Missionary Flight Sponsorship
“Sometimes, it looked like I had three heads,” said Anga, a Tala-andig missionary. He was hiking day after day to a distant village, two of his kids on his back, excited to take the Good News to his lost relatives.
But just as the foreign missionaries who had first reached his village, Anga faced daunting transportation obstacles. However, Anga had only meager resources to live on, much less to spend on flights. We’ll let him tell his story, introduced by Brian Pruett, currently our International Rotor Wing Chief Pilot.
Ethnos360 Aviation launched our Missionary Flight Sponsorship program in 2016 with a significant investment of internal funds, and generous donors stepped in to match our start-up costs. With the help of faithful partners, this subsidy has allowed us to provide affordable flight service for the Western, national, and indigenous church planters who rely on our aviation services. A helicopter flight is very expensive, but when they need a flight to carry out their church-planting strategy, they can fly—because we charge only what they can afford.
We have worked hard to grow Missionary Flight Sponsorship, but the number of missionaries we serve has grown much faster than our income. Just a few examples are expansion in Brazil, and most recently the launch of a new helicopter program in central Indonesia. These and many other factors have stretched our ability to sustain flight subsidies long-term. At the same time, the growth of indigenous church plants in Indonesia has opened up exciting opportunities – supporting these isolated tribal churches by bringing them together. “A Thriving Church for Every People” is not sustainable if these young fellowships struggle in isolation. We even fly youth in for special teaching events—because if a church loses its youth, the church will evaporate. Aviation goes far beyond the initial church plant, facilitating discipleship, Bible translation, leadership development, and youth development. Then, in time, we help these churches send their own missionaries. Will you stand with us as we help these churches grow, multiply, and send?
Missionary Flight Sponsorship depends on a consistent base of people who will 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!