James and Danielle Gullett

Background

I have always had a passion for aviation, and a growing desire to serve the Lord in mission. Born in 2002, I grew up in a Christian home, originally in Buckinghamshire, UK. However, at the age of 7, I moved to Kenya with my parents, where my father worked for a Christian trust. It was here that my love for mission aviation took root. 4 years later, on return to the UK – this time to Oxford – I was baptised and my interest in mission and aviation continued to develop. I read stories about Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, and then the book ‘Hope has Wings’ by MAF founder Stuart King, all of which gave me much inspiration to pursue serving as a pilot overseas. At the age of 16, I had the wonderful opportunity to glide solo, and at the same time I began to get involved with MAF Youth.

Fast forward to 2021, and I started corresponding with the MAF UK team in Folkestone. After undergoing several flying assessments, both here in the UK and at the MAF training base in the Netherlands, I started my mission aviation pilot training at the beginning of 2022, with the target of serving overseas with MAF in about 2-3 years’ time.

In Autumn 2022 I married Danielle. She is studying nursing and hopes to use her medical skills on the mission field in whatever way God chooses. She also grew up in Kenya, spending 10 years there as a missionary kid. It’s where we met. A little later on in her life, Danielle also spent time in South Sudan, she completed a 3-month mission trip in 2019, where she helped at a remote clinic delivering babies and attending to the medical needs of a local community. She loves this kind of work and can’t wait to be on the mission field once again serving God!

We can’t wait to see where the Lord will lead us, joining MAF and starting this pilot scheme has been an answer to prayer and is a wonderful opportunity!