Mission Aviation Fellowship Records
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-related topics. 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
Creator
- Mission Aviation Fellowship. (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Selected files are closed to researcher use until the expiration date below without the written permission from the President of Mission Aviation Fellowship:
Box-Folder # Expiration date
Several files (folders 148-1,6,8,14,19) for MAF staff contained documents with personal identifying information. These documents were replaced with copies on which all such information is blacked out for one hundred years from the birth year of the person whose form was removed:
Box-Folder # Date originals restored
Permission requests should be directed to:
Forms are available from the staff in the Reading Room or at archives@wheaton.edu
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright to this material is retained by the rights holder, usually the Archives or the donor. Please contact the Archives staff for additional information or contact details.
Organizational History
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.
Ministry emphasis: MAF 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. MAF also operated a radio communications network, maintained its airstrips, and lent personnel to sister MAF groups. It worked in cooperation with independent sister organizations in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Holland, Finland, Surinam, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa. By 1976, MAF had established a branch office in Ontario and field offices in Zaire and Indonesia. Self-described as "a servant of missions," MAF was a nondenominational service agency to Evangelical Christian missions, both denominational and independent. Ninety percent of its flight time was dedicated to service to individual mission stations, at per mile costs calculated to include equipment depreciation and replacement, insurance, and fuel. The small remainder of its time, MAF charged commercial rates for services to government and other non-mission assignments. MAF owned an air-maintenance organization, partially self-supporting on profits from commercial services, that included a training program for aeronautical mission specialists. MAF provided rescue during political uprisings, and relief for famine and drought, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.
Other significant information:
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) grew out of a realization of Christian aviators (primarily men but also including women) in the armed forces that the Christian missionary effort could increase its range and effectiveness by the use of aviation. MAF was established just as World War II was in its final months, with the initial wave of MAF members was largely war pilots, no longer employed by the United States government, who wanted to serve Christianity with their specialized skills.
In its "founding" years, the Fellowship was guided by its executive officers and an Advisory Council, then later by a Board of Directors. The first council was formed of Evangelical leaders V. Raymond Edman, Dawson Trotman, R.C. McQuilkin, Jack Wyrtzen, and C. Stacey Woods. In 1959 the Council was enlarged and became known as the Board of Reference.
Active membership in MAF was comprised of pilots, mechanics, technicians, office staff, etc. Admission to membership required an age of twenty-one (thirty-two years maximum in earlier MAF history), compatibility with stated principles and practices, agreement with the statement of faith, and screening by MAF leaders and selection by a nominating committee. Associate membership was open to any interested party, but did not include voting privilege.
Qualifications included age, Christian technological education (such as Moody Bible Institute's Missionary Technology degree or from Le Tourneau College, or from certain reputable secular schools like the Spartan School of Aeronautics), and technical proficiency as commercial pilot with flight AP mechanical rating. Pilots underwent several months of orientation, including to mountain and desert conditions to prepare them for field work, preparation for transition to an unfamiliar culture, instruction in budgeting and proper record-keeping, and training to be an unofficial ambassador for Christ in working with foreign populations and governments. Periodic effectiveness and flight evaluations were used to keep MAF personnel a highly-selective and competent group. Personnel slated for foreign countries were given intense study in the national language of the country to which they were appointed.
The home office, when based in California, was used for overhauling new planes, policy decisions, personnel selection and assignment, overall financial operation, pilot orientation, and radio laboratory. Field bases were responsible for maintaining their own flight schedules, fuel purchases, and bill-collecting.
MAF equipment was purchased by the organization or by the mission that the equipment was to serve, and then sometimes leased to MAF. Planes were modified at the Fullerton base for optimal function in the mission purpose. Planes were not smaller than four-seaters. The standard models most often used in earlier years were Cessna 180, 182, 185, Piper, and Piper Pacer. Later, the Cessna 206 and twin Aero Commanders, twin Otters and a few helicopters were put into service.
MAF’s financial operation was based primarily on funds solicited solely on a faith-mission basis. Candidates raised their own support (monthly salary and overhead costs of relocating in a mission field). Any over-support of a missionary spilled into the general fund to contribute to the deficits in others' support. Income came from individuals, churches, organizations and foundations, loans, and receipts from mission and commercial flights. Monies were budgeted to cover upkeep and replacement of equipment, support systems (hangars and repair centers), reduction of long-term debt, publications, salaries and administration, operation of flight schedules, and continuing education programs (language, technical, etc.) for employees.
MAF operated its own film ministry as well, circulating motion pictures to churches and other groups. The half-hour long films included the titles Unforgettable Friday, On Wings of Love, Conquering Jungle Barriers, Of Wings and Mission, More than an Ambulance, Mission to Mayaland, and Wings of New Guinea. A longer film was Flight Plan.
Founded: Coalescing of staff and vision in mid-to-late 1944 under the leadership of James C. Truxton, with the name Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship (CAMF); incorporated May 20, 1945.
Headquarters location:
Presidents:
Significant MAF dates:
Geographical emphasis: The mission operated throughout the world, with fields opened in the following countries (chronologically):
Alternate names:
Selected Affiliated Ministries:
International conferences:
Mergers:
Publications:
Included Mission Aviation, Wings of Praise and Prayer and Praise and Prayer Briefings, periodic newsletters containing a potpourri of information about MAF missionaries and concerns. They served to keep a widely-scattered personnel in touch with each other, and to fan the fires of interest in the broad grass-roots financial base on which MAF rested. The monthly prayer bulletin, Intercessor, was begun in the 1970s. MAF published and was the subject of several books as well, including the life of Nate Saint.
Other significant officers and staff are listed separately. (Also see the Select List of MAF Personnel)
Extent
204 boxes (62 record cartons, 141 document cases, 1 oversize document case)
135.0 Linear Feet
6 other formats (Audio Tapes, Films, Negatives, Oversize Material, Photo Album, Photographs)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement and Description
The documents in this collection include correspondence, memos, reports, newsletters, flight reports, accident reports, medical reports, radio data, personnel affairs, policy statements, handbooks, presentation manuscripts, aircraft technical booklets, incorporation documents, financial reports, reference articles, meeting agendas and minutes, assessment questionnaires, lists, strategic plans, prayer letters, publications, audio tapes, photographs and MAF films. These documents reflect its operation, flight service, policies, personnel management, 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. The collection was initially arranged alphabetically (see original folder-level container list). The papers records series of the collection has been rearranged into subseries that reflect the organizational divisions of MAF; major portions of the original arrangement have been integrated into that structure, while a few remaining files have been consolidated into the Miscellaneous subseries.
There are no files for either the President's or Chief Operating Officer's offices; the collection also does not include any files from MAF's human resources department.
The collection is arranged according to the following subseries. The International subseries is further subdivided into various subsequent subseries that are detailed in their respective descriptions further below:
Board
International
Development (also called Ministry Partnership or Partnership Development or Partner Services)
Research & Planning Office
Technical
Finance
Personnel | D-2 Personnel Correspondence
Other Missions
General
Miscellaneous
Series: Board
Arrangement: Chronological
Date Range: 1980-1988
Volume: .5 linear feet
Boxes: 103
Type of documents: Minutes and attached reports
Notes: These files document the office deliberations and decisions by MAF’s board during most of the 1980s. Among the issues documented were: long-range goals, organizational restructuring, area and committee reports, finances, personnel, equipment and facilities, board functions, internationalization of MAF, divorce, role of women, membership, presidential search, relations with other MAF bodies around the world and opening offices in international locations, changes in by-laws, establishment of the MAF Foundation.
Series: International
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1945-1973, undated
Volume: 3.5 linear feet
Boxes: 51-53, 93
Notes: This series consists of MAF records of both its interaction and coordination with sister organizations, and its regional divisions in selected continents.
Subseries: International | MAF in Other Countries
Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title
Date Range: 1945-1973, undated
Volume: 2.5 linear feet
Boxes: 51-53, 93
Geographic coverage: Australia, Great Britain, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Pacific (especially Dutch New Guinea), Sudan
Type of documents: Correspondence, reports, memos, newsletters, insurance correspondence, flight reports, accident reports, medical reports, radio data, personnel affairs, MAF films and some accounts
Correspondents: Grady Parrott, Charles Mellis, James Truxton, Charles T. Bennett, executives of MAF’s sister organizations in Africa (S. Sendall King, Russell Morton, Brian Winter), Australia (Vic Ambrose, William S. Clack, Stanley W. Fairfull, Bruce Lumsden, Doug McCraw and Charles W. Rout), Great Britain (Stuart King, Jack Hemmings, Murray Kendon, William H. Knights, Alistar Macdonald, Gordon Marshall and Steve Stevens) and New Zealand
Notes: The documents in this subseries consist of correspondence files with MAF's sister organizations: Africa (Folders 51-36 and 93-5), Australia MAF or AMAF (Folders 51-38 through 52-4), British MAF or BMAF (folders F2-5 through 53-5, 93-6), MAF of Canada (Folder 93-7) and New Zealand MAF (Folder 53-4).
Exceptional items: Among the Australian MAF materials are documents about visits in 1952 by Grady Parrott (Folder 51-38) and Marj Saint (Folder 51-40), mention of Billy Graham’s 1959 Australia and New Zealand Crusade (Folder 51-42), relations with Anglican Lutheran missionaries (Folder 51-43), flight service to non-Evangelicals (Folder 51-44), a survey of the British Solomon Islands (Folder 51-47) and correspondence about the 1969 MAF International Conference (Folder 52-4).
