MISSIONS: “They Can’t Kill Me Twice”

Dr Mike Fullingim felt the specific call to mission service while hearing a sermon from Jeremiah 5:19: “…you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.” As he looks back, Mike can see that even as a young boy God was drawing his heart toward missions and people different from him. Twelve years after hearing that sermon, Mike and his family went as missionaries to Papua New Guinea. Mike and his wife, Barbara, served eight years on the field, with a break between terms for him to pursue further linguistics education. In 1987, Mike was finishing his PhD in linguistics and anthropology. After completing his doctoral program, offers for teaching jobs flooded in. As he sought God’s will and considered his children’s educational needs, Mike took a one-year teaching job at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. As he wrestled with what direction God was leading, Mike read a quote from Dwight L. Moody: “It’s better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people.” Today, 35 years after signing that 'one-year contract', Mike is still training future missionaries at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. His former students — more than 200 — are serving today as gospel workers around the world, including hostile and restricted nations where Christians are persecuted. One of Mike's passions is helping students develop tools to learn language — a key factor in long-term fruitful service on the mission field. Listen as Mike shares about his missionary calling, how he wrestled with the painful decision not to return to PNG, and how we can pray for missionaries currently serving around the world. To find out more about our ministry, please visit www.vom.com.au.