About Us
Meet Marilyn & Shirley
Hearing the call…on a farm
Marilyn heard God’s call at age 12, studied linguistics and then lived for 24 years in a jungle village translating God’s Word for people who had never had a written language, let alone a verse of the Bible.
The second half of her life, she was a sought-after speaker for conferences, retreats, colleges, banquets and other events. With a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous smile, she recounted times when she heard God’s call, argued with him about who’s in charge, ate grubs and witnessed miracles.
All of Marilyn’s stories can be read and watched in her books and videos, available in our store.
As good as her stories about her past were, the best part was how the Lord used her in the lives she interacted with while on the road speaking. Whether it was on stage in front of a thousand teenagers, on a college campus, or sitting, talking through questions about God’s will, one-on-one Marilyn has inspired more people to follow God’s call into the mission field than just about anyone. Hundreds, if not thousands of current missionaries point to Marilyn’s stories that were used by God to call them into missions.
What made Marilyn so special is that she didn’t think she was special. She believed she was just an ordinary person serving an extraordinary God – and He gave her opportunities throughout life to trust Him and find Him faithful.
Shirley, Marilyn’s sister, joined her in Hauna while the translation was still in progress, and is currently still serving in Papua New Guinea in Hauna Village. She works everyday teaching kids to read and write, and working with the villagers, who work in the Sepik Christian Ministries main house. Under Shirley’s leadership and credentials, teachers are being trained in Hauna to be sent out to surrounding villages to open a primary school where there are none.
Sepik Christian Ministries
Sepik Christian Ministries is the entity established under the Papua New Guinea government to operate the school programs in Hauna. The leadership is made up of 12 villagers, 3 from each clan. Each day, the leadership team have various duties from teaching, to operating the sawmill, to mowing the grass landing strip. To contact anyone in Hauna, please send correspondence to our office or send a message using our Contact Us form.
Staff
Board of Directors
Updates on Hauna
The Last Full Day
January 17, 2023 This was our last day in the village because of the changes in our travel plans for going out. Originally our hope [...]
Lots of Moving Parts
January 16, 2023 After our Sunday night meeting, we all had individual marching orders on Monday morning. Jay was headed to work at the clinic [...]
A Day of Rest
January 15, 2023 Watching the village wake up this morning was especially inspiring because of a low-level fog in the hills from a recent storm [...]
Meetings and a Swim
January 14, 2023 Once again, we all slowly woke up with the sun, grabbed a cup of coffee and watched from our upper floor as [...]