OCMC's SAMP Program: 20 Years of Making a Difference
Friday, June 16, 2006
NEWS FROM THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MISSION CENTER (OCMC)
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OCMC's SAMP Program: 20 Years of Making a Difference
June 16, 2005
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), St. Augustine, FL-Twenty
years ago, the Orthodox Christian Mission Center’s Board of Directors
had an idea to support indigenous Orthodox priests in extremely poor
areas around the world with funding from parishes and individuals in
the United States. In 1985, one of the founders of the SAMP program
stated “Our goal is to find enough sponsors each year so that we can
offer this minimal help to indigenous Orthodox priests.” With that, the
OCMC’s Support A Mission Priest (SAMP) program was born.
[IMAGE]Together we can make a difference in supporting newly ordained
clergy who are spreading the Gospel in harsh conditions in 20 countries
around the world through OCMC's SAMP program.
SAMP still holds the same ultimate goal that it has had for the last
twenty years; to alleviate the financial stress that priests face when
dedicating themselves completely to ministry, especially in regions
where poverty is rampant. For example, in most SAMP countries the
average life span is fifty years old, due to poverty and disease. Add to
these struggles the fact that many SAMP priests serve an average of
four parishes, which usually means days of traveling from parish to
parish by bicycle, bus or on foot. The ministries of these dedicated
men would be severely limited if they had to have another full-time job
in order to financially support their families.
Over the last ten years, the number of Orthodox Christians around the
world has grown and the need for trained clergy is increasing. New
dioceses and metropolitinates have been established in Africa, South
East Asia and Latin America. The Mission Center has received requests
from the hierarchs to add over 80 more clergy to the program and to help
ease the financial burden of these growing communities. With the same
vision that its founding members had, the program is expanding into
another region of the world, Latin America; and adding new countries
in Africa. OCMC is ready to meet the challenge!
For twenty years individuals and communities in the United States have
participated in the spreading of the peace and joy of knowing Christ,
through the SAMP program. SAMP priests know the blessing of receiving
financial support, a symbol of solidarity, love and concern, from their
brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world.
It is with great anticipation that the SAMP program enters its third
decade. Each Orthodox Christian in North America has the opportunity to
impact lives by becoming a SAMP pledger and sponsoring a priest in
mission lands. For more information on OCMC’s SAMP program, please
contact Presbytera Renee Ritsi, SAMP Coordinator, at 1-877-GO-FORTH
(463-6784) or samp@ocmc.org and visit www.ocmc.org/samp.php.
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The Orthodox Christian Mission Center: Helping Orthodox Christians
respond to Christ's call to preach, teach, baptize, minister to the
poor and make disciples of all nations as the official international
mission agency of SCOBA.
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