Welcome

"Sakerettes" (as students of Saker Baptist College are fondly called) have always loved to get together. We founded this chapter because we love to socialize, sing and have fun, but more importantly to share God’s love and contribute to the welfare and prestige of our former school and its alumna.

Saker Baptist College (SBC) gave us so much, but we recognize that we have also gained a lot from the community in which we now reside. So naturally, we look for ways to give back to our local (Houston area) community as well.

We thank God, our families and well-wishers for the support we have received so far. For those who have never supported us, we hope you will consider doing so in any way you can, as we continue to strive for higher heights in "Education, Unity and Sisterhood".

Sincerely,
Namondo (Didi) Mbiwan Ndando
President, EXSSA Houston

About ExSSA-Houston

ExSSA-Houston is undoubtedly one of the longest-standing Chapters of ExSSA-USA. Although ExSSA-USA was formed in 2001, the Houston Branch was officially created in May 1995. In the following months, we adopted our own local uniform, policies and procedures. There were 16 Sakerettes at the May 1995 meeting. Now, we believe there may be about 40 Sakerettes in the Houston area, although as of October 2004, there are 24 registered members of ExSSA-Houston. We continuously encourage non-registered Sakerettes in the Houston area to become involved.

Anyone in the Houston area who has attended Saker Baptist College for any length of time is eligible for membership. Members pay a one-time registration fee of $20 and annual dues of $60. Meetings are generally held in the homes of members. Our meetings always begin with prayer for God’s guidance, and sometimes a devotional is included as well. At first our group met monthly. After experimenting with several schedules, we currently meet every other month, although we increase the frequency of meetings as needed whenever we have events planned. Attendance at the meetings slowed down considerably in the late nineties for various reasons, and for an extended period of time, three or four members kept the torch burning. In spite of this we are proud to say that only one regularly scheduled meeting has had to be cancelled in all these years! Attendance has picked up since about 2000, such that we now have an average of about 10 members at most meetings.

Our school has a rich, well-known music tradition. Over the years, the school has been sponsored in part by American Baptist Missions and Missionaries, one of whom led singers from our school on a tour of the USA in 1969. While several Sakerettes are not necessarily typical choir-types, the extent to which we were exposed to singing in school has given us a feel for creating a unique blend of music. The typical Sakerette cannot read music notes and has had no formal music training, but is able to harmonize singing and instruments almost by instinct. We always look forward to opportunities to share this music tradition with others.

Besides working on projects as described below, the Houston Chapter is very present in the life of its members. We share both our joys and sorrows. We thank God that we have had many occasions to be joyful; the birth of children, baptisms, graduations, weddings, etc. We have also showed our support when trials hit; such Page 3 of 11 as in times of illness or at wake-keepings, funerals or memorial services involving our members or others in the community. At our regular meetings, members sometimes share joys or concerns, and we lift them up in prayer.

ExSSA-Houston began contemplating a national movement in the late nineties, but it was ExSSA-Dallas, founded in 2000 that immediately challenged us to put this idea into action. We supported their efforts, and a national body, ExSSA-USA, was conceived at a convention held in Dallas in August 2001. After that convention, ExSSA-Houston made significant efforts to contact other Sakerettes, former tutors and missionaries and get them involved. The adoption of the constitution at the Houston convention in August 2002 was truly a major accomplishment for ExSSA-USA. It was our pleasure indeed to host this event.

As successful as our group has been, it has not always been easy to stay focused. The main key to the success of our group is our trust in God and our strong sense of sisterhood. We have learned to keep the main purpose of the organization in sight and resolve our challenges. We would love to welcome new members and friends anytime!