Member Spotlight >> Anne Amis & Jaime Retamales
Volunteer work led Anne Amis and Jaime Retamales to each other.
Years later, being neighborly led them to Kingwood Christian Church.
Anne was a Jesuit Volunteer Corps member working as a social worker at a shelter in Arica, Chile, when she met Jaime in 1998.
Jaime, a native of Arica, was working for a non-profit when he started volunteering at the shelter, Hogar de Christo (House of Christ). He had a bachelor’s degree in Spanish education and wanted to write the stories of the elderly people at the shelter. Jaime led workshops on poetry and drama and encouraged the shelter’s clients to tell their stories.
Anne, who had a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Hendrix College in Arkansas, had already been in Chile about six months, when she paired up with Jaime on the project in January of 1998. They won a grant and eventually published the stories in a book. Little did they know that the project would be the beginning of their own story.
As the project neared its end, Anne was ready to return to the States briefly for a wedding. She mentioned to a co-worker that she liked Jaime. The friend said, “You better get a move on. He’s shy.”
So Anne asked Jaime out. “And then he got it,” she laughed.
Anne, a native of the Dallas area, had worked in Michigan at Kalamazoo College as assistant director of foreign studies after graduating from college. After a couple years, she knew she wanted to do something like the Peace Corps but faith-based. Although she grew up Episcopalian not Catholic, a friend told her about the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
She worked for JVC in Houston for two years with immigrant asylum seekers. But she had traveled extensively in Central America and was eager to do something abroad. JVC sent her to Chile in August 1997 as a social worker at the shelter, which served elderly people in Jaime’s hometown.
Before they paired up on the oral history project, they had actually noticed each other at a party but didn’t talk.
During Anne’s second year in Chile, the couple dated. And by Jaime’s birthday in October of 1998, they were talking about marriage. She finished her JVC commitment and they married in Chile in November of 1999.
Jaime had no desire to come to the United States. Chile had just gotten democratic elections after 17 years of dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, who came to power in a CIA-backed coup. Jaime, as a member of the Socialist party, was an activist and had participated in demonstrations against the violent suppression under Pinochet. In the 1999-2000 elections, a centrist was elected - 27 years after the 1973 coup d’etat.
But Anne thought it was important for Jaime to see her in her native turf. So after a Catholic wedding officiated by their friend and priest, Padre John, they moved to Houston. Jaime had been baptized a Catholic but in Chile, legal weddings are more significant than the church ceremony. Chile, he said, is a Catholic country mostly on holidays and at parties.
Jaime started working on his doctorate in Latin American literature at the University of Houston and Anne was working for nonprofits in youth leadership and immigration law. She also became a certified ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher.
At the end of 2005 when Jaime finished his classes, they returned to Chile, where his parents and siblings still live. He worked on his dissertation on Chilean writers who wrote about exile. She taught English.
In 2007, they returned to Houston and Anne began teaching at Lone Star College while she worked on her master’s degree in teaching ESOL from the SIT Graduate Institute. She’s now the dean of Arts, English, Communications and Language Divisions. Jaime taught at Lamar University in Beaumont for several years, but he tired of the long drive. He now works as a case manager for the Alliance, a refugee resettlement program in Houston.
They moved to Kingwood in 2011 when their daughter, Pilar, was 2-years-old.
In Houston, they belonged to the Covenant Church. “We liked our church in Houston but it was a long drive,” Anne said. “It was an open and affirming church. We didn’t think that existed here in Kingwood.”
But around Halloween, a friend told them about Kingwood Christian Church’s annual Trunk or Treat. When they went, they ran into a neighbor, Robert Fugarino, wearing a Star Wars costume.
It turned out their neighbors, Robert and Mindy Fugarino, were co-pastors of Kingwood Christian Church. The couples, who both had young daughters, became friends.
Eventually, Anne started attending a book study at KWCC with Mindy, Margaret Maat, Gini Brown, and Bob Hollibaugh (Stan’s father).
“It was so refreshing,“ she said. “There was no agenda. There was so much humility in the group and just a desire to talk about how God is active in your life. It was what I was looking for since I left JVC. That’s what my JVC experience was like.”
After about a year, they formally joined the church. “I loved that there was one simple statement of faith.”
Since joining, they’ve been involved in KWCC in many ways. Both have served as deacons. Anne was on the search committee that led to the hiring of Chad Mattingly as pastor. She’s also served on the board and is currently an elder. Pilar, who will be a freshman at Kingwood Park High School this fall, has been active in the children and youth programs and loves the Disciples camps.
With Jaime’s family in Chile and Anne’s largely in the Dallas area, they wanted a sense of community and found it in the church.
Anne recounts a message she’s heard from Chad many times. “What happens here Sunday morning is not the most important thing. It’s what happens between Sundays and what kinds of connections you make, “ she said. “And that’s what I was looking for. I wanted to be in a place where I could talk about how God is moving in our lives.”
For Jaime, as an immigrant, it’s important that everyone be welcome. He loves the no judgment aspect of KWCC and its commitment to diversity.
Anne agrees. “We have a lot of people coming here because they’ve had bad experiences or no experience in church in the past. What you’re seeing here is what you’re getting. We truly mean everyone is welcome and everyone can take communion. That one statement of faith is it. There’s not a long list of requirements or statements of belief.
“We really will like you as you are.”
