Up, Up and Away

Loading R66 #2 into a container

Yesterday was the day! The second R66 helicopter for Papua New Guinea started its journey.

It had already been shrink-wrapped and packed into a shipping container.

Then yesterday morning, a crane arrived at Ethnos360 Aviation in McNeal, AZ, to hoist the container onto a truck.

Loading the container on the semi

The truck will transport the container to the port in California.

There it will be loaded on a container ship, with an end destination of the Port of Lae, Papua New Guinea, in July. After unloading from the ship, another truck will take it to the Ethnos360 Aviation hangar in Goroka.

With potential for damage at any point along the way, please pray that God will divinely protect the R66.

What a welcome it will get in PNG! Church planters, currently faced with limited flight service, are waiting with great anticipation. “We praise God the second helicopter is due to arrive in a few months,” posted Steve Stanley, currently learning language among the Kovol people. “[It] will really help keep the schedule ticking.” Steve and his team recently faced delays getting into their location when R66 #1, already serving in PNG, had a maintenance issue causing flights to be postponed.

A second helicopter could have taken up some of the slack and kept things “ticking.” It's not so much about keeping a schedule for everyone’s convenience. It’s more about the lost days of language learning and the loss of momentum in reaching proficiency to teach the gospel.

God has been more than gracious in already providing R66 #1. Now R66 #2 is on its way. Unbelievable as it may seem, R66 #3 is being built at the Robinson factory, to be delivered to Ethnos360 Aviation in McNeal, AZ, as early as the end of this year. Because of God’s provision through generous friends like you, the R66 project for PNG is complete and fully funded!

Now, would you join us in prayer that these three helicopters will be tools in God’s hands to make His salvation known in Papua New Guinea? Thank you!

Tags: Helicopter, Papua New Guinea

POSTED ON May 04, 2023 by Wonita Werley

Ethnos360 Aviation representatives are participating in events around the country. Some of these events may be at a place near you. Check where we'll be in the next few months.