Connect with... The Sanford Family
Seth and Kaitlyn Sanford
Natalie, Lauren
Ministry in Country: Church Planting in Papua New Guinea
Sending Church: Community Baptist Church, Montoursville, Pennsylvania
Namoleya spoke to the spirits. Then he killed the pig, offering up its dying breath to his ancestors. Namoleya thought he could manipulate the spirits so that they would restore his wife’s health.
Thirty years later Namoleya is now a church elder among the Bisorio people. God used two missionary families to bring His Word to Namoleya and his people, establishing thriving churches there in Papua New Guinea.
The Sanfords want be a part in the next chapter of a story like Namoleya’s.
Growing up in Christian homes, Seth and Kaitlyn were both saved while young. Seth was raised in South America as the son of missionaries, while Kaitlyn grew up in rural Pennsylvania attending Seth’s parents’ sending church.
Kaitlyn’s youth leader taught through the Scriptures chronologically, much the same way that Ethnos360 teaches among unreached people groups, laying a foundation and then building on it. This teaching was key to Kaitlyn’s spiritual growth as a teenager. She also learned of the many people around the world who have not heard the message of the gospel. The Lord burdened her heart for missions.
Meanwhile, Seth was studying at Ethnos360 Bible Institute. As with Kaitlyn, God used His Word to grow Seth and clarify his desire to serve God in missions.
A year after Kaitlyn began attending the same Bible school as Seth, they married. Together they served their church in Wisconsin. While serving, the Lord was preparing them for their next steps in missionary training.
Now, after completing training with Ethnos360 and developing a ministry partnership team, they recently arrived in Papua New Guinea. They desire to work alongside national believers to expand the edges of the Church.
They explain, “The church in Papua New Guinea is growing. Many believers, like Namoleya, have been discipled into roles of leadership. They are giving their lives to the gospel. They aren’t looking for missionaries to do the work for them. They’re asking for people to join with them.”
