McKinney, Amanda

Amanda educates, serves, disciples, and ministers to Deaf and hard-of-hearing youth in Pucallpa, Peru, using her knowledge of Sign Language and passion for seeing the deaf community know Jesus.

The Lord called Amanda to the mission field to serve the deaf in 2012. Before moving to Peru, she worked as a sign language interpreter in the DC metro area for over eight years.  She first journeyed to Pucallpa, Peru, in the summer of 2014, where she connected with the Peruvian association Refugio de Esperanza (The Refuge of Hope), which ministers to individuals with disabilities. In 2016 Amanda moved to Pucallpa to serve full-time with Refugio de Esperanza.

Amanda became part of the SAM network in Pucallpa within her first months there but transitioned formally into SAM’s community and leadership in 2020. Her heart to serve others, specifically to support those marginalized or under-supported due to disability, blesses the Pucallpa team and is a beautiful extension of the church’s role of redemption in the city.

You can follow her journey at www.handsofpraiseperu.com.