Missionary pilot serves church planting friends
Good friends dream of the future. So many plans of serving the Lord together! But life intervenes. Good intentions seem to vaporize.
Years ago, when Brazilian pilot Bruno Siqueira was in Bible school, he and Airton, a fellow student, drew youthful sketches in the air of the day they would serve in missions together. Then, about five years ago, their plans seemed to come down to earth. Bruno neared his goal as a missionary pilot, and Airton finished training as a church planter.
But, as Bruno wrote, it was “a dream that many times seemed impossible in our eyes.” Time and again, circumstances hindered Bruno. Visas for him and his family to come to the USA for Ethnos360 Aviation helicopter training were denied time and again. Then, when the Siqueiras finally landed on American soil, the pandemic hit, threatening Bruno’s training before it even began. But God mercifully held off sickness from the Ethnos360 Aviation campus. Training proceeded as planned, and he finished within the 18 months allotted.
Amazed at God’s goodness, the Siqueiras headed back to Brazil.
On the very day that Bruno arrived in the city where the helicopter was based, the municipal hangar collapsed on top of the aircraft, destroying it. Despite the setback, God provided a new R66 helicopter through insurance. A year later it landed in Brazil, only to endure months of delays. Finally, on January 26, 2023, Bruno and Brazil-experienced-pilot Jeremiah Diedrich ferried the R66 from where it had been parked to its place of service – a 1,800-mile journey.
February 1, Bruno and Jeremiah packed supplies into the R66 for the first ministry flight into the jungle. What a relief it would be for the church planters waiting for their provisions! But they couldn’t have been happier than Bruno.
“By God’s grace and by His appointment,” Bruno wrote, “to the first village that I entered as a missionary helicopter pilot, I carried groceries for Airton and his family! We both had to contain our emotions, as the reality of what we had dreamed of for years was happening right before our eyes.”
What divine appointment is God enabling you for? Will it involve missionary aviation? Be faithful. Take a step. See it through. Contact a missionary aviation organization today.
Written By: Ethnos360 Aviation