My name is Candy Surrett, and the Lord has called me to go to Peru as a Full-time Career Missionary and be a friend to women and offer them the Hope of Jesus Christ.  All my life, the Lord been preparing me to be His Missionary to women who are hurting and needing His Hope.

I had the blessing and privilege of growing up as a Missionary Kid (MK) and living in Peru. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was 5 years old.  When I was 11, I started teaching little kids in Sunday school.  I was blessed to lead many of my students to the Lord over the next few years and see them grow up and love the Lord and serve Him.

I was very active in my parents’ ministries and I worked in camps and many things.  I was really involved and I loved sharing in the lives of those we served.  I truly loved being an MK and living in Peru!  And I grew up speaking Spanish so I don’t have to learn a new language before I can serve as a Missionary in Peru!

Many times as Christians, we start walking in our own strength and doing things our own way instead of God’s way. Small, foolish choices we make become bigger, foolish decisions and sins we commit.  Over 20 years ago, I sinned against God and I experienced a crisis pregnancy.  In my hopelessness and despair, a Christian crisis pregnancy center reached out to me.  They reminded me of how much the Lord loved me and wanted to forgive me.  I cried out to the Lord, acknowledged my sin, and asked Him to forgive me and cleanse me and He did! The Crisis Pregnancy Center showered me with love, offered me Hope and taught me many things.  They were truly a blessing from God.  I have also been very blessed to have my daughter Jessy, and I’m thankful for the many things the Lord has taught me throughout her lifetime.  I am also very thankful for the classes, the counseling, and the Hope I received at the Crisis Pregnancy Center, and the love and support my church gave me during those years.  And now I want to offer that same Hope in Christ to the women in Peru.

When Jessy was 2, I started working at American Airlines, and I worked there for 15 years. Working at AA gave us the blessing to travel and visit missionaries in several countries. We also went to Peru almost every year at least once. We have always loved Missionaries and going on Missions Trips and being a blessing to others.  Each time that I went to Peru, my heart would become more and more connected with the Peruvian people!

My Grandma graduated to Heaven in December 2011, and my parents, Jessy, and I went Home to Peru for Christmas. While I was there, God continued working on my heart about returning full-time to Peru. One of the Peruvian pastors and his wife begged me to come to Lima and start a women’s ministry. I agreed to pray with them about this.

A couple of months later and after a lot of praying, the Lord confirmed His call at my church’s Missions Conference. The Lord wants me to go to Peru as a full-time career Missionary and start a women’s ministry called Hope for Women working with Bible-believing churches to reach women for the Lord through parenting classes, mentoring, counseling, Bible studies, and discipleship.

I spent most of summer 2014 in Peru preparing for my ministry, taking supplies, and teaching in some women’s conferences in different churches.  I was especially able to use Jessy’s car accident as a lesson illustration and testimony for God’s glory.

In November of 2012, during her senior year in high school, my daughter, Jessy, was a passenger in a terrible car accident that was caused by a careless driver.  Jessy was the only one severely injured.  Her recovery has truly been a miracle and the answer to many prayers.

The night of the accident at the hospital, I CHOSE to forgive the lady who caused the accident.  I knew that more than ever before, I needed Christ to carry me through such hard times and that if I held on to anger and bitterness in my heart, I wouldn’t be hurting the driver, I would be hurting myself.  I would be blocking my relationship with Christ, He wouldn’t hear my prayers, and I wouldn’t be able to have His peace in the midst of this terrible storm and heartache.  And more than ever before, I needed Christ and His peace, and I needed Him to hear my prayers!

Some people asked me – “How can you so easily forgive the driver who almost killed your daughter?”  It wasn’t that it was easy to forgive her, but throughout the years, I have learned to forgive much harder things and I learned that not to forgive hurts me and makes me a prisoner.  I have learned to choose to forgive so that I may be free and have a pure and open relationship with Christ.

No, sometimes it’s not easy to forgive – I know!  Even though I grew up in a good, Christian home with parents who tried to protect me, I chose to sin, and others chose to sin against me. I was cussed at and told I was worthless.  I have been beaten and spat upon.  I was controlled, deceived, and hopeless.  I was sexually molested several times.  I was even choked twice until everything blacked out.  And yes, this was all done to me by people who claimed to be Christians.  I was desperate and the only thing I could do was to cry out to the Lord and He gave me strength to escape.  During all this, the Lord taught me how much He had suffered for my sins but in spite of the suffering I had caused Him, He chose to forgive me.  He taught me that in comparison to all the pain I had caused Him, I really hadn’t suffered that much from the sins that others had committed against me and that He wanted me to forgive them just like He had forgiven me.  I couldn’t forgive in my own strength, but through the power of Christ, I Could Forgive, and today I am free!

It was a neat blessing to see God working in the lives of many women in those conferences in Peru in 2014 to further confirm my calling, and how He used my testimony to speak to them and teach them to forgive as well.

The Lord has used many verses in my life.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 especially showed me that the Lord wants me to comfort women with the same comfort with which He has comforted me.

In 2015, as I was preparing myself more to go to Peru and raising my support, I was blessed to work part-time as the Spanish Client Advocate at Mend Pregnancy Resource Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  But the Lord has called me to go and comfort and teach women specifically in Lima, Peru and to share His Good News and His Hope there.

As of March 2016, I am no longer working.  The Lord provides my needs as I visit different people and churches in the Tulsa area and throughout the US sharing the ministry the Lord has called me to and raising my support so that I can go to Peru.

• 1969 – April 11 – Born in Springfield, MO while my parents studied to become Missionaries.
• 1973-1988 – Grew up in Lima, Peru serving as an MK under my parents.
• 1986-1988 – Attended Fetzer Memorial Christian Academy for high school (traditional Christian day school mainly for MK’s).
• 1988-1992 – Obtained a BA in Bible with Spanish and Psychology minors from Pensacola Christian College.
• 1994 – Short-term Missions Trip to Peru; Started an Awana club in a church.
• 1995-1996 – Client at San Antonio Pregnancy Care Center (Christian crisis pregnancy center) and single mom in San Antonio, TX.
• 1997-2012 – Moved to Tulsa, OK. Worked at American Airlines as an Administrative Assistant; helped my Grandmother; went on several Missions Trips to different countries; went to Peru almost every year at least once. From 2005-2009, I was in a job-share position and worked one week on and one week off at AA.
• 2005-2007 – Taught Conversational Spanish to Elementary students at Wright Christian Academy one day a week. Integrated Bible verses, missionary stories, and cultural events.
• 2007-2009 – Served at Hope Pregnancy Center as the Bilingual Receptionist and Counselor. Provided clerical support, translated documents from English into Spanish, and had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with clients and leading over 40 ladies to the Lord and seeing some of them grow in their Christian faith. Encouraged young moms in parenting and life skills.
• 2012 – February – The Lord called me to become a Missionary to Women in Peru at Tulsa Bible Church’s annual Missions Conference.
• 2012 – July – Approved as a Missionary with Fellowship International Mission.
• 2012-2013 – Served as a full-time Caregiver for my daughter and then my mother who were both in critical condition that year and had intense health concerns and many medical appointments. Continued learning and leaning on the Lord.
• 2013-2014 – Introduced to and completed Healing Hearts The Hem of His Garment Bible Study and Leadership Training.
• 2014 – Spent most of the summer in Peru leading Women’s Conferences.
• 2015-2016 – Mend Pregnancy Resource Center – Served as the Spanish Client Advocate. Translated documents from English into Spanish. Mentored Moms and had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with many clients and leading several to the Lord. Taught Spanish Bible studies.
• 2016 – Living by faith in the Lord’s provisions as I share the ministry and raise my support full-time in order to go to Peru as soon as the Lord provides.

Prayer Requests:

Pray that the Lord will grant Candy to declare His message of salvation with great confidence and boldness.

Pray that Candy will never be ashamed, but that she will continue to be bold for Christ, and that her life will bring honor to Christ.

Pray that Candy will lead a life worthy of her calling, for she has been called by God. Pray that she will always be humble and gentle and patient with others. Pray that she will make allowance for each other’s faults because of her love for them and for Christ and that she will make every effort to keep the unity in the Spirit and bind herself to others with peace.  (Acts 4:29; Phil. 1:20; Eph. 4: 1-3)

Meredyth Jessyca Danyele Surrett – “Jessy”

• 1995 – April 25 – Born in San Antonio, TX
• 1997 – February – Moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma
• 1997 – December – First trip to Peru. Candy returned to the States after 1 week and left Jessy with Candy’s parents for 1 week before they took her back to Tulsa. After that, she went to Peru almost every year at least once, and some years, several times throughout the year. (Candy’s employee/standby flights were cheaper then daycare.)
• 1999 – Venezuela
• 2002 – Argentina
• 2004 – Peru – Grandparents took Jessy to Peru for all summer. Her Spanish improved tremendously and she became bilingual. After this trip, she never forgot her Spanish again.
• 2007 and 2009 – Summer – Christian Youth In Action with Child Evangelism Fellowship
• 2008 – Uruguay
• 2011 – France and Germany
• 2015 – Iquitos, Peru (Amazon jungle)
• 1999-2009 – Wright Christian Academy – K4 through 8^th Grade
• 2000-2013 – Janell Whitby School of Music – Piano Lessons
• 2009 – 2013 – Mingo Valley Christian School – High School
• 2014-2015 – Tulsa Community College
• 2015-Present – Oral Roberts University – Early Childhood Education
• Jessy played soccer and volleyball for many years starting in elementary through high school. She did other sports some too.
• Jessy participated as a camper and a helper in many different camps and retreats – CEF Camp Good News, Camp Tulakogee, New Life Ranch, the Wilds, and Aucallama in Peru.
• Jessy was the pianist for her Praise Team at Mingo Valley Christian her senior year.

