received Jesus as her Savior, and her life was forever changed.
During what turned out to be her final year at Coca-Cola— though she didn’ t know it yet— the company underwent three reorganizations.“ After one team call, we learned our supervisor was leaving, and we’ d all have to reapply for our jobs.” A framed picture of Jesus calming the storm hung in Sam’ s office.“ It was always my reminder that when I felt overwhelmed by my workload, priorities, sales quotas, or office politics, I could look at that picture and remember that Jesus was in control.”
That day, she heard it clearly in her heart: You are done here.“ It wasn’ t an audible voice, but I had no doubt it was God,” Sam says.
Ron Collins from OMS invited her to lunch to discuss the Mission further after an OMS donor event.“ I wasn’ t sure I belonged at OMS,” Sam admits.“ My idea of a missionary was a woman with big hair, a long skirt, and a guitar. That was not me.”
But later, over dinner with OMS missionaries John-Mark and Susan Brabon, something shifted. Susan shared her heart for women in Mexico— for those trapped in prostitution, for children suffering abuse, for the violence she saw every day. Susan dreamed of women in the U. S. praying for them.
“ I thought, well, I can do that,” Sam says.“ But I still argued with God. I told him,‘ I don’ t sing, dance, or play an instrument. I’ m not a doctor, nurse, or preacher. Why me? I just sell sugar water.’”
Now, years later, Sam directs OMS’ Dynamic Women in Missions ministry, leading women across Africa, Latin America, and beyond to discover their worth in Christ. Through Seed Sower and other discipleship trainings, evangelistic and medical outreaches, and women’ s conferences, she helps ignite a movement of women transforming their families and communities with the hope of Christ.
Her mission is personal. As a widow and a mother who lost her only son 25 years ago, she knows both heartbreak and healing.“ Through it all, I’ ve tried to hold fast to my faith,” she says.“ Now, as a grandmother and great-grandmother, I just want to live with joy and remind others it’ s never too late to say yes to God.”
photos, pages 10-11: As the director of OMS’
Dynamic Women in Missions, Sam travels the world to equip and empower women to connect and minister to other women.
11