Mission Flight Services, An Introduction

We are in Zambia to help Mission Flight Services. The organization’s purpose is to serve missionaries in Zambia. They provide a number of logistical and administrative services, the most prominent being safe and reliable transportation via airplane. Other services include lodging, purchasing, internet access, and banking help. MFS is located in Kalene, a small community around a mission hospital that was founded in 1906. The hospital and its patients are frequent recipients of the services MFS provides.

We are here because the Flight Service is short-staffed for a few months. Drew Taylor, the Chief Engineer (mechanic in U.S. terms) finished his term earlier this year and returned home to Canada. Bruce and Marilyn Poidevin are in the United States for six months. Bruce is the Director and a pilot, and Marilyn fulfills a number of administrative needs. We are here to help cover bases until the Poidevins return and a new family comes in the fall to be on maintenance staff.

John & Karen Loudon. Photo by Mission Flight Services.

Left behind are John & Karen Loudon, who have lived here for 20 years. Karen grew up as a missionary kid in Africa, and John grew up in Michigan. They met when he started service as a missionary pilot. After they were married they served in Tanzania and Kenya before coming to Zambia in the ’90s. John is the Operations Manager, overseeing the flying and maintenance. Karen is the Flight Follower, an important task in the bush of Africa. She uses a GPS-based online tracker to monitor flight progress and ensure safety. John and Karen both help with bookkeeping as well. The Loudon children are grown; one son is still in school, but is only at Kalene between terms. The Loudons have done much to help us. They bought food for us in advance and got our house cleaned and stocked. We are grateful for their help and answers to all our questions.

There are also a number of local people that work around the mission, mostly part-time. So far we have not had the opportunity to get to know them well, but we hope to.

You can learn more about Mission Flight Services at www.missionflightservices.com. Below is a video that details all they do. At 18 minutes, it’s on the longer side, but it gives a thorough picture of the organization.

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