Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The Answer My Friend


I recall a song when I was a teenager, entitled "Blowing in the Wind" I looked it up and found out that Bob Dylan actually wrote the song, but I think I remember in my early years, Peter, Paul and Mary singing it. It asked a tough question, what is the answer to whatever you may be facing in life, and that the answer can be found, it is blowing in the wind, it is there.
I know that we face a lot of seemingly unanswered questions in our lives and some things we face just do not seem to be easily answered, but in the quest for answers we often end up seeking. I am reminded that when we seek, we will find. Spiritually speaking, we can find at least a peace in our hearts even in the midst of unanswered questions. We are reminded that we will find it when we seek for it with our whole heart. Or more specifically, we will find God, when we seek for Him with our all. There is an answer, blowing in the wind.
Recently Marlene and I returned from McAllen, Texas, where World Gospel Mission operates Taylor Christian School and a community soccer outreach to the children of the McAllen area. Many of you have been praying and supporting Jordan as he has gone to serve there in teaching Phys. Ed and
 coaching soccer. He has entered into the ministry there and is doing well in getting adjusted and serving alongside of a great team of WGM missionaries. Taylor Christian School has been around for decades and continues to have an impact in the lives of children living on the border of Mexico.
We helped finish up his apartment that was in need of some major remodeling and he is settling in to the ministry there. Thank you for praying for this important work. While we were there we helped with the apartment, met with many missionaries one-on-one and enjoyed some great times of fellowship together. You may recall that our missionary career began in 1985 in Laredo, TX, just three hours up the Rio Grande. There we ministered in a school much like Taylor Christian. Jessica and Joshua were both born in Laredo, and we felt that God placed a special love in our hearts for the border. Fast forward 30 years and we find our selves taking our youngest son back to the border to minister, while God continues to use us around the world to encourage and support missionaries. What an awesome God we serve! And what a joy to know that even in a world full of questions, there is a peace in knowing that God is in control. I started to think about the song, "Blowing in the Wind" because of an event that happened during our time in McAllen. We were grilling out our evening meal with one of our missionary family's after working on Jordan's apartment. A pastor friend of the mission drove in and approached us asking if we wanted to see something that we had never seen before. Peeking our curiosity we went to his van. The pastor was a
Native American. He got out a large box and opened it up and lifted out a large bald eagle. He began to tell the story. He said that because he was a Native American he requested that the Federal Government send him a bald eagle for cultural native American purposes. This young bald eagle had been found after being sucked into the whirlwind of one of the large windmills of a wind farm and had perished at the turning blades of the windmill. He received this eagle as a religious/cultural gift to be used for those purposes. As I reflected on this experience
I thought about the fact that we are often like an eagle, the whirlwind of life, the busyness of life often "sucks" us in. In takes us away from the things that are most important and occupies our lives with busy things. Not necessarily bad things, but things that often pull us away from seeking the things that may be eternal. The things that are everlasting, the things of God. I wonder today as you read this blog, are you being pulled in to a "whirlwind" of life? Do you need to take a moment, and seek the Lord? What is He saying to you? What is the message He has for you? Rest! Peace! Breathe! Seek! Find!......yes, the answer my friend, it's blowing in the wind.

God loves you and so do we.

May we share some prayer requests with you?
Please pray for Jordan as he ministers in McAllen, TX. Pray for God to use him in a great way.
Pray for us as we leave today for a visit to Asia. We will spend a week in Japan with our WGM missionaries there. Oct. 19 - 27. We will then fly to Cambodia where I will preach and visit our newest field and our missionary family there, Oct. 27 -31. Then we fly to China and visit three of our friends there, Oct. 31 - Nov. 5. Our oldest son Joshua will be visiting Japan with us. He is meeting us in Tokyo for the week, where he will be experiencing a taste of what we do in our ministry. He will also have a chance to connect with a foreign exchange student that lived with us in Spring, Arbor, Michigan when he was growing up. Please pray for all of these travels and that we may have some effective times of ministry amongst our people serving in this part of the world.

As always, we appreciate you all so much! Thank you for being a part of our ministry. May the Lord bless you and may you find His grace sufficient. He is enough for every need.

Love and prayers,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
Missionaries with World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952

www.wgm.org/mcgrady

Monday, September 25, 2017

Who's in the family?

