Sam and Denae | Alaska Village Missions

Missionaries

Sam and Denae Gandy

Sam and Denae Gandy have been serving with Alaska Village Missions since 2009. Sam is the Director of Village Church Planting, and he also instructs part-time at Alaska Bible Institute. Denae loves helping out wherever she can and is involved with student missions, graphic design and communications. The Gandys often enjoy trips to the villages to connect with the people, and our missionaries. During Alaska’s long summers, you will often find them conducting Vacation Bible Schools in the villages of remote Alaska.

Sam holds a bachelors degree in Business from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Diploma of Mission Aviation from the Melbourne Institute of Theology. Denae studied at North Carolina State University and earned a Bachelors of Science in Horticulture. Sam was born in Charleston, West Virginia and Denae hails from Biloxi, Mississippi. Both of them grew up in Mooresville, North Carolina and they are now residents of Homer, Alaska.

You won’t have to talk to Sam and Denae for long, before you realize that they have a passion for missions. It is their desire that the life changing message of the Gospel reach the most remote parts of Alaska. After getting married, Sam and Denae packed up their belongings and moved to Alaska to attend ABI. As a young couple, they were refreshed and challenged by their time at Alaska Bible Institute. It was during this time, that they first felt a call to full-time missions work, but it would be 10 years until they reached what would be their full-time place of service. After working as a builder and residential developer for several years, Sam felt a strong pull to missions, especially mission aviation. It was also during this time that the Lord was working on Denae’s heart and she to began to think more about full-time missions work. After the Lord lead by opening and closing doors, the Gandys found themselves in Melbourne, Australia completing a three-year program in Mission Aviation at the Bible College of Victoria (now Melbourne Institute of Theology). After these wonderful years of training, they were able to go to Papua New Guinea and serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators in their mission aviation department through a one year internship. Once the intership was over, their family moved back to North Carolina to seek the Lord for the next step. During this time of seeking, it was clear to them that they were being called back to Alaska and more specifically to the work of AVM. And as they say, the rest is history. The Gandy’s moved to Homer in June of 2010, built a house and began to settle into their new life. Alaska is an exciting place to serve the Lord, there are plenty of opportunities for ministry and it is awesome to be able to reach the unreached in such beautiful surroundings. The Gandy’s enjoy working with AVM and being a part of a growing and expanding ministry!

At home, the Gandy’s are a homeschooling family. Denae enjoys teaching their boys and being heavily involved in their lives. Sam also enjoys taking part in homeschooling as time allows. In their spare time, the Gandy’s like to have fun, Alaska style. They enjoy winter activities such as snowshoeing, sledding, traveling and sitting close to a warm fireplace. In the summer, you might find them on a nature walk, fishing in the bay or at nearby lakes, and camping. Long Alaskan summers allow for plenty of time to enjoy God’s wonderful creation – the outdoors. Not to mention, Homer is the halibut fishing capital of the world!

The Gandy’s are full-time missionaries with AVM. They depend on churches and others to partner with them as they serve in Alaska. If you would like to be added to the Gandy’s prayer team or support them financially, please contact them. Also, they send out quarterly newsletters and other updates about their ministry in Alaska. Be sure to let them know if you want to be added to their mailing list.

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