MAF opens guest house in Indonesia

Indonesia (MNN) — An aviation ministry is providing more than aviation to help those in need in Indonesia. It’s providing accommodation, rest, assistance and more.

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) opened a hospital guest house in July in the city of Tarakan in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

MAF missionary Laura Persenaire says MAF provides flight service for remote villagers in need of medical care. She says, once patients arrived in Tarakan, they had other needs. “These villagers didn’t know anybody here in this city and had nowhere to stay. But, they had to be at the hospital. The hospital doesn’t provide any room for family. And, the hospital here doesn’t provide any food for most patients.”

A few months ago, a neighbor across from the hospital, offered to lease the house to MAF.

Persenaire says it was perfect. “We can host four different patients and their families at a time. Here in this country, even though it’s one small bedroom, you can put a whole family in there.”

Since the guesthouse was opened, villagers have been grateful for the facility. Persenaire says that gratefulness cements relationships. “That opens up conversation for why is MAF here. What are we doing. It’s not just about the hospital house. Wives here are going over and praying with the patients and the families that are in the hospital house.”

MAF is asking you to pray that they’ll be wise in how they talk about God. “Everybody [in Indonesia] believes in God and everybody is fine to talk about it, but if you start talking about proselytizing that’s not allowed,” says Persenaire.

So far, MAF hasn’t had any issues in this area of the country. Persenaire is asking you to pray that God will use the MAF Guest House to lead people to Jesus.

Persenaire says Indonesian Christians have a passion to see this guest house used by God. How can you pray? “[Pray God will] bring some more people along-side [national Christians] to help this be a ministry that is viable.”

Mission Aviation Fellowship provides vital aviation and radio communications services to Indonesian churches, Christian missions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ministering in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

MAF missionary families and Indonesian staff members serve central and eastern Kalimantan. MAF enables ministry groups to bring the Gospel and basic, life-sustaining services to this primitive and otherwise inaccessible region of Indonesia. The MAF team provides much-needed flight services, and maximizes opportunities to minister in ways not available to other mission agencies. Aviation allows MAF to establish and develop relationships with a broad cross section of society.

In the past 12 months, the MAF program in Kalimantan …
• Executed 6,586 flights
• Transported 20,219 passengers
• Delivered 1,896,864 pounds of cargo

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