About Us

We are Jim and Joy Elliott.  For almost twenty years my wife and I lived literally in the middle of the Indonesian jungle.  Why did we live there?  It was our desire to teach the Bible to a group of people who had no access to it in their own language. And so, in January 2001, we entered into a life that is far different than the life most Americans lead.  It was a hard life, one filled with disappointments, fatigue and hard work but also a life filled with adventure, excitement and victory.  We lived among the Morop people to learn their language and culture in the hope that one day they could hear the Bible's message in their own language. This finally became a reality in 2017 and we had the privilege of seeing a new church born among a people who had lived in darkness for thousands of years.

But it was a hard life. We lived in a place that literally had nothing but eighteen jungle houses. No roads, no electricity, no running water, no stores. Nothing but the jungle. So, we had to build our own house with rough cut lumber, put in an airstrip by hand with the people, provide medical assistance where there was none and at the same time study a language that is made no sense to us.

By the time 2020 rolled around, we had one kid in college and another getting ready to graduate high school. Joy's health had also steadily declined due to an auto-immune disorder and so the decision was made to go ahead and hand the work off to our co-workers who could then continue with the teaching and care of the church.

In February 2020, Covid-19 forced us to depart 3 months ahead of schedule and suddenly we found ourselves back in the United States, wondering what the Lord would have us do next.  A couple of years back we had bought the small farm that Joy's parents had owned and so we decided to seek a way to run the farm and use the proceeds from our profits to support our fellow missionaries who are still on the field.  

And so Star Mountain Farms and the Star Mountain Soap Company was founded! The name Star Mountains harkens back to our time in Papua, Indonesia where we lived for the last 17 years.  Pengunungan Bintang, the Star Mountain Range, was our home and so naming our farm and soap company after this range of rugged mountains in the heart of Papua just seemed natural.

The work continues in Papua with the Morop people group.  Our coworkers are still there teaching the young church and helping the people understand what the scriptures say and teach.  We continue to keep the Morop people in our prayers. Even though we are far away God is still working in their midst!