Chris Martineau, a retired teacher and school Principal, spent three weeks serving as a substitute teacher for SAM Academy. His desire to use the skills he developed throughout his career to continue serving the Lord in retirement was a blessing to our ministry! Below he shares some reflections on his time in Peru.
Before He was lifted up to heaven, Jesus tells His disciples, “…and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
A few years later, the Apostle Peter tells his many readers from all over the Mediterranean, “… you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:5). These two verses joined together give me a picture of what I experienced during my little stay in Peru.
The Amazon certainly qualifies as a “remote part of the earth.” While there, I met many of Christ’s disciples, young and old, with a variety of nationalities and backgrounds, each fitting together like carved stones God has assembled to make a spiritual house of worship in the Amazon. While each stone may have stamped on it a different country, they all display our Creator’s signature!
My role in SAM Academy during my short time in Peru was to be a middle school substitute teacher of English and Bible. SAM Academy serves a small yet tightly knit community of believers, all of whom take the God of the Bible quite seriously, otherwise they likely would not have come here! It feels like a large family. The older high school kids mix well with even the littlest ones each day. At noon they all gather for lunch in the multipurpose building called the Commodor where I can hear Spanish, English and German. The number of children, from first through twelfth grade, totals approximately 35.
Even though SAM Academy is owned and operated by South America Mission, it serves the families of several nearby Christian missions. It is one more “living stone” God is using to strengthen His Church in the Amazon, allowing missionary parents to faithfully serve while their children are loved, taught, and encouraged.
I would gladly return here if a similar need arises at SAM Academy. It would be a joy to once again support those “beautiful feet” bringing the Good News to the ends of the earth!
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