MFI MAIL PROCEDURES

The MFI mail service is available to affiliated missions and their affiliated mission personnel only.  DO NOT encourage others to have their mail sent through MFI until they have applied and have been approved by our office.  Mail for unaffiliated personnel will be returned to the sender.

Proper Mailing and Shipping Addresses

All mail must be addressed properly to ensure that it reaches its destination in a timely manner.  Please limit your magazine subscriptions to five or less each month.  Bulk rate mail without a mission identifier will be discarded. Your unit # and mission identifier are essential! The unit # and mission ID are assigned by MFI.  Mission ID's contain between two and five characters.  All missions in the DR must have "DR" as the last two characters.  It is the missionary's responsibility to make sure all family, friends, supporting churches, and other correspondents are notified of the correct addresses and procedures.  "Certified Mail", "Express Mail", "Registered Mail", UPS Next Day letters, UPS 2nd Day letters, and other letter packages that require a signature when received by MFI, will be checked into our computer system at a minimum of 1 lb.  This allows MFI the ability to track these very important items.  Customs requires MFI to identify the contents of each box.  Please have your family and friends list the contents on the box or attach a packing slip to the OUTSIDE of the box.  This will avoid the extra work of MFI having to open each box.

For shipping via the U.S. Postal Service, address all boxes or letters to:

"Affiliated Missionary's Name"
"Unit # - Mission ID"
3170 Airmans Drive
Fort Pierce, FL 34946

For shipping via UPS, Federal Express, other freight carriers, or truck lines, address all boxes to:

"Affiliated Missionary's Name"
"Unit # - Mission ID"
3170 Airmans Drive
Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Short-Term Missionary Mail

The MFI office must be notified in advance of the arrival of short-term personnel.  Short-term missionaries can receive complimentary mail service if they are in the country for less than six weeks, but their name and mission must be on file at MFI.  If they plan to be in the country for more than six weeks, the standard affiliation process should be followed.  Each letter or box for short-term missionaries must have the missionary's name and mission identifier to direct them properly.  If MFI is not notified of the arrival of short-term personnel, their mail may be returned to the sender.  We do not hold at MFI or ship to the field boxes or mail of unaffiliated people.

Outbound Mail to the U.S.

Outbound letters and packages sent on MFI are normally dropped off at the U.S. post office the day after the flight after clearing U.S. customs.  Only stamped letters with the correct amount of postage should be placed in the mission mailbag.  Please do not expect MFI to stamp your outgoing mail for you! You may request "Stamps-By-Mail" order forms from the MFI Purchasing Department.  Please plan ahead.  U.S. postage scales can be purchased through MFI for just a few dollars.  Mail requiring special postage or handling, such as foreign packages or "Next Day Air" letters should be placed in the MFI office bag with specific instructions.  Do not place these in the mission mailbag as they may be dropped off at the P.O. without any postage.  Correspondence for the MFI Office (purchase orders, flight requests, accounting questions, etc.) should be given to the MFI representative to be placed in the MFI office bag.   DO NOT place MFI correspondence in the mission mailbag, as these may end up lost at the U.S. Post Office.

Mail Forwarding

Mission personnel, who are leaving the field, whether permanently or on furlough, should notify their correspondents at least 60 days in advance of their address change.  MFI can supply change-of-address cards.  A card must be sent to each correspondent, not to MFI. When there is more than one name receiving mail at a Post Office box, the United States Postal Service is restricted from forwarding the mail of any one individual.  The Postal Service can only forward mail when the entire box is closed and all the mail for that Post Office box is forwarded to one address.  Each mission is responsible for sorting and packaging mail for mission personnel who have left the field.  Any mail received on the field for a missionary who has left should be placed in a manila envelope, addressed to the missionary's new address, and affixed with the proper amount of postage.  If all missionaries for an affiliated mission have left the field, MFI will forward all mail/packages for that mission to the stateside addresses.  With proper notification, MFI will forward individual furloughed missionaries' boxes (not letter mail).  In these cases, the mission account will be charged for postage or shipping charges.  Please see "MFI Affiliation Procedures and Services" for our affiliation cancellation policy.