

History of Samaritana ​
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Samaritana Gambia has just celebrated ten years in the Gambia! Humble beginnings….
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It first started with a nudge from God. In 2008, we (Paddy and Trusella) had some weeks
between studies and wanted to give back and do something more than sitting around and enjoying life, as
they say. We were compelled to serve. We connected with a mission organization, and they asked us to
come to the Philippines for a short time. We served in the Philippines with Samaritana Transformation
Ministry and FilSIM (Filipinos Serving In Missions in Muslim gehettos)) for six weeks.
At times, we had dual roles. Paddy would serve with SIM workers, working with groups going into
the Muslim ghettos and we would serve together with the youth in the Anglican Church. However,
Trusella’s main passion was working with Samaritana Transformation Ministries, once a week, visiting
women in the Bars with the Team, visiting women coming out of prostitution and doing training with
women at the Samaritana Transformation Center.
After they observed us, they asked us to come back to help again. We then put our studies on
hold. Trusella mainly served with Samaritana Transformation Ministries while Paddy mainly served
with the FilSIMers and the youth in the Anglican Diocese of Manila from 2009-2011.
When we returned to New Zealand in 2011 we soon received an invitation from the Anglican
Bishop of The Gambia and Senegal to come and serve over the studies holidays just as with the initial
visit to the Philippines. We went and served in the church (Paddy) and Trusella served in Youth for Christ
Gambia for six weeks. During that time, Trusella would ask Paddy to go with her to Senegambia. Often, I
(Trusella) went on the strip to talk with many women in the bars, as Paddy stayed in my shadow. I
befriended many of them.
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We returned to New Zealand around early 2012 to complete studies. Could it be that God was
impressing on our hearts to begin such a journey? West Africa is challenging! We got online looking for
signs of any organizations of any nature reaching out to women and children in prostitution. There was
none. However, in 2013 God spoke separately to both of us saying “West Africa”. Trusella completed her
law degree and was admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 2014. We then set our sights to our new home,
The Gambia. We were so inspired and believed that Jesus wanted us to take that same spirit such as in
Samaritana Transformational Ministry, their icon, the woman at the well (John 4), being thirsty and
looking for hope, and to bring that same kind of hope to women of West Africa. Samaritana Gambia was
about to be birth.
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From 2014-2015, Trusella continued to go into the bars and the strip and befriended close to 15-
20 women. From that group, we started meeting three times a week at a local church and were making
recyclable plastic bags. Everyone would go and bring in as many thrown away plastic bags (sold as
bagged drinking water). We taught the women how to hand-sew them and insert a zipper. Each bag they
made, they were given a certain amount of money. Then we were told that YFC/USA were granting funds
to communities who were working with marginalized people and that I (Trusella) should apply. Trusella
submitted her application under YFC Gambia and was granted a certain amount of funds to build a café.
Trusella led the building of this Café in the center of the Senegambia tourist strip area. We called it
Shalom Café. The goal was to have Shalom be a place where the women could use as their own Center
and enable them to learn different skills and learn how to serve as staff in the Café.
As we know things evolve. We started growing and other challenges came our way. Somewhere
along this time, in 2017, we registered as a charity with The Gambia Government. We then felt that we
needed to start reaching out to younger girls in the schools, and communities. Moving in that direction to
advocate for those being sexually abused was what we trusted God wanted us to do. Connecting with
government officials to collaborate with them was a main key. From 2017-2018, we received from God
our first Intern, Blessing, (a Nigerian living in The Gambia) who also had a passion to reach out to girls in
schools and advocate. After meeting her, we met Marian Faye.
At that time, we had a women’s garden and needed help. Marian came and helped us there. We
then realized that she could also go with the new Intern into schools. Marian was shy and we had to
almost physically push her out the gate with Blessing, the Nigerian Intern to do school presentations
We trained Marian up and off she went into the schools with the Intern. Then we also started
making recyclable sanitary kits. We sold those sanitary kits to the public and students. In a short time of
18 months, it was obvious to us that Marian was anointed and appointed by God to lead the Gambian
team which at that time was numbering six team workers. Within about a year after that we asked Marian
to be the Country Director of Samaritana Gambia.
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In 2019 Samaritana Gambia was able to purchase its own building in Bakau, which is right next
to the Atlantic Ocean. We were looking to buy a place of our own because God gave us a clear vision for
a Shelter, a guest house and a Library. At that time, we were working with some young victims who we
would continue to meet and who needed a safe place to be as they waited for their court cases to be
heard and/or to find a safe place to live after being sexually abused. We were able to meet with victims
weekly and do activities and created space for us to share, play, sing and pray together. We
currently care for many sex-trafficking victims, helping them to be repatriated to their home of origin.
After reviewing the TIP in 2020 (Trafficking In Person, a USA State Department Global Report on
every single country in the world) the need to advocate for sexually abused victims along the West coast
of Africa, Liberia “screamed” out to us.
We were compelled to go to Liberia to start the same kind of ministry right in the middle COVID-
19. We went and connected with YFC Liberia in December 2020 and from there, we met many young
women. These young women clapped with joy that there might for the first time ever be a Christian safe
house for rape victims. From this crowd of young women came some of our now Team members of
Samaritana Liberia.
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After leasing a house for a year in 2021, Samaritana Liberia registered as a charity under the
Government of Liberia and purchased a Safe house in 2022. Liberia has its own challenges in reference
to those being sexually abused. Our Safe house cares for very young sexually abused victims; 40% are
very young preteens. The youngest girls we have had in our care have been five years old. Rebecca
McBrowne and Wubu Cassie are now joint and equal Co-Leaders with us in Samaritana Liberia.
We are forever grateful to God for what He has done over the many years. There are so many
other stories that come along with this history, but we need to put those aside for another time. Thank
you for taking the time to read a little bit about our history. Thank you! Jerre Jeff! Salamat!
In His Grip,
Paddy Chrisp and Trusella Dingle
