SAMS and a few SAMS Missionaries will be at Urbana18 and they look forward to meeting you there! Urbana is an eye-opening global missions conference, a sacred space for college and graduate students, faculty, and church leaders to hear God’s call. Are you thinking about your calling to mission, but are not sure where to start? Come talk to these missionaries who have experience in the mission field! They will be there to answer questions as well as pray for you and your own calling to serve in the field by sharing the transforming love of Jesus Christ around the world.
Lucy Chaves, SAMS Missionary to Kenya
Lucy is originally from Kenya and at a young age, she felt drawn to the love of Christ. In the same way that she experienced His kindness and mercy, she wanted to share it with others. Lucy mentors young women and encourages those in difficult circumstances. She and her husband David concentrate their efforts in Nairobi, Kenya, on helping youth to develop a Biblical worldview as well as business skills. IHope Photography is one of the business they helped youth develop. They currently live in Virginia where they are raising their three children, but they make frequent trips to Kenya to encourage those in the ongoing programs. They hope to develop further ministries in Western Kenya.
Jessica Tetirick, SAMS Missionary Bridger to Uganda
A Texas A&M grad, and a CPA, Jessica didn’t have missionary service on her mind. However, after going on a short two-week mission with her church to Malawi, she asked God about her role in mission. God led her to SAMS where she served as a Bridger at Uganda Christian University alongside another SAMS Missionary. While there she was able to use her accounting and work background to teach business classes.
Madeleine Ruch, SAMS Missionary Bridger to Brazil
Madeleine is currently a college student at Wheaton College. She spent last summer serving in Recife, Brazil, as a SAMS Missionary Bridger. While there she served at a daycare center in Recife. While there she helped with any needs included caring for children, educational lessons, and helping with administration. She even helped the office translate some paperwork into English. She also led worship at a local Anglican church and got involved in a young adult small group.
Will these SAMS Missionaries see you at Urbana18? For more information about Urbana and how to register, click here! Find other SAMS Missionaries on the Meet our Missionaries page where you can sort by ministry and country.
God’s business is putting things right. – Psalm 11:7 (The Message)
I shared this verse with a member of our congregation and two other directors from the social services ministry of Cochabamba. Right before we went into a hospital room to pray last rites with a teenage girl.
God is at work to put things right.
These three women who work selflessly for the well-being of the most neglected in society need to know that this is precisely God´s business so they do not lose heart in the face of so much need and injustice. Our world needs to know this as we read news that appears to indicate the contrary, with local catastrophes and global crises. Families need to know this as we worry about what will happen tomorrow. I need to know this, as I struggle with aging and kids leaving home and congregation members struggling to grasp this very truth.
God is in the business of putting things right. This is what it means to say God is righteousness. This is what it means to preach that we have been justified by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is what we mean when we proclaim Jesus is Lord and will come again.
This is what we prepare for in Advent – God’s putting all things right in Jesus.
May we be confident in God’s work, even while we wait.
May we have courage to share, serve, and love.
And may we not lose heart, nor become weary or indifferent, being assured that our labor in God’s business is not in vain.
He will do it. He is able. He’s got this – and her and you and me.
The following comes from SAMS Missionary Amanda Scott serving in Honduras:
Hondurans are clear about from whom all blessings flow. The last team of 2018 came at the end of October. In addition to all the other usual activities, they decided they wanted to build a house in a day for Ernestina, a tiny, homeless, elderly woman in San Buenaventura. The mayor had given her a minuscule bit of land way down a dirt road in the mountains behind the Children’s Home. The only way to get the materials to the site was to carry them down and back up a ravine. I was standing in the woods monitoring the progress when another woman appeared, arms full of wood that she had gathered for her wood burning stove. Eva, too, is impoverished but slightly better off than Ernestina. She put down her machete and wood and smiled broadly at me. “I am so thankful the Lord is helping Ernestina! Thank you for letting Him use you to bring this miracle to her.” Eva knows where that house came from. We were thankful to be part of Ernestina’s miracle.
The team realized Ernestina didn’t have a mattress so they gave me the money to buy her one. I asked Angel, our singing construction worker, if he could help. No problem! I gave him the money and the next day, he recruited a friend with a pickup truck. They went into town, bought the mattress, and then hauled the mattress and box springs to Ernestina’s new house. Again, because that is what they do. If they can help, they do…with a smile.
Hello! My name is Avalyn Hicks (or Ava for short). I want to tell you a little bit about my life in the Solomons. Enjoy!
WASHING CLOTHES
Since we don’t have a washing machine, we have to wash our clothes in the river. Sometimes I go with our house-girl, Josephine. We carry our buckets of clothes down to the river either with friends, family or by ourselves. We start by laying an article of clothing on a piece of timber. Then we sprinkle or rub soap on it. We brush the clothes, turning them front to back and inside out. After all the clothes are washed, we dip them in the water and wring them out. We place the clean clothes in a bucket and carry them back home to hang on some lines. You can use different methods: such as washing, rinsing, squeezing, and then putting the clothes in a bucket.
