Collection 136 Records of Mission Aviation Fellowship
Scope and Contents
Office files of MAF, a mission agency that provided transportation, radio contact and other support to missions working in remote areas, as well as some services to non-mission agencies.
Materials, including correspondence, minutes, reports, prayer letters, personnel files, and budgets, that document the administration and activities of MAF, especially the regional offices in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, the Development division (extensive individual prayer letters from entire mission staff), the Research and Planning division, Personnel division, and the technical requirements of mission aviation. These documents reflect its origins and early history as CAMF, operation, flight service, policies, personnel management and pilot training, relations with governments and other organizations, outreach to a wide financial support base, stewardship of finances, and publications to maintain communication with financial and prayer. Other topics documented throughout the collection include missionaries' adjustment to foreign climates and cultures; exacting technical aspects of aviation, especially concerned with small aircraft; evaluation of aviation and radio as mission tools; political and cultural affairs of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia; and inter-mission relations and cooperation; sister movements in other countries (particularly British Missionary Aviation Fellowship), production of publications, missionary adjustment to culture, technical aspects of aviation, political and cultural affairs of Africa (particularly Zaire), South America and Southeast Asia, relations with the Catholic Church in predominantly Catholic countries, missions in much of the developing world, inter-mission relations and cooperation, the murder of missionaries by Huaorani Indians in Ecuador in the "Auca Incident," and other mission-relatedtopics. Persons prominently featured include: James Truxton, Charles Mellis, Grady Parrot, martyr Nate Saint (and his fellow martyrs and their families), Charles Bennett, Max Meyers.
Dates
- Created: 1944-2006
Conditions Governing Access
Selected files closed to researchers for specified time period without the written permission from the President of Mission Aviation Fellowship.
See Other URL for more information.
Biographical or Historical Information
Nondenominational agency providing aviation services to mission agencies; incorporated May 20, 1945; initially staffed by former World War II pilots; provided aerial transportation, ambulance service, supply lines to remote areas, cooperative medical and dental services to rural and frontier stations, and surveying of potential sites for new missionary efforts; also operated a radio communications network, maintained its planes and airstrips and lent personnel to sister MAF groups; principle service to mission stations, but also to governments and on non-mission assignments; presidents of MAF were James Truxton (1945-1949), Grady Parrott (1949-1970), Charles Mellis (1970-1973), Charles Bennett (1973-1985), Max Meyers (1985-1997), Gary Bishop (1998-2004), Kevin Swanson (2004-2007), John Boyd (2008- ); headquarters located in Nampa, Idaho (following Los Angeles, Fullerton, and Redlands,California); field bases established in various countries; named Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship until 1947 when it changed to Mission Aviation Fellowship; public relations and information productions include publications (MISSION AVIATION, WINGS OF PRAISE AND PRAYER and PRAISE AND PRAYER BRIEFINGS), films and books; provided air transportation, ambulance service, and supply lines to remote areas; brought cooperative medical and dental service to rural and frontier stations depending on air transport; and surveyed possible sites of new mission endeavor; also operated a radio communications network, maintained its airstrips, and lent personnel to sister MAF groups; worked in cooperation with independent sister organizations in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Holland, Finland, Surinam, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa; provided rescue during political uprisings, and relief for famine and drought, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.
Extent
127.90 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Other Descriptive Information
- Aeronautics -- Safety measures.
- Aeronautics in missionary work.
- Airplanes.
- Airplanes. -- Maintenance and repair.
- Bennett, Charles T.
- Berean Mission.
- Cancer -- Patients -- Religious life
- Christian martyrs -- Ecuador.
- Christian martyrs.
- Elliot, Jim, 1927-1956.
- Emergency management.
- Fleming, Peter, 1928-1956.
- Graham, Billy, 1918-2018.
- Humanitarian assistance.
- Interdenominational cooperation.
- Jones, Bob, 1883-1968.
- Mapuche Indians.
- McCully, Theodore Edward, 1927-1956.
- Mellis, Charles.
- Mexican Indian Mission.
- Meyers, Max,
- Mission Aviation Fellowship.
- Missionaries -- Training of.
- Missionaries -- Training of -- United States.
- Missionaries.
- Missions -- Africa.
- Missions -- Asia.
- Missions -- Caribbean Area.
- Missions -- Central America.
- Missions -- Europe, Eastern.
- Missions -- Finance.
- Missions -- Interdenominational cooperation.
- Missions -- Oceania.
- Missions -- Public relations.
- Missions -- South America.
- Missions -- Southeast Asia.
- Missions, Medical.
- Missions.
- Organizational change -- United States.
- Organizational change.
- Parrott, Grady.
- Personnel management.
- Radio in missionary work.
- Saint, Nathaniel, 1923-1956.
- Truxton, James.
- Title
- Collection 136 Records of Mission Aviation Fellowship
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository