This is the second perspective in a four-part series covering the various stages of missionary life. In this 2nd stage, we hear from SAMS Missionaries Bob and Traci Gresser, who with their three special needs children Andrew, Daniel and June, have been getting established in Namibia over the last several months, where Bob has started serving as a lecturer at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS).
“If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, you’d find me in a minute— you’re already there waiting!”
– Psalm 139:9 (The Message)
A Whole New Dimension
Moving is a skill set one acquires in the military. But physically moving and getting established in a new community as a Missionary takes on a whole new set of dimensions when you are doing it cross-culturally. We have been in Namibia for six months now and lately have been taking comfort in Ps 139:9: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” Or as The Message puts it: “If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, you’d find me in a minute— you’re already there waiting!”There are always unexpected things in a new community; things one likes and things that are challenges, but we have taken comfort in knowing that the Lord leads us and was already here waiting for us.
Living in a culture where you are a foreigner means that everything takes longer and requires a process. Here in Namibia, this is due to the bureaucratic government. In fact, many veteran missionaries have challenges. The system can change as rapidly as the clerks who run it. But generally speaking, if you don’t grow up knowing a community’s systems, it just takes longer to navigate them. Every country has its own history that affects its culture and its cultural systems. So, new Missionaries always have to navigate the immigration systems of their host countries. Having experienced several immigration systems over the years, including the U.S. immigration system during the adoption of our two sons, Andrew and Peter, we have found Namibia to be more challenging to navigate. Where did we get the patience? Certainly not from within ourselves.
Aside from giving us patience, the Lord has continued to meet us even in our mistakes. In America, we are free to be critical of our government; it’s almost a civic duty for some. In Namibian culture, we discovered that even an oblique fault-finding can create quite a stir. Through this process, God’s hand clearly led us to Ecclesiastes 10:4. “If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness will undo great offenses.” The idea here is a call to endure beyond patience with a genuine spirit of contrition, an attitude that can only come from God.
Setting up a household (from scratch)
Setting up our household has been a big job. When we got married over 41 years ago, we received wedding gifts to establish our new home. We arrived in Namibia with two suitcases per person and ended up renting a large home for our family of five with three special needs kids. Initially, we felt guilty about having such a nice home, but we’ve seen confirmation from God in the peace and beauty of this home. He shows himself here every sunrise, Masked Weaver, Go-Away bird, Red Hornbill, and Mongoose. Yet, the work involved in acquiring everything from beds to frying pans to furniture had to be found and collected in a community that has very limited second-hand resources (I haven’t quite figured out why). We have learned to view this process as a set of actual goals. It requires that we meet new people, learn our way around the community, and ask for advice about where to find things. In fact, I was proud to share my discoveries with long-time residents!
Launching Hospitality
Achieving a set-up home doesn’t mean we are settled in. Our home is a launch pad for hospitality that builds relationships over time. Relationships are built on commonality and shared experiences. This is why it is initially more difficult for Missionaries. We have less in common and fewer shared experiences. And so… we build, event by event, shared meal by shared meal, and time lived together intentionally day by day. In this large house, we have already hosted visiting lecturers for the seminary. We have strengthened friendships and smoothed difficulties with fellow Missionaries. Through our doors of hospitality, we now host monthly ladies’ fellowship and a bi-weekly older ladies’ Bible study. Aside from the “spiritual” meals we are fed from Scripture, we spend time in the kitchen together and learn how to prepare meals on a budget and from scratch, a surprisingly rare skill. Some of these ladies consider a meal without meat almost inconceivable. It is a cultural oddity at which we continue to marvel.
Recently, one area of hospitality has led to another. We’ve had the opportunity to host several young girls from church during the monthly Ladies Fellowship. Kristina mentioned she had a toothache, and this led to helping her receive dental care in the Namibian government healthcare system. While waiting at the government clinic, I met Aaron, a Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS) student who left school and for whom I continue to pray. Kristina lives in the vast transitional housing area called Havana on the outskirts of town, so we visited her there. One day she didn’t have food to take with her medicine, so I hired her as a guide to take me to the market there. Slowly, our friendship is being built.
