MAF missionaries raise support for a pooled fund out of which MAF covers salary, housing, benefits, and staff-related ministry expenses. MAF exercises discretion over the use of missionary support to carry out its mission and care for its staff.
Dave and Jill Holmes are missionaries serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Mozambique, Africa. They moved to Nampula, Mozambique, in January 2012.
Dave serves as a pilot and mechanic as well as the program’s Director of Operations and IT specialist. Dave enjoys flying in some of the most remote places in Mozambique, especially in Niassa, where MAF flies a medical team to remote villages where people are often without access to medical care. Whether flying missionaries, medical evacuations, or business people, Dave appreciates the opportunity to serve and share the love of Christ with those he encounters.
For several years, Jill helped the program with its finances and in 2017, she joined MAF’s Global Disaster Response Team helping with administration and operations and has helped in South Sudan, Bangladesh, and Lesotho, as well as disasters in Mozambique. As Deputy Security Manager, she helps with security planning and training of staff serving overseas.
Some of Dave and Jill’s highlights of their time in Mozambique have been serving side by side with their unique skill sets while participating in the disaster response for both Cyclone Idai, Cyclone Kenneth, and the refugee crisis in Cabo Delgado. MAF was uniquely positioned to help survey damage and bring aid to people in devastating circumstances.
Outside of the hangar, Dave and Jill enjoy being involved with their local church. Jill teaches martial arts to both expats and Mozambicans in Nampula, and Dave spends time practicing English with one of their guards.
Dave and Jill are both from Texas and met while in college at Texas Tech University. It was during this time that they discovered they both had a heart to serve in missions, a revelation that solidified their relationship. They both received degrees in the natural resources field, and Dave worked as a Hydrologic Technician for the U.S. Geological Survey while Jill worked as an Environmental Specialist for the Department of Transportation. Each year they would go on a short-term mission trip through their local church. In 2004, Dave received his private pilot license, the result of a lifelong passion for aviation, but it wasn’t until 2008 that he realized he could put his passion to use in foreign missions. In 2009 Dave earned his Aircraft Mechanic Certification at the School of Missionary Aviation Technology (SMAT) and completed his flight training needed to join MAF. Now, Dave and Jill love being a part of the body of Christ in Mozambique helping to make “the ends of the earth” a little more reachable.
God calls the men and women of MAF to serve Him in unique ways. He may also be calling you to a special role in the Holmes’ ministry. Please prayerfully consider becoming a Ministry Partner with them through prayer and/or financial support.