The Pano People
The Pano People began asking for missionaries in the 1980’s. We sent a team to serve this people group in 2020. Over the next ten years, our goal is to equip them and leave the work in their hands. As the Gospel takes root in their hearts, some will emerge as leaders in establishing and expanding the reach of the Gospel.
Check out their blog:
Josh and Autumn Miller
After completing seminary, Josh and Autumn studied at Emanate. While there, God led them together, and they got engaged during their senior semester and graduated from the program in December 2017. They were married in March 2018 and spent a little under 2 years living in Ohio while Josh finished his theological paper and ordination examination.
Josh and Autumn have been sent out by:
Craig and Sara Noyes
Ashea, Solomon, and Piper
When Craig was 14 years old he committed to God that,“I would do anything God asked me to do.” Throughout high school God put that commitment to the test. One of the biggest ways he did that was by placing the burden for missions on Craig’s heart. Towards the end of high school, after years of thinking, praying and talking to others he committed to follow God to the mission field. Over the years God has continued to refine Craig’s understanding of just what He wants him to do.
In May of 2011, Sara bravely joined Craig in this endeavor by becoming his wife! They have known each other since they were small children.
Craig has completed his theological training with a Bachelor’s of Intercultural Ministries and a Masters of Divinity with the Conservative Grace Brethren Churches International CGBCI. Craig has been extensively involved with preaching, teaching and outreach ministry, and has worked many years in the construction business. Sara has also been involved with discipling, counseling, youth ministry and short-term missions work. Both Craig and Sara graduated from the New Tribes Missionary Training Center in December of 2014 and Craig completed an advanced linguistics program in the fall of 2015.
Craig and Sara have been sent out by:
Grace Brethren Church of Irasburg,VT
Check out their blog at:
https://newfields.wordpress.com/
Michele Willeford
Growing up in church Michele heard many stories from missionaries and always looked forward to Mission’s Emphasis Month. In Jr. High her leader came back from a short-term trip to Papua New Guinea and told stories of his time there. Michele’s heart was burning from the stories and she began to think, “I want to be a Jungle Missionary.” Through high school this was not the dominant dream in her heart and mind, though she still enjoyed hearing missionaries speak.
During her senior year in high school two significant events happened to thrust Michele on the path towards missions. Firstly, her Youth Pastor announced to the students he was resigning as pastor so he and his family could be missionaries in South America. This put the reality of missions right in front of Michele’s face. Secondly, on a youth group service trip, the Lord used a guest speaker to use the Word to convict Michele. “I would not have heard God more clearly if He had spoken audibly. He was asking, ‘Michele, will you let me be the Lord over ALL your life?’” It took Michele several days of counting the cost before she was ready to repent of her thinking and agree that He, the Lord of all Creation, must be the Lord of all her life.
Entering into conversations with her pastor, Michele needed to decide what the path towards missions would be. At the time, her church was putting it’s focus on missions in the 10-40 Window, a geographical area including most of the world’s closed countries, and so she forgot about Papua New Guinea and believed there were no unreached peoples in the world, only least reached peoples. Michele attended university where she took Bible classes and majored in Education. Graduating with her Master of Education Michele moved to South Korea in 2008 to gain overseas teaching experience in preparation for moving to the Middle East. In 2010 Michele moved to Kuwait officially as a teacher. There God’s grace allowed her to experience many hard trials to draw her to Himself and it was also during those years He showed her there still were unreached people groups in the “jungle.”
Having completed her teaching contract in Kuwait, with her pastor-elders’ blessing, Michele returned to Ohio to begin pursuing missions to remote unreached peoples. Her time in Kuwait had clearly shown Michele she could not go without specific training and a team. She again began to dream of Papua New Guinea, a land she had never been to. In 2014-2015 Michele completed a year of training with New Tribes and it was there she met the Noyes family. After training, Michele spent 6 months in Turkey working with two Missionary families to help them with the education of their children. During that time, she and her pastor-elders began to look for a mission organization and a team that would be a good fit for them in PNG.
Maintaining a friendship with Noyes, while texting one day, Craig mentioned an organization he was talking with called Finisterre Vision. This was the beginning of the end, the Noyes, Millers, and Michele began to discuss and pray if God would want to put them together as a team partnering with Finisterre Vision; in November 2018 it was official. God had provided specialized training through NTM and Finisterre Vision, a team, and a perfect-fit organization for Michele to serve Him in Papua New Guinea, 21 years after first hearing of PNG’s existence!
