Helicopter Update

As many of you know, New Tribes Mission works in many areas that are remote, and access to these areas over land can be difficult and very time consuming.  To help in speeding up this process of getting us and supplies in and out of our tribal location as missionaries, NTM has set up an aviation program to assist us.  Such has been the case here in the Philippines as well.  In the past NTMA (New Tribes Mission Aviation) has used various types of fixed wing aircraft on our island, flying into places with what would be considered very marginal airstrips.  Over the course of time, the flight program here has seen it’s ups and downs, and in more recent years, we have partnered with another organisation to do our flying for us, as we didn’t have a flight program of our own.  That organisation is now in the process of leaving the Philippines and therefore NTMA is needing to once again set up it’s own program to assist us here. 

As we have considered the options before us as a missionary organisation, it was realised that continuing with small airplanes on dangerous, often mountainous airstrips was not the best choice.  Using a helicopter to move us and our cargo is much safer and a cost effective method.  Praise the Lord, He has gone before us as a mission and has provided just the right helicopter (similar to the one in this picture) for NTMA to use here.  Most of the funds have been provided, and we are hoping that soon the helicopter will shipped from the U.S. to here. 

Here are some areas to be thanking the Lord and praying with us about as we prepare for the arrival of the helicopter:

1. A hanger and other facilities have been made available by another Christian organisation to NTM to use as a flight base in a city centrally located to several of the tribal works on our island.  Our pilot is now here, getting settled with his family, and he and several other men are preparing the flight base/hangar to be ready to start operations when the helicopter arrives.

2. The pilot has been into our village to look at possible landing sites.  He is in the process of getting all his legal paperwork done so he can fly here.  In a developing country such as this, it can be a time consuming and costly process.  Pray for integrity and smoothness for all aspects of this process involved. 

3. Most of the money needed to purchase and ship the helicopter has been provided.  NTM still needs $60,000 to cover the rest of the costs in getting it here in country.  From there, there will be additional expenses related to customs, etc. and getting the helicopter up to the flight base where it will be assembled and tested before it can start flying into our tribal stations.  NTM Philippines has a small airplane that was formerly used here, but needs to be sold.  The proceeds of this sale would cover the cost of most of what is left to get the helicopter here in country. 

What does this mean for us as we are getting set up in our tribal work?  It will save us a huge amount of time and effort as currently we have to hike into our village, and use carabao with sleds to haul our supplies over the muddy trails.  With the helicopter, at least 2 days of organising and preparation, along with traveling, would be reduced to a 15 minute flight.  From a minimum 2 day process to 15 minutes!  That adds up to a lot time taken away from learning the language of the Ga’dang people and teaching them God’s Word.  It will also provide a much safer way for us to travel in and out of the tribe, and will be readily available to us to call on in the event of an emergency (as emergencies to happen, especially with 6 children!). 

Please pray with us as we seek the Lord to finish providing what is needed to enable us to most effectively serve Him and take the Gospel message to the Ga’dang people.