by Chuck and Bonnie Milliken | Mar 5, 2017 | SAMS Missionaries, South East Asia, Thailand
We have arrived! It was an incredibly long trip, made longer by the inevitable flight delays of all three flights. The longest was in Beijing where we waited, standing, about two hours. We were pretty tired by then after our 13 hour flight in cramped seating. From door to door, our travel time was approximately 36 hours. After arriving in Bangkok, it took to get through immigration, finding our baggage after we were given the wrong carousel number, and customs. Fr. Lee had been waiting for 3 hours when we finally appeared–at about 5 a.m. Because it has taken a while to get our computer up and running, my first post is much later than I expected and it is now Sunday afternoon.
Since we flew over the top of the world to get to China, I thought you might like to see a photo of what it looks like near the North Pole. We never did see that little barber pole with the snow on top but I’m sure it is there somewhere. We were about 7 miles up so perhaps that explains it.
by SAMS-USA | Mar 3, 2017 | Undergraduate Educational Grant Fund
SAMS provides educational grants for children who are a part of the SAMS community. A number of individuals have been impacted by the Undergraduate Educational Grant Fund, including Alyssa Fountain, a missionary kid who served with her parents in Uganda. In the following letter Alyssa expresses her thanks to those who have donated to this fund:
Dear SAMS Education Grant donors,
I’m writing to say a massive thank you. It feels like only fitting that I should update all of you on where I am given that you all had to read my applications for 3 years talking about my life plans and goals and everything!
You have watched me run through different career ideas with every new application. Last year, I finally decided on pursuing Social Work. It seemed to fit so well for me given my interests in counseling, working with kids, and making the world a better place. The pieces all fell into place in my decision to go this route during several nights of lying awake and staring at the ceiling until three in the morning. I applied, was admitted to, and accepted a place at the University of Denver to pursue a Masters in Social Work.
This past year (2016) I took a short leave of absence from school to do some personal healing and soul searching, but now I am about to resume classes on top of a full time job with clearer career goals in mind. I plan to work as a consultant to international schools and potentially mission boards on protection of expatriate kids, based on my own experiences. Things are falling into place quite nicely.
Thank you for the prayer, the support, and of course the finances! The grant that you all gave me helped me to pay for so many things, from living expenses, books for school, to fixing my car! I worked many hours and depended on this grant to help make life just a little easier.
So, to wrap this letter up with my favorite Ugandan blessing (from one of the Epistles, though I can’t remember which): “May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forever.”
Sincerely,
Alyssa Fountain
If you have a passion for the importance of education, prayerfully consider giving to the Undergraduate Education Grant Fund, and make a difference in an individual’s life.
I cannot express how grateful I am for this grant. I have been able to not stress constantly about paying for my tuition; I have been able to focus on school, cultural adjustment, and health.
Grant recipient and SAMS Missionary Kid
by Johann and Louise Vanderbijl | Mar 3, 2017 | Health, South Africa
Easy Peasy – want to support our ministry in Southern Africa? It’s easy…check out the links below!
https://samsusa.org/johann-and-louise-vanderbijl/
https://give.samsusa.org/missionaries
OR…make checks out and send them to:
SAMS-USA
P. O. Box 399
Ambridge, PA 15003
Please be sure to clearly state that the check is intended for Johann and Louise van der Bijl.
Is you wish to support our vehicle/travel fund, do so via check only and write in the memo line: van der Bijl vehicle fund
by Amanda Scott | Mar 2, 2017 | Honduras
He was the oldest of 5 brothers. Sometimes they had food, sometimes they didn’t. Most of the time their clothes were in tatters. For some reason, his father didn’t love him. When he was 8 years old, his family gave him to another family to work. He worked for that family for 3 years when that family gave him to another family about 4 hours away. He worked with cows and pigs on their farm for a couple years when he escaped and returned to Tegucigalpa. His family would not take him in so he lived on the streets and did odd jobs – selling tortillas, working on a public bus, whatever he could find to survive. At 13 he started working with a mason, learning the trade. He never went to school, never learned to read or write.
I met Jose Luis about 4 years ago. He is a happy go lucky guy. I remember him laughing about not sending or receiving text messages “porque no puedo leer ni escribir!” (because I can’t read or write!) This did not hold him back in the construction world, however. He is a natural genius at construction. He oversaw the construction of the new medium boys home. He managed up to 8 workers, calculated and ordered all the supplies each week, designed and built several architectural elements such as archways, “wood” pillars, etc., taught younger workers how to do the more sophisticated building techniques, and, despite language barriers, taught many Northamericans how to lay blocks, make concrete by hand and just about every other job on the work site.
A couple years ago, Jose Luis shared his dream with me for the first time. I had been watching him singlehandedly place a guideline for the future roof so they could lay block on the outside wall. That guide has to be precisely correct or the roof will fall. I commented, with much admiration, “Man, you ARE an engineer.” He looked at me with a melancholy expression, “I always wanted to be an engineer but I could never go to school.” Soon thereafter, Julio, whose senior service project was adult literacy, began teaching him how to read.
Last month, Jose Luis confided in me that he was going to school. He found a program that teaches grades 1&2 in one year, then 3&4, then 5&6, then “I will go to high school and then to university to get my engineering degree!” A few days later, he told me he would take a test to see if he could skip grades 1&2 and enter directly into 3rd/4th grade. He had 3 days to study for the test. Kathy Kelly and I took him to the prayer wall, placed a prayer in the wall and prayed over him. He took the test and passed! Now he studies all the time. He wolfs his lunch down and studies, he records himself practicing material to learn for a test or his teacher giving a lesson and then listens to it while he works. He already helps Julio with his architecture projects. “The plans just have numbers on them. I know how to read them.” He is determined. Nothing will stop him. “I will do better than the other engineering students because I know how to build buildings.” I cannot wait to attend his university graduation ceremony!
Jose Luis is one of the most inspirational people I have met. Best of all, he thanks God for every step forward he takes.