Parenting through the Paradox
Honestly, it can be lonely and difficult work, especially as grandparent parents and special needs parents of a 23-year-old son with Down Syndrome. Even in the United States, finding a babysitter willing to take on a 23-year-old is challenging. Being aware and honest with the kids through it all has been important. We have had the kids write about what they will miss and what they look forward to. It is not always what you expect. They know it’s ok to be sad as well as excited and often at the same time. We always try to tell them what to expect in unfamiliar situations, be it visiting a family in their one-room sheet metal home in a transitional housing area or a new church in the U.S. In a recent prayer letter, we discussed the use of paradox when equipping our children to deal with the many moves. In this letter we wrote, “We once owned a children’s picture book called That’s good! No, that’s bad. It told the humorous adventures of a boy who flies off from the zoo holding helium balloons. It highlighted the fact that you never know how things will turn out, and in fact, there are good and bad in many events. Many things are not good or bad, but at the same time. Seeing paradox helps us maintain our humor and thankfulness.”
A God Who Goes Before Us
Once the honeymoon fades, being a Missionary settling into a new field is not easy. This is especially true when one starts this journey after the struggles of getting to the field in the first place. In the end, one must continually call into question the idea of a “calling.” The question we’ve asked is, “To what has God called us? Africa, Namibia, Theological Education?” Maybe, maybe not.
God calls people to be faithful to Him, to follow him as their desires and talents lead. When we follow the Lord, as sinners saved by grace, we realize that he has gone before us, not necessarily to make things easier, but to challenge us to draw close to him, to rely upon him, to know that he is God and we are not. In all this, we are privileged to pray that “we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you, for the honor of your Name. Amen. Lord, your hand shall lead us, and your right hand shall hold us. Even in Namibia, you are already here waiting. Thank you.”
The Gressers began in ministry in 1990 and since then have served short-term overseas in Uganda and Ethiopia and as SAMS Missionaries, first as Bridgers in 2018 and then full-time in Malawi in 2024-2025, before arriving in Namibia in 2026. The Gressers serve where the need is great, and Robert has a passion to serve as a theological educator where there is a lack of qualified teachers, not to replace local leaders, but to train national church leaders so they can in turn train other church leaders. He will be teaching at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary in Windhoek. Traci’s desire is to minister socially through hospitality and ministry of presence, encouraging and strengthening families to spread Kingdom change throughout the communities where they serve, as well as using her considerable skills as a mother of special needs children and as an RN. You can learn more about their ministry and sign up to receive their communications here.
This is the first in a four-part series of articles covering the various stages of the cycle of missionary life. We will hear directly from SAMS Missionaries themselves about their experiences. In this pre-field stage, we hear from Logan and Samantha Gates, who with their young son Lewis, are currently SAMS Missionary Candidates interning at Christ Church Vienna, Virginia, in preparation to serve in Santiago, Chile, later this year.
“God has a way of making his calling clear…”
Samantha never thought she would be a missionary. Growing up in a Christian family, she had always thought she would support missionaries, not be one herself. But God has ways of making His calling clear! For both Samantha and me, that calling initially came from an Anglican Bishop in Chile who asked us to consider serving in a church plant there. It was later confirmed through the discernment of our church community and SAMS. Finally, the Lord affirmed it through the peace we have felt as a couple all along the way, and we are happy to share about what it’s looked like for us to prepare for the mission fi eld in 2026.
Things we didn’t expect
Becoming missionaries has been more challenging than we anticipated. We were aware that missionaries needed to raise support for things like housing and international health insurance, but seeing the full amount we needed to raise gave us some “sticker shock”! We also didn’t realize how long it would take to find the individuals, families, and churches whom the Lord was calling to be a part of the work we’d be doing. Balancing this alongside work, parenting, training, and immigration paperwork has been more than we expected.
