The Ethnos360 Aviation team in the Philippines faced a dilemma – a roof to raise, but nowhere to put it.

Through generous friends in the Philippines, God had provided a brand new pre-fab hangar – shipped from Australia – to house the R66 helicopter. But despite almost a year’s worth of negotiations by pilot Josh Dalton, they still had no land for it.

It’s not that he couldn’t find land, but just that the surrounding community had to hold meetings to discuss every aspect of leasing it. Could they agree to have the land used for a helicopter? What about the noise? Did they agree to Ethnos360 Aviation’s purpose in flying the helicopter? Did they think the added activity would disturb the town?

Ultimately, one community agreed to lease land.

In January, Josh hired local guys to help prepare the land for the hangar. He even used his own experience to run the track hoe when the operator didn’t show up one day. By March 27, with ground work completed, the crew started assembling the hangar.

And they really did raise the roof!

After it was assembled on the ground, they jacked it up and set it on the columns.

Then they poured the floor. On the last day, they used two mixers, a crew of 24 guys, 6057 litres of water, and 320 bags of Portland cement to pour 38 cubic metres of concrete.

This God-given hangar is now the home base for operations of the R66 as it serves missionaries on Mindanao island, reaching into places that have yet to hear the gospel.

Thanks to faithful donors, all the missionaries – regardless of their ability to pay – can take full advantage of the helicopter to reach out with the gospel. Without flight sponsorship, they’d still be hiking … and hiking … while people wait for the gospel. Thank you!

And you can still give to help us finish up the Philippine R66 project which includes this hangar by clicking below.

This article originally appeared on the Ethnos360 Aviation website and was localized for use in Canada.