Endorsements

Samantha Jackel was our guest speaker at Encounter Church, Sunbury Australia.

I would like to thank Sam for sharing her testimony and a true account of her walk with God.

Her story is about the heart of God. How He takes care of us no matter how far we have drifted from him and no matter what course of life we have been through – He is still there. Her story is an inspiration not only for women but for every person, be man, woman, boy, girl, teen, or adult. It is a story that relates to every person.

Her testimony shows the omnipotent God is a part of our lives and once you hand your life over to Him, He will make sure that you will find your way back. He mends our wayward ways. He is concerned with our destiny. He makes a way where there is no way. He is a way maker, promise keeper, and a light in the darkness. That’s exactly who He is. I would recommend that every church get on board and hear Sam’s testimony which will encourage your congregation. We at Encounter just want to thank Samantha for being a blessing to us.

God bless.

Charles Rozario and Bradley Leviston

Elders, Encounter Church, Sunbury, Australia

We were fortunate enough to have Sam speak to our Church and she certainly made an impact. Sam is easy going, very easy to work with and she has such a humble servant heart. There is a rawness and authenticity to who she is and how she goes about retelling her life story. Sam doesn’t hold back but communicates in a relatable way that puts the listener at ease while sharing incredibly deep and personal experiences. It is a life story of highs and lows and her ability to show how Jesus was with her the whole way through it is a story everyone needs to hear. There are some powerful life lessons and keys to overcoming and living in freedom that can only come through the forgiveness and deliverance that only Jesus can give.
I have no hesitation in recommending Sam for any adult audience, whole church, men’s, woman’s, youth or young adult ministries. This is a story that relates to and will impact each in its own way.

Phill Brake

Senior Minister, Compass Church

Samantha Jackel came to share with our women’s ministry at Beit HaMashiach Messianic congregation in CAULFIELD. We are a group of Jewish and non Jewish believers in Jesus.

Sam shared from her heart and brings an incredible message of forgiveness despite all the adversity she has faced in her childhood.  Her honesty and openness of how this affected her as a young adult was truly remarkable. Her story plays out like a movie that keeps you hanging on every word. To hear her tell it and then be so open and honest and vulnerable in front of an audience is very refreshing. The best part is hearing how God redeemed this situation in her life through her husbands love and commitment to her is nothing short of miraculous and leaves you wanting to hear more. Thank goodness she wrote a book because many wanted to read her full story .  Sam we appreciated you coming to speak to us and for the way God has used your story to set many a captive free. You had all the women in tears and ready to do business with God when the Holy Spirit starting revealing things in our own lives he wanted to deal with. Your story is so powerful. Thank you Sam.

 

Louise Hirsh

Beit HaMashiach

Samantha Jackel was one of our keynote speakers at Seasons Conference.

We have been running this conference at our church for the last 9 years. This year we had almost 400 ladies attend this conference.

Our ladies at conference could really relate to Samantha and her story and the way she delivered it. Her message was so simple and so powerful. She used her own life as an example of God’s grace and how anything is possible through Him.

Her message on “forgiveness” was so moving that I am still receiving comments at church as it left quite an impression with our ladies.

I have no hesitation what so ever to recommend Sam as a keynote speaker for any women’s conference.

 

Frances Holmes

Chair, Seasons Conference

Samantha ministered at our Church, C3 Church Springvale on Mother’s day. We really enjoyed her ministry. Samantha shared her testimony and then shared from the word of God under the Holy Spirit’s anointing. The word that she shared was so appropriate to our Church. Since Samantha has been at our Church, she has stayed in touch and praying for us as a Church. Now that is visiting ministry after my own Heart.
Pastor Ghale Van Eeden

City of Hope Church, C3 Church Springvale, Victoria Australia

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Samantha face to face. I had read her book in 3 evenings (not the usual for me) and so when I met Sam at the airport to take her to the ladies retreat, I was a little surprised. Not loud or boisterous but certainly not dull – I found a humble, open and friendly young woman (and shorter than I expected!). Sam’s confidence is not in who she is or even the distance she has come from her troubled past, but in her God who has set her free. She openly chatted about what she had recently learned from God and of His faithfulness to her, her husband Peter and their five children – and beyond.

That was only the first hour! After the whole weekend I learnt so much more.

Sam’s love for God flows from a thankful heart set free to be who God created her to be. There is no self-praise or bitterness of past experiences but only acknowledgement of God’s ability to make all things new even after the most disastrous situations. There is nothing too hard for God nor any life too messed!

