Venter Family
The Venters are serving in Uganda
Their Story
Brad and Michelle Venter, originally from South Africa, have been married for 23 years and are blessed with four children — Nathan, Hailey, Megan, and Emma. They have been serving in Papua New Guinea with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for the past 15 years and will be moving to Uganda in August 2026. This will be a significant change for their family, but they are excited about this next chapter and the new opportunities to serve.
Brad is both a qualified pilot and aeronautical engineer. Following a lifelong call to missionary aviation, he serves full-time with MAF, using his skills to share God’s love through aviation.
Michelle is a trained teacher and remedial educator who currently focuses on caring for their family and serving in local ministry. She founded Mama Care Ministry, which reaches out to mothers with babies in the hospital’s special care nursery, offering encouragement and sharing the gospel.
Their journey to the mission field has been one of patience, faith, and God’s perfect timing. Both Brad and Michelle have seen how God prepared their hearts and lives for this chapter of service, trusting His promise in Proverbs 3:5–6 — “Trust in the Lord with all your heart… and He will make your paths straight.”
Nathan (18) is finishing school in May and plans to move out as he prepares to study in Australia in 2027. Hailey (16) is joyful and creative, with a love for writing; Megan (13) is talkative and caring, often reading to her younger sister; and Emma (6) brings life and laughter to the family with her love of singing.
How it all began
They arrived in Papua New Guinea in 2011 where Brad initially flew the Twin Otter and later the C206 and GA8 Airvan. With the fleet change that happened in 2019, Brad transitioned to the C208 Caravan. They have mostly lived in Goroka in the highlands, but spent two years in Wewak which is on the north coast. Brad has also been a training pilot on the GA8 Airvan, Twin Otter and C208 Caravan. He fulfilled the role of Crew Training Manager for two years and is now currently the Flight Operations Manager (Chief Pilot).
Michelle has the challenging role of looking after the family and is currently homeschooling all the kids due to the lack of good schooling options.
Recently they adopted a baby girl from Papua New Guinea and that has been a real test of their faith but has come with so many blessings! They are grateful for the way that the Lord has answered so many prayers over the last few years to make this happen in his perfect timing!
Read their blog https://ventersadventures.wordpress.com/
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