The early files of British MAF cover the post-World War II era and the beginnings of MAF organizations. Folder 52-7 includes discussion of a possible merger between the English and American MAFs and a proposal for an MAF International; the options of founding of MAF groups in South Africa, Switzerland and Sweden are seen in Folders 52-7 and 51-38. Folder 52-7 also touches on Billy Graham's 1954 London Crusade. BMAF's major field was Africa, and its files reflect a detailed account of its work there. Sudan was an early area served (Folder 52-7, see also Folder 51-37, containing an early 1950s survey of Sudan, dividing the country into a Muslim north and a pagan south). Civil problems in Sudan are discussed in Folder 52-8 and another survey (along with one of East Africa and Kenya) is in Folder 52-9. Sudan data appears in almost all the BMAF folders, including a report in 1959 showing that government requests there accounted for twenty-five percent of BMAF's Sudan traffic. Folder 52-15 contains the 1962 Sudan Missionary Act that expelled missionaries; Folders 52-16 and 19 discuss BMAF's demise in that country. The Congo became a field for BMAF (Folders 52-14,15) until civil war there forced a missionary retreat for a time (Folders 52-18,19). (See also later work there in Folders 52-21 and 53-3). The Congo material concerns Africa Inland Mission as well (Folders 52-17,19). Ethiopia was an area of BMAF Service from 1958 onward (Folders 52-10 through 14,16,19) as were Kenya (Folders 52-9,14,16,17 and 53-3), Nigeria (Folders 52-19,21), and Tanganyika (or Tanzania, Folders 52-13,14). There are surveys on Nepal (Folders 53-13,14) and Somalia (Folder 52-12). A visit from Marj Saint and reports about the converted Huaorani or Auca Indians are documented in Folder 52-12; the film MidCentury Martyrs is discussed in Folders 52-9 and 52-10 as well as a French version for Canadian distribution (Folder 52-16). Inter-mission relations are a topic of concern, especially those with the Seventh Day Adventist Church (Folders 52-11,14,18) and the Roman Catholic Church (Folder 52-14,18). Policies on providing ferrying service to governments are found in Folders 52-11,13. Opposition from Communist governments is discussed in older 52-19; (also see a Moscow-based report on "Church and Missions in Africa" attempting to attribute mid-1960s political problems to the work and influence of missionaries (Folder 52-20). Also see Folder 115-3 for information on British MAF in the 1982 Partnership Development series.
There is only a little on MAF Africa work. Folder 51-36 contains correspondence, mostly related to Sudan but also to South Africa. Folder 93-5 from the early-1970s relates to a joint-mission project in Africa called ACROSS (Africa Committee for the Rehabilitation of Southern Sudan) that MAF was a partner in with nine other organizations including Africa Inland Mission, Sudan Interior Mission and World Relief. Also see Folder 199-1 for more correspondence and issues of “ACROSS Situation Report” from 1978-1983, and Folders 126-2,3 in the Research & Planning series are also about MAF Africa.
Folder 93-7 includes the minutes from the organization meeting MAF of Canada, and copies of the charter, by-laws and statement of faith. Folder 126-1 in the Research & Planning series also contains documents from MAF Canada.
Subseries: International | Regional & Area Offices
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1945-2002
Volume: 22.0 linear feet
Boxes: 143-186, OS 15
Notes: Regional office files for the selected countries in the African, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American regions where MAF had operations or was exploring establishing an operation. The few flight operation reports in the subseries have been incorporated into the Operations series (not yet processed), in which MAF already consolidated most of these reports.
Subseries: Regional & Area Offices | Latin America Region
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1945-2002
Volume: 18.5 linear feet
Boxes: 143-179, OS 15
Notes: This subseries records the oversight of MAF’s operation in Central and South America and the Caribbean, primarily through its executive officers responsible for the region, but also in letters, reports and more on the details of MAF’s services.
Subseries: Latin America Region | Chief Operating Officer of Latin America
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1945-2002
Volume: 17.0 linear feet
Boxes: 143-174, 178-179
Geographic coverage: The Latin America region overseen by the vice president or regional director for the region, including Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela
Notes: This subseries consists of the files of three of its directors and the general office
Subseries: Chief Operating Officer of Latin America | Harry C. Worthington (1967-1973)
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1961-1974
Volume: 3.0 linear feet
Boxes: 143-148
Geographic coverage: United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Brazil, especially Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Surinam, Venezuela
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos, with some reports, personnel records, transcribed summaries of phone conversations, sketches (of facilities, runways, mechanical problems or solutions)
Correspondents: Worthington, Jack Walker, MAF staff (pilots, mechanics, country directors, administrative staff, stateside headquarters staff) in the region, representatives of other agencies
Notes: Worthington’s files include a record of various operations in the Latin American portion of MAF’s work, including operation of airplanes, ordering of equipment, planning logistics, surveys, budget and finance-related matters, training, personnel issues, aircraft safety evaluation, interaction with affiliated service ministries, and coordinating aeronautic operations by other mission or Christian agencies. The bulk of the subseries is correspondence that was divided by the office between outgoing to staff in various countries from the Latin America Office (LAO) and incoming from various countries. Also included are a few personnel files, most of those for staff who left MAF.
Exceptional items: The personnel files (Folders 148-1 through 20) consist of a record, mostly correspondence, of those MAF staff that Worthington maintained a file on, in some cases for those who relocated within MAF or left the mission, including Betty Greene (Folder 148-9); some of these files, each for a person or husband and wife, had documents with personal information – these documents were removed for one hundred years from the person’s birth year. The correspondence in Folder 146-11 concerns Worthington’s interaction about accounting and financial matters. The correspondence and memos in Folders 146-12,13 and 147-1,2,3,4 are with MAF executives, including respectively Don Berry (Director of Personnel), Charles Bennett (President), Bob Lehnhart (Director of Special Projects, much concerning financial aspects), from and to Charles Mellis (President), Roy Parsons (VP of Africa Region). Folder 147-5 contains correspondence with Moody Bible Institute’s Moody Aviation program. Special projects or emphases are sometimes identified in a separate folder, such as airplane overhaul and maintenance in Brazil (Folder 143-3), SSB radios in Mexico, (or single-sideband, Folder 144-2), a Surinam foundation (Folder 144-6), purchase of a house in Surinam (Folder 144-9), and country surveys in Colombia, Nicaragua (Folders 143-5, 144-4 respectively).
Subseries: Chief Operating Officer of Latin America | Jack Walker (1974-1982)
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1970-1985
Volume: 7.0 linear feet
Boxes: 148-161
Geographic coverage: United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, especially Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos, with some reports, notepads with handwritten notes, transcribed summaries of phone conversations, sketches (of facilities, runways, mechanical problems or solutions)
Correspondents: Jack Walker, Harry Worthington, MAF staff (pilots, mechanics, country directors, administrative staff, stateside headquarters staff) in the region, representatives of other agencies, sketches (of facilities, runways, mechanical problems or solutions)
Notes: Walker’s files, like Worthington’s, were separated by the office between outgoing to staff in various countries and incoming received at the Latin America Office (LAO) from various countries; these correspondence files comprise the bulk of the subseries. Walker’s files include a record of various operations in the Latin American portion of MAF’s work, including operation of airplanes, surveys, ordering of equipment, arranging logistics, budget and finance-related matters, training, personnel issues, aircraft safety evaluation, interaction with affiliated service ministries, and coordinating aeronautic operations by other mission or Christian agencies.
Exceptional items: Special projects or emphases are sometimes identified in a separate folder, such as establishing in Brazil an engine shop and training school (Folders 150-2, 152-1,3), a MAP (Medical Assistance Program) request for funding of the cost of shipping medicines to Colombia (Folder 150-4), and a project to add an airplane to Brazil’s fleet (Folder 152-2). Among Walker’s assorted administrative files are correspondence with the Central America field manager (Folder 156-5), with the Director of Safety Hobey Lowrance (Folder 156-6), with Moody Aviation (Folder 156-7), members of his regional team (Folders 157-1,2,3,4), reports on the Ft. Lauderdale program (Folder 157-5) and Northern Mexico program (Folder 157-6), correspondence regarding Irian Jaya with the Asia Region vice president and country staff (Folder 157-8), a report on “Flight Operations Safety Analysis (Folders 157-9), a 1988 formulation of MAF’s vision statement (Folder 158-2), and a project with World Vision to provide relief to Ethiopia in 1980-1981 (Folder 158-3). The correspondence and memos in Folders 158-8 through 159-3 are with MAF executives, including respectively Don Berry (Director of Personnel) and president Charles Bennett, discussing issues, staff matters, planning and policy. Also included are audits from the early 1970s (Folder 159-4), and monthly financial reports to Walker from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico (Folders 159-5 through 160-10). Walker’s handwritten notes on notepads (Folders 160-11 through 161-5) record information gathered or presented on trips to various countries he oversaw, drafts of messages or reports or memos, summaries of phone calls, etc.
