Moving Blogs

Edwin and I are keeping up with ministry at
http://frontlineministry.wordpress.com/.

We'll use that to update our ministry with Frontline, and are keeping up with personal life (and in the future, our ministry in the Philippines!) with http://samsonadventures.wordpress.com/.

Check it out!

We're World Teamers!

Edwin and I just got back from Philadelphia. We were there to be assessed and interviewed by World Team to go as World Team missionaries to the Philippines. We were accepted, and are SO EXCITED! We've got about 18 months to two years before we can leave (we have to raise support and such). It was such a great week of being together, uniting in our life purpose and marriage, going deeper into who we are psychologically and personality wise in Christ, participating in teamwork and leadership skills. We were under pressure, but always loved, and we're so grateful to join the World Team family!

...Another step in a beautiful life, the gift of a loving God.

MARRIED!

That's right! Change your address books! I'm Amy Samson now!
December 16, 2007 was a dream, and now I'm married to a dream come true!

33 days until I'm a married woman!

God is good.

No matter what I can say about life, I can say that.

I just got off the phone with my sister in Christ and bridesmaid, Tanya. It was so great to connect with her again after too long of not talking. She'll be out here with me in about a month celebrating my marriage. I can't wait! She is my link back to the WBS world that was heaven for me back in 2004 and 2005.

I've been having a constant battle with stress. Edwin had to remind me recently about having the right perspective on life. Working, doing a masters, and planning a wedding can be quite a task. Joy returned to me once I identified much of my oppressed feelings as attacks from the evil one. Knowing how to pray, I've been proclaiming peace and power in the name of Jesus!

So, the GOOD that God is doing that is SO good includes making it through the recent wildfires here in SoCal. We were one of the pockets of San Diego county that didn't get evacuated... meaning we were where a lot of evacuees came. It was a new natural disaster for this girl who has been through earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes. God was with us, and the more Edwin and I serve together the more excited we are about becoming one in marriage for the purpose of growing God's kingdom.

Our plans include a major life transition for both of us. We're going to join World Team in the spring (granted we pass assessment!) and go to the Philippines in the spring of 2009 to work with a church plant, specifically to battle prostitution and the like. We anticipate being there about 4 years. And we're both REALLY excited. We're thinking about getting our PhDs together at one of the universities there. We also want to work with college students at the many universities in the Manila area. The hope is that we can raise their awareness of the social injustices going on in their back yard, and develop in them leaders who will fight it once we leave.

Since this is our plan, I'll be transitioning out of DCPI in the early spring, so that we can focus completely on our current outreach ministries here in Oceanside while raising support to go to the Philippines. We're really looking forward to having more time to work together. So far, we make a good team.

We're looking forward to our graduation from our masters programs next year, I from Azusa Pacific University in May and he from Fuller in early fall. We're both mastering in Theology.

There's the update that Tanya prompted me to post (thanks, Tanya!).

updates and life changes

This amazing God I serve has blessed me so abundantly!

Here's an update in pictures:


I found the love of my life in February. He is Edwin Samson.








In April I went with my Del Oro Hills Church family to Mexico for a spring break mission trip to El Milagro (the Miracle) orphanage in Ensenada.





In June Del Oro Hills had VBS. It was great fun, and more than 20 children gave their lives to the Lord!








Also in June, I organized and led DCPI's Church Planting Essentials training. We had a great time of vision-sharing and planning with leaders from New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, California, Arizona, Central Africa Republic, and Kenya!





In July I got to train leaders in the Philippines. I was there with a team from Edwin's church, New Song.







Here we are in front of a volcano in Bicol.








We also made it to Bangkok, Thailand, where we battled the spiritual strongholds of idolatry and atheism.







On July 28, Edwin asked me marry him! We'll get married December 16 of this year.







On August 17 I became the proud aunt of a niece!
Macy Rebecca Loy was born to Jeremy and Sarah Loy, and her big brother, Will.



The next few months promise more busy-ness...
-continued administrative work for DCPI, where God is expanding the ministry to train more and more leaders in more and more nations!
-an upcoming house church planting conference
-research on discipleship
-planning a DCPI event for December
-and planning a wedding!

