Alum discusses American dream, opens new bank
Financier and Messiah Trustee Andrew Samuel ’84 says God recently told him two things: 1) start a new bank and 2) write a book. He accomplished both goals simultaneously.
The book
Published by Lioncrest Publishing, “Our American Dream” explores Samuel’s particular version of what the American Dream means.
“The American Dream is about applying your God-given talents in any field, about fulfillment, [about] success, about giving back [and] about impacting,” he explained.
The book describes living a fulfilling life—regardless of surname, pedigree or lineage—with a God-given purpose. Samuel describes his purpose as entrepreneurship.
He says his experience as a poor child living in a small room with no electricity or running water in India guided him to God’s intention and influenced the entrepreneurial spirit he now uses in developing banks and companies.
“I never said ‘I [want] to be an accountant, I want to be a banker.’ I just wanted to impact people … and that purpose then translated to every opportunity in banking I had,” said Samuel.
The new bank
In 2018, he accomplished goal #2: creating LINKBANK in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Samuel says he wants to strive to develop the next generation of leaders. “It’s intentional we wanted young people and want to give them an opportunity to succeed,” he said.
With additional LINKBANK branches in Lancaster and West Chester, he has been involved with more than a dozen banks as a founder and executive during his career.
Samuel says his success in the past is due to Messiah. “I would not have gotten an education if it was not for Messiah stepping out and saying, ‘Look, we’ll help you, [and] we’ll educate you,” he said.
After serving on the Board of Trustees for 12 years, he says most of his friends are Messiah alumni. “If you just stop and ask yourself, ‘Where is God leading you?’ it’s amazing how He gives you those puzzle pieces and you [can] just follow His lead.”
— Molly McKim ’23