Corinna United Methodist Church

16 Dexter Road
P.O. Box 418
Corinna, Maine 04928
Church Office: 207-278-5000㗒 Parsonage: 207-278-3251
e-mail cumc@tdstelme.net

Meet Our Pastor

Pastor Grace Mazhandu Samai
Grace Samai is the oldest daughter of the late Reverend and late Mrs. Kerzia Mazhandu of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. Situated in the middle of five siblings, she has two older brothers and two younger sisters. Grace is mother of tow sets of twins, 27-year old daughters and 24 year old sons, and is grand parent to two beautiful girls, 3 and 1 respectively. Her husband, reverend Joseph Samai serves 10 minutes away, at Peoples United Methodist Church in Newport.

Grace was appointed to serve at Corinna UMC on August 1, 2008. This is her second pastorate position in Northern Maine District. Her first, was an intern position at Faith UMC in the Down East Maine, where she served for twelve months while fulfilling course work requirements for PhD Religious Education at the Claremont School of Theology in California. She began Candidacy for ordination into Elder Orders in the Long Beach District of the California Pacific Conference in 2003, and transferred to New England in 2006 to be closer to her family. Prior to going to California, she volunteered in ministries at both Cascade and Fort Street United Methodist Churches in Atlanta while attending Gammon Theological Seminary where she graduated with Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education.

While these academic detail may be of important value to anyone seeking to know Grace, she wants to be known as a child of God, first and foremost. Grace accepted her call to ministry in 1990, while serving as a Provincial Nutritionist in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare in Zimbabwe. Soon after her pastor and congregation acknowledged her call, she was invited to serve as part-time Local Pastor in the Zimbabwe Annual Conference before finding her way to Seminary in the United States in 1997.

Her passion is to see people accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Grace is a preacher/teacher who seeks to ground people in sound understanding of the will of God and purpose for their life. She would like those she touches to make serious commitments to transform into the Christ-likeness nature that permeates heart, soul and mind. Grace is also mission oriented and cares much about hose in need in both the local and global communities. She is the Founder and Director of WE C.A.R.E. Village for HIV/AIDS Orphans in Zimbabwe. She believes this project is just the beginning of work that others with a passion for the needy can join to touch the ends of the world, as mandated by our Lord Jesus.

Grace spends a lot of time in prayer for others, and believes in the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives. She constantly sees God at work in her own life, and loves to share her faith journey with people seeking a deeper experience with God so they may be encouraged.

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