Vision to Reach the Globe_____

God is doing great things in the DCPI leadership! In February we had 7 leaders from around the world come together to plan and prepare for training events in 2007. During our planning time we set event dates, discussed budgets and communication, and solidified the leadership structure that is designed to MULTIPLY CHURCH PLANTING LEADERS!

At DCPI, the vision is always one of multiplication: How do we reach lost souls? We plant churches, where evangelism efforts are multiplied! What are the most effective churches? Those that plant other churches (multiply)! How do we get church planting leaders? We train them! How do we get the most church planting leaders for our effort? We multiply our efforts through training leaders to train others to plant churches!

DCPI is developing and multiplying church planting leaders in networks all over the world. It is a big job, but the harvest is plentiful. Please pray for God to multiply our efforts.

Pray for DCPI’s leaders who are in charge of church planting efforts:

-Rev. Emmanuel Donkoh, DCPI Africa Director (Ghana, Africa)

-Bishop Dr. Francis Kamau, East and South Africa Regional Coordinator (Kenya, Africa)

-Rev. Gabriel Kisanga, Francophone Regional Coordinator (DR Congo, Afirca)

-Rev. Christophe Dewanou, Francophone West Africa Regional Coordinator (Benin, Africa)

-Rev. Dr. Jayakumar, Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator (India)

-Rev. Wilmer Pena, Latin America World Zone Director (Oceanside, CA)

-Rev. Ricardo Puerta, working with Spanish-speaking North Americans (Phoenix, AZ)

The NATIONS DCPI is trying to reach in 2007 (new areas for DCPI training):

Africa World Zone:

Gambia
Burkina Faso
Uganda
Zimbabwe
South Africa

Asia World Zone:

Bangladesh
Bhutan
Nepal
Cambodia
Laos
Vietnam
Indonesia

Latin America World Zone:

Colombia
Guatemala
Bolivia

New World Zone:

Portugal
Russia

India

The last time I wrote, I was on my way to India, then still only an idea in my mind. (Thanks for your prayers!) Today, I am able to tell you I have been in one of the largest cities in the world (Mumbai, aka Bombay, has 20 million people!). While in India, every city I was in had at least 5 million people. It is, after all, a nation of 1.3 billion people.

What was it like?

I cannot begin to answer this question. India was for me a buzz of people, all going somewhere. Imagine semi-ordered chaos, and you understand the roads. Imagine self-sacrificing friendliness, and you have the people. Imagine a two week feast of different flavors (and colors!) every day, and you have the food.

What did you do?
While in India, I of course got to train DCPI material. It was a joy to be able to share with my brothers and sisters what DCPI teaches about church planting. Because it is based on biblical principles, and not a method, it crosses cultural boundaries. Truly, there is no experience like sharing in the Body of Christ with people whose culture I will never fully understand, but whose life in Christ I share.

(The picture to the right is of a Summit meeting, in which the 50 newly DCPI-trained church planters gathered to share church planting vision and strategy.)

What do the leaders there face?

Christians in India face trials many of us could never imagine. Because of the influence of the caste system (mainly in rural areas), those who convert to Christianity are treated as a bottom caste. Essentially, they become nothing in the eyes of rural society. One pastor told of a new well having to be dug for the Christians of a village because the Hindus wouldn’t let them drink from their well.

What is the result of training there?

In 10 trainings held in 2006, 288 leaders have been trained, and 68 certified. One leader has a vision to lead in the planting of 500 churches by 2010! This is so exciting! According to Rev. Dr. Jayakumar, DCPI Asia Director, India needs 130,000 dynamic church-planting churches to reach the 1.3 billion people. In a nation where a political Hindu family has committed to build one Hindu temple for every 1000 people, more churches are definitely needed! Please pray for India!

Your prayer and support is making a difference in the world for Christ!

TRAFFIC! These yellow vehicles are called auto rickshaws.

While in India I got to spend time with my dearest friend, Mandi.