Arrived and Re-assembled
The moment that Nathan Willems hovers the R66 for the first time in Indonesian airspace.
What a gift for Christmas!
The Robinson R66 helicopter destined for Indonesia has finally arrived in that country!
Thank you to all of you who gave and waited, prayed and waited, encouraged and waited since the beginning of this saga. It’s been a journey of divine orchestration, for sure, but also a journey of faith as we all waited.
June 2021 God provided for the purchase of the helicopter. Just before Christmas of 2022, pilot Brian Pruett flew it from the Robinson factory to Ethnos360 Aviation in McNeal.
Then, after waiting almost two years to gain permission to import it, our team packed it into a 40-foot shipping container on October 1 and 2, 2024. There it sat for another year as we negotiated over customs and shipping.
August 14, 2025, a crane loaded the container on a tractor-trailer and started the journey via New Mexico, where it was loaded onto a train headed for the dock in California. Then a ship took it to the other side of the world where, after a few stops along the way, it finally ended up at its destination in Indonesia, December 8, 2025.
Evan Garrett, Alex Minium and Nathan Willems – all aviation maintenance specialists – and their whole team flew into high gear once the R66 cleared customs on December 10. Within days, they reassembled the helicopter. Finally, pilot Nathan Willems, with Alex Minium as safety pilot, ran up the engine and did the hover test. Success!
In the video below, see the whole process in time lapse. Note: the video has no sound.
Next step (and more waiting): De-register the R66 as a USA aircraft and re-register it as an Indonesian aircraft – and do the tests all over again.
Pray for a smooth process so that this helicopter can speedily be put to use to reach villages that have been wait, wait, waiting for the gospel. What a great Christmas present when church planting teams can access remote villages to bring the best news ever!
And thanks to God, the giver of every good and perfect gift, who gave the long-awaited Messiah to bring us salvation.