Subseries: Regional Director of Latin America | David Jones (1982-1991)
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1946-1991
Volume: 5.5 linear feet
Boxes: 161-171
Geographic coverage: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Suriname, Venezuela
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports, flight incident reports, interview transcripts, copies of legal documents, flight manuals, handwritten notes like those in his set of notepads (see following description), a few flight operation reports (for Ecuador)
Correspondents: Jack Walker, Bill Born (MAF Director of Safety), Ross Drown, Mark Nord, country directors or area managers and other country personnel for Brazil (Eldon Larsen), Colombia (Steven Grames), Ecuador (Jan Zwart, Gene Jordan, John Lemmon), Guatemala (Jeff Nelson, Edward Pearse (president of Guatemala affiliate, AGAPE)), Haiti (Bruce Smith), Honduras (Roy Haglund, Neal Gesell, Steve Grames), Mexico (ADS director Pedro DeKoster, ADS chairman Moises Lopez, Duane Harlow), Nicaragua (Roy Haglund ), Suriname (Russ Chasteen, Dave Richardson, Dan Rogers), Venezuela (Mike Stull, Fred Gere, Kevin Swanson, Joe Stehling, Bill Schultz, Ernie Krenzin), and national church and ministry representatives
Notes: The Jones subseries includes a record of various operations in the Latin American portion of MAF’s work, including operation of airplanes, surveys, ordering of equipment, arranging logistics, budget and finance-related matters, training, personnel issues, aircraft safety evaluation, interaction with affiliated service ministries, and coordinating aeronautic operations by other mission or Christian agencies. The subseries includes correspondence sent or received by Jones’ subordinates. A small amount of financial information for the Ecuador field is included in the Flight Operations Reports file (Folder 163-1). Folder 164-3 documents the transition of the Mexican affiliate in 1986-1987 to more direct oversight by MAF-US. The Nicaragua file (Folder 164-5) includes documents about disaster relief following a hurricane there in 1988. The Christian Aviators Bulletin file (Folder 164-6) contains copies of the Spanish Boletin de Aviatores Cristianos. A sizeable portion of the subseries consists of financial records (Folders 169-1 through 171-11), including planning the 1985-1986 budgets for the Spanish Americas Area Office, language school, and for the programs in the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, as well as monthly finance files for the regional office, showing in generated reports the financial activity of the department (receipts and invoices in these files were not retained).
Exceptional items: Folder 162-3 includes a manual with a 1984 organizational chart for MAF’s Ecuador field. The Ecuador VHF radio project file (Folder 163-2) documents not only the development and implementation of the project, but also the cooperation and interaction of the US and Canadian MAF entities. Folder 163-6 contains a report by Robert Gordon on his trip to Haiti in 1988; also in the same folder is a report on “Haiti-MAF Relationship with National Church.” Some documents are in Spanish. Folder 164-7 contains a 1968 “MAF Survey Team Report.” Folder 165-1 includes Executive Management Team minutes when they interviewed Dan and Sylvia Rogers following their kidnaping in Guyana and the negotiated retrieval of the hijacked plane from a rebel group. All the Suriname folders touch on the political instability in Suriname at the time. Among the documents in the Folder 165-5 is an extensive debriefing report from Ron Widman’s 1985 trip to survey the MAF operations in Venezuela, Honduras and Guatemala, as well as make contact with agencies and national Christians connected to their aviation and radio services; included are a summary, transcribed conversations and recommended actions based on their findings. Folder 170-23 contains three-year business plans for Venezuela, Ecuador, Honduras, Ft. Lauderdale, Haiti, and Mexico. Folder 165-7 contain ministry status reports for Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Northern Mexico, Suriname and Venezuela.
Subseries: David Jones | Ft. Lauderdale Project files
Arrangement: Alphabetical Date Range: 1945-1991
Volume: 2.0 linear feet
Boxes: 165-168
Geographic coverage: Florida, Jamaica, Haiti, the Caribbean area
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, policy statements, meeting minutes, financial records and reports, forms, project proposals, flight incident reports, legal documents and statements of agreement
Correspondents: Jones, Fred Gere, John Gauntt, Ed Titcomb, Duer Smedley, Dave Richardson, Steve Adams
Notes: Also called the Miami Project, these files comprise Jones’s record of the Ft. Lauderdale Project during his oversight of the MAF’s Latin American Region. The Project was initially a joint operation between MAF and Christian Aviation Fellowship (see Folder 166-13) to “provide air transportation, purchasing, warehousing and expediting to church, mission, community development and disaster relief organizations working in southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean from a base in the Greater Miami area,” but also including mail delivery (see especially Folder 168-9). The primary sites of service were Haiti and Jamaica. The records document the planning, logistical and fiscal aspects of the operation, touching on personnel, equipment and property. Among these are budgets and financial records spanning 1981-1991.
Exceptional items: Among Jones’s files are an emergency plan (Folder 167-2) and “Crisis Management in the Event of Arrest, Disappearance, or Death of Mission Personnel” from the July 1985 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, the agreement (ca. 1980) between Christian Aviation Fellowship and MAF (Folder 166-13) and termination of agreement in October 1982. A key file is on Ft. Lauderdale History (Folder 167-7) that includes an organizational chart of which the Ft. Lauderdale Project is a part. The Jesus Film file (Folder 168-5) tells the story of the campaign in Haiti. Throughout the collection is evidence of the ongoing evolution of MAF’s organization, shown in one example in a memo (Folder 168-11) on 4/7/88 from David Jones to his staff on “MAF Structure and the new Region.” Folder 168-11 also contains documents related to MAF more broadly or showing the intersection of the Ft. Lauderdale Project into the greater organization or the effect of broad trends on the project. Also included there is a full personnel list (1/13/88) for the US headquarters and international staff. The Mission Vision file (Folder 168-10) outlines the MAF program to host trips to various sites, including Brazil, Haiti and Jamaica, for first-hand observation and participation in MAF ministry; especially helpful is “Mission Vision: ‘What It Is.’”
Subseries: Chief Operating Officer of Latin America | General office
Arrangement: Alphabetical by country, several administrative files
Date Range: 1969-2002
Volume: 3.0 linear feet
Boxes: 171-174, 178-179
Geographic coverage: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Ft. Lauderdale (Florida), Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, faxes, printed e-mail messages (beginning around 1993), reports and trip reports, minutes, requests for humanitarian assistance, business plans, business agreements, government certificates
Correspondents: Directors Kevin Swanson, Jack Walker, David Jones, and Max Beachy, Stan Black, Harry Debirsarun, Pedro De Koster-Fuentes, Willie Enns, Stephen Grames, Roy Haglund, Gene Jordan, Roy Kidjo, Jeff Nelson, Mark Nord, Dave Richardson, Mike Ross, and other MAF regional directors and staff, MAF presidents Max Meyers and Gary Bishop, representatives of other missions working in the region
Notes: This subseries spans the oversight of the region by Jack Walker, David Jones and Kevin Swanson and beyond. Like the preceding subseries, it includes a record of various operations in the Latin American portion of MAF’s work, such as operation of airplanes, surveys, ordering of equipment, arranging logistics, budget and finance-related matters, training, personnel issues, aircraft safety evaluation, interaction with affiliated service ministries, and coordinating aeronautic operations by other mission or Christian agencies. The time plan covered in the documents reveals the fluctuating circumstances across a large geographical region due to politics, change of personnel, natural disasters, etc., and MAF’s cooperation with national affiliates, other mission agencies, national church bodies and government agencies; the documents also track the impact of the evolution of mission practice and philosophy in light of the growing role of Latin American nationals in church and mission roles.
Exceptional items: Folder 171-12 includes a “Working Agreement Between South America Mission and Mission Aviation Fellowship,” accompanying correspondence, including consideration of a merger of SAM’s SAMAIR into MAF. Folder 171-14 contains an agreement between MAF-US and the Brazilian Asas de Socorro on the loan of personnel, and discussion of expansion of ADS’s operation in Brazil. The Costa Rica file (Folder 172-2) deals primarily through correspondence with Bill Syring, Dan Rogers and Dave McCleery about maintaining an MAF liaison at the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose. The documents in Folder 172-3 explore opportunities for ministry in Cuba, including being coordinated from Mexico. The Ecuador files (Folders 172-4,5,6) include a statement of agreement between Alas de Socorro and Gospel Missionary Union, correspondence with Rachel Saint, two of Gene Jordan’s “Ecuador Report” for 1994, memos to MAF staff about the funeral service for pilots Dan Osterhaus and Job Orellana after the deaths in a plane crash, the 1995-1998 strategic plan, and the 1996-1997 “Ecuador Business Plan.” The Haiti file (Folder 172-7 contains a report on the hijacking of a plane leaving Haiti. The Guatemala file (Folder 172-8) contains a one-page summary of the Guatemala field history and the 1996-1999 strategic plan for the Guatemalan Aviation Association for Edification (or AGAPE). The Haiti files (Folder 172-10,11 and 173-1) include MAF-South America by-laws, the 1992 “So You’ve Been Assigned to MAF Haiti / Here’s Some Information....”, the 1991 version of the Haiti contingency plan, memos about the safety of missionaries in Haiti in 1994, a report analyzing the results of a telephone survey about MAF’s “Potential Involvement in Domestic Air Service in Haiti,” and the 1995-1998 business plan for Haiti. The Honduras file (Folder 173-3) documents the Flying Doctor Service. Among the Mexico documents (Folders 173-4,5 and 174-1) are several agreements of cooperation between MAF and the Mexican board of Alas de Socorro, the Marketing Audit Report by Management Development Associates, and two-page overview of MAF’s history and ministry in the country. The Nicaragua file (folder 174-3) includes 1982 statements from the board of directors and general assembly of CEPAD (Comite Evangelico Pro-Ayuda al Desarrollo (Evangelical Committee for Development, and later the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua) to Nicaragua’s Evangelical churches, general population, government and the Sandanistas, churches in the US and its people; Ron Sider’s and David Howard’s reports on a visit to Nicaragua in late-1982 with other American Evangelicals, and an article about MAF’s participation in CEPAD’s Wings of Mercy (Alas de Socorro). The Suriname files (Folders 174-4,5) include a letter from a Surinamese politician and government officer to Fellowship Foundation leader Doug Coe, and Gene Jordan’s trip reports to Suriname. The Venezuela file (Folder 174-4) includes a memo to field staff in the country about their difficult relationships with one another, and documents about MAF’s cooperative relationship with New Tribes Mission in Venezuela.