WHAT WE WEAR
In the Solomon Islands, we dress differently than we do in America. Women and girls are more modest there than they are here (in some ways). Most women and girls wear skirts all the time. It is a sign of disrespect for young girls to wear shorts; but this is changing in the capital, the towns, but rarely in the villages. Lots of women and girls also wear short or tight skirts there, which is not very modest either. Women who are married or older in the villages sometimes don’t wear shirts, because the shirts are too hot or mothers want to nurse their babies. Men and boys wear shorts and shirts (or no shirt), but some men wear pants. Most women and girls wear buns. Men and women wear custom outfits when they dance, which means for the women bras, grass skirts, something under the grass skirts (shorts or other skirts), and the traditional shell jewelry. Men wear shorts, shell jewelry, kabilato, and paint. They shake rattles and wear nutshell-anklets: when they stomp these make noise. Women can wear shorts when they are bathing. By the way, we wear all our clothes when we bathe because bathing is public!
GAMES WE PLAY
We play different games. Some are games that we play in America. Some are native to the Solomon Islands. One that we play both here and there is ball-tag or dodgeball, where you play tag, but with a ball. Another game is called: “What did you say? In!” In Pijin this sounds like: “Wat ah did iu sei? In!” This game has four lines. One is vertical, two are horizontal, and one is a perimeter line. One team says: “What did you say? In!” They jump in, and they have to be in every box, and then get back to the start before they win. (Only one person in a team needs to have been in every box to win.) The other team tries to tag anyone on the opposite side, by moving along the lines. If the tagging team tags someone on the jumping team, the tagging team gets to be the new jumping team on the next round. If the jumping team wins, they get to jump in again. Another game native to the Solomon Islands is called Sela Coconut. One team is a stacking team and the other team is a shooting team. The former tries to stack all the coconuts into a tower while the latter passes the ball to each other trying to shoot the stacking team out. If the shooting team succeeds, they get to be the stacking team on the next round. If the stacking team succeeds (and their tower manages to stay up for a count of “2, 4, 6, 8, 10”), they get to be the stacking team again.
We are so very thankful to God for your continuing interest, prayers and financial support for our Brazil ministry. Having just completed our first full-time 3-year term on the mission field, we need to ask you to partner with us and recommit to another term of monthly support of $10, $15, $25, $50, or more.We actually need to raise an additional $3,000 per month for our ministry to expand into other neighborhoods to inspire more leaders and equip future generations to plant communities of faith focused on rescuing children and families from child labor, sex trafficking and drugs. We are confident in Christ alone!
This letter features two testimonies, one from our Brazilian friend Valdomiro Santos, and a personal confession from Ron.
Valdomiro’s Testimony:
Dear Pastor Ron and Debby and your financial & prayer partners, I want to highlight the importance of Pastor Ron and Debby in our lives. From the moment we first met this couple, their willingness and joy of serving the Lord Jesus in another nation inspired us.
First, I speak of my relationship with Rev. Ronald, when I learned that I was going to be discipled by Pastor Ron, I thought, “How will it be?” I do not speak English and he is learning Portuguese and still had difficulty, I faced the challenge with great joy and today we do not need Google translator anymore, today the Portuguese spoken by Pastor Ron is excellent and this man of God has been fundamental in my life.
I will make some reports:
Support for working life: In search of work I got approval at the Fiat factory in Goiânia – Pernambuco, a neighboring state of Paraíba, but the city where the factory is located is two hours away from João Pessoa. In the first process I went through and there was a problem and I was ultimately not approved in the last process, anyway, the story is long, but I want to record the help of Pastor Ron. Without the encouragement of Pastor Ron, I would not have participated in this selection process, since I did not have a car to make the trip to the factory. He and Debby are being a boon in my life and consequently in my family’s life.
Spiritual support for illness: A difficult moment in the life of my father-in-law was his hospitalization (90 days) due to appendicitis surgery. Pastor Ron was present, praying, ministering the life of Christ on him. Gradually he has been recovering and today he is doing his normal activities.
Support for the ministry: Long ago God spoke to my heart about the ordained ministry, I was frightened, I always thought it was a thing of my head. To be at peace with my thoughts and feelings I made a silent prayer: “God if the call that you have for me is Pastoral, then confirm it through a person that I have no contact with, then Lord I will know that this call comes from You not from myself. Amen.” I, my son and my wife went to attend the service at the Anglican Church Vine that Bishop Flávio is responsible for, after the celebration the bishop invited us to go to his house and we were involved in many conversations when Pastor Ron and his wife Debby pass by the apartment and enter, reminds me of how we arrived in this pastoral call conversation plus the bishop explained the content of our dialogue, then Debby said: “since I first visited Brazil in 2006 I have been praying for your ministry.” After this confirmation of prayer, I stopped resisting God’s call to me.