Years later, being neighborly led them to Kingwood Christian Church.
Anne was a Jesuit Volunteer Corps member working as a social worker at a shelter in Arica, Chile, when she met Jaime in 1998.
Jaime, a native of Arica, was working for a non-profit when he started volunteering at the shelter, Hogar de Christo (House of Christ). He had a bachelor’s degree in Spanish education and wanted to write the stories of the elderly people at the shelter. Jaime led workshops on poetry and drama and encouraged the shelter’s clients to tell their stories.
Anne, who had a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Hendrix College in Arkansas, had already been in Chile about six months, when she paired up with Jaime on the project in January of 1998. They won a grant and eventually published the stories in a book. Little did they know that the project would be the beginning of their own story.
As the project neared its end, Anne was ready to return to the States briefly for a wedding. She mentioned to a co-worker that she liked Jaime. The friend said, “You better get a move on. He’s shy.”
So Anne asked Jaime out. “And then he got it,” she laughed.
Anne, a native of the Dallas area, had worked in Michigan at Kalamazoo College as assistant director of foreign studies after graduating from college. After a couple years, she knew she wanted to do something like the Peace Corps but faith-based. Although she grew up Episcopalian not Catholic, a friend told her about the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
She worked for JVC in Houston for two years with immigrant asylum seekers. But she had traveled extensively in Central America and was eager to do something abroad. JVC sent her to Chile in August 1997 as a social worker at the shelter, which served elderly people in Jaime’s hometown.
Before they paired up on the oral history project, they had actually noticed each other at a party but didn’t talk.
During Anne’s second year in Chile, the couple dated. And by Jaime’s birthday in October of 1998, they were talking about marriage. She finished her JVC commitment and they married in Chile in November of 1999.
Jaime had no desire to come to the United States. Chile had just gotten democratic elections after 17 years of dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, who came to power in a CIA-backed coup. Jaime, as a member of the Socialist party, was an activist and had participated in demonstrations against the violent suppression under Pinochet. In the 1999-2000 elections, a centrist was elected - 27 years after the 1973 coup d’etat.
But Anne thought it was important for Jaime to see her in her native turf. So after a Catholic wedding officiated by their friend and priest, Padre John, they moved to Houston. Jaime had been baptized a Catholic but in Chile, legal weddings are more significant than the church ceremony. Chile, he said, is a Catholic country mostly on holidays and at parties.
Jaime started working on his doctorate in Latin American literature at the University of Houston and Anne was working for nonprofits in youth leadership and immigration law. She also became a certified ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher.
At the end of 2005 when Jaime finished his classes, they returned to Chile, where his parents and siblings still live. He worked on his dissertation on Chilean writers who wrote about exile. She taught English.
In 2007, they returned to Houston and Anne began teaching at Lone Star College while she worked on her master’s degree in teaching ESOL from the SIT Graduate Institute. She’s now the dean of Arts, English, Communications and Language Divisions. Jaime taught at Lamar University in Beaumont for several years, but he tired of the long drive. He now works as a case manager for the Alliance, a refugee resettlement program in Houston.
They moved to Kingwood in 2011 when their daughter, Pilar, was 2-years-old.
In Houston, they belonged to the Covenant Church. “We liked our church in Houston but it was a long drive,” Anne said. “It was an open and affirming church. We didn’t think that existed here in Kingwood.”
But around Halloween, a friend told them about Kingwood Christian Church’s annual Trunk or Treat. When they went, they ran into a neighbor, Robert Fugarino, wearing a Star Wars costume.
It turned out their neighbors, Robert and Mindy Fugarino, were co-pastors of Kingwood Christian Church. The couples, who both had young daughters, became friends.
Eventually, Anne started attending a book study at KWCC with Mindy, Margaret Maat, Gini Brown, and Bob Hollibaugh (Stan’s father).
“It was so refreshing,“ she said. “There was no agenda. There was so much humility in the group and just a desire to talk about how God is active in your life. It was what I was looking for since I left JVC. That’s what my JVC experience was like.”
After about a year, they formally joined the church. “I loved that there was one simple statement of faith.”
Since joining, they’ve been involved in KWCC in many ways. Both have served as deacons. Anne was on the search committee that led to the hiring of Chad Mattingly as pastor. She’s also served on the board and is currently an elder. Pilar, who will be a freshman at Kingwood Park High School this fall, has been active in the children and youth programs and loves the Disciples camps.
With Jaime’s family in Chile and Anne’s largely in the Dallas area, they wanted a sense of community and found it in the church.
Anne recounts a message she’s heard from Chad many times. “What happens here Sunday morning is not the most important thing. It’s what happens between Sundays and what kinds of connections you make, “ she said. “And that’s what I was looking for. I wanted to be in a place where I could talk about how God is moving in our lives.”
For Jaime, as an immigrant, it’s important that everyone be welcome. He loves the no judgment aspect of KWCC and its commitment to diversity.
Anne agrees. “We have a lot of people coming here because they’ve had bad experiences or no experience in church in the past. What you’re seeing here is what you’re getting. We truly mean everyone is welcome and everyone can take communion. That one statement of faith is it. There’s not a long list of requirements or statements of belief.
“We really will like you as you are.”
This is one in a series of occasional profiles, written by Susan Bullard, on members of Kingwood Christian Church. Love 101: Do Your Part.