heartland Directory

The first time Shirley truly met Jesus face to face was at the age of thirteen in a revival where Irene Hanley preached, and the Edwards family were the singers. God gloriously saved her and it started her on my road to serving Him forever. At fifteen years she struggled with my missionary call. “Something inside me was afraid to accept this” Shirley testifies, “but, I will never forget the prayer meeting in a friend’s living room when I got on my knees and just began saying, ‘Yes, Jesus, Yes, Jesus.’ The Holy Spirit came and witnessed to me that God had indeed called me and He accepted my, ‘Yes’. Praise the Lord! There’s never been a day that I have doubted this….”

Shirley and her family moved to PNG in 1979 under the Bible Missionary Church. They served one term. Shirley states:

“For the next thirty years, I longed to return to my people and the land of my calling…Papua New Guinea. It broke my heart. Many events happened in those thirty years. Our children grew up, got married, and established Christian homes. Eleven wonderful grandchildren were born. I taught in ACE schools for twenty years. Sadly, my marriage disintegrated, and I found myself as a single older lady. God laid it on my heart to return to PNG. I saw it as a challenge, an opportunity, and an open door. I must confess that coming alone caused me to totally lean on God. He helped me to get over every hurdle. I came a self- supported, independent, volunteer missionary to the Bible Fellowship Church of PNG.”

Shirley feels honored to serve with Bible Methodist Missions.