Nevertheless, there have been as many blessings in this season as there have been trials. We initially thought our greatest “need” would be for financial provision. Looking back, we see how God has used that practical need to help us see what we were most in need of: a team of believers committed to encouraging us, laboring with us in prayer, as well as giving sacrificially to send us to the field.
We have been humbled by how the local church has come alongside us as well. We have not only had churches pray over and commission us, but also have had a church arrange for me to do a pastoral internship to get ministry experience in areas I would need to use in Chile, such as church planting and Spanish-language ministry. Another unexpected blessing has been the gift of moving in with family during this season of support raising. While we valued being on our own in the first seven years of our marriage, we have treasured this time of deeper relationship and dependence, and we know the Lord is preparing us to have to depend on others in a new culture and language when we arrive on the mission field.
Firstfruits of sorrow and joy
In our cross-cultural training, we learned that mission work contains a paradox of sorrows and joys. We have been tasting some of these sorrows and joys even now, before we arrive in Chile. Preparing for the field has felt like a “long goodbye” to our family and friends. In some ways, we’re grateful for how long it has taken us to get to the field, but in other ways, we are regularly reminded that the time we have together is temporary. We’ve come to see that this season not only involves sorrow for us, but also for the family and friends who are releasing us to the mission field. There is also sadness in the good things that we are leaving behind. Both of us recently completed several years of education and are leaving behind career paths that, in many ways, are more secure and “successful.” It is hard
to see our peers settling down and buying homes, while we attempt to winnow down our belongings to a few checked bags!
But we are also beginning to taste the joys that lie ahead. We feel joy in being in the center of God’s will, and in being able to make sacrifices for Christ. There has been joy in seeing His provision financially and through a team He has gathered around us. There has also been joy in having to grow in prayer and dependence on the Lord throughout this season of support raising. Looking ahead, we are excited to learn a new culture, discover a new city, and gain a new family in Christ. We look forward to the spiritual growth that comes from depending more deeply on the Lord, and to watching Lewis experience the richness of two cultures. We are eager to serve among secular, post-Christian people in one of the largest cities in South America. Most of all, we are excited to present Christ and see Him draw people to Himself as He is lifted up (John 12:32).
Amidst uncertainty, finding peace in God’s calling
The uncertainties that lie ahead of us are many. We know there will be trials being so far away from home. We know there will be trials adjusting to a new culture – we are both introverts who like early bedtimes, while Chileans stay up late, spending time together! There will be challenges integrating into an existing church plant, building trust by taking the posture of serving and learning. We don’t yet know where we’ll be living, or who our community will be. But amidst all these uncertainties, we have found peace in God’s calling. If He is calling us to Chile, we know that what he asks of us is simply obedience.
Our trust is in God’s words in Isaiah 46:11:
“I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
Logan grew up in Vienna, Virginia, and has spent the last ten years in Toronto, Canada, working in the area of Christian apologetics and pursuing a PhD at the University of Toronto. He has a heart for people to encounter God for themselves by exploring tough questions about the Christian faith. In Toronto, Logan met his wife Samantha. Their son, Lewis, was born in 2025. Samantha just earned her certification as a CPA. She holds a BA in Modern Languages (French, Spanish, and German) and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, before working in accounting. She is half Latina and lived in Latin America for a time as a child. They both felt the Lord placing missions on their heart and that He was opening doors for them to serve in an Anglican church in Chile to plant a church there, through an invitation from the Bishop of Santiago. They are interning at Christ Church, Vienna ministering to Spanish-speaking believers there in preparation for a move to Chile in late 2026. You can learn more about them here.
In recent years there has been a conspicuous trend in North American theological education: small, residential seminaries with strong denominational identities are those most likely to be in institutional decline, while large, interdenominational seminaries that permit online coursework are fully ascendent.