 

 

 

 Family is life's most precious commodity. Family is a precious gift, one that refreshes the heart, renews the spirit, and reminds us just how blessed we are. We have been traveling a lot in these recent days, but we found some time over the Labor Day weekend between running from Bolivia to Indiana, from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and in between to spend some time with our family. Lake Michigan has been our family destination for a long time. Seeing  the beautiful double rainbow over Lake Michigan reminded us that God's promises are always true and we can trust Him. We enjoyed a weekend together with our Josh, Jordan, Jessi, Zac, and our baby Rowen. Rowen had her first experience recently meeting a donkey up close and in person with "Papa" and she loved it. Yes, family is life's most precious commodity and we are thankful for our family and each one of our kids. We love them all so very much and grateful to God for His abundant blessings to us. While we hold this family so dear, we realize that the family of God is so much bigger and we all are part of that great family. Even as we think of you as the reader of this blog, you are part of our family. You are reading this today because you care about us, you pray for us, you may even send in financial support for our ministry and we feel the same warm thoughts about you as we realize you are part of our family too and we are so thankful for you. Then, as we think about family, we realize that God has blessed us with an amazing missionary family that we get to
work with. During the past two weeks and over the summer we have had an the opportunity to invest in the lives of our missionaries in some incredible ways. We conducted a total of three Renewal sessions over the course of this year, yielding us the opportunity to debrief and provide spiritual support and renewal to nearly 60 missionaries serving from all parts of the world. God is doing great things and WGM is on the move to impact the world for Christ in exciting ways. We listen to story after story of a life that is changed because a missionary went to serve and we (Marlene and Ned) are privileged to partner with you in encouraging, supporting and coming alongside of these servants in their work and ministry. It may be that you are reading this blog today and God may be speaking to you about how you might become even more involved in missions. We'd love to have a conversation with you about that, the Lord of the harvest is still calling laborers into the mission field. Will you pray Luke 10:2 that the Lord of the harvest will send workers.
Many of you are aware that Jordan is heading to McAllen, Texas to WGM's border ministry to serve as a Phys Ed. teacher and soccer coach for the next year. This door of ministry has opened for him and he is excited to go. He is currently in process of raising funds to serve for the next year, and he is in need of about $4000.00 more of support to be fully funded. He will be leaving for the field on October 9. If you would like to support Jordan, your tax deductible gift can be sent to World Gospel Mission Box 948, Marion, IN 46952 or a secure gift can be given on line at www.wgm.org/jordanmcgrady We look forward to seeing what God will do through Jordan as he goes to do this important ministry.
Since we last talked to you, we had the privilege of visiting our missionaries serving in Bolivia in the month of August. We spoke to them as a group, shared a meal together, and went to some of their places of ministry. We visited the "El Alferero" ministry to university students in Santa Cruz, where our missionary Amanda Hoogcamp serves as counselor and librarian in this exciting ministry. God is working to use our WGM missionaries in some incredible ways. Your prayers for us as we come alongside of them in ministry is so important. We also traveled out about 5 hours by car to Asuncion' to visit our long term missionary Dr. Nina Kunkle who has faithfully served the Lord there all of her adult life. Dr. Kunkle was born and raised in Bolivia and has literally saved the lives of many while telling them of the eternal salvation that only Jesus can bring. Dr. Kunkle is pictured here (lower right)with the pastor and wife of the local WGM Nueva Esperanza Church (New Hope). We have a supporting church that is part of our family,    
Village Hope Church in Jackson, MI. There are a couple of ladies that recycle greeting cards into laminated tracts with the plan of salvation scriptures in Spanish on them. We took a supply of 500 of these with us and distributed them at this church and the people were so excited to take these cards out to help tell others about the love of Christ. Have you ever wondered what you could do to advance the Gospel in our world? Who would have known that recycled greetings cards could make such a difference?
We just returned from a journey out east here in the USA. We traveled to Philadelphia, PA where we had the honor of visiting the Mariam Clinic,
where long term missionaries, Dr. Michael and Kay Johnson serve in an inner city ministry. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson served for 20 years at our Tenwek hospital in Kenya, Africa until they sensed God leading them back to USA where they have started this inner city clinic serving the underserved medical needs of the people living in inner city Philly. I know that sometimes we run into people that wonder why don't we minister to the needs of the people right here in our own country. Well, the family of God is not an either/or situation, it is both. God is about redeeming and restoring lives around the world and He cares about everyone's needs from Bolivia to Philadelphia. God's people are in need of our prayers and our support and we have some great members of God's family reaching out around the world with the love of Christ. Are you interested in how you can be a part of this great work? We would love to hear more from you.


