Sandra Joyce Corson Lewis, born on Feb 13, 1944 in Skowhegan, Maine. As a teenager Sandra lost both of her parents, her father in a work accident and her mother from physical ailments. After that, she was raised from here by Marion Corson, her older sister. Sandra also has two younger sisters, Mary and Joan. While still in high school, Sandra knew that she wanted to be a missionary. While attending the University of Oklahoma for a degree in Linguistics, she met Ronald Kenneth Lewis, who had a similar dream for his life. Within six months of getting married, they found themselves on a boat heading to Papua New Guinea to serve on the mission field.
In Papua New Guinea, they selected a remote tribe in the Sepik province, accessibly only by a 10 to 12 hour boat ride. It was here, that they adopted two children born in Tasmania, Australia: Matthew and Bronwyn. with their only access being by a 10 to 12-hour boat ride. One day in 1975, when the children were just toddlers, while Sandra was recovering from an illness, she awoke one day, unable to walk. This changed her life and the lives of her family as well.
The family was forced to move back to the US, where she could receive medical advice and treatments.
Even then, her main goal was to recover and return back to her mission in Papua New Guinea, and fulfill her purpose of being a missionary and translating the Bible into an unwritten tongue. The whole time her main goal was to recover and return back to Papua New Guinea. To complete her lifelong purpose of being a missionary and translating the bible into an unwritten tongue.
In 1978, while the family was still living in the states, a baby boy joined the Lewis family. In order to return to the mission field, Sandra would need to be walk on her own and prove that she could be self-sufficient. The doctors in charge of her care and rehabilitation spent just under six months helping her learn to walk again and simply gave up. Their consensus was that it would be impossible for her to ever walk again.
Still set on returning to the mission field and continuing the Bible translation for the Saniyo people, she did not accept this answer and continued on her own, teaching herself how to walk again. In 1980 Sandra defied the doctors by returning to Papua New Guinea with her family of five. In total, she spent 37 years in that country, completing the translation of the New Testament into the Saniyo languate
In total she spent 37 years in Papua New Guinea, completing the translation of the New Testament into the Saniyo language.
In 2005 they celebrated a dedication ceremony and put 500 copies of the New Testament into the hands of the people. Some may see a life full of tragedy, grief, sorrow, and pain. Yes… there was much of all those things. I don’t see it that way at all. I see a strong woman, beautiful both inside and out, who would not take no for an answer when it came to following her dreams. Nothing short of death itself (which she came close to several times) could have stopped her from completing what she set out to do, to do what she knew must be done.
The level of determination, perseverance, and strength to even set out on an adventure of this magnitude is grand—bigger than the oceans crossed to get there, to come back physically damaged, to recover and return, across the vast distance of the oceans again, to finish what was started. She has taught me many lessons about life and how to live it: how to persevere through just about anything, to always land on my feet, regardless of what situation, environment, or country I get dropped into, to be patient, kind to others, to fight for and love the underdog, to not accept people or things at face value, to dig deeper, to find the true worth of a person.
She is the strongest woman that I know. The most determined. The most accomplished.
What she has done is nothing short of a miracle… yes, because of her I believe in miracles.
With much love,
Matthew Lewis
(Her son that is both lucky and blessed to have her as a Mother!)
Commissions available on request.