Subseries: Latin America Region | Latin America Area or Country Director/Office
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1957-1992
Volume: 2.0 linear feet
Boxes: 175-178, OS 15
Notes: Files related to two MAF operations delineated by country their area managers
Subseries: Latin America Area or Country Director/Office | Guyana Office (John Gauntt)
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1957-1971
Volume: 1.5 linear feet
Boxes: 175-177, OS 15
Geographic coverage: Guyana, Suriname
Type of documents: Correspondence, forms, business and legal communication, minutes, customs receipts and correspondence, bills for air services, completed personal tax forms for Guyana, sketches, inquiries about equipment, FAA certificates of airworthiness, licenses, an immigration form, invoices, airstrip blueprint, promotional material, technical notices to pilots, schematics, incorporation documents, bookkeeping account books
Correspondents: Gauntt, Lin Entz, Herb Morgan, Joe McLennan, Eldon Larsen, Jim Lomheim (to whom Gauntt reported in an unstated capacity), Roy Parsons, Charles Patton, representatives of Guyana’s Department of Civil Aviation and Office of the Prime Minister, Federal Aviation Agency and the British Air Registration Board, representatives of the Pilgrim Holiness Mission
Notes: Gauntt served as program manager for MAF in Guyana. The files of the Guyana office document flight operations out of several locations, including Boa Vista across the border in northern Brazil, Lethem along the Brazilian border, etc., rental of facilities. The correspondence provides a routine account of flight and delivery operations, travel plans, evaluations of operations, requests for equipment for remote locations, complying with flight regulations, aircraft maintenance and registration, operation of radio transmitters, the maintenance and operation of the Missavia transceiver, maintenance of facilities and compliance with local regulations, Gauntt’s regular reporting to his supervisors, incoming memos from the MAF home office, services provided to the Pilgrim Holiness Mission in Paramakatoi and Pipilipi in the Guyanan interior. The account books provide the financial record for the Guyana office and staff from 1967-1970. There are several files containing MAF materials, such as promotional brochures, membership information and requirements.
Exceptional items: Folder 175-1 consists of correspondence from MAF staff (Charles Patton, Lin Entz, etc.) working out of Boa Vista in neighboring northern Brazil (just across the border from Guyana). Several files document the operation of churches in Guyana, including Baptist, Lutheran and Nazarene congregations. And Folder 175-4 holds the constitution, by-laws and several financial statements of a Baptist congregation in Guyana. Folder 175-11 contains bills sent to the district commissioner of Lethem for the delivery of medical supplies at the request of the Ministry of Health. Folder 175-21 contains Gauntt’s accounting of MAF’s history in Guyana. Folder 176-8 includes a memo from Bob Gordon outlining requirements and a schedule to feature MAF’s activities in its publication. Folder 176-18 tells some of the story of the closing of the Guyana operation in 1970, following legal proceedings against Gauntt for “failure to register as an alien (more background on this is recorded in Gauntt’s correspondence in Folder 176-24 with Hank Worthington, vice president of the Latin America region on the time). Folder 176-21 relates to neighboring Suriname.
Subseries: Latin America Area or Country Director/Office | Northern Mexico (Walt Jarrett)
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1985-1992
Volume: .5 linear feet
Boxes: 178
Geographic coverage: Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, Nicaragua, Kenya, Zaire
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, financial records, reports, minutes, sketches, contact lists, sanctuary blueprint, interview transcripts
Correspondents: Jarrett, William Kastrinos (church construction project manager), representatives of Mexico Inland Mission
Notes: This small compilation of Jarrett’s files is primarily on the short-lived MAF operation in northern Mexico with the intent to strengthen discipleship and leadership training; Jarrett was the program manager. Several files deal with the design and construction of a church building in Bahia Asuncion, and a short-term youth trip to assist the project. Also included are four other files unrelated to northern Mexico – it is unclear how Jarrett acquired the files or what his interest in them was.
Exceptional items: Folder 178-3 (among several others) includes an overview of the Baja Project, along with photos and promotional material that further explains MAF’s role in the project, while Folder 178-4 includes MAF president Max Meyers’ letter announcing the conclusion of MAF in the project.
Also included in Jarrett’s files are several non-northern Mexico-related files. A ministry audit of Asas de Socorro (Brazil) by Management Development Associates is found in Folder 178-1. Transcribed interviews about Haiti with Dave Richardson and Barry Borror, especially addressing “the condition of the country, and the potential role of MAF there and in the operation of Miami as it relates to Haiti.” Topics in the wide-ranging interviews included economics, politics, religious, social and health conditions, the place of MAF among other mission agencies and NGOs, etc. The interviews may have been conducted in 1986, the year when Haitians overthrew the Duvalier regime in a popular uprising, making the country potentially more accessible to outside services. The interviews were primarily conducted by Norm Olsen and Ron [?], but also include Ross [Drown?], Sam, Donna, Steve and Larry. The second transcript appears to have been a follow-up phone interview to the first (conducted in person). Folder 178-9 records the start-up of MAF’s operation in Nicaragua, which Jarrett apparently had some role in. Folder 178-10 contains the recollection of pilot Don Roberson by his father after he was killed in a 1991 aircraft accident in Venezuela. Folder 178-11 consists of reports by Ruth Ewart on her visits to Zaire and Kenya. On the folder is written Jarrett's note, "MAF mentioned frequently. Not familiar to us. She apparently not MAF staff. Good material though on what's happening & MAF's contribution." Ewart's primary concerns seem to have been development and spiritual impact, especially as it related to children and families, health and disease, education, agriculture, and other development programs. Most of the reports consist of Ewarts’ recounting of visits to schools, hospitals or clinics, and other project sites, and interviews with various people who were teachers, church workers, development workers, etc., about their experience and conditions.
Subseries: International | Regional & Area Offices | Asia & Eurasia Region
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1969-2003
Volume: 4.0 linear feet
Boxes: 179-186
Notes: This subseries records the oversight of MAF’s operation in Asia and Eurasia, primarily through its executive officers responsible for the region, but also in letters, reports and more on the details of MAF’s services. The region’s countries are not evenly represented, with more focus placed on the countries where MAF either had operations or was considering developing them, including Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, China, India, Indonesia (Kalimantan East, Central and West, Sulawesi, and Yayasan), Irian Jaya, Kazakhstan, Korea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Vietnam, United States
Subseries: Asia & Eurasia Region | Country files
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1969-2003
Volume: 2.5 linear feet
Boxes: 179-183
Geographic coverage: Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, China, India, Indonesia ( Kalimantan East, Center and West, Sulawesi, and Yayasan), Irian Jaya, Kazakhstan, Korea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports (especially trip reports), strategic and business plans, minutes, financial reports, job descriptions, personnel lists, program and grant proposals, manuals, country profiles, incorporation papers, organizational charts
Correspondents: Directors Dave Swanson and Dave Jones, Stan Black (an attorney for MAF), Dave Bochman, Darmawan “Dar” Bone, Bob Breuker (West Indonesia area manager), Gene Congdon, Ken Frizzell, Bob Gordon, Donn Goss, Brad Hazlett, Skip Hubby, Rev. Yung Kim, Paul Lay, Hans Leutwyler (Albania program manager), Jon Lewis (Africa program manager), Petrus Octavianus, Bruce Smith, Dennis Stuessi, Philip Tsai, Dave Wunsch (East Indonesia area manager), MAF presidents Chuck Bennett, Max Meyers, and Gary Bishop, MAF administrators, representatives of other mission agencies and NGOs.
Notes: These files, not of one director, include a record of various operations in the Eurasian portion of MAF’s work, including operation of airplanes, ordering of equipment, planning logistics, surveys, budget and finance-related matters, ongoing training and training of national staff, personnel issues, aircraft safety evaluation, evacuation of staff from war-affected areas, interaction with affiliated service ministries, and coordinating aeronautic and service operations by other mission or Christian agencies. These files record a great deal of MAF history, participation of many people and organization, and the development of new programs throughout the region. Among these agencies are IAM or International Assistance Mission, MAP International (formerly Medical Assistance Program), Albania Health Projects, Moody Aviation, RBMU International, affiliate agencies (especially MAF Canada), etc. The subseries features not only MAF’s well-established operations in various countries, but also those at their very beginnings (Afghanistan, Albania) Kazakhstan, Russia), and their exploration for arising need and assessment of the conditions for their entry. MAF’s work in Indonesia is the most extensively documented. A number of trip reports from 1969 throughout the subseries for various countries appear, including the one for Kalimantan (Folder 182-2). A common feature in many of the country files is a business plan or strategic plan, usually covering three years. The Kazakhstan and Russia files provide an inside glimpse into their development as independent states, formerly part of the Soviet Union, and afterward members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); also documented in these is the exploration for opportunities by Christian agencies that had long been unable to serve in the Soviet Union.