From our family to your family, may you be blessed in all ways.

Sincerely,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
Missionaries with World Gospel Mission
Directors of Member Health
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765-671-7240
www.wgm.org/mcgrady







 
 

Friday, August 4, 2017

Texas Mexico Border Ministries and Jordan!

Some months ago, we had the opportunity to travel to our Texas Mexico Border Ministries located in McAllen, Texas. While there, we had the opportunity to lead a growing number of missionaries from WGM in a Ministry Match Seminar to explore how to use their spiritual giftedness and personality profile to assist in the education ministry at Taylor Christian School and/or sports ministry outreach to the community. God is up to something really exciting on the Texas Mexican Border and we have strong reason to agree. We have seen a number of missionaries called to serve and to work in education and sports ministry outreach. It is very exciting.

We have a heart for this area of the world. Some of you may recall that we began our married lives 32 years ago by serving in this area of the world. Our daughter Jessica and oldest son Joshua were born on the mission field in Laredo, Texas and we know that God is concerned for these people on the border, still today.

We are very excited to announce to you that our youngest son Jordan will be returning to missionary service and will be going to McAllen, Texas with World Gospel Mission to serve for the next year as a Volunteer in Action (VIA). We ask that you would consider joining his prayer team or his team of supporters to help with this vital sports ministry outreach. 

Here is Jordan newsletter:


Dear family and friends,                                                                  July 31, 2017

 Recently I was accepted with World Gospel Mission to serve as a Volunteer In Action (VIA) in McAllen, TX on the Texas/Mexico border. As you may know, I spent most of my teenager years serving as a missionary with my parents, Ned and Marlene, in Cuenca, Ecuador. Now, I am beyond excited for the doors that God has opened so far to serve in McAllen in the fall.

For a quick update since Ecuador, I attended and graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in the winter of 2015 with a degree in Marketing and Spanish. I then started a position in sales at a technology company in Indianapolis, IN, spending a few months learning about the tech and sales life. During that time I was also able to save up and return for a week back to Ecuador to see friends and members of our church for the first time since we left five years prior. That trip reminded me of how much I enjoyed the Spanish language, culture, and people (as well as soccer!) and began this journey of returning to missions that I am on now.

After trying a few different positions and companies around Indianapolis and having nothing working out quite liked I had planned, I decided to look around at mission opportunities related to my two favorite subjects, Spanish and sports. I began looking at mission opportunities that would allow me to do both, and during a volleyball game with missionaries from Texas this past June, I heard about the ideal ministry for me.

In McAllen, Texas, World Gospel Mission has Taylor Christian School, an elementary and middle school, as well as community soccer and basketball leagues with outreach among the Hispanic people. I will be able to come along side the current full time missionaries, coaching youth in the soccer and basketball leagues, teaching Physical Education as well as helping at the school as needed. My goal is to leave as soon as possible, but no later than October of this year, and stay until next fall, serving the full school year in McAllen. I am beyond blessed to find something so perfect for my skill set and to have this chance to serve.

As many of you know, it is impossible for me to do this alone. This is why I would like to invite you to be part of this ministry! As I wrap things up in Indianapolis and transition to move to McAllen, please keep me in your prayers for safe travels, fundraising, and the coaching and (Jordan with a pastor's newborn)

teaching I will be doing within the community.

 Also, please consider becoming a part of the financial team to make this ministry possible by making a contribution toward my expenses. Trusting God to provide the necessary finances is one of the first lessons I learned, and thankfully I have seen first hand how God provides and why I can confidently trust in Him to provide the total expense for my trip of $18,700, which covers travel, housing, and other living expenses.

Please pray with me for this financial need to be met by October of this year. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation online, visit www.wgm.org/jordanmcgrady where you can make a one time or recurring gift to my ministry. If you would prefer to send a check, please send it to Box 948, Marion IN, 46952. Any check made out to World Gospel Mission will receive a tax receipt from WGM.
 
Thank you all so much for your support of myself and my family for so many years. The same mission verse we chose ten years ago as a family on our way to Ecuador, Proverbs 3:5-6, is the same verse I am trusting in fully now; Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”

 
Would you consider standing with me in this ministry, either through joining my prayer team, or giving to this important outreach?  If you have any questions or want to learn more about the specifics, I would love to explain in more detail!

