Anderson, Mike and Kelli

The Andersons have been serving in South America since 2006. However, Mike and Kelli’s call to cross-cultural missions occurred much earlier. Mike saw firsthand the impact of the gospel as he grew up in a remote Yanomami village in Brazil where his parents served as missionaries. Kelli felt led to missions in college after taking a missions trip to the Philippines. Mike and Kelli met at Dallas International University. They each completed a master’s degree for overseas ministry — Applied Linguistics (Kelli) and Applied Anthropology and Literacy (Mike).

Mike and Kelli began their missionary service in Brazil reaching the Curto people by analyzing their unwritten language and working in oral Bible storying, literacy, Bible translation, and community development. When they arrived, there were no known Christians among the language group, but God has worked miracles. Many Curto have come to faith and there is now a growing church.

After serving the Curto people for many years in a remote jump-off town, their family relocated to the Ammi Training Center in Chapada, Brazil in 2015. While there, Mike and Kelli served indigenous people from all over Brazil, focusing on discipleship, teaching, and ministry trips to remote villages.

Brazil holds a special place in their hearts as Mike was raised there and all four of their kids, Emily, Lydia, James, and Jeven were born in Brazil. Now, after 16 years of serving in Brazil, God is calling them to ministry in Pucallpa, Peru. While Mike and Kelli take on new ministry assignments with a focus on serving the indigenous communities, their children will attend school at SAM Academy