Furthermore, now that higher education is staring down the rise of an Artificial Intelligence so formidable that it can find, analyze, and synthesize biblical and theological information at the push of a few buttons, the decision to seek a seminary degree and to endure the sacrifice required to pursue it can seem outdated, even illogical. Why not simply serve in one’s local church and turn to a nearby mentor – or the Internet – for guidance and training?
This new environment is forcing seminaries in North America onto their back foot, as it were, to justify their mission to students and donors. And for missionaries abroad laboring to make the case for offering robust, in-person theological education for church leaders from all around the world, promoting a traditional seminary model can be challenging. Why form these leaders in ways that demand so much time, money, and human resources?
The people I speak with regarding my family’s upcoming ministry, teaching students from around the world through Tyndale Theological Seminary in the Netherlands, routinely question the need for pastors to attend seminary – and even the idea of seminary itself. However, when I was discerning a call to ministry several decades ago, I never questioned the basic premise that I would need to relocate my life to a brick-and-mortar theological college to prepare for a lifetime in ministry. Nevertheless, today that basic premise has largely gone out the window. I regularly meet pastors who have not studied at a seminary, and many of those who have undertaken theological studies have done so part time, and often online.
Let me suggest that a look at some context – where seminaries came from, and what they offer students in residence – may help explain why they remain crucial for training leaders for the global church. Seminaries were designed as “seedbeds” for new ministers, and emerging leaders lose out when they have no affordable access to such formation.
Seminary in Years Past: the “Seedbed” for New Ministers
In his 2015 The History of Theological Education, Justo González observes that in early Christianity, theological education was not reserved for specialists alone. Rather, the church as a whole saw its own vocation as theological and educational: when people came to faith in Christ, they were taught to study the Scriptures, to speak of God and for God, to grow into maturity as part of a community of disciples of Jesus. For centuries, training in Scripture, theology, and church history was an activity of the whole church for the whole church.
As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, monastic movements rose up that preserved Christian education amid societal chaos. However, while these communities transmitted vital knowledge, medieval universities had little to do with the training of the average clergyman. In contrast, the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century sought to equip preachers as experts in Scripture. Combining the medieval humanities curriculum – the liberal arts and sciences – with a Protestant theological curriculum, universities began producing graduates who were not only well-rounded scholars, but who also aimed at being faithful pastors. At the same time, Roman Catholic seminaria – literally, “seedbeds” – were being developed that offered what Protestant colleges in Europe and evangelical seminaries in North America were providing as well: a community of teachers and learners who would study Scripture, doctrine, languages, and history, all the while living and worshiping together to prepare for ministry in the church.
So, Why Make Attending a Seminary a Priority Today?
Seminary students in the classroom at Tyndale Theological Seminary, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
This ideal of the “seedbed” remains my preferred way to prepare leaders for the church around the world. Like González, I hesitate to draw a line between catechesis and college, between Sunday School and seminary: the whole church is called to explore the things of God and make him better known! But we live in a time when the average Christian has not been formed well at home or in the pew, and certainly not well enough to take the reins of a church and lead Christ’s flock as a shepherd in His name.
Most who are called to vocational ministry need extra study, extra exposure to the Word of God, extra time spent in worship with others who are preparing. This means having access not only to professors to guide these studies, and not only to libraries whose contents can challenge and awaken new ideas, but also to a freedom from other obligations and responsibilities. Perhaps not everyone is called to spend significant time and money to access this kind of maximized education, but some are – and above all, those who will lead.
Along those same lines, few of us have experience living together with other Christians in this kind of intentional community. Seminaries were composed as a kind of monastic fellowship, devoted to a common mission and to one’s fellow missioners. The “life together” that happens in such fellowship while preparing to serve Christ’s church is difficult, painful, bewildering, and yet profoundly sanctifying. While a local church can and should offer the same opportunity to go deeply into this kind of intentional Christian fellowship, many do not. For most of us, our first experience of forming part of a daily fellowship of worshipers, students, and servants of Jesus Christ comes when we arrive at seminary.