In November of 2012, as a high school senior, Jessy, was a passenger in a terrible car accident.  Jessy was the only one severely injured. She fractured 3 vertebrae in her neck and 2 in her back, plus broke her sternum and her left arm, tore her spleen, had intense nerve pain, and a moderate brain injury.  Her recovery has truly been a miracle and the answer to many prayers.  However, she still suffers from chronic neck and back pain and has memory retention issues sometimes.

Prayer Requests for Jessy:

We would truly appreciate your prayers for the Lord to use her pain to help her draw her strength from Him, to help her to remember – especially for her college classes and tests, and to heal her completely if it’s His will and in His time.

Pray that she will do well being on her own here in the US while Candy’s in Peru and that she will have good Christian friends who really encourage one another to live for Jesus.

Pray that God will give her complete knowledge of His will and spiritual wisdom and understanding; that the way she lives will always honor and please the Lord, and that her life will produce every kind of good fruit. Pray that she will grow to know God better and better and be strengthened with all His glorious power to have all the endurance and patience and to be filled with joy.(Colossians 1:8-11)

Pray that the Lord will empower Jessy with inner strength through his Spirit and that she will completely trust in Him, and that her roots will grow down into God’s love and keep her strong. Pray that she will have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is, and that she will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Also pray that she will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him. (Ephesians 3:11-19; 1:19)

And finally, pray that Jessy will truly love others and that her love will overflow more and more, and that she will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. Pray that she will choose to live a pure and blameless life until the day of Christ’s return – not out of fear or trying to win God’s favor but out of love and gratitude for all He has done for her! Pray that she will be filled with the fruit of salvation—the righteous character produced by Jesus Christ—so that she will bring much glory and praise to God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

That is the ultimate prayer request – that Jessy’s life will glorify and praise God!

Thank you very much for praying for Jessy.

The goals of Fellowship International Mission are:

• To promote the cause of missions in every available setting.
• To assist missionaries to fulfill their call by supporting and reinforcing them.
• To assist churches in fulfilling their missionary vision.

For more information click here to visit their website.

Tulsa Bible Church was formed in 1955 to be a body of believers that teaches God’s Word and is passionate for missions. These are their guiding principles today. Their normal practice is to teach through the Bible- verse by verse in our worship services as well as in our Sunday school classes, Men’s and Women’s Ministries, and Youth Groups. They are actively investing themselves in local outreach and world evangelism.

For more information, click here to visit their website.

To Whom It May Concern,

As ministry leaders responsible for oversight of our church’s missions efforts, we receive many requests from potential ministry partners. Most of these gifted and passionate servants are wonderful people seeking to follow the calling they have felt from the Holy Spirit to see Christ proclaimed to lost people in order that Christ might be glorified. They are responding to Romans 10:14-15 and requesting that we come alongside them in their work.

Yet, we must also be wise stewards of the resources with which we have been entrusted and must often choose to lay aside some of the requests to receive while accepting others. We rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance, often through the counsel and recommendation of trusted colleagues, to aid us in choosing which partnerships to embrace and which to set aside. And so, I write to you today to offer my recommendation of one such potential partnership: Candy Surrett.

Candy has been a part of Tulsa Bible Church for many years and has requested that we be her sending church. We eagerly agreed. We have witnessed her passion, servants heart and desire to serve women in need. We have watched God do a great work in her heart and believe that her experience of growing up in South America uniquely prepares her for ministry among hurting women in Peru. Both I and the Missions Committee endorse Candy as a sister in Christ and as a missionary. She is heavily engaged with serving women and families in crisis in Tulsa and has a significant vision for expanding that ministry in Lima, Peru.

Would you prayerfully consider whether you could financially partner with her? If you would like more information feel free to contact me or you can contact Candy directly. Her contact information is enclosed as well as further information about her ministry.

In His Service,

Paul Elliott

Pastor of Global Outreach, Tulsa Bible Church

TBC Recommendation Letter.pdf