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.
Jason and Connie Risser are missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Jason is a flight instructor in the Aviation Resources Department in Nampa, Idaho. His responsibilities include preparing new MAF pilots for service around the world. Having served in Africa with MAF for 15 years, Jason brings extensive field experience to his role as mentor and trainer for those preparing to go.
Connie’s ministry includes helping children who struggle to learn. She is the director of the Joshua Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks to assist students with learning disabilities. Lord willing, she hopes, one day, to use these skills overseas to help other missionary families with educational challenges they face on the field.
Jason grew up on a farm in southern Pennsylvania. He was blessed to have a Christian family and a great church to give him a solid foundation. Jason accepted Jesus as his Savior at his home church when he was nine years old. His interest in missions was sparked at the age of twelve when a missionary pilot spoke at his church. Jason chose to attend Moody Bible Institute and graduated with a B.S. degree in Missionary Aviation Technology.
Connie was born in Minneapolis and grew up on a farm in New Prague, Minnesota. Her mother led her to the Lord when she was very young. Connie feels greatly blessed to have been raised in a Christian home with the influence of a strong church. She felt called to missions as a young girl, and through her teen and college years, that calling grew stronger. She attended Northwestern College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for two years before transferring to Moody Bible Institute. She graduated with a B.A. degree in International Ministries. Jason and Connie met at Moody. They were married in Tennessee, the summer of 1986 and they now have three adult children and three grandchildren.
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 Rissers’ ministry. Please prayerfully consider becoming a Ministry Partner with them through prayer and/or financial support.
The U.S. offices of MAF serve as a hub for MAF services worldwide. A day in the life here includes specialized flight training, staff mobilization and counseling, purchasing and shipping of aircraft parts, finance and accounting, administration of an Internet gateway for worldwide email, fund raising, printing and mailing of various materials, and many, many more activities. Some staff serve around the country; training future pilots and mobilizing potential candidates to serve with MAF.