Houlton United Methodist Church says farewell to Pastor Naomi

After eight years at the Houlton United Methodist Church, Rev. Naomi Sam-Kpakra will say farewell to Houlton in June. She answered the call to ministry in Sierra Leone, West Africa, was ordained in 1988, and served there for seven years. Pastor Naomi served in Danielson, Conn. for four years before coming to HUMC.
    Pastor Naomi recalled highlights of her time in Houlton. “Getting to know and being a part of lives within and beyond our own faith community has been my greatest blessing! Northern Maine is remote from my former home in New Jersey, yet has a feeling of home for me,” she said.
“I celebrate the heart of this town which reaches out and supports its own through local events and benefit suppers for persons in need! I have been blessed and refreshed by this praying community through ecumenical Lenten services hosted by the Southern Aroostook Ministerial Association (SAMA), the World Day and National Day of Prayer gatherings, and a time of early morning prayer with the Greater Houlton Christian Academy staff and student body,” she added.
Pastor Naomi’s first outdoor worship service was with HUMC on a summer Sunday. The church members gladly included members of other churches for an ecumenical worship experience. Children, some teenagers, received Gideon New Testaments and grew in their faith. “Their testimonies will long remain with me,” she said.
Pastor Naomi is pleased to have been one of the founders of Celebrate Recovery, a recovery support group for scores of young adults affected directly or indirectly by substance abuse, and that HUMC could offer CR a home in its fledgling years. Now hosted at Military Baptist Church, CR continues to grow.
“It has been an honor to walk alongside the bereaved through the annual Compassionate Friends tree lighting at Cary Medical Center, to serve as a reader for the children at Cary Library, to conduct Bible studies at Madigan Estates, to offer service time for the Hope and Justice Project (formerly the Battered Women’s Project), and to just be present for those in need,” she said. Some ministries and agencies I was delighted to encourage and/or participate in were Head Start – Presque Isle, Brave Heart – Island Falls, Adopt-A-Block, St. Mary’s “Life in the Spirit” retreats, Empowering Life, S.W.A.M. (Signs, Wonders, and Miracles), Backpacks for Kids, and the Cancer Prayer and Support Team.”
Future plans do not include pasturing, yet ministering the gospel of Christ is foremost in Pastor Naomi’s heart. No longer a 12-hour drive away, she will minister first to her family, which includes six children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, five grandchildren, four siblings, aging parents and a host of nieces and nephews, even as her ears and heart stay attuned to where and what God would have her go or do next.
Administrative Board Chairman Jim Blois said, “After reflecting on what she has quietly done in her ministry, I have come to the correct conclusion that Pastor Naomi’s life has been and continues to be all about her love of God and her service to his children. God blessed us with her presence, and she will be greatly missed.”
Pastor Naomi will share her closing message at HUMC at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 3. Everyone is welcome to attend. The church is located on the corner of Military and School streets.