Yes, the conventional seminary model is expensive to run, and the strain of study can deprive students of the leisure and space required to absorb the ideas and skills being fostered. But the models of professional formation that are increasingly replacing the old residential seminary model of academic rigor and community life cannot measure up to the older ideals of relational mentorship and skillful mastery. In some cases, new models for pastoral training are needed for economic reasons. And in others, churches may not wish to send away their best young people to receive an education far from home with little chance of their returning. Better to train them in-house for free, they might conclude, or to send them online for asynchronous coursework or AI-assisted queries, than to pay for three years of study living at a college far from the parish.
However, I am convinced that the Lord honors what we give away with no expectation of a return on the congregation’s investment. Planting a young person in a “seedbed” far away is to store up treasures in heaven rather than build the kingdom on earth, to cast one’s bread upon the water in hope that it will somehow return. I myself have witnessed the Lord bless the (Baptist) church that first encouraged me to go to seminary, and I have seen the Lord prosper those in the (Anglican) church who helped sustain me while I was studying at a (Presbyterian)
seminary. Which is to say, to commission a seminarian to study is a group effort, not unlike sending a missionary to unknown lands. In both cases, we should be confident that obedience to Christ’s command and trust in his promises will yield a plentiful harvest of righteousness that will redound to those who scattered those seeds.
Seminary Life and the Call to Global Mission Today
I am now looking forward to teaching as a missionary at Tyndale Theological Seminary, a college that is equipping new missionaries to serve Christ around the world by giving them full access to an affordable postgraduate education. Most of my missionary work until this point in South and Central America has been in areas that lacked affordable access to this “seedbed” model of ministry formation. God was visibly at work, but the barriers to leadership were visible too. It was especially hard for cash-strapped congregations to send ministry candidates to a seminary far from home. For Anglicans, this difficulty meant that fewer people were sent to train for ministry, and so smaller and more rural churches (like ours in Belize) rarely enjoyed having resident clergy. For others, this meant that many pastors never received the fuller formation
that seminaries provide. Beyond certain unintended errors in doctrine, we found that these under-equipped leaders were at greater risk of emotional burnout and vocational shipwreck. As missionaries, we came away convinced that while a seminary education is not the only path to effective ministry, it is still ordinarily the best way to equip Christians to serve as leaders in Christ’s church.
All this feeds my excitement to serve at Tyndale Seminary! I look forward to teaching students from Ghana and Cameroon, Ethiopia and Pakistan, Guyana and Hong Kong, and from so many other places, who, despite differences in nationality and denomination, desire to seek God’s face together. Each one who comes has seen the value of theological education in community, and each is making sacrifices to show up in person, becoming present not only to the professors in class, but to one another as well. Each has left family and loved ones, career and income, heart language, comfort food and cultural music, all to prioritize these crucial years in the “seedbed” before being transplanted back as missionaries into their native soils. My prayer is that this dedicated time and space with one another will have formed healthy roots that will serve them well throughout the years of ministry to come.
David and Mary Beth Alenskis previously
served as SAMS Missionaries providing
pastoral leadership in churches and
schools throughout Latin America and
the Caribbean, and they are currently
preparing to serve at Tyndale Theological
Seminary in the Netherlands. At Tyndale, David will have the opportunity to offer Christian theological
instruction to seminary students from all over the world, thereby contributing
to building up well-trained leaders for service within the global Church.
David recently completed his PhD at Wycliffe College and the University
of Toronto, and David and Mary Beth, along with their three children, are
currently U.S.-based as they seek Senders to walk alongside them in order
to fulfill their calling to the Netherlands and the nations.
Wesley and Ana Owens are pursuing a missionary call with SAMS and the Diocese of Singapore, where Wesley has been invited to serve as the Vicar of Christ Church Bangkok, in the Anglican Church of Thailand. The call to lead this parish integrates well with Wesley and Ana’s heart for building Christ-centered community with many different people, especially the lost, the lonely, and the hurting. They see amid the vendors, tourists, and temples of this capital city many opportunities for the church to engage people in this predominantly Buddhist culture, including the many young people and highly vulnerable ethnic refugees living there.