Blessings,
Jordan McGrady
Cell phone: 517-395-0455
Email: jordanmcgrady92@gmail.com


Address: 6964 Mary Court, Marion IN, 46953
 
___________________________________________________________________________


 

Friday, June 30, 2017

Summer Highlights In Ministry

 

WGM missionaries from around the world have gathered for 2 weeks of retreat, training, and collaboration. Join us in praying for these Kingdom workers!
WGM IMPACT 2017 at Indiana Wesleyan University

We had the privilege of joining about 100 of our WGM leaders for a wonderful time of spiritual renewal and stimulating converstation during two annointed weeks of ministry and learning during the month of June.  We used the format of seasoned leaders at WGM (Pauls) interacting and discussing missional topics and outreach for growth and development of WGM with emerging leaders (Timothys).
 
God was faithful to meet with us in a dynamic and soul inspiring way. Times of prayer, worship, and discussion lead us to realize that God has a great plan in place for WGM to double the impact of mission work around the world over the next five years. As an organization we affirmed our need for passionate expressions of Prayer, Holiness, Stewardship, and Transformation to improve our focus on bringing the love of God to people around the world. We made a resolve to continue to work hard to promote spiritual and emotional health and well being for each of our missionaries and our missionary teams, encouraging WGM leaders to work together in continued greater unity and oneness of mind to see the lost brought to Christ. We were excited to consider how God may be leading us to embrace new paradigms of outreach and strategic planning to reach the world. We sensed the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the annointing power of God to more completely fulfill God's best intentions for WGM.
 
It is so exciting to see how God is at work and we are convinced that He is still calling people into missionary service. Maybe God is calling you? If so check out www.wgm.org/jobs for more information on how to serve or contact us and we would be happy to talk with you more.
 
Summertime is always a time of lots of activity around the WGM Headquarters in Marion. The month of July is packed with a Renewal Debriefing for missionaries coming home, a training for missionaries entering Home Ministry, and a final time of training to launch nine new missionaries headed out to serve around the world. We are preparing for missionaries to go to Cambodia, Kenya, Peru and Argentina. We will be involved in all of these training times during July.
 
Looking  ahead we have some time with family planned during the 4th of July. These are pictures with Ned's mom and brothers as well as our kids during the springtime this year. We look forward to being together over

Ned's Family over the Springtime
 
 
the holiday before entering into a month of training.
 August includes some educational events and visiting some missionaries stateside as well as a trip to Bolivia scheduled for August 22 - 29.  
Also looking ahead, we are planning a visit this fall to our missionaries serving in Japan and China, a part of the world that God has a heart for. As always we are interested in your prayers and thank you for your support to our mission work. The faithful giving of partners like you make our work with missionaries possible. Thank you for helping make a difference through your involvement.
 
We also like to know how we can return the blessing to you that you are to us. Please let us know how we may pray for you and what we may do to encourage you in your walk with Jesus.
Love and Prayers,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
WGM Missionaries
Box 948
Marion, IN 46953
727.459.2966
www.wgm.org/mcgrady  for more info on our ministry





 









 
 



Thursday, May 11, 2017

Wherever Your Treasure is.....

Recently we celebrated a surprise "Facebook" 60th Birthday Card Shower for Marlene. Our daughter Jessica planned the electronic celebration and well over 100 cards came flooding in. We had so many we had to find a box big enough to hold the surprise which we presented to her at a family gathering.  Thank you so much for helping to make Marlene's Birthday so very special. We really appreciated it.
As we viewed this picture we saw Marlene holding a precious treasure; so many wonderful people sharing their love and appreciation with her in such a meaningful and tangible way. It was a true treasure. Our minds were then drawn to Luke 12:54 (NLT) "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thougths will also be."
We began thinking of all of the treasures we possess and they are so many. From the spiritual side there is the treasure we have through Christ Jesus and all the blessings He so freely gives to us. The gift of salvation, eternal life, the promise of the Holy Spirit, the daily abiding presence in our lives. Wonderful treasures. From the emotional side there is the treasure of friendship, love, and support that we find through family, loved ones and people like you. There is the blessing of a precious little one year old in our lives that brings us so much joy. We celebrated Rowen's One year birthday on April 15th, with many of our family gathered together. What a wonderful treasure we have with family. Each of you reading this update are part of the treasure, part of the family, part of our ministry, part of the team that helps to make what we do possible through your prayers for us, through your giving to our ministry and through your love and support to us. Thank you for being part of the wonderful treasure of God's gift to us.  
 