Always present in our lives…. Pastoral follow-up, visits on leisure days, quality time among friends. We praise and are grateful for your lives in our lives, God multiply in your lives everything you have done for us. We love you!! With gratitude and the Love of Jesus, Valdomiro Santos
Ron’s confession:
When my five daughters were young and I was beginning my personal relationship with Jesus, I failed to disciple my own daughters and invite them into my growing relationship with Jesus. I left this important part of my relationship with my daughters and Christ to my wife and the church. This mistake over the years caused great stress and strain on my relationship with my daughters. I deeply regret this sin of omission. I felt remorse that I did not model the life Christ intended for me and at times I felt like a failure as a father and stuck in shame not knowing how to set things right with my daughters.
Before I lost my total tongue to cancer my children will tell you I was angry all the time. After my surgery in 2003 to remove my total tongue and lymph nodes in my neck I went through radiation and chemotherapy. It was during this time I came to realize that I had experienced not only the removal of my tongue and healed of cancer, but I also experienced a supernatural change in my personality along with a redirection in my life targets and priorities. I realized that through my personal relationship with Jesus Christ all my sins were forgiven.
Since arriving for fulltime ministry in Brazil back in October 2015, God has opened the door for me to practice Biblical discipleship; the process of making disciples for Christ who make disciples for Christ. This ministry in Brazil has changed my life and opened the door for me to disciple my own children and their husbands through the use of technology, for example the telephone, voice and video calls over the internet and cell phone text messages.Today my children will tell you I am happy all the time. However, my children are still struggling to understand this change in their Dad and my call to serve God in Brazil.
Now, every day I wake up and ask God what will He have me learn today, then I listen for God to speak in the quietness of my heart, and then take the appropriate action, as I walk and grow spiritually in my personal relationship with my Lord, Savior and friend, Jesus Christ.
Please join in our efforts by making a financial gift to grow our ministry of equipping church leadership with Biblical principles that impact their actions and life patterns; to inspire the Church in Brazil for generations to come.
With every blessing and much affection,
Ron+ & Debby
Make a secure tax-deductible financial gift on-line through our SAMS website:
Since we don’t have a washing machine, we have to wash our clothes in the river. Sometimes I go with our house-girl, Josephine. We carry our buckets of clothes down to the river either with friends, family or by ourselves. We start by laying an article of clothing on a piece of timber. Then we sprinkle or rub soap on it. We brush the clothes, turning them front to back and inside out. After all the clothes are washed, we dip them in the water and wring them out. We place the clean clothes in a bucket and carry them back home to hang on some lines. You can use different methods: such as washing, rinsing, squeezing, and then putting the clothes in a bucket.
In the Solomon Islands, we dress differently than we do in America. Women and girls are more modest there than they are here (in some ways). Most women and girls wear skirts all the time. It is a sign of disrespect for young girls to wear shorts; but this is changing in the capital, the towns, but rarely in the villages. Lots of women and girls also wear short or tight skirts there, which is not very modest either. Women who are married or older in the villages sometimes don’t wear shirts, because the shirts are too hot or mothers want to nurse their babies. Men and boys wear shorts and shirts (or no shirt), but some men wear pants. Most women and girls wear buns. Men and women wear custom outfits when they dance, which means for the women bras, grass skirts, something under the grass skirts (shorts or other skirts), and the traditional shell jewelry. Men wear shorts, shell jewelry, kabilato, and paint. They shake rattles and wear nutshell-anklets: when they stomp these make noise. Women can wear shorts when they are bathing. By the way, we wear all our clothes when we bathe because bathing is public!
We play different games. Some are games that we play in America. Some are native to the Solomon Islands. One that we play both here and there is ball-tag or dodgeball, where you play tag, but with a ball. Another game is called: “What did you say? In!” In Pijin this sounds like: “Wat ah did iu sei? In!” This game has four lines. One is vertical, two are horizontal, and one is a perimeter line. One team says: “What did you say? In!” They jump in, and they have to be in every box, and then get back to the start before they win. (Only one person in a team needs to have been in every box to win.) The other team tries to tag anyone on the opposite side, by moving along the lines. If the tagging team tags someone on the jumping team, the tagging team gets to be the new jumping team on the next round. If the jumping team wins, they get to jump in again. Another game native to the Solomon Islands is called Sela Coconut. One team is a stacking team and the other team is a shooting team. The former tries to stack all the coconuts into a tower while the latter passes the ball to each other trying to shoot the stacking team out. If the shooting team succeeds, they get to be the stacking team on the next round. If the stacking team succeeds (and their tower manages to stay up for a count of “2, 4, 6, 8, 10”), they get to be the stacking team again.