Sam’s God is the God the Bible teaches. This God is all powerful at setting His children free from not only sin but from the sins of others that effect our lives and far too often paralyse us leaving us bitter and trapped. Sam makes it plain that this is not where we have to stay nor where God wants us to stay. But the choice is ours to work with God.

Karen Moore

Ladies of Faith Retreat, South Australia

“Samantha’s book is not a comfortable read, for me I guess to some degree I felt like an Alien. I was raised in a male household with my Mother being the only female. A Mother who loved and spoilt her sons. Therefore an abusive Mother was never on my radar screen and I felt a sense of Samantha’s vulnerability

 

both physically and emotionally. It was an introduction to a girl’s journey which I contrasted to that of my three daughters. However to read the wonderful outcomes from such a difficult beginning in childhood and then in marriage will bring hope and encouragement to those on similar journeys. Alien’s like me are reminded to be thankful for having loving, caring parents as a family heritage.”

Colin Bunnett

Executive Board Member, Focus on the Family

Samantha Jackel’s book “My Purple Pants” had me reading with great interest, unable to put it down. I just had to know what happened to that sad, abused and neglected little girl. When I finished it, I was staying in a caravan park and found myself in an excited conversation, sharing about the amazing book I had just read, with several women that I knew from my tennis club. I decided to try to contact Samantha and invite her along as a guest speaker to the upcoming women’s breakfast that I co-ordinate. Sam agreed to speak at the breakfast in July and we negotiated our arrangements.

 

Two of the women that I had talked with at the caravan park and the mother of another were at that breakfast. They reminded me of my enthusiasm having read the book and that they were keen to hear Sam’s story. There were 150 women at the breakfast and they were silent after Sam spoke. I found it difficult to go up to the mike and to speak and break the silence in the room.

There were tears and many hearts touched deeply by Sam’s story and her message. Sam has a gift in speaking and her story was delivered with clarity and from her heart. It was moving to hear her speak so warmly of her husband and to observe the deep respect and love that she has for him. Her story is harsh, but it is also a love story and a beautifully told story of family closeness and togetherness.

Sam expertly demonstrated the power of God to redeem, heal and deliver. She also showed us clearly the power of human love for God and obedience to Him to bring deliverance and healing. Samantha Jackel is a beautiful daughter of the Most High God, bought with the precious and powerful blood of Jesus Christ and transformed from a broken girl from a traumatic childhood to a successful author and dynamic speaker by the power of the Holy Spirit. People are raving since hearing her story and hope and inspiration and joy are present in conversations where she has been.

I fully recommend her as the person to book for your next event. Sam does not disappoint. To the contrary, Samantha Jackel delivers a powerful story in a unique and life-changing way. Her encouragement to forgive is very effective as it is supported by her own ability to forgive her mother the severe abuse from her childhood. Samantha and her story are both tremendously inspiring.

Patricia Taylor

Coordinator Women's Breakfast, Blackwood Hills Baptist Church

“We had the privilege to listen to Mrs Samantha Jackel in Sollentuna, Sweden.  Although she told her story in a serious, disciplined way she was able to make the audience feel very much part of it. After her sharing, she opened up a time for questions and you could tell that she truly listened to the questions from the audience and answered with sensitivity, love and prayer. Sams testimony is essentially about how God intervenes in a lost and very sad life full of scars from what she has gone through.

But most important is that Samantha talks about God’s love and concern. The strongest point for us was that she testifies that God’s work is not a “quick fix” – we need to be patient and loving collaborators to God’s will!

Note: we have both been active in the Swedish part of the international organisation Victorious Ministry Through Christ (WMTC) since 1975. (www.vmtc.org.au)

Lillemor Hallin & Kerstin Jonsson

I just want to say thanks Sam for coming to speak at our group. You were so well received. Your daring honesty and courage to talk about things that would’ve been difficult to admit was courageous, admirable and so refreshing. What a testimony your life is that God can change even the most broken. No one could have ever dreamed that you would become the amazing person you have. You really inspired many of us and gave hope to those who felt hopeless. And articulate! Who could have guessed you had a speech problem as a child. Amazing! Thanks for all the effort,hard work and determination you put in to bring about such astounding healing and change. You’re a miracle. Bless you.

