Confronted by the fact that thousands of people groups around the world lacked the Scriptures in their language, Chuck and Barb Micheals, along with their four small children, began serving with Wycliffe 25 years ago. For the Micheals, that decision meant leaving a career and family in the U.S. to move to Papua New Guinea (PNG).
While Chuck’s career in the grocery business seemed like an unlikely fit in missions, he discovered a perfect fit, helping supervise a small commissary at the main mission center in Ukarumpa, PNG. Later, once the children were grown, Barb worked as a librarian at the high school at Ukarumpa, helping hundreds of mission children get a quality education while their parents served overseas with Wycliffe.
In 2000, Chuck and Barb moved to Chicago, Illinois, in order to help with Wycliffe recruitment efforts. Chuck soon became the Recruitment Director for the North Central area of the U.S.
Then, in 2005, Chuck and Barb moved to Orlando, Florida, where Chuck began work as the Vice President for Recruitment Ministries, supervising a team of recruiters spread across the U.S. Barb also serves in that department, helping to plan short-term trips for Wycliffe.
Chuck holds a bachelor’s degree in food distribution from Western Michigan University and a master’s degree in organizational management, with a concentration in negotiation and mediation, from Dallas Baptist University. Chuck is a certified court appointed mediator in the State of Texas, where he practiced mediation. He has also taken additional management courses, including the Management Development Orientation Course provided by the Summer Institute of Linguistics.While working at Ukarumpa he also served as a designer and chair for the Job Evaluation and Wage Review Committee for Papua New Guinea.
Chuck has served on a variety of boards. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors for The Finishers Project (a mission agency devoted to helping second-career people join missions). He also served for three terms (once as vice-chairman) on the Executive Committee of the Papua New Guinea branch of the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Chuck has been married to his wife, Barb, since 1974. They have four adult children: Isaac (a Wycliffe missionary-school teacher), Maria (who, with her husband Josh, serves with Wycliffe in administration work), Rachel (who is married to Chris), and Jenny (who serves as a Wycliffe administrative assistant and is married to Kevin). Chuck and Barb have five grandchildren.