Register for the SAMS Short-term Missions Leaders’ Training

by | Nov 17, 2016 | SAMS-USA

Date:
2016-11-17 00:00:00

SAMS Short-Term Mission Leaders’ Training February 18-19, 2017

SAMS is holding a winter training in February 2017. This year  Herb Bailey of Uncommon Grounds will teach a segment on Cross Cultural Ministry in the United States. Training covers areas of team selection, budget and fundraising, cross-cultural orientation, spiritual development, logistics, de-briefing, how to work with the poor and what to expect when your team returns home.

The schedule is as follows: 9:00am-9:00pm, Saturday, February 18. 9:00am-5:00pm, Sunday, February 19 at 1013 Merchant Street, Ambridge, PA 15003. Accommodations can be arranged with local seminary families. Registration is $99 and includes training material, lunch and dinner. You can register online here or reach out to Lynn Bouterse at 724-266-0669 or LynnBouterse@SAMS-USA.org. Download the brochure here.

Tag:
training
Short-term missions
His Call, My Answer: My Journey in Becoming a Missionary

His Call, My Answer: My Journey in Becoming a Missionary

by | Nov 16, 2016 | SAMS Missionaries

“God calls us to mission. We are chosen. How we answer the call is the important part of the equation.” –Jacky Lowe, SAMS Missionary, Madagascar

Jacky Lowe went from a short-term missionary Bridger to hearing God’s call for long-term service. She was convicted at the New Wineskins Missionary conference to follow God’s call to Madagascar.

Jacky Lowe is preparing for missionary service to Madagascar. She is thrilled to be heading back to where she once served as a short-term bridger partnering alongside the women in Toliaria. There, she taught them essential skills such a sewing and bead work that would enable them to start their own business. Through her testimonial timeline, we see how God worked over the course of years to place Jacky where she is today, and give her the right tools to serve no matter where she is called.

November 2007: At the Diocesan convention in SE Florida I heard Rev. Patsy McGregor speak about her mission work in Madagascar. I knew then I wanted to go and help.

2009-2015: I worked on three short term missions in 2009, 2010, and 2015, but I knew the Lord was calling me for full time missionary service. The people in Madagascar so want to learn about the Lord and develop skills for life, and I have a passion to serve them. In 2014 I was busy making plans to visit my family in England when Patsy phoned me and asked me to come to Madagascar summer 2015. At first I thought, “I can’t go I want to see my Dad!” But God had greater plans, so I went to England summer 2014, spent a wonderful 5 weeks with Dad, and he died January 2015.

January 2016: When Patsy asked me to work full time with the women in Toliara at the new women’s center, my first reaction was joy. Now I can do God’s work. Quickly after fear entered. “How am I going to do this?” I thought. For two weeks I talked with people and prayed to make the decision to say yes. Two weeks later fear came again, but I knew just to rest in God’s arms.

April 2016: What an amazing experience to attended SAMS & New Wineskins conference. My roommate Mary McDonald, a SAMS vet missionary, helped me to discern. “In ten years will you have regrets if you do not go?” she asked. I knew I would have regrets. We are to follow Christ no matter how hard it is. I knew God wanted me to follow him to Madagascar.

Today: As I make plans to go to Madagascar for 1-3 years to work with the women there I think, “I can do all things through God who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:16. I still have days when doubts enter, especially when people ask me, “Why don’t you just retire and spend time with your grandchildren?” or “Why do you have to go so far away?” As I said at the beginning it is a call from God.  He says, “I have called you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1. Now, most days I feel a deep peace because I have answered God’s call. Looking back this journey of preparation has equipped me with all the tools I need. I have supportive friends and family, but most importantly I have God. Let the work begin!

By Jacky Lowe, Missionary preparing for long-term service to Madagascar. Would you prayerfully consider supporting Jacky today? Pray, support, and give here.

 

We are to follow Christ no matter how hard it is. I knew God wanted me to follow him to Madagascar.
Jacky Lowe

SAMS Missionary to Madagascar

Join Jacky as one of her supporters. Visit the Meet our Missionaries page today to give, support, and encourage Jacky.

