Jim & Michele Axelson
JAARS

A burden for people to have God’s Word in a language that touched their hearts, coupled with a desire to use Jim’s aviation background in service for the Lord, led the Axelsons to Wycliffe Bible Translators and JAARS in 2004.  Assigned to serve in Papua New Guinea, Jim and Michele have been a vital part of the ministry of Bible Translation in PNG.

Jim is using the skills he acquired while serving as a pilot in the US Air Force and as an engineer for a defense contractor serving as the director of the aviation department for SIL PNG.  His responsibilities include the administration of the SIL Airfield along with the over 50 pilots and mechanics needed to fly the 8 aircraft.  The helicopters and planes provide access to tribes for the translation teams that might otherwise take weeks to reach by canoe and on foot. .

Michele, being a certified teacher, has served as a math teacher at the Ukarumpa International School Secondary Campus.  God is sending translators from many lands to PNG.  Teachers free the translators to focus on their work knowing that the educational needs of their children are being met.  Michele has also been working part time in the PNG Projects office.  She helps keep track of the many international projects that support the work in PNG. She will be returning to this position upon her return to PNG in Aug 2009.

Jim and Michele have two children.  Their son, David, has just graduated from Bryan College and is continuing his education at the Graduate Instituted of Applied Linguistics. He is also in the process of applying to Wycliffe Bible translators with a desire to become a translator.  Their daughter Rachel is attending Carson-Newman College in TN studying nursing on an Army ROTC scholarship. She is also studying Arabic this summer.