MAF requires that missionaries be 100% supported before we leave for our assignment. For some this means that whenever they reach full support they fly to their assigned country and begin language school. In our case we are not attending language school in country. Instead we will be attending Parole de Vie language school in Quebec which only starts classes in January and August. Currently we have raised 48% of our support and on November first MAF will decide if we should begin the process of enrollment and applying for student visas.

If you are someone who is interested in partnering with us through either a one time gift or ongoing financial support we would love to hear from you and answer any questions that you might have.

We will also be giving a presentation about our work with MAF and the ministry of MAF around the world, at Flying M Coffee Garage in downtown Nampa on the 16th and 20th of September. Both events start at 6:30 and will be in the upstairs conference room. These events will be the same so there is no need to attend both of them. If you are interested in attending please RSVP by emailing me at tschandorff@maf.org.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we reach this critical deadline in our journey with Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Tim

Of course traveling with a 4 week old is no small endeavor. We saw many little towns between Nampa and the coast that we never had need to stop in on previous trips. It turns out that Arlington, Oregon has a great public park just off Interstate 84. The trip that Google maps says should take about 9 hours took closer to 12 and a half with feeding stops and chances for Ben to get out of the car seat. We found that a 4 week old that does not want to be in the car anymore can be very persuasive in getting you to stop. But we were in no hurry and made it to the coast in plenty of time.

Most of the week the kids played in the freezing cold water of the Pacific while the adults tried as hard as possible to stay dry and still close enough to supervise. Sand castles were built and of course there was great kite flying weather as only the Pacific Northwest can deliver.

We spend an afternoon visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory where the kids saw how the cheese is processed and packaged.

In all it was a great time spent with family and a nice break from support raising with MAF.
If you would like to see some photos please feel free to visit the photo gallery.
thanks for visiting

- Haitian Orphans Have Little But Each Other

- Haitian Moms Still Need Healthcare



While the world’s attention may have moved on, MAF pilots continue to transport relief supplies, medical groups, and construction supplies, helping to address both the short and long term needs of Haitians. We are excited to be part of an organization that has been in Haiti for so long, that responded so quickly and efficiently to the earthquake, and that intends to stay in Haiti for the long term!

First of all you may have just noticed that I used the word ministry in reference to what we are doing in the U.S.  This is very important to MAF.  While the mission statement of MAF is focused on what we do overseas we also understand that the work there is not possible without prayer and financial support by Christians who are following the great commission and God’s calling just like MAF missionaries. It has been fun to meet new people and provide them with a vehicle through which they can be part of missions.  As we build these new relationships we look forward to growing them through communication while overseas and deputation visits when we are back in the U.S.



Because MAF is a technical mission and uses small aircraft which can be dangerous, every policy takes the safety of their people into consideration.  This is even the case when talking about support raising.  In order to keep stress levels low and put families in a position to be successful overseas, MAF does not allow anyone to move overseas until they reach 100% of their monthly funding. Many of the pilots in our programs are already doing administrative duties as well as flying and it would be very difficult to add support raising to their list of tasks.  It should be noted that over the many years of MAF’s work, they have a nearly 100% success rate for raising funds.



During the year (approximately) of support raising there are other trainings and steps that we take to get ready for working in another culture.  In July we will be attending security training where we will learn how to be aware and safe in unfamiliar places. The next step is orientation, where we are commissioned as MAF missionaries and get ready to leave for language school.  Since this is the last step, MAF requires that over half of our funding has begun coming in by 8 weeks before orientation.  For us that cutoff is in August for the October orientation class.  It is very important to us that we reach this goal because it would allow us to begin language school in January instead of waiting several months for the fall semester.  To this end, we need your help.



