JAARS didn’t just receive an incredible gift when Samaritan’s Purse gifted our aviation team with two new, special-purpose aircraft—we also received an incredible responsibility.
Our senior leadership team fervently prayed for mission-ready aircraft. They sought to address pressing needs on the mission field, but without the specialized aircraft, they were limited.
God provided. Within only a few months of prayer, Samaritan’s Purse entrusted JAARS with two aircraft worth over $4 million in kingdom assets: a Cessna 208 Caravan airplane and a Bell L4 LongRanger helicopter.
Now, JAARS could deliver much-needed aircraft to the mission field far sooner than originally possible.
“We’ve watched half of the aircraft we’ve been praying for be gifted to us because of the generosity of the body of Christ working through organizations, and only God can do that,” says JAARS President Steve Russell.
But how do we steward this gift well?
Maintaining and using specialized aircraft like those Samaritan’s Purse gave JAARS is a large undertaking. In order to fly reliably and safely overseas, mission aviation mechanics and pilots must keep their aircraft in top condition as they deliver God’s Word across formidable geographical barriers.
Their maintenance tasks include in-depth inspections, overhauls, avionics upgrades to better and safer equipment, and cargo pod installations—to name a few. Future engine overhauls alone could cost $250,000, and JAARS pilots are dedicated to using their kingdom resources well.
“That’s a heavy responsibility,” says Craig Russell, JAARS Senior VP of Air, Land and Sea Operations. “This is an amazing gift, but it takes a lot of funds and support to maintain and utilize these gifts in a faithful, kingdom-conscious way that has a greater, timely impact.”
The generous, everyday people who partner with us are also our partners in flight. In countries like Papua New Guinea and Cameroon, where the fuel costs can be $8–$12 per gallon or higher, they make it possible to fund the operating costs of mission aircraft.
"I had people, from small children to successful business owners, donate sometimes monthly or one-time gifts that represented [the costs of] an hour of flight or smaller increments for grade schoolers,” says JAARS instructor pilot Mike Bunn.
These partners fuel specific trips either in part or in full, taking part in the trips that transport missionaries, their supplies or the sick to their destinations.
When God answered our prayers for specialized aircraft well-suited for remote overseas missions through Samaritan Purse’s generosity, JAARS President Steve Russell saw that we now have an opportunity to reach far more people living in remote places—sooner and more effectively.
“We don't know the impact it’s going to have,” says Russell. “We don't know the eternal lives that will be saved because they will get God's truth and be able to hold it in their hands in their own languages.”
You might not be able to gift JAARS a helicopter or an airplane, but you can be the reason those aircraft stay on the field and in the air. Consider becoming our partner in flight!