Papua New Guinea is a land of almost 9 million people who speak over 800 different languages. For those almost 9 million people, there are only approximately 500 doctors in the country. Every year 1 in 20 children under the age of 5 will die. Many die from common things such as diarrhea from drinking contaminated water. About 40% of the country has no access to a source of clean water. While looking up statistics on PNG you will see that it is considered a Christian nation, it is very much in name only. While much of the coast has been evangelized as well as some of the bigger cities, when you go into the interior of PNG, you will be met with people who still live as they have for thousands of years. They still practice their animistic tribal customs. While some may have heard of Christianity and may even call themselves Christian, most will take one or two aspects of Christianity and merge them with their animistic beliefs. There is not a true separation and a turning away in many cases.
Our first missions experience was to Haiti in 2007 where we worked in a clinic and also an orphanage. It was our first exposure to the mission field.
Amy felt called into missions as a child and knew that someday she would use her nursing skills to reach people overseas. David felt called into missions as a young adult. He was praying in church one Wednesday night and felt like God was telling him that he was going to be used as a missionary. He wasn't sure how that would work since he had no Bible school training and was not a pastor. However, God confirmed his calling through the pastor who was speaking that night. God confirmed that it wasn't the right timing, but about 10 years later, David went to the alter at church and was praying again and God once again stirred in his heart the calling into missions and that it was the time to start the process. Once again we questioned how we could be missionaries when we weren't pastors and weren't Bible college graduates. However, God called us right out of the pew and gave us the giftings and talents that He has in order to be used to bring people into his Kingdom. David has since gone on to receive his minister's license from the Southern Missouri District of the Assemblies of God.
Amy Julian - Wife
Ben Julian - Son
Daniel Julian - Husband
Jon and Jennifer Dahlager serve as missionaries in Costa Rica, Central America. They have served in the country since March 2000.
Chris and Brook are the Directors for the Chi Alpha ministry on the campus of St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Lila Farmer’s mission field is located in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan). The ministry is to provide leadership seminars to indigenous churches and humanitarian aid to rural communities. The organizations she serves are platforms to share the lifesaving truth of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Our mission field is in a university town called Potchefstroom South Africa. The general population is university students, Afrikaans families, township communities and very few internationals. South Africa is extremely culturally diverse and acts as almost a ‘melting pot’ of Africa! There are 11 official languages spoken in this nation. The various religious beliefs here are Christianity, African religions, Islam, and Hinduism.
4% of Generation Z in America have a biblical worldview. 96% of people who make decisions to follow Christ do so prior to their 30th birthday. In MN: there are 425,000 college students and 1.2 million young adults. In USA: there are 18.6 million college students and 21.56 million young adults.
One in five Gen Z adults now identify as LGBTQ+ while that number for other generations of adults (Boomers, Gen X, even Millennials) has remained the same - showing the impact that the woke media is having on our younger generation. Also, nearly 50% of students are now non-religious, one of the fastest growing demographics on our college campuses. The Secular Student Alliance (actually being promoted by some schools) is a growing organization on our campuses.
River Valley 500. Our focus is equipping local Christian leaders (for Venture and with our local church) in hard to reach (tough) places in SE Asia with resources to help them share the Gospel, plant churches, and build the Kingdom of God.
Patrick and Kalyna live in Moldova where they currently minister to victims of human trafficking at a Freedom Home (safe house).
Tod and Andrea Chapin are pioneering a ministry in the capital city of Edinburgh in Scotland. They minsiter to university students and young families seeing lives transformed by the power of Jesus and giving the spiritually hungry an encounter with the living God.
Burundi is one of the youngest countries in the world. In a country of about 15.5 million people, almost half of them are under the age of 14. Its also the poorest country in the world by GDP per capita. Its GDP per capita in 2021 was $221.48. About 85% of the population claims to be Christian but it’s a very syncretistic version of Christianity. They still visit witch doctors when they are sick, and are worried about the spirits of their ancestors. Burundi has a history of ethnic tensions, genocide, and protected civil war and is an under educated country.
River Valley 500. Paul and Robyn are serving in Northern Thailand. They are leading church planting teams reaching university students through English teaching centers.