There are many people who have expressed their interest in financial partnership but not yet made a pledge.  In these economic times it is understanding that people have trouble pledging money for an unknown future.  As with any major decision it requires prayer and God’s guidance.  While we are anxious to get to the field our desire is that we would have a team of partners who have been led by God to be part of this ministry and have given with a joyful heart.  We invite you to pray about being a part of this ministry.  Contributions can be monthly, quarterly or yearly or any other schedule that works for you.  We have had partners sign up for $100 per year ($8.33 per month), 100 per month and everything in between.



If you would like to partner with us but are unable to start right now, please send in your pledge and indicate when support will begin. This is an enourmous help to us as we grow closer to the August Deadline for orientation.



For more information about financial partnership, visit our “Partner with us” Page on this site.  To contribute now online, visit www.maf.org/schandorff.  Or, if you have received our prayer card in the mail, fill out the back and send it in. If you would like to pledge now and begin giving later, use the prayer card or call MAF’s Donor Services department at (208) 498-0800. We are blessed to have so many of our friends and family joining us in this process and look forward to building relationships with our support team for years to come.

The support raising trip was tiring but it was also a great faith building experience. We saw God provide opportunities to talk with people that we never thought we would connect with and even people that we didn’t know before we left. At one point while meeting with people in a Friendly’s Ice Cream Shop in Rochester, we were approached by a woman who was sitting in the next booth and heard Haiti mentioned in the conversation. She worked with an organization that operates in Northern Haiti and asked to meet with us a couple of days later and in the end, made a contribution to our support. Instances like this were a huge encouragement to us as we traveled around the country with he faith that God is going to make this happen in his time and through the people that he chooses.

Now we are home. We are looking forward to returning to our church and seeing friends and family who we missed so much while we were traveling. We still have a long way to go with our support. Recently we reached the 30% milestone for our monthly support. Our outgoing support that is made up of one time contributions is going a little faster. Now that we are home we are spending some time assessing where we are at based on commitments that were made by churches and individuals during the trip. As we hear from those who expressed interest in joining our team of supporters, we will be able to better understand where our support level is at and make plans for going to language school and future traveling.

Thank you to everyone who we met with on the trip. We were blessed by your hospitality and encouragement during what can be a stressful process.

Tim Schandorff

“The news has been full of people telling their stories of travelling for days across Europe and waiting for ferries and trains to get them across the English Channel. Many have said it has reminded them that flying is a luxury and that travelling overland takes such a long time. And this is a continent with good roads and transport links! In many of the countries where we work, travelling overland is much more arduous and dangerous than it is in Europe, and flying is much more of a luxury.”

It strikes me that while the ash in Europe has disrupted many travel plans (including my parents’, who had to cancel their 30th anniversary trip to Prague and the United Kingdom!), the lack of flights in Europe is perhaps not as striking as what would happen if MAF’s flight services were no longer available in the countries we serve in. Instead of vacations cancelled or business meetings missed, the lack of MAF flights would often result in patients not reaching hospitals in time to receive life-saving services, construction materials never arriving to build churches, or missionaries not being able to travel to inland jungles to preach the gospel. Praise God that as long as people continue to support MAF’s ministry through prayer and financial giving, MAF is able to continue providing these vital services!

o 487.1 flight hours

o 1,037 aircraft landings

o 1,801 passengers transported

o 315,498 pounds of cargo delivered

o 59,346 miles flown

Our MAF team in Haiti is now transitioning from disaster response mode to longer-term recovery efforts. We praise God for what our guys have been able to accomplish down there in the aftermath of such a devastating earthquake. Please continue to keep our team in your prayers as the needs in Haiti will continue for a long time!

After I wrote the last post to this blog I got an amazing opportunity that I would like to share. While I was in Florida I was primarily responsible for putting together the cargo load for a Cessna Caravan airplane. This plane carries about 2500lbs of cargo plus the crew. When I arrived at Missionary Flights International one of the pilots mentioned that I might be able to take a flight down to Haiti while I was there. I didn’t think this was very likely because at the time I did not have a current passport but we figured it was worth the extra fee to try and get my passport expedited. Sure enough, with some work on Liz’s part and a little luck my passport came in with time to spare. So when I built the load for the Saturday flight I included myself and took off for Port au Prince.



