Fundraising for a Missionary Airplane

Hello and greetings from the Philippines, my name is Davin Bennett and I am a full time volunteer Medical Missionary pilot with Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services (PAMAS) since 2018.

Pioneering a new airbase has a plethora of challenges but it is so amazing to see how the Lord is putting things together. 

Recently we were contacted about an airplane for possible partnering with our efforts to help establish this airbase to meet the growing needs of this new remote area. By faith we asked them to put a price on the airplane and we will see how the Lord will bless us financially towards buying it. 

Thanks for helping us reach our goals!

A little about the story behind the owners. 

The owners are very considerate of the fact that we are not a commercial operations ministries who make profit for our flight services so they have opted to give us the options of paying for the airplane in stages. “We are not inclined to make money from you guys,” said two of the four owners during our first official meeting, “hence we priced the airplane based on what we spent to restore it.”  

Seeing its 4 owners, with each shares at 23,000USD each,  we have offered to pay a deposit of $23,000USD which we know will give them the assurance that the rest will be given in due time. Praise the Lord they have accepted our offer. After giving the $23,000USD we can have the airplane to fly and offer our services, then keep making payments as the Lord provides. 

“We put a lot of sweat, time and money into restoring this airplane but we would love to see it help with the salvation of others here in the Philippines rather than to sell it to someone who will just fly it for fun or business,” said one of the owners when we met in person about the plans to get the airplane. “Actually offering it to you guys is our contribution to the work that your ministry is offering to our very own Filipino people.”

“I will retain my share on the airplane because it’s my way of being apart of this great work and humanitarian efforts” said another share holder. 

We can’t say thanks enough to all the owners for what they have contributed to our ministry so far in terms of the flexibility and willingness to wait for our donations to accumulate enough to cover the full cost. Thank you. 

An idea of what this would have cost on the market. 

Due to its new condition, most sellers would comfortably ask for $100,000USD – $150,000USD for an airplane like this. Yes, I have been watching the trend of sales for this make and model airplane now for over 2 years. As a matter of fact when the Covid 19 pandemic came in full swing, most sellers doubled their selling prices. 

An airplane like this would not be sold for $69,000USD with a new engine, new paint etc. So why $69,000USD if it is $23,000USD per share and there are 4 share holders? One of the share holders who decided to keep his shares, whom I have worked with personally now since 2020,  have been very supportive of our aviation ministry with fuel purchases, parts and even personal funding within the ministry itself. Together with individual efforts as such we are able to keep helping the Filipino people who go through life not having much options when they have medical emergencies, dire need of transportation and cargo to keep going in life. Hence $69,000USD is the final cost for us to have the airplane for our ministry.  Our first $23,000USD will serve as our downpayment to assure them that we really would like this airplane for our ministry. 

A little about the airplane

It is a Cessna 182P, a four seater, just like the same one that I was flying in the Northern Luzon airbase. The range, horsepower and fuel capacity is perfect for the areas that we will be offering our services to. Maintenance and upkeep is very manageable for our ministry based on how God has kept us going since 2007. This airplane was rebuilt this year, with a new engine that has less than 10 hours on it, new paint job and various other fixes on the body itself. So in theory, this airplane is somewhat “fresh from the shop” which means that it would not need much to maintain it within the first 1 to 3yrs. I fell in love with it the very first time I went to see it in person. 

What we are asking from you

As you can see, God is already paving the way and touching hearts to help this new area of the Philippines to have much needed air support. Since we moved to the area I have gotten about 5 requests for help but was unable to. We are soliciting your prayers and support to get this airplane as soon as possible. 

We just need $23,000USD to get this airplane flying to start doing missions to reach more people by delivering hope and help saving lives.

Partner with us today with your prayers and financial support. Help us share the link with others. You never know who is in your friends’ list that is just waiting for an opportunity to support this cause. 

God bless and thank you.