Tanja und Gerd Hock

We have created this homepage to share with you the special vision we have for the next years of our life.

We will explain a little bit how it started:

Tanja: When I was 16 I spent 2 weeks on vacation with my parents in Kenya. This vacation changed my life. I felt so much at home among the Kenyans that I knew I wanted to be a missionary to Africa one day. That idea was ironic since I wasn’t a believer and I knew nothing about missionaries. My parents were really astonished because I was usually so homesick on vacation and didn’t like to leave home. They were convinced that this “crazy idea” would stop soon. But it didn’t since it was God who had touched my heart in Kenya. I started planning my life according to my desire. After graduating high school instead of going to college I became a midwife and received emergency medical training on ambulance cars. I knew this would help me in Africa one day though I didn’t know how I was going to get there.

When I was 20 years old I became a Christian and God showed me more of his plan for my life. I started understanding more about God and missionary work.

Last but not least I met Gerd at work. He was a Christian and wanted to be a missionary pilot. He showed me a movie about Helimission. There I saw what I had been dreaming about for the last four years. Later we married and we are now training for the mission field. So God is fulfilling the dream he put in my life many years ago.

Gerd: I grew up in a Christian family and knew very early, that I would be a missionary pilot one day.More than 15 years ago I got to know Helimission when my pastor showed me one of the movies about their work. They have 9 Helicopters in Africa and Indonesia. They fly to the remote villages and places where you cannot go by car or plane, only by walking for many hours or even days. They bring The Good News, Church planters, preachers, medical supply and whatever people out there could need. It fascinated me and God gave me the desire to be one of the Helimission pilots.

For many years I was unsure how this would happen because for some years my life was not headed in this direction. But I never lost this desire and I always tried to find a way and kept believing that God would accomplish it. And then came a time when God changed my life like only He could do. I met Tanja, we married and here we are.

You can read next what we had to do, to get trained for the mission field overseas.

Steps on the way to Afrika

• 2001 we started preparing for our service with Helimission. That included moving a few times, changing work, having new educations and many exams, learning English and French
• 2004 /2005: about 6 month in the USA completing the required flight time
• 2006: At 20th of January we will start our first term with Helimission in Madagascar

Get on the mailing list for HELI News

3 to 4 times a year we send our newsletter “HELI News” to everybody who is interested in keeping up on the latest happenings in our life. It tells you, where we are, what we are doing and what comes next. On our homepage there are more pictures and sometimes more news. If you would like to be on our mailing list please send us your address. Feel free to contact us with any further questions.
We have pictures and movies to show.

Helimission is a non-profit organisation. All helicopters are bought and maintained by private donations made to Helimission. People who are going to inaccessible tribes and places only have to pay the fuel cost. Therefore Helimission pilots and their families are not paid a salary but supported by charitable donations of people like you and us.

Serving the poorest this way in Madagascar was important enough for us to give our life to it.

Now we trust that it is important enough to others, our friends, family and whoever gets to know what we are doing that they will be a part of this great ministry by donating money for our living expenses and thereby support us doing the good work that Helimission pilots have been doing for more than 30 years now.

Helimission is a non-profit organisation.

All helicopters are bought and maintained by private donations made to Helimission. People who are going to inaccessible tribes and places only have to pay the fuel cost. Therefore Helimission pilots and their families are not paid a salary but supported by charitable donations of people like you and us.

Serving the poorest this way in Madagascar was important enough for us to give our life to it.

Now we trust that it is important enough to others, our friends, family and whoever gets to know what we are doing that they will be a part of this great ministry by donating money for our living expenses and thereby support us doing the good work that Helimission pilots have been doing for more than 30 years now.