Samua was raised by an emotionally abusive single mother. Her mother claimed to be a Christian, and was frequently in and out of different churches throughout Samua’s life. Samua felt that many of these churches were unhealthy, hypocritical, and legalistic. Due to the example of Samua’s mom, along with the hypocrisy of these churches, Samua decided she didn’t want anything to do with God. So, she went to find fulfillment in her own way. By the time she was 20, Samua was the life of the party. Every night Samua would hang out in VIP sections of clubs with famous musicians and athletes. Yet, despite her life of glamour, she felt empty on the inside.
While in her 20’s, Samua met her husband. He had a similar story with church growing up and also decided to have nothing to do with God. He tried to fill his empty void with football. One year, Samua’s husband won a Super Bowl Championship with the New England Patriots. He dreamed his whole life of reaching this pinnacle of his career. Yet, as the winning field goal was kicked and the confetti was streaming down, his feeling of euphoria and accomplishment quickly wore off. While standing on that field he asked himself, “Is this it?” After that moment, both Samua and her husband knew they were not living a life of fulfillment. It was then that they both put their faith in God and started pursuing him whole-heartedly.
In the summer of 2008, Samua and her husband attended a church conference. While there, God opened their eyes to see the great need around them. God urged Samua and her husband to not only follow him, but also use their life and faith in a fulfilling way. Samua and her husband decided to give to an orphanage in Thailand. Not having the kind of finances one would expect from a nine-year career in the NFL, due to an expensive divorce of Samua’s husband, they decided to give what they did have. Samua and her husband chose to raffle off one of their Super Bowl rings to raise money for the Orphanage. Samua’s husband chose his first and most precious Super Bowl ring to be raffled, knowing God had called him to give up something great for his Kingdom. The ring ended up raising over $150,000 for the orphanage in Thailand, as well as feed many hungry people through Feed my Starving Children and local food banks.