From the physical side there is the treasure of ministry that we have with God's choice servants. We have been called to serve God's servants. We are committed to the ministry of caring for missionaries serving God around the world. Our hearts and thoughts are focused on our missionaries who are real treasures too. World Gospel Mission is committed to serving people around the world. We recently returned from a visit to Kenya where we had a wonderful time of ministry to over 70 missionaries (plus kids) during a retreat on the Indian Ocean. Many of you were praying for us as we made this journey last month. We shared several days with our missionaries taking time with each family and each missionary to ask how they were doing and hear their hearts and see what God is doing in their lives and in their ministries. There were countless opportunties to pray together, encourage and support in a tangible way, the work of our missionaries. We gathered together in regular times of worship as well as fun times of actives and play. We presented the personality teaching of True Colors and everyone enjoyed learning if they were Blue, Gold, Green or Orange. Each color stands for a particular approach a person takes on relationships and personality. The whole week long, missionaries had fun sharing things like, "Well of course you need a hug, you are blue" or "Where's the party? The Oranges' are here!" or "We better be careful and do this right, we are Gold." or "Logically this doesn't add up to a true Green." It was so much fun and helpful too. What a real treasure to invest in such encouraging ways with our missionaries.

 
One of the great treasures that we experienced was a baptism in the Indian Ocean. What a sight to have over 100 Christians gathered on the shore praying together and rejoicing together as new believers in Jesus Christ were baptized. What an exciting thing to behold and what a joy to know that people around the world are making committments to follow Jesus. We praise the Lord for this and share this news with you with great joy.
 


 

Then for just a little fun, one never knows when at the Indian Ocean, buring a baptismal service when three camels may appear! Anyone for a ride???
 
 The Gospel of Luke reminds us that heavens values far surpass those of this temporal world. We are so thankful for you, who join with us regularly in keeping the focus on the eternal. Luke 12:34 "Whever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will be also."
 
Blessings to each of you,
 
Ned and Marlene McGrady
World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765-671-7240

For information on our ministry or to support us at World Gospel Mission go to:
www.wgm.org/mcgrady

 
 
 

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

True Colors


 


We are coming up on the end of March and it is time for us to travel to Kenya, Africa. We have a wonderful opportunity to share in a five day retreat with nearly 70 missionaries and 45 missionary kids (Mk's).  We will be joining our retreat speakers, former WGM President, Dr. Hubert Harriman and his lovely wife, Sarah as well as other workers including Mike Banks our Mk Coordinator in what we believe will be an awesome week of refreshment and renewal for our missionaries serving throughout Kenya. We are busy packing lots of goodies to take along to bless our missionaries and Mk's.  Marlene will be presenting a teaching on True Colors, which is a personality profile learning tool that is interactive and colorful. Missionaries will find out if their color is Orange, Gold, Blue or Green - What's your color? Marlene is Orange, I am Gold, we both are strong Blue too. Do you want to find out your color?    It will be fun to be at this retreat and we are looking forward to this time so very much. We will be traving through Detroit and Amsterdam to Nairobi and will spend the next 10 days or so there before returning to Indy. We ask an interest in your prayers as we go to minister. Pray for our travels and that our ministry may be effective in encouraging and supporting our missionaries. We love this ministry of coming alongside of missionaries and we are so thankful for the opportunity to do it. We know that it is only possible because of the support and prayers you give. Thank you.

Over the past month we spoke in several churches and were able to visit with some of you while we traveled to Michigan, Florida  and Kentucky. We were thrilled to speak at Trinity Wesleyan Church in Jackson, MI, Ranchero Village Chapel, Largo, FL, Wesley Chapel UM Church, W. Melbourne, FL. and Asbury University, WGM Global Cafe', Wilmore KY.

It is always a joy for us to connect with our team of supporters as well as to meet new friends. God is working to help raise mission awareness in His church and we are excited about the prospects of reaching more people for Christ in these days. We are always interested in promoting the work of missions and we are happy to connect with you or your church. Just gives us a shout!

We had a wonderful commissioning service at WGM Marion, on March 16 when we commissioned nine missionaries to full time service. God met with us in a very special way and we sensed His annointing on the service and on these missionaries. WGM is on the move and great things are happening. Our leadership is casting a large vision to double the impact of WGM around the world. We believe that God has uniquely positioned WGM to be a key part of reaching our world for Christ. It is exciting to see the momentum build as we continue to look toward growth and positioning WGM to reach out.