 

Laurel Gore

Prison Network Ministries

I was thinking about a speaker to have at our Ladies breakfast. I looked to my bookshelf and saw Samantha’s book ‘My Purple Pants’. It was wonderful to have Samantha come and speak to the Women at our church as well as Women from other churches who wanted to hear Samantha. Her message regarding forgiveness resonated with many of the Women who attended the breakfast. I was extremely thankful Samantha was available and willing to speak at our church. Many of the Ladies who attended the breakfast commented to me how much they had enjoyed hearing Samantha share her story and what God had done in her life. I would highly recommend Samantha to any church group.

 

Carolyn Anderson

Sunbury Baptist Church

The women’s ministry team at our church was wanting to find a speaker for our ladies dinner “who had a story to tell” that would be interesting to both non-church and church ladies.  I contacted a friend who worked at Focus on the Family to see if she had any suggestions.  She gave me Samantha’s name and so I purchased her book to find out “her story”.  I found the book both uncomfortable and gripping at the same time.

After the other ladies in our team had read the book, I contacted Sam and a couple of us met with her to discuss the possibility of her speaking at our dinner.  I must admit I felt a bit apprehensive about meeting her seeing as I knew such intimate details from her life, but the moment we met her openness and warmth put me at ease.  I found her to be incredibly humble and willing to be used by God in any way he wanted.

She went on to speak at our dinner with sensitivity and compassion about the subject of forgiveness.  Many of the ladies were touched by her ability – through Christ – to forgive her mother (and others) and move forward in her life.  I would highly recommend Samantha as a speaker – her motivation to speak is to bring glory and honor to God and what He has done in her life.

Tracey Smyth

Women in Community Committee, Montmorency Community Church

It came about in an unusual way – how I met and got to know Sam, but I believe God orchestrated it so. You see, all I was given – was a name and a bit of information “about having heard Sam on the radio”. Who was to speak at our church in a few weeks time. So I tried to contact Sam and after several attempts – success!

When I finally met with Sam and Peter, we discovered that we knew other people, that knew us. This fellowship of believers laid the ground work for God to move mightily in our community. Matthew 18:20, where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them – became a reality and Sam was the vehicle that God used to communicate his power of forgiveness and redemption. People did not just hear about a life experience through Sam’s story, but experienced life through Christ’s love.

And what an experience it was. Sam tells it like it is, but sensitive and respectful enough within our church tradition. I think Sam’s life speaks louder than her story, because what amazed us all was that her five children were present during her presentation. They’ve probably heard the story many times before, but they came anyway and in turn showed us what God can do when lives are reconciled and renewed.

So with this in mind, I would gladly recommend Sam to any ministry gathering you may have and see God move.

Nathanael Nixanto

Pastor, Edge Church

One day some years ago I received a letter from a woman in Australia named Samantha.

 

She introduced herself and went on to explain why she was writing to me. Eighteen years prior to writing she had attended a conference that my husband Brent had spoken at. She said it had impacted her life and still impacts her life today.

My husband had gone to be with the Lord and I was bought to tears reading her wonderful words of affirmation of him and his ministry. Thus began one of the most precious friendships I have ever had in this life.

She and Peter invited me to come and visit them at their expense. I took them up on the invite and spent two fantastic weeks in their home with their five precious children.

Each night as the children had been tucked in to bed, we sat up talking way into the night. One night they shared their story with me. I was utterly amazed to hear where they had come from and to see the work of restoration and healing that had transformed their lives.

I saw the spiritual depth that suffering had worked into both of them. There are two stories here; Samantha’s of being raised in abuse, victimization and betrayal of so many that she looked to in the early years of her life. Peter’s for his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to be able to see the healing process through in Samantha when everything in him wanted to run away from it all.

Suffering is part of Gods’ plan for our lives. Those who respond to suffering with humility and brokenness usually come through with deep compassion and empathy for others that are in pain. Before we come to Christ our usual response when someone causes us pain is anger, hostility, bitterness, revenge, un forgiveness and hate. As we are now transformed beings we would still be tempted to resort to those weapons but God has now called us to love, acceptance and forgiveness. This is not an easy task and we need the power of Gods’ love in our lives daily to show us how to do this.

Samantha and Peter are living proof of that transforming power.

My prayer is as you read “My Purple Pants” you will receive hope for your own life at being healed and transformed into God’s image.

Thank you Samantha and Peter for sharing your story. I am forever blessed by your lives and your example.

Friends forever,

Happy Rue

Wife of the Late Brent Rue, One of the founding members of The Vineyard Church of USA

I have known Samantha Jackel for over 10 years and I never tire of hearing her inspiring story! But it doesn’t end with the amazing way God healed her and Peter’s marriage, it continues in the way they are impacting other peoples’ lives to this day! Love having her as a guest and helping to co-host some of my interviews. I definitely recommend hearing her story!

