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Support a Mission Priest Program

papa-A.jpgMission priests around our world offer themselves as vessels of the Holy Spirit and carry the Lord’s life-saving message to individuals that are just being introduced to His Word.  Many on foot or on bike, indigenous mission priests touch thousands of newly-illumined and soon-to-be-illumined lives with their ministries.

 

For over twenty years, the Support a Mission Priest (SAMP) Program has had a vital role in helping spread the truth of the Gospel around the world.  With SAMP assistance, an indigenous priest is able to focus on his ministry and not worry about taking up a second trade to support his family.  However, SAMP has come to mean more than just financial assistance.  It is a sign of Orthodox solidarity; priests throughout the world know that Orthodox individuals in North America are beside them in their ministry. 

 

 

What is SAMP?

IMG_01980.jpgSAMP is short for Support A Mission Priest. This program of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center offers monthly financial assistance to indigenous priests in extremely poor areas around the world where their parishes can not financially support them. Through SAMP donations a priest is able to apply himself fully to the needs of his parish.  Likewise, Hierarchs are able to ordain more clergy to meet the growing needs of their flock, thus reaching more people and more parishes.

Funds for SAMP are sent to the Mission Center from individuals and groups in the United States and Canada. Donations of $600 annually will support a priest, deacon or catechist for a year in most countries. A photograph and biography is sent to those who make a full pledge.

 

 Who are SAMP Priests?

FrFokas.jpgSAMP currently supports 318 clergy in 18 countries. SAMP priests follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, spreading the message of Christ’s love to poverty-stricken areas of the world where people hunger for the peace and truth of the Orthodox Faith. Many priests are responsible for several communities as the Church is growing quicker than clergy can be trained. Since buses are very costly, travel among the communities is accomplished mainly by foot or bicycle. It is an arduous life; one dedicated to the effort to share the Good News of Christ. Your donation to the SAMP Program will provide the basic needs of the recipients and their families as they nurture the growing number of Orthodox communities in these poorer areas of the world.


Where is SAMP?

The countries of Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe are presently receiving SAMP assistance on a monthly basis.

                                  


How Do I Get Involved?

You can join these mission priests in taking His Word to all of the world by earmarking a donation to the Support A Mission Priest Program of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. Your donation will be forwarded to one of the 18 countries OCMC is serving through the SAMP Program. Families, individuals, and Church groups are encouraged to commit to a donation which will support a priest and his family for an entire year by pledging $600. Partial-year donations are gratefully appreciated as well. Those who choose to make a $600 commitment may make donations on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. Those who support a priest for a full year will receive a glossy picture and biography of the priest and his family which includes information about his calling to the Orthodox faith and the status of Orthodoxy in his country.

Likewise, we invite you to consider hosting a SAMP Circle in your home.  As a host you would invite 6-8 friends to your home for a couple of hours and the SAMP Program Coordinator would come to share information about the SAMP Program and share stories from the mission fields.  The goal of the afternoon would be to excite these friends about the ministries of mission priests in the same way that the program excites you and to encourage them to become SAMP donors themselves. 

 

Make a prayerful commitment to SAMP and participate in bringing the Gospel to far-away countries where people still hunger and thirst to hear the Good News.  If you are interested in becoming a SAMP donor, or would like  to host/coordinate a SAMP Circle for your parish community, please drop us a line at 877-GO-FORTH or at samp@ocmc.org.

 

 


page last updated 03.17.2008
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