Aaron & Maila Stocks

Flight Instructor, Pilot/Mechanic

Aaron grew up in Michigan with his parents and two younger sisters. He came to Christ at a young age, growing up in the church. Throughout high school, Aaron went on several short-term missions trips, where his desire to serve the Lord in ministry slowly grew. After high school, he spent two years pursuing a degree in Biology at Bryan College in Tennessee. Upon returning from another short-term mission’s trip to Peru, Aaron realized God was calling him to change direction and pursue full time missions. Desiring to serve in some form of support ministry, mission aviation came to his attention.

In the summer of 2006, Aaron moved to Spokane, Washington to begin training as a missionary pilot/mechanic at Moody Aviation. While there, he met his future bride, Maila.

Maila was born in Arkansas, but spent most of her childhood in central South Dakota where her father served as a pastor. Like Aaron, she came to faith early in life. As she grew, she knew she wanted to be involved in ministry of some form. After graduating from high school, she attended Moody Bible Institute – Spokane to pursue a degree in Biblical Studies.

Aaron graduated from Moody Aviation in 2011 and proposed to Maila shortly thereafter. They were married that December. Maila graduated from MBI-Spokane in 2012.

Aaron and Maila joined Proclaim Aviation Ministries in the summer of 2012. They were loaned back to Moody Aviation where Aaron served as a mechanic, building experience and keeping airplanes flying for students there. They served there until the summer of 2015.

As part of Aaron’s training at Moody, he was required to complete an internship with an aviation ministry. In 2008 Aaron spent six weeks as an intern at the Missionary Aviation Repair Center (MARC) in Soldotna, Alaska. During his time there, Aaron got to see what ministry with MARC looks like. Aaron and Maila both attended Christian summer camps as youth and know the impact camps can have in the spiritual lives of youth. This is just one aspect of ministry at MARC that drew them. After much prayer, Aaron and Maila decided to pursue long term ministry with MARC. After finishing candidacy, Aaron and Maila joined MARC in May, 2015, spent two years developing a support team, and moved to Soldotna, Alaska in May of 2017. Aaron serves as a pilot, flight instructor, and mechanic, while Maila is kept very busy with homemaking and homeschooling their children, Josephine, Charis, Evelyn, Benjamin, and Caleb.