Exceptional items: The Afghanistan file (Folder 179-5) reflects MAF’s consideration of entering the country to provide services. Among the documents is a survey on Afghanistan (history, geography and weather, politics, religion, economy, transportation, NGO activity, assessment of needs, people and literature consulted, and accompanying source documents) and strategic plans once the program was launched in 1995. Folder 180-2 concludes with a document from September 2000 from MAF’s board closing its Albania program due to the transition to national leadership. Folder 180-3 includes prayer letters of a missionary, Sharon Porterfield, who worked among the Karen people along the border shared by Burma and Thailand. The China files (Folder 180-4) also records the initial steps of launching a new program. Folders 181-1,2 record the training of Indonesians for Yayasan MAF Indonesia, the national affiliate. Folder 181-4 includes an “Aircraft Charter Agreement Between the United Nations and MAF, especially for delivery of relief services and supplies in Irian Jaya, while Folder 181-5 documents the development of a base with hangar in Wamena, Irian Jaya. Folder 182-1 contains “Indonesia Evangelism Task: Central Kalimantan – Target 2000” by Indonesia Harvest Outreach. Folder 182-2 contains a IFR (instrument flight rules) operations manual for East Kalimantan, including navigational maps; also in the folder is a MAF promotional brochure in Chinese. The Korea files (folders 182-5,6) tell the story of MAF developing a program to provide service to South Korea’s southern islands that evolved into the development of affiliate Korea Mission Aviation Fellowship; also in Folder 182-5 is the 1988 report from the Yoido Full Gospel Church. Folder 182-8 contains “The Charter of the Local Religious Organization of Evangelical Christians ‘Mission Aviation Fellowship’” adopted in Moscow in 1992 and later amended in 1999. Also among the materials in the Russia files (Folder 182-8 and 183-1) are documents from the Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries. Folder 183-1 also includes a two-page list with biography paragraphs on the Board of Founders of MAF Russia, including eleven MAF veterans and six Russian Christian leaders; the biographical sketches of the MAF executives is especially helpful in giving overviews of their lives and careers (Max Meyers, Bruce Smith, Ken Frizzell, Dave Jones, Tim Maxwell, Dennis Fulton, Paul Lay, Jon Lewis, Robert Gordon, Hans Leutwyler, Dave Bochman). Minutes of affiliates of MAF are included, such as those of MAF Russia in Folder 183-1. Folders 183-4,5 consist of substantive files on the creation of the Indonesian MAF affiliate. Folder 183-4 includes the “Resolution Regarding Nationalization of MAF Operations” from 1981; a further elaboration on the policy is found in a February 16, 1984, memo to MAF’s board.; also found there is the incorporation document registering Yayasan MAF Indonesia. The value of these files in increased by their record of interaction about the problems in the nationalization of the Indonesia operation, particularly in this case in relation to the organization’s legal status and perception by the government, and the financial and operational implications of such a turn-over (P. Octavianus was the president of the Indonesia affiliate), including of choosing between “nationwide ‘integration’ and a ‘progressive operational hand-over.”
Subseries: Asia & Eurasia Region | Administrative files
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1970-1981
Volume: 2.0 linear feet
Boxes: 183-186
Geographic coverage: Asian region, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, United States
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos, policy statements, budgets, reports, minutes, job descriptions, forms
Correspondents: Dennis and Nancy Stuessi, Ken Simmelink, MAF president Chuck Bennett, Notes: These files appear to have been compiled by Dennis Stuessi or Ken Simmelink, region vice presidents during the period covered by the documents. A major portion of the subseries are the minutes, reports and accompanying files of MAF’s board, corporation and executive committee meetings (Folders 183-9 and most of box 184, April 19, 2008), gathered by Simmelink and Stuessi; these record the issues and direction being considered and decided on by these bodies. (J. Richard Chase, later president of Wheaton College, was a member of the MAF board.). The budget files (Folders 184-8,9) while covering MAF’s budget at its broadest level, focus primarily on the Asia region. The block of “personnel” files gathered by Simmmelink and Stuessi (Folders 185-4 through 12) consist of correspondence files from some of those the Asia regional directors reported to, worked alongside, or oversaw, including the regional directors for Africa and Latin America (Robert Gordon, Jack Walker). The subseries also includes planning meeting files at both international (Folders 186-1,2) and regional levels (Folders 186-3 through 9).
Exceptional items: The board meeting files include planning documents, financial reports and handwritten notes, such as in Folder 183-9. Folder 184-1 includes the results of a 1976 survey of MAF staff about long range planning that was going on at the time (see Folder 184-2 for a copy of the plan for the years 1977-1985). Folder 184-3 includes a report from the Relocation Team convened by MAF president Bennett in 1977. Folder 184-7 includes MAF’s 1979-1980 annual report. Folder 185-1 contains information about MAF’s third international conference in 1979 in England, gathering representatives of MAF affiliates for fellowship, coordination and planning. Folder 185-3 relates to MAF part in bringing relief to Vietnamese boat people in 1979, while folder 186-11 relates to a USAID program to provide relief to several islands in Indonesia. Folder 185-4 contains a flyer from 1979 highlighting MAF’s thirty years of service on the African continent. MAF’s strategy statements can be found in Folder 186-13. Nancy Stuessi’s personal and MAF correspondence appears in Folder 186-14. Folder 186-15 includes a report from the Women’s Committee accompanied by recommendations and “The Role of Women in Mission.”
Subseries: Asia & Eurasia Region | Vice president’s files
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1976-1983, 1993-2001
Volume: .25 linear feet
Boxes: 183
Geographic coverage: The Asian region covered by MAF’s operation and under the Africa Region Office’s oversight.
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos, e-mails, invoices, expense proposals and reports, planning reports
Correspondents: Melvin Isaac, Mel Richter, Dennis Stuessi, David Wunsch
Notes: This small portion of vice president Dennis Stuessi’s files relate exclusively to aircraft being used in the Asia Region he oversaw. One additional folder of David Wunsch’s folder Asia Regional Director Office more broadly documents the operation and planning of the office.
Subseries: International | Regional & Area Offices | Africa Region
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1961-1996
Volume: 9.0 linear feet
Boxes: 187-204
Notes: These records reflect the oversight of the region by key regional administrators Bob Gordon, Terry Norr, Roy Parsons, Dave Swanson, Van Syverson and Jon Lewis. The files do not equally represent each of the directors, with Terry Norr and Bob Gordon being the predominant managers. Like the other regional offices, the Africa Region files cover both many details related to MAF’s operation on the African continent or collaboration with other agencies, and also MAF’s worldwide operation, including that in other parts of the world and its broadest implementation of policy and organizational development. The files were roughly organized, so the final arrangement was provided by the archivist.
Subseries: Africa Region | Director (Jon Lewis)
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1961, 1985-1992
Volume: 1.5 linear feet
Boxes: 187-189
Geographic coverage: Angola, Zaire
Type of documents: Correspondence, handwritten notes, trip reports, message transcripts, statements of agreement with governments, MAF affiliate agreements, budgets, minutes, flight operation reports, funding proposals, faxes
Correspondents: Lewis, Terry Allenbaugh (Program Manager for MAF Canada/Angola), Dave Blomberg, Brad Fretz, Ken Frizzell, Frank Gibbs, Max Gove, Bill Kilgore, Bob Klamser (of Contingency Preparation Consultants), Ernie Krenzin, Gerald Latimer, Terry Norr, Bill Nutting, Gene Parkins, Dick Paul, Rick Reynolds, Duer Smedley, Dave Swanson, Van Syverson, Rob Taylor, Gary Toews
Notes: The files in this subseries consist of Jon Lewis’s files the Africa Region Director, including several personnel files of staff in Angola.
Exceptional items: The Angola files (Folders 187-1 through 188-7) record the story of MAF’s activities (including those of MAF-Canada) in Angola during that country’s political unrest and famine. Folder 187-1 includes a report that assesses MAF Canada’s contribution to the famine relief effort). A report on impact of and contact by Contingency Preparation Consultants with representatives of UNITA forces (a political party in Angola that was involved in the country’s civil war from the mid-1970s to 2002) is found Folder 187-6. Folder 187-9 contains a press packet from UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi’s 1990 trip to the United States to appeal for support against the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the Angolan civil war. Folder 188-7 includes an agreement between MAF-Canada and the Angolan government; the agreement outlines the terms of MAF-Canada’s presence and commitment to abide by the government’s requirements.
The Zaire files record the civil and military action in the country that necessitated MAF’s evacuation of its staff in 1991 – see especially Jon Lewis’s notebook (Folders 189-7,8) that outline all aspects of the situation and MAF deliberations on how to respond, as well as coordination of effort and resources among mission agencies and NGOs, recorded in a conference call among agency representatives. Also found in Folder 189-6 are statements by religious and governmental bodies about the deteriorating situation in Zaire and the need for the removal of President Mobutu Sese Seko from office, and documents from a Zaire consultation held in the Chicago area.
Throughout the series, as elsewhere in the collection, assorted aircraft are identified by their use by MAF pilots or being purchased to join the MAF fleet, including the Cessna Caravan in Angola (see Folder 187-2).
Subseries: Africa Region | Manager of East & Southern Africa (David Swanson)
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1964-1989
Volume: 1.5 linear feet
Boxes: 190-192
Geographic coverage: Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Zaire, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports, agreements between organizations, prayer letters, staff evaluations, aircraft maintenance records, technical or safety newsletters and memos, accident reports, staff manual, survey reports, procedure documents and manuals, flight operations analysis reports, etc.
Correspondents: Swanson, John Blomberg, John Fairweather, Robert Gordon, John Hood, Van Syverson, Eleanor Swanson, MAF personnel; in some cases, Swanson is only receiving a copy of communication between other MAF staff
Notes: Files primarily from Swanson’s oversight of the East & Southern Africa Region, but also his term as Assistant Vice President of the Asia Region. Primary concerns for these files are personnel, maintenance, safety and insurance, but also include financial information.
