MISSIONARIES
Click on the dates below to read updates from the Savutos.
Mark you calendars - the Savutos will be at SUMC the evening of Sunday, October 25, 2009 to speak of their ministry in Africa. Click here for some advance information.
Jerri Savuto is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, and with her husband Bill, serves at Maua Methodist Hospital, Maua, Kenya.
The Savutos previously served at Maua from 1998-2003 where Jerri was a tutor in the hospital RN program. Her responsibilities included teaching nursing students in the areas of anatomy, physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, medical and surgical nursing, pediatrics, and community heatlh.
In May of 2003, Jerri and Bill returned to the US to begin work as the Interim Regional Executives for Sub-Sahara Africa with the General Board of Global Ministries in New York City. February 1, 2004 they moved to the Dallas, TX area to begin their new jobs as Missionary Interpreters in Residence for the South Central Jurisdiction of the UMC. After serving in the US and overseas as well as their work with GBGM in New York, they know how important it is for United Methodist congregations to support missionaries and Advance Projects, the areas Jerri and Bill worked with in annual conferences, districts, and local churches.
Of her assignment as a nursing instructor in Kenya, Jerri says, "RN's are desperately needed throughout Kenya. I was able to train students to care for the health needs of the Kenyan people throughout the country while witnessing to the love of Jesus Christ."
Jerri, along with Bill, previously served as GBGM missionaries from 1982-1989. From 1982-1985 they served in Belize City, Belize in Central America where she established and directed the natinal breast feeding organization "Breast is Best League", and under Jerri's direction, breast feding increased from 18% to 52%. From 1986-1989 they served in Jos, Nigeria where she served as an assistant to Bill as well as doing school and rural health nursing.
A native of Santa Fe, NM, Jerri earned a BS degree in nursing from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX in 1968. From 1973-74, Jerri was campus nurse at the Navajo Methodist Mission School in Farmington, NM where she also taught health courses. She was commissioned as a GBGM missionary in 1982.
Jerri and Bill are the parents of one adult daughter, Corrie Lyn, and the grandparents of Lily and Ethan. The Savutos are members of Plymouth Park UMC in Irving, Texas.
This partnership is much more than a financial commitment. It is a dynamic relationship where the church and missionary pray for one another and communicate regularly. By deepening its own awareness of the struggles and triumphs of the missionary, the congregation participates in a work that is truly connectional.
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