Empty Still!

Fuel tank ready to be filled

Empty still! But not because we couldn’t get fuel. So what happened?

In late February 2025, our Ethnos360 Aviation team in Papua New Guinea implemented a plan to purchase a bulk fuel tank for the flight program there. The tank would allow the team to purchase Jet A fuel directly from a petroleum supplier when it was available – and, with a bulk purchase, possibly get a better rate. Having a place to store fuel would eliminate costly mark-ups from third party suppliers and would avoid high shipping expenses incurred in importing fuel.

Since fuel supply chain and prices have fluctuated so much, the goal was to stabilize the supply and keep operating expenses for our helicopters and planes as low as possible for our church planters as they reach people with the gospel.

By the end of March 2025, the project was fully funded, thanks to the generous gifts and prayers of our ministry partners, and our PNG team placed the order. The tank arrived at the hangar on July 7, was set on its foundation, connected to electricity, tested, and prepared for filling. This entire process took several months.

Arrival on July 7, 2025

Up until recently, the fuel supplier in Papua New Guinea didn’t have enough fuel available to fill our tank to the required 80% for final testing. Then, in another turn of events, we discovered that fuel supply tanker trucks in PNG are not equipped with hoses or pumps to offload their fuel. Rather, the end user is required to provide their own equipment to transfer fuel from the tanker truck.

We have now ordered a pump with all the required hoses, and it will be shipped to PNG in the container with the R66 helicopter soon to be packed into a container.

PS Missionary Flight Sponsorship needs a consistent base of people to replenish the fund as it is used to establish thriving churches. Do you have financial resources? Do you have a heart for those who have never heard the Gospel?  Then Missionary Flight Sponsorship might be just the ministry you are looking for!