Published on December 11, 2024 by Kameron Brown  
Kara Chism serving in Ecuador

In the 1980s, in a small town in Ecuador, the roads were not paved, and the underprivileged community did not possess watches or clocks. So, Kara Chism and her parents drove around the dusty roads with a microphone and speaker calling the community to church on Sunday afternoons. “I couldn’t wait for Sundays when I had the chance to teach young children at our church,” she said. “I always looked forward to the opportunity to be in a classroom.”

Chism spent most of her childhood in South America, serving alongside her parents as they shared the Gospel and their hearts with Ecuador’s indigenous communities. Education has always been her passion. As a child, she created lesson plans and taught the neighborhood children how to read, write and do math, with dreams of becoming a teacher already growing in her heart.

“I was a missionary kid,” Chism recalled. “I had no concept of life in the United States until I enrolled at Samford University. Even then, the plan was to return to the mission field and apply my education there.”

Despite experiencing culture shock as a freshman at Samford, Chism quickly realized this was where she was meant to be.

“I fell in love with Samford for the relationships, the academic challenge and the spiritual growth,” she said. “I loved it so much, I never really left.”

Chism holds five degrees from the university (the most of any faculty member at Orlean Beeson School of Education), and today, she serves as the director and assistant professor for the instructional leadership program and as the school’s character leader in residence. Her plans for returning to the mission field were put on hold as the Lord called her to serve others at Samford.

Then in 2024, Samford’s Office of Parent and Family Engagement began hosting a yearly spring break mission trip to Ecuador, uniting students, families, employees and alumni to serve in the South American nation. This initiative allowed Chism to blend her passion for education and missions, leading her back to where her journey began. “I’m grateful to Samford for the opportunities to use teaching and missions to point others to God’s Kingdom,” she said.

This story was first published in the fall 2024 issue of  Seasons magazine.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.