Sean Brizendine was raised in a Christian home in Modesto, California, with a praying, godly mother who led him to Christ at the age of five. She taught him about the biblical Sabbath and to look forward to the soon coming of Jesus, which led to his baptism in a river at the age of 10.
Though his father died when Sean was 12, and his mother died when he was 15, it was while attending Pacific Union College that an email came to him about finding the top 20 reasons to be a student missionary. After learning more, Sean joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2007 when he was 20. Later that year, he experienced God’s call to be a pastor, and around 2008, he first sensed God putting Papua New Guinea on his heart, though he did not know if or when he would serve there. After graduating from Andrews University in 2015, he began serving as a pastor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and was ordained to the gospel ministry in 2020.
Though familiar with the work of Adventist Frontier Missions, Sean expressed more interest in AFM at the 2023 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting and, in response to a recruitment email, sensed deep conviction regarding the needs of the unreached and applied with AFM to become a missionary. On December 19, 2023, Sean was elated when AFM invited him to accept the call to minister to the animistic Ama people of Papua New Guinea.
Joella Brizendine grew up in a mission-minded Seventh-day Adventist Christian family. She served with AFM in Nepal with her parents, Joel and Joyce Meyer, and her two younger siblings, Mark and Joanna. When Joella was a child, she deeply sensed the need for a close connection with God in prayer; this has been her practice throughout life. Even though her family had to flee Nepal for safety reasons when she was 15, her heart longed to return to cross-cultural mission service.
Upon returning to the United States, Joella and her family served among the Navajo people in Utah, doing lifestyle wellness and education, and later, they worked among refugees in Texas with Reach the World Next Door. During her time among the Navajo people, Joella enjoyed a deepening friendship with Corrie Sample, whose family had previously served with AFM in Papua New Guinea. Over the years, they shared their dreams of being missionaries together. God then opened the way for Corrie and her family to return to Papua New Guinea around the end of 2022. As Corrie and her family shared the needs of the Ama tribe with Joella, the Holy Spirit flashed to Joella the conviction, “You could go.” Though she did not see how at the time, God was already working out His plan.
Most recently, Joella lived in Idaho, working as a paraprofessional assisting children with special needs. There, she learned about Sean through a fellow church member who knew her interest in missions and how Sean was preparing to go to Papua New Guinea.
When Joella and Sean met, their relationship blossomed as they sensed that their relationship was God’s ideal will for their lives. What was most confirming to Sean was the amazing way Joella had sensed in late 2022 that God was guiding her to the Ama Project in Papua New Guinea—just 10 miles south of where Corrie and her family were serving in Tipas. This was all unfolding before Sean signed up for AFM service or they had ever met. In God’s perfect timing, He led them into marriage on July 11, 2024.
Sean and Joella are so thankful to share deep convictions for living in mission service to reach the unreached. They see God’s clear leading and look forward to how He will open the way for each step in their journey to reach the Ama of Papua New Guinea. Sean and Joella seek to help hasten Christ’s return in connection with the prayers and giving of their support team as well as their own Spirit-filled effort and influence. Both love children and missions, and Sean especially enjoys composing and singing songs to glorify God. They look forward to the adventure of serving together to help the Ama be ignited in a Seventh-day Adventist church-planting movement as the Holy Spirit guides at each step.