 

Eric Skattebo

Vision Christian Radio

I was looking for a speaker for our Women’s End of Year Christmas Celebration Dinner, when I remembered a book I had read several years ago called “My Purple Pants” by Samantha Jackel. I didn’t know where Samantha lived but began a search to find out if she would be available to speak to our ladies. I had read several of the reviews from other leaders and felt confident Samantha was a suitable speaker for our event. On contacting Samantha I wasn’t disappointed. I found her to be very personable, warm, co-operative and willing to fit in with our program. All our ladies quickly warmed to Samantha as she openly shared about her abusive and difficult childhood. Samantha is an excellent communicator, one who is willing to be transparent about the difficult times in her life. She showed us that with God’s grace it is possible to come through a traumatic past and be made new by the power of God. Samantha’s love for God was evident and flowed from her gratitude to Him for setting her free from her past.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Samantha to speak at any gathering where people will receive a challenge and be given hope that they too can walk in freedom and wholeness.

Pastor Pauline Warner

Lighthouse Christian Church

My Purple Pants is a book written from the heart of a woman who has had a genuine experience with a loving, joyful but able and delivering powerful God. What this book portrays is the astonishing vision of human life and the mystery of it’s intersection with the life of a triune God.

This book addresses the strategies of the evil one and the messes we make of our lives. As a result we carry deep hurts, rejection, shame and guilt when coming into a relationship with a loving God and we need to know we can be healed and set free.

I believe that in this book the theology of the good news of the gospel is accurate and is in keeping with my understanding of demonization of a persons life imparting destruction and extreme heart ache.

The experience of Samantha are frank, explicitly recorded and expose the evil one for who he is. However the book above all glorifies the delivering and healing, restoring power of an ever present loving God who Samantha serves.

I should thank her husband and her children for allowing her to write her story – so far.

Pastor Bill Wyatt

CEO, Cleansing Streams Australia

“Samantha Jackel is a brilliant public speaker, sharing her life experience in such a personal and in depth way that her audience can’t help but be moved. Not holding back on the shocking details of her childhood that most would find difficult to recall let alone retell to a group of listeners. Praise God that Sam has been able to overcome her trials so she can share her insight and wisdom to others.

 

I know the women in prison were profoundly affected by her genuineness in relaying her experience of what God has done in her life. Sam’s message inspires, encourages and brings hope to those broken, those hurting, and anyone on life’s journey.

Thanks for your vulnerability in sharing yourself with the women in prison Sam. They absolutely loved it and were changed because of it. It was amazing.”

Chelsea Leatham

Counsellor, Prison Network Ministries

“Samantha Jackel is evidence that God exists – for only God could bring a woman back from the brink of insanity to the place where she is now – an inspirational speaker, mother of five, wonderful wife and co-founder of “Go The Extra Mile” – a walk for charity that raises funds for the Dalit children of India. Samantha has overcome unimaginable odds to become a woman who radiates the beauty, presence and peace of God.

 

I have read Samantha’s book and also had the privilege of hearing her speak whilst I was ministering at the same event. She delivered her testimony with the gentle calmness and assurance of a woman transformed, but at the same time was real and gutsy about her life, telling us of her struggles and also demonstrating that with the love of God a person can overcome anything.

As Samantha told stories from her own life and also talked about her relationship with her mother it was clear that no-one is irreparable or unredeemable, and I think many were touched upon hearing her amazing story of reconciliation. I would not hesitate to recommend Samantha as a speaker who truly does know what it is likely to be given “beauty for ashes”* and it would be a joy to minister with her any time. *( Isaiah 61) ”

Jade Ambroze

Singer / Songwriter, www.jadeambroze.com

“Samantha came to speak at our women’s night through the recommendation of a friend. It was such an honour to have Samantha share her testimony in such a real but sensitive way – she shared some of the traumatic events that had happened in her life with honesty and integrity. She has a gentle and relaxed way of communicating with her audience and her audience really respond to her.

 

There were women of all ages at this event and each person I spoke to felt so blessed to have come along to hear Samantha share. Samantha’s message of healing, grace and God’s amazing love is so evident and connects with anyone, no matter what their life may look like. I pray that many women continue to hear this message from Samantha and that they come to know God’s faithfulness as Samantha has.”

Sonya Bertram

Events and Music Director, Marlon Church of Christ