Originally from Virginia, Wesley’s love for young people was born out of being a student leader in campus ministry at UVA and deepened abroad as he served among campus missionaries in East Asia and at Oxford University. After serving at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Tallahassee, Florida, he pastored Incarnation Church in State College, Pennsylvania. Wesley is stepping down from his role as a SAMS Trustee to accept this role.
Similarly, Ana has served among students as a resident assistant in college as well as a campus minister alongside Wesley at State College through CCO, the Coalition for Christian Outreach. Ana looks forward to offering her gifts in the areas of young adult discipleship and refugee ministry at Christ Church Bangkok.
Please pray for this couple as they seek Senders and prepare for an expeditious move to Thailand in the early Fall.
If you scroll in and search a Google map of San Miguel de Allende, you’ll see a, “Capilla Sin Nombre” which is to say, “Chapel with No Name.” And I think if you were in a small town in Mexico, looking for a traditional Anglican priest, it would be a similar task. Who really knows we’re here? But about a year ago someone did look for an Anglican priest who could come and minister to a group of expats in a beautiful tourist town in Guanajuato, Mexico. They didn’t know where to start, so they contacted GAFCON offices in Africa, where their request was forwarded to ACNA offices in the U.S. and, after a series of hand-offs and holy serendipity, a business card was placed into our care. Matt and Rosy found us!
Considering we came to Mexico with a desire to minister to Mexicans, it was with some admitted reluctance on our part that we agreed, over the course of a Zoom call, to “come and see” what God might be doing with some expats in a little town four hours away. In the mean time, Rosy found the owner of the No-Name Chapel, Don Pablo, and talked him into renting his family’s historic chapel to the group for a Wednesday evening service.
A curious group of about twenty persons attended that first service in English. Among them, Don Pablo came with his sister and her husband. They were deeply moved to be worshiping in their family chapel, to the point that Don Pablo asked us to also offer a service in Spanish for his many employees. Oh yes! What joy!
Two weeks later we had an English service with about twelve, and a Spanish service with almost thirty! Every month since May, we have returned to celebrate the Eucharist and bring the Gospel to both beautiful groups.
But is it a “church” yet? It takes a lot of commitment from everyone to start a church. We knew we needed to have weekly Sunday services, but even the once-a-month rent for the chapel was more than the group could support. And where would we have Bible Study, or children’s church? San Miguel is expensive! How will God do this? Nonetheless, we saw that God had given Roger favor among both groups, and we love the community they are forming. But where, how, could things go forward? Was there no room at the Inns of San Miguel?
“God, what are you doing?” was our daily prayer while we continued the supply and support work, now working in three different states in Mexico every month.
By November we were perplexed and tired. We stepped back from all other services, thinking to get quiet. Instead, we decided to seek that quiet in San Miguel for a couple of weeks– long enough to really know the people involved. We needed clarity. We were exploring ways to overcome the practical hurdles and expenses of a full-time church, knowing it would change our lives radically to uproot from Aguascalientes, to serve in one place after seven years of circuit-riding.
While there, Roger arranged a meeting with Don Pablo, ready to negotiate the possibility of weekly rental of the chapel. That was the first hurdle for the group. But Don Pablo surprised him with the generous suggestion that the group should consider his family chapel their home. For free. Any days or times. Extra garden space for the kids. Whatever. Free.
We were stunned into a quiet ride back to our AirBnB, our hearts full of wonder. The next day we procured a rental contract on a little casa for us in San Miguel starting in January. The adventure begins!
We’re home now, downsizing for the move while staring at the higher cost of living, the cost of the interstate move, the unknowns, and—none of it matters! We see that God was already providing for what is obviously a church being born, by His will, in the fullness of time. We are merely His little donkey carrying the Light.