Exceptional items: Folder 190-3 includes the “Working Agreement Between British MAF & US MAF for the Joint Management of MAF Operations in Kenya,” and an agreement between MAF and Africa Inland Mission. A small set of personnel files for missionaries assigned to Kenya, Lesotho or South Africa under Swanson’s oversight includes correspondence, evaluations, memos, prayer letters (see Folders 191-10 to 192-8). Those staff include: Bill and Susanne Angliss, Hugh and Norma Beck, Peter and Judy de Bourcier, Hal and Vickie Dipple, Bud and Doreen Isaacs, John and Shirley Kelly, Joe and Pam MacCabe, Steve and Sharon Nickells, Morrey and Sally Pickard, Bob and Bertie Schleicher, Bob and Dorothy Williams, Don and Marian Winter. Folder 191-2 contains a copy of the Asia Staff Manual. Also among his files, Swanson kept maintenance records on aircraft in his region, along with background information from other countries, such as Irian Jaya. Folder 192-16 contains documents outlining procedures for search and rescue operations. Folder 191-8 for 1984 International Conference contains the program folder with reports and agenda, similar to but also containing different contents from Folder 125-8.
Subseries: Africa Region | Country files
Arrangement: Alphabetical by country name
Date Range: 1978-1996
Volume: 3.0 linear feet
Boxes: 193-198
Geographic coverage: African continent, including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zaire, Zimbabwe (there is a great deal of documentation for Mali and Zaire)
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos, reports and trip reports, minutes, job descriptions, country surveys and information, strategic and business plans, maps, annual reports of other aviation agencies (such as Botswana Flying Mission), cooperative agreements with other agencies regarding projects and loaning of personnel, directories of agencies in a country
Correspondents: Directors Dave Swanson, Jon Lewis, Robert Gordon, and Max Meyers, William Angliss, Dave Blomberg, Wayne Bremner, Charlie Briggs, John Fairweather, Alec Forman, Ken Frizzell, Max Gove, Skip and Karin Hubby, Bill Kilgore, Gerry Latimer, Phil Manning, Gordon Marshall, Terry Norr, Bill Nutting, Norm Olson, Skip Parrish, Jack Pienaar, Dave Richardson, Brent Ropp, Van Syverson, Jack Walker, Phil Wilkin, Charles Wilson, other MAF personnel (both in countries throughout the African continent and in the MAF home office in the United States), and representatives of other MAF affiliates.
Notes: These files of the Africa Region Office cover the whole range of MAF’s activity and interests on the continent, and including information on the political, social and religious conditions in many of the countries of Africa.
Exceptional items: Folder 193-1 contains matter related to personnel, including job descriptions, and gathers together a wealth of information, including staff lists for the continent from 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1993, and 1994, as well as a 1983 series of personnel snapshot pages including Christian background, training, and current information. See Folder 193-3 consists of a compilation of survey results on Angola. The contents of folder 196-2 describes a water acquisition program and well-digging project that MAF contributed to. Folder 196-8 contains documents about the eruption of violent ethnic cleansing and genocide in Rwanda in 1994, and MAF plans for its response.
Subseries: Africa Region | General files
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1965-1989
Volume: 3.5 linear feet
Boxes: 198-204
Geographic coverage: Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Sudan, Zaire, Zimbabwe, and other countries that MAF either worked in or temporarily provided services in
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports, survey reports, minutes, newsletters and bulletins, incorporation documents, agreements with other organizations, legal documents, policy statements, sketches
Correspondents: Charles Bennett, Ross Drown, Bob Gordon, Max Gove, Jon Lewis, Gordon Marshall, Terry Norr, Bill Nutting, Roy Parsons, Dave Swanson, other MAF executives and staff, representatives of other mission, relief and government agencies
Notes: The files span the range of operations from the Africa Area Office, covering personnel, training, equipment, facilities and stations, relations with other aviation and mission agencies operating in the African continent, fund-raising, management at various levels, and relations with government offices.
Among these are ACROSS (Africa Committee for Rehabilitation of Southern Sudan) in Folder 199-1, AERDO or Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organization in Folder 199-2, Africa Inland Mission’s AIM-AIR in Folder 200-2. Also recorded are the special circumstances that require air service, such as providing relief services during a famine. There is a major section of files relating to specific aircraft used on the continent; these are grouped together (Folders 200-3 through 201-12), but are arranged according to files titles that include names of towns, manufacturers or aircraft model numbers.
The files in this subseries also include documents at the MAF-wide level, more broad than the Africa Area Office concerns, but policies and information to be utilized or implement across the organization.
Exceptional items: Folder 200-1 contains MAF’s 1987 version of its AIDS guidelines on AIDS with president Max Meyers’ cover memo express the seriousness of the situation. Folder 202-6 titled “Charter” contains documents, including many drafts, of changes in the constitutional documents of MAF Canada. Folders 202-8 to 11 relate to MAF-Canada appeals and reports to Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on its needs for serving in Zaire. There are also two untitled files (Folders 202-1,2) of materials, apparently received by MAF president Charles Bennett; it is unclear how this came to be integrated into the Africa Area Offices files, except that it relates to the Africa operation.
Series: Development (also Partnership or Partnership Development or Partner Services)
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1982-2006
Volume: 21.5 linear feet
Boxes: 94-103, 110-142
Notes: The largest part of this series consists of prayer letters written to supporters; accompanying these are documents related to the prayer letter production. These letters express partnership with financial and prayer supporters and convey in an ongoing way the purpose of the mission. Wings of Praise and Prayer and Praise and Prayer Briefings, long-standing prayer publications from the mission expressed prayer needs at a mission-wide or country-wide level. Prayer letters from individuals and families are also spread throughout the collection, including in the D-2; beginning in the early 1980s, however, these letters from individuals were compiled by the mission in the way they appear here in this series.
Also see the MAF Staff Prayer Cards photo file, compiled and sent by the Partner Services department.
Subseries: Development | Staff [prayer] letters
Arrangement: Chronologically in annual segments, alphabetical within a year (often from back to front)
Date Range: 1982-2006
Volume: 20.0 linear feet
Boxes: 94-103, 110-114, 118-142
Type of documents: Prayer letters and accompanying production information, mailing lists, pledge cards from prayer and financial supporters.
Notes: The largest part of this series consists of prayer letters written by MAF missionaries and staff to their prayer and financial supporters; accompanying these are documents related to the prayer letter production. These letters express partnership with supporters and convey in an ongoing way the purpose of the mission and the details of the work of individual missionaries. Prayer letters from individuals and families are also spread throughout the collection, including in the D-2 portion of the Personnel series. The earliest documents in this subseries begin in 1982, but the 1972 and 1975 sections of the D-2 correspondence (boxes 74-78 and 104-109) appear to be the bridge to this subseries (those files contain very little interdepartmental or administrative correspondence, but are rather almost exclusively prayer letters with accompanying production information). Some of the folders include a photograph or photo prayer card of the corresponding person or family; these were transferred to the photo files and are described in the Photograph Location Record. Some of these files were received in very thin folders by family name; all files of a given alphabet letter were consolidated into one or several folders; others were received unfoldered and have been grouped by alphabet letter in one or several folders. Many of these folders also contain mailing lists of each MAF staff person or family. In some case duplicates and multiple prayer letter production versions were removed as noticed.
Subseries: Development | General correspondence
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1982
Volume: 1.5 linear feet
Boxes: 115-117
Type of documents: Correspondence and memos
Correspondents: MAF senior administrators and other staff, MAF current or potential supporters (whether individuals, churches or foundations)
Notes: This subseries provides a record of MAF communication with existing or potential supporters, expressing thanks for a gift or suggesting an additional gift, or answering questions.
Subseries: Development | Publications
Arrangement: Alphabetical by title
Date Range: 1945-1971
Volume: 2.0 linear feet
Boxes: 53, 61, 62, 78
Type of documents: Publications, newsletters
Notes: MAF was involved in several publications, some for public consumption, others for internal communication. Missionary Aviation was a bi-monthly magazine (1945-1969). Another publication intended for wide circulation was Wings of Praise and Prayer, a newsletter appearing monthly that reported general news of MAF personnel and kept alive the public interest so vital to the MAF financial structure. Praise and Prayer Briefings was a mimeographed letter, usually appearing monthly. In-house newsletters were used to keep the far-flung members of the MAF network in touch with each other. Other technical mimeographed newsletters were those to Mission Aircraft Operators. Member Letters (1945-1967) were distributed to MAF members and associate members. D-2 and D-3 newsletters (see D2 subseries in the Personnel series for The Policy Page and MAF Staff) reported general information; the D-2 issues were of a chatty, human-interest type, while the D-3 issues were technical in scope.
Series: Research & Planning Office
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1945-2002
Volume: 6.5 linear feet
Boxes: 61, 123-134
Type of documents: Reports, memos, policy statements, handbooks, presentation manuscripts, aircraft technical booklets, incorporation documents, financial reports, reference articles, meeting agendas and minutes, assessment questionnaires, lists, correspondence, incorporation documents, strategic plans
Notes: The series consists of Bob Gordon’s files in his role as Director of Planning & Research. The files provide an extensive record of MAF’s policy and operational statements and background research on a wide variety of topics relevant to its operation, including other mission and aviation agencies. Topics range from safety and personnel to Marxism, AIDS and In some cases individual folders bring together documents on a particular topic showing MAF’s development or emphasis in a particular area or function over time; in others the contents reflect Gordon’s gathering background information to assist MAF in formulating its own position or plan of action in that area. (See an appended folder list consisting of an extensive folder list prepared by MAF staff of selected highlights of each file in the series.) Also included are several files attributed to Dave Swanson (during the period when he was manager for the East Africa, South Africa and Central Asia regions).