Working as a Team: Health Education Mission in Uganda

by | Nov 3, 2016 | SAMS-USA

Date:
2016-11-03 00:00:00

Janine LeGrand is a Long-term SAMS Missionary serving in a ministry of health education in Masindi-Kitara, Uganda,  where they face many health challenges. Janine shares this recent story with you:

Usually I tell you about what is happening in the health clinics, but what about the people behind the clinics that help support them? In Uganda I have a Diocesan level Health Board that advises me. This board includes our Diocesan Secretary (the “second in command” after our Bishop) and many of our elders, mostly priests. The lady at left without a white collar is my neighbor Rachael, who is a nurse and local politician. We just had a very good board meeting last week and these people are helpful advisors. We have a new program, Church Health Promoters. I was put to the task of creating the t-shirt logo. I made a design similar to a design often seen on ambulances and medical clinics, a caduceus or the Rod of Asclepius, with mine showing a snake on a cross. I was thinking of the story from Numbers, where Moses is told to have people be healed by looking up to a serpent symbol he made—an early example of the church being involved in healing. The reaction from my board was a bemused, amused “Can you imagine?!” Little did I know that a snake on a pole is a symbol used by witchdoctors here! I have been here more than seven years now, but I am still learning.  It sure wouldn’t have gone well trying to recruit volunteers from our churches with that. They approved the design, minus the snake.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about working together. I work with my board, and I work with my team that does the preparation for the medical teams that visit. 

Sometimes it can be frustrating, especially with those from another culture, but my team is such a blessing. Janie is our newest member from American Peace Corp and helps train church administrators in what needs to be done for an outreach. She helps with cervical cancer screenings and family planning. William works with Village Health Coordinators at each site, and Jimmy, translator extraordinaire, trains and works with our interpreters. We all have a job that helps us get the task done and help others, but it is not just the board, and the support team here in Uganda that help others. You are an integral part of my team, too. Without my supporters I would not be able to help medical teams in Uganda. The longer I am here in Uganda the more I see the wisdom of working together both near and far.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV)

Join the support team! Would you consider a financial gift to help this work? Visit my page or give directly.

How to Create Community

by | Oct 10, 2016 | SAMS-USA

Date:
2016-10-10 00:00:00

We know that the church is not a specific building, but the people within that specific place. However, how do we go from just a building full of people, to a community of believers striving for one common goal; to lift each other up in the name of Christ? 

Our SAMS missionaries strive to cultivate community through their ministry each day. Ron and Debby Mckeon who serve in Brazil are involved in community actives such as beach clean up. They hope to help the community while at the same time share the love of Christ with those in the neighborhood. 

Mary Chowenhill in Uganda opens up her house to a Bible study in the hopes of creating genuine relationships with those on campus at Ugandan Christian University. 

Justin Deeter is a pastor in North Carolina. He suggests six ways we can cultivate genuine community in the church. 

1. Be Intentional 

2. Be Hospitable 

3. Be Available

4. Be Teachable 

5. Be Forgiving

6. Be Vulnerable

How do you cultivate community in your church, or neighborhood? Visit Justin’s blog to read more about community in the church.

Children at Risk: Changing Young Lives

Children at Risk: Changing Young Lives

by | Oct 10, 2016 | Children at Risk, SAMS-USA

Did you know that over 400,000,000 abandoned children live on their own on the streets of hundreds of cities around the world? They struggle to just survive the day. UNICEF defines an abandoned child as one who:

Does not know where his or her next meal is coming from, does not know where he or she is spending the night,and he or she does not live with either the mother or the father.

The Cry

Alicia is a beautiful 18-month old baby girl with a smile that can light up a room. However, it takes a long time for that smile to emerge. In Alicia’s short life, she has known little love or attention. She was found alone, wandering the streets of a busy city in Honduras at 2:30 a.m. A caring woman brought her to the police, who then left her in a government-run child protection center.

Two weeks after arriving at the center, a young teenage woman arrived and claimed to be Alicia’s mother. She told the center’s director that she wanted her baby back. The mother was informed that child neglect and endangerment is a crime and if she wanted her daughter back she would have to go to court and prove to a judge she’s capable of caring for her baby. The young mother has not been seen since.

Many babies like Alicia remain in the government center waiting for someone to come to care for them… someone to love them. They will remain in the government center until a responsible family member comes to take them or they are placed in a private children’s’ home.

 

How Can You Help?

The first thing you can do is Pray! People who have been called to work with children at risk globally need prayer and financial support, too. By praying and supporting, you are helping send SAMS missionaries around the globe. Lastly you can GO! Is God calling you to missions? Learn more about missions with SAMS, whether it is long or short-term.

 

You can make a difference in a child’s life. Support SAMS missionaries who has been called to this ministry through prayer, encouragement, or giving by visiting the Meet our Missionaries page.
There are many opportunities to serve with children globally. If the Lord is calling you to missionary service, we have a place for you.