From Selling Sugar Water to Sowing Seeds of Faith
Some people may never feel a specific call to mission work; they just join. That was the case for Sam Downey, who worked for Coca-Cola Enterprises for five years, Nestlé before that, and earlier as an office manager for a large hotel construction company.
“ I’ m actually the exception,” she says.“ I didn’ t hear a call to missions. It was more like God said,‘ Take a leap of faith.’”
Raised in the Catholic Church, Sam became what she calls a“ holiday Catholic.” She knew the Gospel, but she didn’ t understand that Jesus wanted a personal relationship with her.“ I’ ll never forget a high school friend once joked that we’ d be‘ rocking in our chairs in hell,’” she recalls.“ I knew enough to realize that wasn’ t funny, and it wasn’ t where I wanted to spend eternity.”
Years later, after her marriage ended, she realized something needed to change. She reached out to a church and spoke with a pastor. He asked her a question that pierced her heart:“ Sam, if you died today, do you know where you would spend eternity?”
She knew the answer, and it wasn’ t good news. But when the pastor explained the free gift of salvation, it felt as though a hundred pounds had been lifted from her shoulders. That day, Sam
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