The flight to Haiti on a commercial jet is about 2 hours. The flight to Haiti in a small single engine plane is about 5 hours plus the time that it takes to stop and fill up with fuel in the Bahamas. On the flight down I was wedged into a small space that had been left when we packed the cargo into the plane. I don’t recommend it as an alternative to American Airlines but it was an experience. My flight back was much different, but more on that later.



The weather on the day that I few down was not great so when we got over the country of Haiti we came in under the cloud cover and pretty low to the ground. Everywhere that people had built houses along the coast you could see an increasing number of bright blue tarps that were being used as shelter. The cloud cover that the pilot was trying to avoid is a sign that the rainy season is getting about to arrive and many still have no shelter at all. As we got closer to Port au Prince the blue specks that I had been seeing gave way whole city block that were solid blue with tarps. As I would find out later, the people living under these tarps were lucky to have them. After landing my first order of business was to have a look at what MAF had been doing with the cargo that I sent down once it landed at the MAF hanger. They had four tents set up in front of their hanger (if you get on Google earth you can see a triangle shaped piece of grass in front of a hanger on the middle ramp of the airport. This grass area is where the tents are. You can tell it is MAF because you can actually see two red and white MAF planes.) one of the tents was filled with MRE style self cooking meals from the World Food Program. another was filled with general donations that could be distributed to missions that could then give them to the people of Haiti. The other two tents were filled with the cargo that I had been sending down all grouped by the mission that it was sent for. Ken from MAF gave me a tour of how their operations worked and we had time to talk about what we could do at MFI to make the task easier.



On Sunday I got the chance to go to church at an English speaking church made up of mostly Haitians and some expats. We then spent most of the day at Mark Williams house (the Program manager for the Haiti program). I had a great time talking with Mark’s son, Marc who grew up in Haiti and stayed there after the earthquake. He had a lot of great information to share about life in Haiti and the reasons that he loved living there.



I was scheduled to fly out on Monday afternoon, so when I got to the airport I knew I didn’t have a lot of time. I was really excited when I was invited by Micheal Broyles, an MAF pilot, on a short flight to the island of La Gonave. The flight was only 20 minutes each way and we landed on a small dirt landing strip next to the water. I honestly didn’t even recognize that we were flying past the landing strip until Micheal turned the plan around and lined up on approach. The flight itself was short and uneventful. We dropped off one passenger and waited for another who had already taken a boat to the main land. Then we flew back to the hanger. But that short time that I spent learning about the MAF program and life in Haiti was a great source of encouragement. It helped me to get a glimpse of what God has in store for us when we get to Haiti and how God can use us.



At about 1:00 in the afternoon the Caravan arrived with another load of cargo and was quickly ready to take me back to Florida. I had a new pilot this time and no copilot so I was able to sit in the front seat with a headset instead of a small removable seat. After takeoff I asked the pilot if I could lay down in the back. He smiled and said “sure would you like a hammock?” Having spent most of my flight time wondering if the fasten seat belt sign would turn off, the idea of a hammock was a bit of a shift. Whether I needed it or not though curiosity took over and I decided that at the very least I wanted to see how a pilot puts up a hammock while flying an airplane. The answer? Autopilot, and a quick tutorial to the passenger on how to control the plane if the autopilot turns off. Thankfully I didn’t have to use those new skills. When the pilot returned to the controls he had hung a camping hammock from one corner of the cargo area to the other. I climbed back into the cargo area and kicked back. after relaxing for about 3 hours and sleeping a little I returned to my seat as we approached Ft. Pierce Florida.



It is not very often that pre-field staff with MAF get to visit the country that they will be living in before they move. This was a great opportunity that I have very thankful for. It was a great encouragement and I can’t wait to get back to Haiti as soon as possible.



Thanks for reading
Tim Schandorff