Breaking Barriers — The Samaria Calling

TAC-GH AFRANCHO CENTRAL ASSEMBLY
Daily Devotional

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Date: Sunday, March 29, 2026
Year Theme: Fulfilling the Apostolic Mandate

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TITLE: Breaking Barriers — The Samaria Calling

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MEMORY VERSE

> “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
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> — Acts 1:8 (NIV)

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DEVOTIONAL

Jerusalem. Judea. And now — Samaria.

If Jerusalem was home and Judea was the stretch beyond comfort, Samaria was something else entirely. Samaria was a place most Jewish people deliberately avoided. There was a deep historical and cultural divide between Jews and Samaritans — centuries of tension, prejudice, and mutual rejection. A faithful Jew would often take the longer road around Samaria simply to avoid contact with its people.

And yet Jesus said: go there too.

The Apostolic Mandate does not allow us to choose only the people we are comfortable with, only the communities that look like us, speak like us, or share our background. It calls us to cross the very divides that society has built and that prejudice has maintained.

Jesus Himself modelled this first. In John 4, He sat at a well and spoke to a Samaritan woman — crossing lines of gender, ethnicity, and social reputation in a single conversation. The result? An entire town came to faith. One unlikely conversation changed a community.

We all have our Samarias. They may not be a geographical place. Your Samaria may be a person you have written off. It may be a group you have avoided because of differences in tribe, class, background, or history. It may be someone who has wronged you, someone society has marginalised, or someone you simply consider “too far gone” for the Gospel.

But the mandate reaches there too.

As we begin a new week, let us carry this truth into our Monday: the ground of grace is level. There is no person beyond the reach of God's love, and no barrier too high for the Holy Spirit to cross. Our calling is simply to be willing — willing to go where prejudice says “don't”, and to speak where silence has reigned too long.

Samaria is waiting.

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REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Who is the “Samaritan” in your life — someone you have avoided, written off, or never considered as a target for the Gospel?

2. Are there cultural, tribal, or social barriers that have quietly limited your witness? How can the Holy Spirit help you cross them?

3. Jesus went out of His way to reach one woman and changed an entire town. What would happen if you made one unlikely conversation a priority this week?

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PRAYER

Father, forgive us for the walls we have built — walls of prejudice, comfort, and indifference. You sent Your Son to seek and to save the lost, not just the convenient. Give us Your eyes to see people the way You see them — not by their background or their failures, but by their need for Your grace. Break every barrier in us that limits our witness. Make us bold enough to cross into our Samarias this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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DAILY CHALLENGE

Deliberately reach out today to someone outside your usual circle — someone of a different background, social group, or someone you have kept a distance from. It could be a greeting, a kind gesture, or a conversation. Let the Holy Spirit guide where it leads.

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TAC-GH Afrancho Central Assembly | Daily Devotional Series 2026
“Fulfilling the Apostolic Mandate”