Missionaries Spain Sam and June McVay Biography

PRESENT MINISTRY
The McVays are involved in various ministries of the local church in Villalba, Spain. Sam works with the children’s and youth ministries and leads weekly discipleship studies. June helps with the development and production of printed materials for the church and missionary team and is the field secretary and treasurer.

CONVERSION
Both Sam and June were reared in the homes of Free Will Baptist preachers. Sam made a decision for Christ as a young child at Grace Free Will Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla. Active in church all his life, he recommitted his life to Christ as a freshman at Free Will Baptist Bible College and was baptized at Cofer's Chapel FWB Church in 1975 by Dr. Robert Picirilli.

June's mother, Clara Picirilli, led her to the Lord in their home when she was a young child. Her pastor, Rev. R. Eugene Waddell, baptized her.

EARLY MINISTRY
In 1976 Sam joined the staff of Cofer's Chapel FWB Church in Nashville, Tenn. He continued to serve there until 1996 when he answered the call to missionary service. He graduated from Free Will Baptist Bible College in 1978. He has been active in denominational ministries, holding positions of leadership on the local, district, state and national levels. He served as co-director of the Truth and Peace Leadership conference from1984-1996.

June has assisted Sam in his ministry opportunities and has been an active member of Women Nationally Active for Christ for 20 years. She served as assistant director of the Truth and Peace Conference from 1984-1996 and also served on the National Youth Conference staff for 14 years.

Sam and June McVay were appointed to missionary service in Spain at the August 1996 meeting of the Board of Foreign Missions. They began serving in Spain in July 1997. Their first term was primarily devoted to language and cultural studies at Eurocentres Language School and the University of Madrid while forming a church-planting team with Jeff and Susan Turnbough.

CHILDREN
Sam and June have two daughters: Stephanie and Suzanne.

Stephanie is a graduate of Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville, TN, with a major in missions. In 2001, she completed a year at the University of Nantes in Nantes, France, as a short-term missionary working with Steve and Becky Riggs. Stephanie graduated with honors from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN, with her masters in teaching French in 2007. She is working in an office in Nashville and doing some tutoring in French. 

Suzanne graduated with honors from both Evangelical Christian Academy in Madrid, Spain, and Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville,TN, with a degree in elementary education. A Nashville public school teacher, she married Jonathan Owen (son of Dennis and Trena Owen, former missionaries to Spain and Uruguay) on July 21, 2007. The couple is presently living in Ft. Meyers, FL.

HOME CHURCH
Cofer's Chapel FWB Church, Nashville, Tenn.