By Kim van Veen
Most MAF airplanes don’t have nicknames, but “Sandy” does. And that’s because her journey to join the MAF fleet was full of twists and turns.
Sandy’s Belgian owners, Patrick and Régine Deliens, decided they wanted to sell their 13-year-old Cessna 208 Caravan. Patrick Delien, who had flown in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a young man, hoped the plane could be used by a humanitarian group working in DRC. Despite Sandy’s low flight hours—185—no one was interested.
Unable to find a buyer, the Deliens resolved to sell the plane to a humanitarian group that works in the Caribbean.
By chance, several MAF staff members, including fleet manager Dave Rask, were in Florida helping finalize the purchase of another airplane. An AfricaAir salesman took the MAF team aside and mentioned the Deliens’ airplane. “You have a chance to buy this airplane and put it to work in the Congo,” he told them. “but do it fast because they have an offer of $1 million.”
Rask decided MAF could offer $600,000 for an airplane he valued at between $1.8 and $2 million because of the low flight hours. Although there was no money in the budget for an airplane, he knew the opportunity couldn’t be missed.
Within days, an MAF donor offered to fund the $600,000 purchase price. An estate gift of $500,000 came in to cover the modifications and other costs. And the Deliens agreed to the sale. Patrick even recalled working alongside MAF pilots in the DRC.
This was 2021. MAF staff knew they were up against a strict deadline. The DRC does not allow airplanes older than 15 years old to be imported into the country, and the Caravan was already 13. If Sandy was going to serve in the DRC, she had to get there before the end of 2023.
Then came the twist: After adding MAF-specific modifications, MAF mechanics sent the airplane to a paint shop in Arizona. Once the paint was removed, maintenance staff went to check the plane’s condition. “We like to do that … because there can be corrosion or hidden damage under paint,” Rask explained.
To their dismay, they found that the rounded tops of the rivets on the Caravan’s silver-gray hull had been sanded down. Some were so thin that they couldn’t do their job of holding the plane together. The airplane was unfit to fly. Fixing this issue could mean it wouldn’t make the DRC’s importation deadline.
But the team persevered. And they gave her the nickname Sandy, because of the over-zealous sanding.
After dealing with the insurance company, mechanics replaced the damaged rivets and sent Sandy to a new paint shop, where she finally got her “MAF uniform.”
On a crisp winter day in Nampa, MAF staff gathered around the airplane to dedicate her to the Lord. She arrived in Kinshasa, DRC’s capital city, in November 2023, just before the cutoff date.
After the rush to get her ready, it was now time to wait.
The importation process took several months, but on April 18, 2024, MAF staff in Kinshasa gathered around Sandy once again. This time, she bore her new call letters: “9S-EEM.”
In the hazy African heat, program director Stephen Hale shared from Acts and reflected on the many donors, mechanics, and others who worked to get Sandy to the DRC. In Lingala, French, and English, the team praised God for His good gifts and asked for wisdom, safety, and good stewardship.
Today, Sandy is the third member of the Caravan fleet serving in Kinshasa. She performs medical emergency flights and ferries patients to and from medical care. She carries partners like the Kids Action Network, who train other Congolese how to teach God’s Word to children. Sandy also flies church planters and Bible translators.
“We are so happy that the Caravan is now in operation.… We wish you and all the MAF team all the best with your work for the Congolese people,” Régine Deliens wrote. And Patrick Deliens plans to visit Sandy in her new place of service soon.
Story appeared in the Vol. 4 2024 edition of FlightWatch. Read the entire issue below.
