Hi! We are the family of Dunns. John (the bearded one and missionary pilot in training), Tanya (the wife and homeschooling mom), Michaela (our first born – an absolute sweetheart) and Tristan (our middle child, who wants to build the aeroplanes that his dad will fly), and Adaline, our precious newborn.
We are a South African family that feels called to enter the mission field using aviation as a tool to reach the unreached with the gospel and to bring aid to the needy.
According to Joshua Projects, there are about 16900 different people groups in the world, of which approximately 7000 remain unreached – people who have never heard the name of Jesus, living in fear and dying without hope. One of the reasons why these people groups remain unreached is because they are so isolated, with little to no access to the outside world and the gospel. This is why mission aviation is an invaluable resource in reaching the unreached – bringing light to darkness. Mission aviation allows missionaries to be taken to places that otherwise will be extremely difficult to reach on foot. Mission aviation also helps to bring supplies – food and medical – to where it is so desperately needed.
Imagine living and dying without ever hearing about Jesus and what He has done for us. It is a terrifying thought! And on top of that, imagine being in a place where there is no access to any medical help or where you would need to walk for days just to get to the nearest medical clinic. Thankfully, with the help of mission aviation, no place should remain unreached. This is where we as a family feel called to serve.
John
John has a great passion for evangelism and for flying. He has his Private Pilot’s Licence/Certificate and is is the process of completing his Commercial Pilot’s Licence. Once he has completed his Commercial Pilot’s Licence, we will join a mission organisation like Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Ethnos360 Aviation or anywhere else that the Lord leads.
John also used to fly gliders when he was in High School. He also enjoys playing guitar, singing, snorkelling, hiking, watching movies and reading.
Tanya
Tanya has been homeschooling Michaela and Tristan for about 9 years. She is passionate about children’s ministry and has been actively involved in children’s church, holiday clubs and youth outreach. Although Tanya desires that everyone comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, she has a specific burden for children to hear the gospel and to know Jesus.
Tanya is also exceptionally crafty…in a good way of course 🙂 She really enjoys crafting, drawing, cooking and spending time outdoors.
Michaela
Michaela is 13 years old and she already has shown such a great love for the Lord and His Word. She wants to one day become a missionary teacher. Michaela is also exceptionally adventurous and loves almost any fast-paced sport. She loves surfing and wants to take up archery. Michaela also loves learning and reading.
Tristan
Tristan is 10 years old and has an amazing sense of humour and such a gentle and selfless heart. He is passionate about building things and he loves airplanes. He hopes to one day build the airplanes that missionary pilots fly.
Tristan also loves cricket and wants to learn how to play golf. He loves building lego and his favourite movie is Lego Batman (he has mastered Batman’s voice 🙂 )
Adaline
Adaline was born on the 6th of September 2020, so all she is passionate about right now is milk, and baths. But she is already such a blessing to all of us. We cannot wait to see what God does in her and through her.
To learn more about what we are wanting to do, please read our blog post The Mission
Join Us
We would LOVE for you to join us on this journey. The call to go and make disciples of every nation (ethnos/people group) is for every Christian. This doesn’t mean you have to leave your home and go to another country. Not everyone is called to do this, but we all need to do what we can to help the unreached become reached with the Good News of Jesus. You can do this by praying for missionaries, by sending letters of encouragement to missionaries, inviting visiting missionaries to your home for supper and of course you can use the financial wealth that God has given to you to support missionaries.
As we go on this journey to get to the mission field and for John to get his Commercial Pilot’s Licence, we need your prayers, encouragement and if the Lord leads you, your financial support as well. This is not a one-way street though as we would love to help you as well, so please send us your prayer requests so that we can pray for you and encourage you; it will be our privilege to do this for you.
Please, can you also follow us on Instagram and Like and Share our Facebook page. This will also help us.
We look forward to you joining us.
Grace and Peace,
The Dunns