborah served in Haiti for 14
years - where all three of their children
were born.
Learn more about the Tarter family at
www.missionaryflights.org/Tarter.
David and Alicia Bäni will be joining
MFI in August 2015. David did his
flight training at Moody in Spokane,
WA and then worked for the school
after graduating. David and Alicia
have three children - Ayden, Cohen,
and Kennedy.
Learn more about the Bäni family at
www.missionaryflights.org/Bani.
Standing in the Gap for Missions in the Caribbean
End of the Piston DC-3 Era at MFI
For MFI, the era of owning and
operating piston DC-3s ended with
the sale of its last one this spring
- registration number N400MF.
Turbine DC-3s are the present and
the future of Missionary Flights for
many reasons - including reduced
operating costs, increased speed, and
greater reliability.
MFI operated five different piston
DC-3s over the course of 35 years
and it is always sad when an era ends.
Those planes helped establish MFI as
an organization committed to serving
the missionaries who in turn were
committed to serving the people of
the Caribbean. Piston DC-3s carried
hundreds of thousands of pounds
of cargo and tens of
thousands of passengers
over those years.
Since 1977, this plane
faithfully served the
people of the Caribbean.
On Friday, April 17th, it
left MFI forever to begin
a new place of service in
Alaska.
Dwayne
King
of
Kingdom
Aircorps
The hard working N400MF in Pignon, Haiti.
bought this plane initially to retrace
day journey to Alaska - and from
the ALSIB (Alaska-Siberian) route.
there to Russia. The trip from the
Aircraft manufactured in the United
United States through Canada and
States were flown over this route for
into Alaska was successful. However,
World War II service on the Eastern
taking the plane into Russia is delayed
Front. Thousands of aircraft were
due to political tensions.
flown from Great
Falls,
Montana The plan is now to use the plane for
to Karsnoyarsk, ministry and if the political issues can
Russia to help be resolved, the plane will continue
fight in the war as its journey to complete a retracing of
part of the Lend- the ALSIB route. The purpose of that
Lease Act of 1941. trip is to use the historical celebration
of the use of the DC-3 to spread the
A week after
gospel throughout eastern Russia.
leaving MFI, the
Please continue to pray that Dwayne
plane left South
will be able to continue the trip and
Carolina, where it
share about the love of Christ along
was being staged,
the way.
to begin the six-
A vote in 2015 could be worth $10,000!
MFI has once again been nominated by the Lightspeed Aviation Foundation for
a possible grant of $10,000. We are competing against 14 other organizations. In
2013, MFI placed 8th and received $4,000. Last year, MFI placed outside the top
eight and therefore received a Lightspeed headset worth $850.
Vote again this year and help MFI improve its standing in the results.. Please
support MFI by going to our website, www.missionaryflights.org, and clicking on
the link at the top of the page. Voting ends October 31.
www.missionaryflights.org
3
Summer Missions to the Bahamas
Bible camp at Hatchet Bay.
While the Bahamas are not a regular
destination, MFI often flies teams
to various islands for week-long
mission trips to some of the less
populated islands. Because of an
extreme population distribution,
transportation to any but the two
most populated islands can be difficult
and expensive. Those islands are also
where the need is greatest for mission
work.
Come summertime, MFI adds
numerous flights to the schedule
going to places such as Governor’s
Harbour, North Eleuthera, Marsh
Harbour, and others. These are places
with international airports on less
populated Bahamian islands but MFI
can fly large groups cheaper than
they can fly commercially. Some of
the teams go to do construction work
which requires the transportation of
tools and supplies. Some of the trips
are to work with kids and youth which
requires taking sports equipment,
musical instruments, and anything
else needed to run a camp for a week.
Something commercial operators can’t
do is transport passengers along with
all of the needed supplies to complete
the mission trip.
MFI recently flew a group of 26 from
Maranatha Bible Church in Lantana,
FL to North Eleuthera to work with
the Eleuthera Bible Training Center.
While there, they worked on two
projects - forming and pouring the
foundation for a maintenance facility
and leading a Bible camp for children
Preparing to pour a foundation.
in Hatchet Bay - a nearby community.
During this outreach time the group
played games - while more importantly
sharing the Gospel with the children.
Dustin Mizell, the leader of the team,
described flying with MFI as “a great
experience” and said that for all future
trips they “will ONLY fly with MFI.”
These trips are a major blessing to
missions serving in the different
isolated communities in the Bahamas.
MFI looks forward to continued
service for summer mission teams
throughout the islands.
Upcoming Events
You can find more details about the below events at
www.missionaryflights.org/events.
Reservations
are
required for the banquets. Please RSVP by
calling MFI at 772-462-2395 or by email at
banquet@missionaryflights.org and be sure to indicate
which banquet you will be attending in the email.
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Lancaster, PA Banquet
When: August 14, 2015
Where: Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl
Des Moines, Iowa Banquet
When: September 12, 2015
Where: Machine Shed Restaurant
Grand Rapids, Michigan Banquet
When: September 17, 2015
Where: Hilton Grand Rapids Airport
Missions at the Airport
When: September 26 - 27, 2015
Where: Stoltzfus Airfield in Kidron, Ohio
Ft. Pierce Hangar Banquet
When: November 13, 2015
Where: MFI Hangar in Ft. Pierce, FL
The 50th Anniversary book is available for $20.
You can purchase the book on the website at
www.missionaryflights.org or at MFI.
Support MFI by doing all your amazon.com shopping
by going to smile.amazon.com and selecting Missionary
Flights as your charity.
Amazon will donate a percentage of the price of your
purchase to MFI.