After Brian received his commercial helicopter pilot certificate we flew to California with the helicopter to visit friends and churches. Our visit included a few big events. One was a weekend missions conference at the Cornerstone Community Church. During this event we had a chance to share about our ministry in a very different way than we have before.
Typically at missions conferences we set up a tabletop display that helps people connect visually with our ministry. This time we did that but also brought a much larger display. Brian landed the helicopter at the church! It was a fun way for us to say “thank you” to our church family in Atascadero and to give a tangible display of God’s faithfulness in our lives and ministry. We plan to have many years ahead with the helicopter reaching into new parts of the Philippine jungles and flying precious missionaries and their cargo as they take the Gospel where it has never been understood before.
After the conference ended, Brian started giving rides to friends, family, supporters and many from the community. Originally we were thinking we would be pretty excited if we could get 40-50 people to come out and get rides.
At the close of the official event sponsored by our sending church, The Harbor, Brian had flown 12 out of the 14 days we were in California! He gave rides to 143 passengers, made 95 landings and flew over 43 hours! The event spanned two days and was such a great way to connect with the church family and many in the community who don’t even attend The Harbor. Thanks to all who came out to support our ministry and who gave generously to help make it happen!