Well it is time to finish packing and we will soon board the plane. We will think of you and give thanks to God for you as we travel one more time in Jesus Name. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can pray for you. May the Lord Bless you and keep you in His care.

Sincerely,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765-671-7240

www.wgm.org/mcgrady for info on our ministry and how you can support this outreach.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

There is a River - Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psa. 46:1. Over the years of following Christ there are some themes  that seem to run consistant. God is our refuge, He is our strength and He is always with us even in the hard times. His faithfulness to us is something we can depend on.
Just last week we joined the team at World Gospel Mission in Marion, IN for a day of prayer and seeking the Lord. WGM is committed to the spiritual growth and development of its employees as well as its 230 missionaries serving God around the world.
I wanted to share a thought that came to me during my time alone with the Lord. The picture at the left is actually the Mississinewa River in Marion, IN. I was studying Psa. 46 and came upon verse 4 that says, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." My mind traveled back into time to a camp meeting in Wellston, OH where I grew up as a young person. This camp meeting had a huge part in my call to serve Jesus. It was during this camp meeting that I was called in to full time Christian Service and felt God's touch on my heart as I surrended my life to answer His call. As the Lord refreshed that memory in my mind, I thought of one of the young people at that camp named George that used to sing a song entitled, "There is a River" the words which came back to me, "There is a river, and it flows from deep within. There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin. Come to this water; there is a vast supply. There is a river, that never shall run dry." It seemed like God said to me go to the river, so I went to the Mississinewa and there the Lord reminded me that He has everything that I face in His capable hands and His resources are just like this river, they flow, unending, and never will run dry.
What an encouragement to our hearts as Marlene and I serve our missionaries at WGM. We enter into many situations that we need a lot of help to carry out our responsibilities and care for our most precious resource, our missionaries. God flooded my heart with His presence inviting me to come to the river, for it will never ever run dry. I looked through some recent pictures and saw a picture on the coast of Kauai' and the vast Pacific Ocean, and then the sunset in Florida on the vast Atlantic Ocean,  and I know that Psa. 46:2 -3 "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging....THERE IS A RIVER and from that river we can "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth, The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psa. 46: 10 -11.

We are mindful of this message as we minister among our missionaries. We were in the country of Peru to ring in the New Year. Marlene and I gathered just outside of Cusco, Peru with almost 50 of our WGM South America/Ibero missionaries for a reterat. We were able to spend quality time with each one and enjoyed laughing together, playing together and times of teaching and spiritual encouragement. We always enjoy prepping welcome bags of little surprises, complete with chocolate and more...to just say we love our missionaries and we care about them. The retreat was a tremendous time of refreshment and encouragement. We are often asked what is it that we do? Well, traveling to our missionaries and investing in their lives through developing relationships and coming alongside of them in their ministry is what we love to do. Many of you may remember us saying we are like the Aaron and Hur of the story of Moses praying for Joshua in Exodus Chapter 17. We help to hold up the hands of those that are ministering around the world. It is your faithful prayers and support that you give to our ministry that makes this all possible.

We returned from Peru in January, and visited Somerset Congregational Church in Somerset, MI for a missions fund raising dinner,  and then we had some time to enjoy a vacation with some close friends and supporters of ours who shared their time share with us in Hawaii. We returned from vacation to stop off in California to visit some missionaries before we returned to Marion. Our mission offices are welcoming some new personnel to help in the next phase of growth for WGM and we are excited to see what God has in store for us as we grow. On Feb. 12 we were privileged to speak at our home church, Trinity Wesleyan Church in Jackson, MI and enjoyed seeing friends and supporters of a great church that stands with us in ministry. This week finds us in Largo, FL where we spoke at Ranchero Village Chapel and connected with family and friends that are part of our support team. On, Feb. 25 -26 we will be sharing about our missionary work with a new church, Wesley United Methodist in W. Melborne, FL.

Where are we headed next? We plan to be in Marion, IN for most of the month of March to get caught up on work there (including a move of offices for us) and also to do a planning time for our Member Health Department at the mission. On March 29 we fly out to Kenya, Africa where we will join our largest team of missionaries serving through WGM at their annual retreat there. Marlene will be teaching and we will be sharing with our missionaries there. As always we ask an interest in your prayers as we make this journey.

Thank you for you support and prayers. We constantly are reminded that your support and prayers are what keep us. You are part of The River and part of the encouragement that never runs dry. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
WGM
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
www.wgm.org/mcgrady