Questions ~ Questions ~ Questions
We get tons of questions about our ministry. Here are just a few of them.
How did you two meet?
We met “by coincidence” (yeah, right!) at our sending parish, the Anglican Church of the Resurrection (San Marcos). We were both in serious times of growth: David transitioned from being a seminarian to being a priest, to being a missionary, while Mary Beth graduated from high school, started university, and then became the church accompanist.
Over the years we went from being pastor-and-parishioner to long-distance-friends, then to people-who-don’t-like-each-other-very-much, then to more-than-friends-despite-the-distance, and now we’re married. We thought the whole thing was kind of strange and unexpected, but apparently everyone else saw it coming.
Can we come as a mission team to work with you?
Umm, probably! We love to have mission teams come down and work with our people, but we’re reluctant to have teams work instead of our people, or even worse, above our people. A great way for us to work together to plan truly collaborative relationships with you is for your short-term team involved with SAMS-USA.
How are things going for you health-wise?
We do have some health issues going on for both of us. David has been gluten-free now for seven years, due to his celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. Mary Beth on the other hand was finally given a diagnosis in December 2015 that helped explain why she has been experiencing severe pain over the last few years, such as constant migraine headaches and acute pain in her abdomen. As a result, she was on a strict six-month low-residue diet for the first years of our marriage. Now she only needs to be careful to eat gluten-free like David.
God is blessing us, but if we can’t eat things that everyone else can, now you know why!
I dislike giving online. Can I just send a check?
Yup, that’s super easy too! To make a donation by check, please make the check out to “SAMS” with “David Alenskis” on the memo line. Please mail the check to:
SAMS-USA
P.O. Box 399
Ambridge, PA 15003
How much of my donation gets to you?
At least 85% of every donation to us goes into our “ministry account” managed by our sending agency SAMS-USA. In addition to the society’s overhead and staff salaries, the remaining 15% also contributes to the missionary care fund which helps pay for ongoing missionary training and professional development, missionary retreats and refreshment, and other benefits. They really take great care of us and the other missionaries!
That 85% of your gift then helps to fund, not only our salaries and benefits (medical insurance, retirement funds, etc.), but it also pays our practical ministry costs on the ground in Belize. We are so grateful for the sacrificial giving of our supporters: we could not do any of it without you!
