The Man With One Leg

So, Sam, how did you lose your leg? Was it an accident?”

“Well not really,” Sam replied.

To understand how Sam lost his leg, we need to learn more of Sam’s incredible story.

Sam Oivo was born in Papua New Guinea on May 10, 1976. He was raised in a family that struggled financially. He lived in a neighborhood where drugs, extortion, prostitution, and stealing were common. So at an early age he began drinking alcohol, using drugs, and spending most of his time on the streets. 

When Sam was 15, he joined a gang. His new friends had a big influence on him. He began stealing, and selling what he stole. His goal in life was to spend even more time in criminal activities. He experienced all that is associated with gang life, such as being involved with drugs and violence. All these negative behaviors caused many problems for his family and for him. Sam’s wife and other family members encouraged him to attend church, but he wasn’t interested. Church wasn’t for him, he said.

A Life-changing Event

On May 19, 1995, the police, who were trying to stop his criminal activities, shot Sam in his right leg. Sam ended up losing the leg, and he was devastated. He realized that if he had died, he wouldn’t have been ready to meet his Maker. So he began to think more seriously about his life, and decided to change. He wasn’t sure, however, how he was going to do it and who would help him. No one knew what he was thinking. Not even his wife. Only God knew. 

Sam went to spend a week with other young people who were partying, drinking alcohol, and smoking drugs. By 3:00 in the morning during that first night, he was drunk and listening to pop music through his earplugs. 

In the middle of the playlist, Sam was struck by the lyrics of one song: “Jesus, take the wheel/Take it from my hands/’Cause I can’t do this on my own.”* 

The song tells the story of a young mother hitting a patch of black ice on the road and recommitting herself to Christ when she comes to a safe stop. Those words touched Sam, and with tears in his eyes he got up and left the group. The chorus of “Jesus, Take the Wheel” kept ringing in his ears and led to his conversion. He still didn’t tell anyone, though. 

Listening to the Holy Spirit

On the following Friday a voice kept saying to Sam, “Go to church tomorrow.” So he got up Sabbath morning, and so his wife wouldn’t know where he was going, he left for church wearing his usual clothes. But before he got to the church, he changed into Sabbath clothes. Before he got home again, he changed back into his ordinary clothes. That Sabbath was November 25, 2013. 

When Sam’s wife found out he had accepted Jesus and was changing his ways and going to church, she was very happy. 

Sam was baptized on April 19, 2014, and became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Popondetta. 

Eventually, Sam became a missionary, and in 2024 he was caring for a newly organized church in Popondetta. This year Sam is training at Omaura School of Ministry in the Eastern Highlands to prepare for further ministry.

Sam says he is “so grateful to be alive and to live in freedom.” Many of his former friends are now dead, and others are serving long prison sentences. But the good news is that because of Sam’s witness, many of his former friends have also accepted Jesus, changed their behaviors, and have been baptized and joined the Adventist Church. 

A Witness for Jesus

Sam is a highly respected Christian, and even gang members who haven’t accepted Jesus still respect him; his word carries a lot of weight with them. Hence, it was fitting that Sam be appointed head of security for PNG evangelistic meetings in Popondetta. 

Apart from some gunshots heard at the back of the crowd one night, no trouble arose at the meetings. The night the appeal was made to accept Christ as Savior, one gang member said to his mates, “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going forward to accept Christ.” His mates replied, “We’re coming with you.”

On the last night of the program, Don Fehlberg, former remote area senior pastor for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries of the Australian Union Conference, who was speaking in Popondetta, met a man by the name of Ronnie. 

Ronnie told Fehlberg that he had been baptized during the meetings. He shared that he’d had a pretty rough life, and then, pointing to Sam, he said, “I was with him.” Fehlberg, who had already heard Sam’s story, told Ronnie he understood. 

Now Sam and Ronnie have teamed up, working to win souls to Jesus. Fehlberg believes they are a powerful team under the blessing of the Holy Spirit. 

“Looking back, I am most grateful to my Seventh-day Adventist family,” Sam says. “They were willing to be different, to live by the Bible’s principles. I grew to respect them more than I ever respected anyone in the gang. 

“Above all, I am thankful to God for teaching me the very best way to live. . . . Though I am a person with a disability [Sam walks with crutches], I know God will still help me.” 

God has not only helped Sam to change his ways and live a life to glorify Jesus—He is using him in a mighty way to lead people to Jesus. Sam prepared 95 people for baptism during the PNG meetings for Christ!

Sam concludes, “May this story bless and encourage [others] like me. No matter how bad you are, God still loves you and cares about you.”

The original version of this story was posted on Adventist Record.

*Carrie Underwood, “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” 2005.