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Answering the Call to Missions: Part 3
Amanda ’98 and Jeremy ’97 Ross
God knew what he was doing when he brought two mission-minded individuals together at Covenant on a trip to the Czech Republic. After graduating from Covenant, Jeremy and Amanda began dating. Jeremy was in St. Louis, MO studying at Covenant Theological Seminary and Amanda worked at Pinelands Presbyterian Church in Miami, FL as a children’s ministry director. In 2000, Amanda earned her Masters of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Columbia International University. Once Jeremy finished seminary, they began raising support to go to Peru with MTW.
Amanda first felt called to missions when she was 14 years old after visiting her aunt and uncle who were missionaries in Indonesia. With a love for missions and a desire to work with children, she chose to attend Covenant and major in elementary education. For Jeremy, the call to missions happened a little later. He felt called into missions after spending a summer with MTW in Ukraine.
For 17 years, Amanda and Jeremy worked with MTW in Peru. For the first couple of years, they worked in Lima to plant a church, and in the process, they started a home for teenage girls who were abused, abandoned, and often young mothers. Amanda enjoyed working with the girls by loving them and their kids as well as sharing the gospel and telling them about God’s love. In Arequipa, Peru they started another church plant with a pastor and his wife. They hosted an after school program that provided meals and tutoring. Classes about parenting techniques were also available to parents. Additionally, the church hosted several Bible studies, but capacity was limited due to space. Amanda remarked that it was a testimony of God’s faithfulness when he provided the funds for the new roof to their building. With the roof, they now had more space to expand their programs.
Jeremy and Amanda live in the states now and work with Pioneers. Jeremy is a member of the Development Team that cares for missionaries on the field. He spends time supporting and helping them through the struggles or problems they might be facing. Amanda works with the missionary kids in a program that seeks to help children transition out of the mission field or prepare them to go with their family onto the mission field.
Both Amanda and Jeremy have seen how what they learned at Covenant has been helpful to them in their journey as missionaries and they are excited to see what God has in store for them next.