Like some anxious midwife, I immediately bought liturgical fabrics for the altar. Others had already stepped up and donated candlesticks, a podium, and a small sound system. My keyboard will now fill the little chapel with praise. Someone always brings flowers. Everyone brings something for the coffee/snack time between services so that expats and locals have time to meet each other. It’s beautiful to watch, and really, we had little to do with it except a plodding obedience. I think we got our answer: Yes. It’s a church!
For young adults opportunities abound to serve cross-culturally from one month to one year through the SAMS Missionary Bridger Program. CJ McDowell, a member of The Falls Church Anglican in Virginia, is one such example. Having graduated from Regent University with a degree in psychology, CJ had been wrestling with what the Lord was calling her to do next.
Even though she had spent time living abroad with her family growing up, the stories she had heard about missionaries didn’t seem to apply to her. Then last summer the Lord revealed to her that He is faithful to provide a way to go where He calls, and she felt Him saying, “go to the ends of the earth.” She spoke to church leaders, family, and friends while also taking two courses to learn more about missions.
The Lord connected her with Lucy Chaves, a SAMS Missionary working extensively in Kenya, and she realized a door was being opened. CJ will serve for a month in Kenya before returning to Regent University this Fall to pursue a master’s degree. In Kenya, she will be serving alongside the staff of Kenya Connection as they work to disciple youth and young adults, empowering them to impact their communities through supporting education, job skills, and entrepreneurship. With Lucy serving as her missionary mentor, CJ looks forward to learning how to serve in another culture and to build relationships with young Kenyans, walking alongside them as they grow to faithfully follow Jesus Christ.
Honestly, it can be lonely and difficult work, especially as grandparent parents and special needs parents of a 23-year-old son with Down Syndrome. Even in the United States, finding a babysitter willing to take on a 23-year-old is challenging. Being aware and honest with the kids through it all has been important. We have had the kids write about what they will miss and what they look forward to. It is not always what you expect. They know it’s ok to be sad as well as excited and often at the same time. We always try to tell them what to expect in unfamiliar situations, be it visiting a family in their one-room sheet metal home in a transitional housing area or a new church in the U.S. In a recent prayer letter, we discussed the use of paradox when equipping our children to deal with the many moves. In this letter we wrote, “We once owned a children’s picture book called That’s good! No, that’s bad. It told the humorous adventures of a boy who flies off from the zoo holding helium balloons. It highlighted the fact that you never know how things will turn out, and in fact, there are good and bad in many events. Many things are not good or bad, but at the same time. Seeing paradox helps us maintain our humor and thankfulness.”
Once the honeymoon fades, being a Missionary settling into a new field is not easy. This is especially true when one starts this journey after the struggles of getting to the field in the first place. In the end, one must continually call into question the idea of a “calling.” The question we’ve asked is, “To what has God called us? Africa, Namibia, Theological Education?” Maybe, maybe not.
The Gressers began in ministry in 1990 and since then have served short-term overseas in Uganda and Ethiopia and as SAMS Missionaries, first as Bridgers in 2018 and then full-time in Malawi in 2024-2025, before arriving in Namibia in 2026. The Gressers serve where the need is great, and Robert has a passion to serve as a theological educator where there is a lack of qualified teachers, not to replace local leaders, but to train national church leaders so they can in turn train other church leaders. He will be teaching at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary in Windhoek. Traci’s desire is to minister socially through hospitality and ministry of presence, encouraging and strengthening families to spread Kingdom change throughout the communities where they serve, as well as using her considerable skills as a mother of special needs children and as an RN. You can learn more about their ministry and sign up to receive their communications here.
Similarly, Ana has served among students as a resident assistant in college as well as a campus minister alongside Wesley at State College through CCO, the Coalition for Christian Outreach. Ana looks forward to offering her gifts in the areas of young adult discipleship and refugee ministry at Christ Church Bangkok.