Exceptional items: A few highlights include...
Series: Technical
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1946-1969
Volume: 1.0 linear feet
Boxes: 1, 62
Type of documents: Correspondence, bills of sale, schematics for modifications, purchase agreements, engine logs, inspection reports, weight and balance reports, legal papers and papers to and from the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Federal Aviation Agency or their counterparts in countries where MAF was purchasing or flying aircraft
Correspondents: Charles Mellis
Notes: This brief series, most folders titled "Aircraft", concerns the technical aspects of the aircraft used by MAF. Some files concern wrecked planes, especially Folder 1-82; Folder 1-1 also concerns downed planes. The folders in Folders 62-27 through 29 are wholly 1969 correspondence. The writers are primarily MAF staff and D-2 personnel and the content of the letters concerns radio evangelism, amateur radio's value in missions, airplane data, commercial meat transport via MAF planes and other such matters. Of special interest is a letter by Jim Hurd in Folder 62-27 concerning MAF's future in Venezuela amid the trend for "Latinization" or nationalism, and a letter by Jean Hildebrandt (Folder 62-27) recommending a reorganization of the MAF office filing system.
Series: Finance
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1945, 1955-1961
Volume: .25 linear feet
Boxes: 19
Type of documents: Financial statements
Notes: This very small compilation of early financial records are in Folders 19-39,40. Other financial data appears in the Operational and Financial Reports (Folders 53-15 through 53-27) and Shipping Bills (Folders 61-29 through 62-5).
Series: Personnel
Subseries: Personnel | D-2 Personnel correspondence
Arrangement: Chronologically in annual segments (except initial 1944-1949 period in alphabetical order); alphabetical by author of correspondence
Date Range: 1944-1973
Volume: 30.5 linear feet
Boxes: 1-19, 63-78, 94, 104-109
Type of documents: Correspondence, memos
Correspondents: MAF staff
Notes: This series consists entirely D-2 files of correspondence with the mission's home office by all active MAF staff on a wide range of practical and policy issues. "D-2" stood for "Distribution-2" and indicated active member status. (D-1 referred to administrative staff and D-3 was for technical bulletins and memos.) The information in these files covers the entire spectrum of mission activity: finances (especially monthly financial reports from MAF's beginning), accidents, building projects, political situations, relations with other missions, adjustment of missionaries to the field, furloughs, the flow of supplies for personal use and for equipment maintenance, and missionaries' personal lives (births, etc.). Many files include mass-produced prayer letters prepared for supporters and constituents other than MAF workers (see also the extensive prayer letter files in the Development series for the years 1982-2006). These files include sketches of potential MAF personnel, and evaluations of staff and potential staff by MAF executives. The mission’s officers themselves are included in the D-2 series, both their inter-office correspondence and that to MAF workers and others in the outside world. The D-2 files constitute one of the most substantial sections of this collection, documenting all facets of MAF operations. The 1972 and 1975 subseries of the D-2 files are unlike all the preceding D-2 files in that they do not contain a record of personnel correspondence and memos with MAF administration but rather contain almost exclusively prayer letters and related production information. Although designated as D-2, these two final years in the subseries appear to be the beginning of the Partnership Development department’s staff prayer letter subseries. Several exceptions remain in this subseries, such as those of MAF administrators like Jean Hildebrandt (Folder 106-6), Norm Olson (Folders 107-26 and 108-1) and Jim Truxton (Folder 109-14). Many duplicate copies of prayer letters were removed from these files; only samples of returned pledge cards with donor information were retained.
Exceptional items: The early D-2 files contain information about the embryonic MAF (then known as CAMF) and its early close relationship with Navigators, another Christian organization with roots in the U.S. military. See especially the James C. Truxton folders (Folders 2-11 through 2-16) that contain almost all of the earliest files of what later was designated by MAF as General correspondence; also see and the early files of correspondence between Truxton and Dawson Trotman (Folders 1-85 through 1-88). Truxton's membership card – #1 – is in Folder 2-11. The creation of CAMF amid attacks of other, doubting, Evangelical bodies, and defenses of CAMF are documented in Folder 2-12. The first contacts with men destined to lead MAF – Charlie Mellis and Grady Parrott – are located in Folders 1-92 and 2-2, respectively. Betty Greene's early correspondence file (Folder 1-92) gathers letters concerning original MAF personnel and general solidifying of policies, goals, and methods. A notice dated July 8, 1946 (Folder 1-101) documents the name change from CAMF to MAF. The D-2 series is extensively interwoven because the D-2 material is filed by writer with most letters being written to individuals who also had their own D-2 folders. Therefore, volleys of correspondence can be reconstructed by searching through more than one D-2 file, made easier since material within folders is arranged chronologically. Since the D-2 series is arranged year by year (with an individual’s files spread over many boxes, the best access to the D-2 files is by browsing through the box-folder list in this guide. As these files are listed only by staff member's name, the “Addedum: MAF Personnel” matches names of staff with the geographical areas they served in. Although gathered around individual staff, D-2 correspondence often reflects current political, cultural and religious situations in the countries where those individuals were serving.
Folders 62-34 through 48 consist of the D-2 files of James Truxton, 1956-1966. Since Truxton was Vice President of the organization throughout this time, and since his correspondence in these D-2 files is wholly with other members of MAF, these folders are important documentation. Truxton’s 1956 correspondence (folder 62-34) concerns MAF's relations with Wycliffe Bible Translators (see also folder 62-36) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics' work among the Huaorani or Auca Indians in Ecuador, relations with the Ecuador government and the missionary murders by the Indians in January 1956. The murders and their aftermath are a major theme of the correspondence for the next three years (folders 6235 through 37) that includes material about the survivors, especially widow Betty Elliot and sister Rachel Saint. Folder 62-35 has letters about Mexico and British Guiana, while folder 62-37, about Brazil; folder 62-38, about Brazil and the Congo.
The D-2 files of Nate Saint include a letter with advice on the young organization's business practices – advice that MAF took seriously (Folder 2-7; some letters in this same folder were used by Russell T. Hitt for his biography of Saint, Jungle Pilot). The 1947 Saint file (Folder 2-8) documents the opening of Ecuador to MAF service; Folders 2-14,15 concern these early days in Ecuador, as do many of the 1948-1949 D-2 files (see especially Folder 1-100 that has a letter about an earthquake there). The other original MAF field was Mexico, and many pre-1950 D-2 files concern this area (see especially folders 2-1 and 2-5). The D-2 files through 1948 contain letters annotated in a red felt-tip pen with underlining and cryptic notations in the margins. This seems to point to research done in these files prior to their coming to the BGC Archives. The annotations do not appear to be contemporary with the manuscripts, and are not to be confused with the red pencil or fountain pen notations made for original office use.
A few other highlights from the series include ...
Series: Other Missions
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1938-1969
Volume: 9.0 linear feet
Boxes: 53-61
Type of documents: Correspondence, aerial surveys, promotional material, reports, prayer letters, newsletters, pamphlets and magazines
Correspondents: Charles Mellis, J. Grady Parrott, Elizabeth Greene, James Truxton, Gordon Sanders of Missionary Engineering, other MAF representatives, and executives and representatives of the other agencies represented
Notes: This series records the interaction and cooperation between MAF and other mission agencies based in or working around the world. These agencies were primarily those served by MAF aircraft, requesting aerial survey or purchasing service. The correspondence discusses aircraft selection and purchase, parts orders, shipping arrangements, studies of technical development and adaptations to mission needs. It also includes import-export regulations, radio licensing in foreign countries, procuring of missionary visas and relations with foreign governments, adaptation to changing political systems and laws, and settling of insurance claims. Full explanations are made of MAF policies, especially in strict aeronautical training, careful screening of pilot candidates, rules for load limits and curtailment of flight hours per pilot. Mention is made of the development of the "bucket drop" for supplies and initial contact with indigenous peoples in unevangelized areas. Aerial survey reports give detailed information on terrain, weather conditions, assessment of necessary flight hours, projected mission needs, and suitable locations for mission bases. Many letters discuss the Missavia radio and its use in inter-mission communication, flight contracts and medical emergencies. Individual mission files may cover the full scope of a mission's operation (especially its use of aviation), as well as it relationship with MAF. The researcher is advised to make use of the box-folder listing in this guide that gives access to these files via mission names.
Exceptional items: The files on the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (Folders 55-20 through 55-27) and the Interdenominational Foreign Missions Association (Folders 56-3 through 56-24) are especially full:
The correspondence for 1967 and 1969 is filed out of sequence, appearing in the General Files (Folders 25-59 and 48-84, respectively). The same is true for EFMA, 1965-1967 (Folder 23-26).
The contents of the series reflect some of the raw edges of inter-mission relations, whether through doctrinal differences, territorial agreements, cooperation policies, personality problems or methods of arbitration:
Folders 59-5 and 60-19 have material about relations between Evangelical missions:
In addition to inter-mission relations, these files contain records that explore mission-government relations in Brazil (Folder 54-24), in Borneo (Folder 55-7), and especially in the Congo, where political upheaval in the mid-1960s threatened the future of many missions (Folders 54-23, 55-17, 55-28 and 59-14). Missions in China are discussed in Folder 55-19; evangelism among Muslims is considered in Folders 57-23 and 59-18. A letter from Guatemala (Folder 54-31) tells how nationals expect all foreigners to be missionaries.
