We have some news we’d like to share!
The last several months the Lord has set us on a path that we *never* expected to be walking. He has called our family to leave all that we know and serve Him in Papua New Guinea (PNG)! PNG is referred to as “the land of the unexpected” and God’s call to our family was also incredibly unexpected, so it is fitting that this unexpected call was to go to…the land of the unexpected.
For those who may be interested, here’s our story…
Around May-June of this year, we began feeling unsettled. It wasn’t that we were discontent with our lives (quite the opposite in fact!); it was more that we began wondering if the path we had laid out for our lives was really God’s very best for us. It just seemed that we were spending the vast majority of our best resources (time & money) on things that did not have eternal value. We weren’t spending our time and money on “bad” things, but were they the *very best* things? That was a question that was weighing on us. I (Kelli) remember mentioning to Jared that it would be nice if he could use his electrical/construction skills in a ministry of some sort, knowing his career was the bulk of his time each week.
Jared agreed and was also wanting to give more of our lives to the glory of God, so he began to look into some options. None of the things he was finding seemed to be quite right. The ministry opportunities he looked into just weren’t quite what we felt God had for us. It was an odd feeling we were wrestling with at that time- sensing that God had something else for us, but not having a clue what it was. Little did we know, but there was a man we had never even met half way across the world in Papua New Guinea praying that God would send them an electrician.
Fast forward to June 30th, a Sunday, and we were planning to go to church. That particular Sunday a missionary couple serving in PNG was coming and they were going to be speaking to our Sunday School class and during our main service. What’s funny is usually Jared and I really enjoy hearing from missionaries (even though we knew WE would never become missionaries 😜). We have read numerous missionary biographies and hosted missionaries in our home several times, but for some odd reason this particular Sunday neither of us felt overly enthusiastic about listening to some random missionaries we knew nothing about. We had no clue that the Lord was going to use that couple to begin a mighty work in our family’s life, leading us to the “something else” He had for us.
During Sunday School they were sharing about their work in PNG and the husband mentioned the need for more missionaries in PNG. I distinctly felt the Lord nudging me and saying our family should go. But I felt strongly that if the Lord was really wanting us to go, He’d lead through Jared, not me. So I committed to say nothing to Jared about serving in Papua New Guinea, unless he brought it up first. I knew it was highly unlikely Jared would bring anything up because in 11 years of marriage he had never really given any serious thought to the possibility of us serving as missionaries. We had our life in Michigan and we were happy here. We were actively involved in our local church where Jared serves as a deacon. But towards the end of church that day Jared mentioned that he wanted to talk to me about something once we got in our van. So once we were in the van he began sharing how as he was listening to the missionaries share, he felt the Lord was challenging us to go and serve with them. I was so shocked to hear him say this. Less than 2 hours earlier *I* had felt God calling us to PNG too, but I had been so sure Jared would never be interested in anything like that. I shared with him that I also felt God leading us to go serve in PNG. I remember him asking me, “what is stopping us from going?” He didn’t want us to hear these missionaries share how they need help over there and just sit back and assume someone else would go, when maybe God wanted US over there. One thing the missionary told him that struck a chord was “If the Lord is calling you to something like this, you don’t want to look back 20 years from now and wish you had pursued it further.” So on June 30, 2024 the Lord distinctly called us to go serve in PNG.
The next day we both filled out some preliminary paperwork for the mission organization that the missionaries were affiliated with, Ethnos360. We had looked into that organization’s vision and priorities and felt we were in agreement and would be happy to join them in their efforts. Their top priority is to get the Gospel out to unreached people groups by translating the Bible into their language and establishing thriving churches led by local Believers. We felt the Lord was calling us to serve in a place where the people do not have the Bible in their language. We believe much priority should go to the unreached people groups in this world, those who have never heard the Gospel because they don’t even have access to the Bible.
Papua New Guinea is a country the size of California and yet it has well over 800 language groups. Not dialects, but distinct language groups. And MANY of them still do not have even one single copy of God’s Word in their language. And yet here in America we have dozens and dozens of translations of the Bible in our language. This is a great disparity and it isn’t right. We realized we could sit around and complain about how unfair that is or we could get up and actually try to do something about it. So for the last few months we have been earnestly praying and pursuing the possibility that God wants our family serving in PNG. Over and over again God has confirmed His call to us and we can say with absolute confidence that PNG is where He wants us. And so, we are now very actively working to get our family over there to join the other missionaries already there and assist in any way possible.
So what will Jared be doing there? The Lord is sending us over there for Jared to serve in a supporting role. In order for the church planting missionaries to be able to live among an unreached people group and do their work in the bush, there is a tremendous need for support roles- teachers, electricians, pilots, doctors, nurses, etc.. Jared will be using his electrical/construction skills to serve on what is called their Tech Services Team. That group does all sorts of work, both at the mission centers throughout PNG and out in the bush. Anything from maintaining buildings at the mission centers to building houses for missionaries about to move into their bush location to begin the process of Bible translation and church planting. Because of the many support workers, the missionaries directly involved in church planting and Bible translating are able to best fulfill their roles. In Scripture we’re taught that the body of Christ has many parts and this is seen so clearly in mission organizations like Ethnos360. There are a lot of different parts, but they’re all working together to fulfill one goal: to get the Gospel out to unreached people groups.
Jared has been learning a lot about what his role will be over there and is VERY excited. He has described it as his dream job.The Lord has been so good to lead us to this point. And while we never expected to be serving as missionaries, now that we are on this path, we cannot imagine anything better for our lives. God has been so good and so faithful to us, despite how unworthy we are. We are just an ordinary family, but we serve an extraordinary God, so we are honored to be called to go serve Him on a little tropical island halfway across the world.
Next steps…
-We’ve recently begun something called Ministry Partnership Development (MPD). This involves us sharing with other Believers and churches what God has asked of us and raising support in order to be able to go and fulfill the task God has called us to do. EVERY Believer is called to be actively engaged in the Great Commission. But that looks different from one Believer to the next. For us, it means going. Perhaps for you, it means supporting those called to go? If you’re interested in hearing more from us, please reach out to one of us! We’re very excited and happy to share how God has been working in our family’s life and the work He’s doing over in Papua New Guinea. We’re happy to share with individuals/couples, small groups, and churches. We are willing to go, but we can’t do it on our own. We need other Believers to also value the unreached people groups by being willing to send those of us called to go.
-We’ve recently sold almost all of our farm animals. We are working hard to get our house ready to be sold. Lord willing, we hope to sell this coming Spring and move into a rental home until it’s time to leave for PNG. This will allow us to become debt free to more freely serve the Lord. Please pray for us as we’re feeling overwhelmed with getting our house ready to be listed while also working a full time job, filling out endless paperwork for Ethnos360, and homeschooling our children.
-Jared is hoping to test for his Master Electrical license this year, which is the highest license you can get in the electrical trade.
-Towards the end of June we’ll have a mandatory one week training in Florida called Pre-Field Orientation. After that time, we’ll be free to leave once we’ve raised at least 75% of our support. Our tentative departure is set for August 2025.
For those interested in giving to our ministry, that can be done here:
Wice Family Missions 