Being A Witness

When does a pilot get to be a witness?

Of course, he’s always a witness for Christ. But Ethnos360 Aviation pilot Brad Richert got in on another kind of witnessing when he flew into a remote Uruwa village, where the people were eagerly waiting for missionaries to build houses and move in.

When Brad landed on the “more challenging than average” airstrip nearby, “the villagers had already begun clearing out the land so that the missionary team could begin building as soon as possible.”

For years, this village had asked for gospel teaching. They heard about the transformation in a people group two-day’s hike away, and they didn’t want it to pass them by.

On this day, Brad’s passengers – two church planting families and mission leaders – were coming to finalize the arrangements for building houses. After some speeches, Brad wrote, “everyone involved walked up to the selected area
for building missionary houses.” When everyone agreed on the terms, “both sides signed a land agreement contract." Brad was pleased to get in on a new experience for him: "As the pilot present, I was also able to sign the contract as a witness!”

The land contract set a massive undertaking in motion. With cutting of trees restricted in this area, Brad and the Ethnos360 Aviation team had a huge job ahead: transport all the lumber to build houses for three church planting families. Brad and the other pilots flew more than one hundred flights, hauling about 66 tons of cargo to set the families up for the 10 to 20 years of labor to see God birth a body of believers in Uruwa. Witnessing the land agreement and doing multiple flights for Uruwa were not the main events for Brad. He got to witness the historical moment when a people group began their journey toward the gospel.

“Papua New Guinea still has many unreached people groups,” wrote Brad, “but hopefully Uruwa will not be unreached much longer! It is such a privilege to be a part of such a big thing.”

You can witness God at work through aviation. Investigate your opportunities today.