MAF's own history is also seen in this series:
Aerial topographical surveys can be found in many folders: Central Africa (Folder 54-30), French West Africa (Folder 55-8), West Africa (Folder 59-27), Africa (Folder 55-31), Nigeria and the Philippines (Folder 57-2), Philippines and Laos (Folder 57-33), Guerrero (Yucatan) (Folder 58-4), Southern Rhodesia and Venezuela (Folder 58-34), Sinu River Valley (Colombia) (Folder 59-21), and Orinoco River (Venezuela) and Bolivia (Folders 60-19,20). Some miscellaneous items of note include:
The series also contains significant information on Evangelical figures:
Publications in Folders 61-5 through 17 are clippings from magazines that concern missionary aviation from other missions. Lutheran Missionary (Folder 61-13) contains the obituary of pilot Edwin B. Hartwig, a somewhat well-known figure in mission aviation, who was killed in a 1951 plane wreck at New Guinea. The Lutheran World Federation in Folder 16-14, has clippings of that organization's China News Letter concerning the "St. Paul", a mission plane flown into pre-Communist China by Daniel Nelson, who was associated with MAF. Nelson and his family died when his plane crashed in 1948. The file of New Tribes Mission (Folder 61-17) contains many issues of its magazine Brown Gold.
Series: General
Arrangement:
Date Range: 1944-1975
Volume: 40.0 linear feet
Boxes: 19-51, 78-93
Notes: A very extensive and substantial series, the documents (much of it routine) record MAF’s interaction with the Christian public, its supporters, other mission agencies, and companies in some aspect of the aeronautics business.
Subseries: General | “Old Correspondence” (first subseries)
Arrangement: Alphabetical by correspondent
Date Range: 1944-1967
Volume: 14.5 linear feet
Boxes: 19-32, 62
Type of documents: Primarily letters and memos, materials accompanying correspondence, membership and renewal applications, forms, some newspaper clippings, radio script
Correspondents: MAF executives Grady Parrott, James Truxton, Elizabeth Greene, Charles Mellis, Donald Qvarnstrom (MAF Export Manager), administrative assistants Norm Olson, John Strash, MAF office secretary Selma Bauman, individuals and representatives of churches, other mission agencies, and suppliers
Notes: This correspondence is largely with individuals and churches interested in MAF – financial supporters, prayer friends, and promoters of MAF renown across America. Many of these files are the accumulated letters of associate members, often dealing with the mundane matters of membership application and renewals, but also reflecting the wide spectrum of what prompted these people to apply for MAF membership. Missionaries and other mission organizations are represented in the subseries, as is business correspondence with aircraft and equipment supply companies, insurance companies, and foreign government offices.
Exceptional items: This subseries contains a substantial collection of newspaper and magazine articles concerning MAF, appearing in various stages of construction, editing, proofreading, revision, and completion:
The General files also contain correspondence with other mission organizations (also see the "Other Missions" series), illustrating how MAF worked with missions, whether in a partnership or advisory role.
Some of these files are with other aviation concerns: Aerial Missions, Ltd. (Folder 19-44) concerning Missionary aviation in western Australia; a "Flying Doctor Service" proposal for Africa (Folder 19-45); Aero-Missionaries, Wings of Colombia (Folder 26-6); and Sky Pilots (Folder 30-53). See also Victory Sky Pilots, Inc. (Folder 25-13), and the India Mission (Folder 25-61) that includes Elrow LaRowe's report, "A Basis for the Consideration of Practical Missionary Aviation," written in the 1940s.
Medical missions are well represented in the General files:
There are several Christian colleges represented in these files:
The General files contain many folders concerning individuals, with correspondence often spanning more than two decades. Some of the better-known of these include:
Subseries: General | “Other Correspondence” (second subseries)
Arrangement: By one to three-year time periods; with each period in alphabetical order
Date Range: 1962-1973
Volume: 27.0 linear feet
Boxes: 33-51, 78-93
Type of documents: Primarily correspondence, also forms, meeting minutes
Correspondents: MAF executives Grady Parrott, James Truxton, Elizabeth Greene, Charles Mellis, Charles Bennett, Thomas Albright (Director of Electronics), Robert Gordon, and Donald Berry; MAF administrative assistants Norm Olson, John Strash, Robert Lehnhart, James Lomheim, John Lundgren, and Dorothy Mount (secretary); individuals and representatives of churches, other mission agencies, and suppliers
Notes: This second subseries of General Files reflects the MAF office’s way of dealing with the host of correspondents whose interactions with MAF did not extend beyond a few letters. Subdivided into one to three-year time periods (i.e., 1964-1966, 1971, etc.), files within these sections were arranged alphabetically by author (individual or organization), many in catch-all folders with labels such as "Bi; 1962-1963" or "Pr; 1967". MAF's own inventory of this subseries states, "Evidently the general files earlier than '62 were not kept." While the files in the sections from 1962 through 1967 are strictly of this filing only by alphabetical letters, beginning in 1968 titled folders by individual name or organization resume as in the "Old Correspondence" subseries of the General Files, and like the "Old Correspondence," some of the documents date back to the 1940s. The files in boxes 78-93, added to extend the subseries coverage from 1970-1975, were sampled by the archivist rather than taken as a whole, including both a random sampling of each box plus files whose titles suggested significance for either the MAF organization, missions history or the Evangelical world. The majority of folders in this second subseries are the assembled products of many correspondents brought together by alphabetization (e.g., "Am; 1965" or "Ro; 1968"). The contents of these files are less substantive than the first subseries, being primarily letters enclosing gifts and MAF acknowledgments with thanks. They do reflect, however – with their official letterhead, scallop-edged and flowered stationery, or blue-lined school paper, and with their secretary-typescript, longhand or child's pencil – the broad base from which MAF drew financial and prayer support. In addition to this type of correspondence, files in this section fall generally into seven categories: applications for personnel status, with responses, counseling, etc.; requests for literature or use of MAF films; invitations to mission conferences; correspondence with businesses (equipment manufacturers, office suppliers, etc.) and with governments for visas, export licenses, etc.; requests for information from students and other researchers; prayer letters and newsletters from other missions; and requests for guidelines in establishing aviation training programs similar to MAF's. Most of these letters are variations on one of the eight themes listed above.
Exceptional items: The following highlights some items of unique information throughout this extensive subseries for the years 1962-1967:
Some of the folders in the 1968 and 1969 files titled by individual or organization deserve special note as to their content:
A broad insight into MAF policies, training techniques, airplane adaptations, fiscal situations, accident analyses, etc., can be found examples in these folders of the subseries:
Series: Miscellaneous
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Date Range: 1944-1971, undated
Volume: 4.5 linear feet
Boxes: 1, 53, 61, 62, 78
Type of documents: Bills, surveys
Notes: This small portion of miscellaneous material is the residue from a previous alphabetical arrangement.
Exceptional items:
Folders 1-29 to 62-5: Shipping Bills (Folders 61-29 through 62-5) include export licenses and other paperwork necessary for MAF to carry on its international commerce.
Folders 62-6 to 26: Surveys in Folders 62-6 through 26 are general territory surveys done from the air for the areas of Alaska, Ethiopia, South America, South Pacific and Southeast Asia (see folder level list for a complete listing of countries). Surveys (most documented here in the mid-1940s and mid-'50s) were conducted in consultation with missionaries to assess the need for aviation as a resource in a country or region. Gathered in consultation, the surveys were of the terrain, location of missionaries and populations in need of Christian witness. See Location Record: Oversize Materials for maps that were gathered as part of the survey process. (The purpose of these surveys was mirrored in Operation ACCESS in 2001, in which MAF again surveyed remote areas in sixty-four countries.)
Provenance
Created or gathered by Mission Aviation Fellowship and received by the Billy Graham Center Archives from MAF, 1980-2006.
Accruals and Additions
Accession: 80-80
Accessions: 80-168, 81-57
May 28, 1992
Accessions: 82-143, 85-92, 86-67, 88-76, 90-18, 90-78, 95-63, 96-30, 06-23
Accessions: 95-63, 96-30, 03-09, 06-23
Accesisons: 85-122, 95-63
- Aeronautics -- Safety measures.
- Aeronautics in missionary work.
- Airplanes -- Maintenance and repair.
- Bennett, Charles T.
- Berean Mission.
- Cancer -- Patients -- Religious life.
- Christian martyrs -- Ecuador.
- Disaster relief.
- Elliot, Jim, 1927-1956.
- Emergency management.
- Evangelistic work.
- Fleming, Peter, 1928-1956.
- Genocide -- Rwanda.
- Graham, Billy, 1918-2018.
- Hatcher, Doris.
- Hatcher, Elias.
- Huao Indians.
- Humanitarian assistance.
- Interdenominational cooperation.
- Jones, Bob, 1883-1968.
- Mapuche Indians.
- McCully, Theodore Edward, 1927-1956.
- Mellis, Charles.
- Mexican Indian Mission.
- Meyers, Max, 1935-
- Missionaries -- Training of -- United States.
- 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.
- Organizational change -- United States.
- Parrott, Grady.
- Personnel management.
- Radio in missionary work.
- Saint, Nathaniel, 1923-1956.
- Truxton, James.
- United Mission to Nepal.
- Women in missionary work.
Creator
- Mission Aviation Fellowship. (Organization)
- 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