Friday, November 9, 2018

Call to help - Thoughts from Ireland

We are off to yet another church! It is a joy to visit our supporting churches and connect with ministry partners. We are so grateful for your partnership in this great work.
 Jordan has had the opportunity to speak asking for support for his missionary work on the Texas Mexico Border in McAllen, TX. Many of these churches recall hearing Jordan share about missions as a teenager and now as he prepares for missionary work.
In October we visited Christian Fellowship Center in Jackson, MI. This church has faithfully supported our family in mission work for over 10 years. Jordan shared with the congregation the opportunities he has had to impact Hispanic young people with the Gospel through teaching at Taylor Christian School and coaching soccer as well as his involvement in sports outreach in this community. We rejoiced as this mission minded church committed to support Jordan each month and helping him to spread the Good News. We praise God for the support from churches and individuals that have partnered with Jordan to raise the necessary funding to return to McAllen to continue his missionary work. He needs financial partners to help champion this cause and reach this needy area of the world. The Border is an area in great need and Jordan has answered the call to serve.
Would you consider supporting Jordan? God is at work and is using Jordan in a great way in McAllen, TX and he needs your support to get back to the ministry in McAllen that God has for him. Jordan needs your help with a monthly commitment of $50.00 from at least 60 people to reach his goal of returning to the field with World Gospel Mission.
 
WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO CONSIDER JOINING JORDAN'S TEAM OF SUPPORTERS? You can give do this on line and begin your support today!
 OR contact
World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765.664.7331
 
Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
 
Marlene and I wanted to give you an update on our recent ministry visit to Northern Ireland. We had the honor of visiting our WGM UK missionaries, Tommy and LaVern Anderson. They have been serving Christ in the UK through taking work teams to Africa, Central America, and Europe. They are celebrating their 25th year with WGM and are effectively promoting missionary outreach throughout the greater Northern Ireland Area. Their hearts for the ministry and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is an absolute inspiration. They have organized and lead countless mission trips engaging the church in the UK to reach the world for Christ.
 We had the honor of learning about their work, attending their church and investing in their lives and ministry during our visit. Tommy and LaVern are wonderful hosts and carry a great love for Jesus that radiates from their lives. We are honored to have them as part of WGM and the work they are doing around the world. We attended a meeting at one of the local Gospel Halls in the area. Tommy shared about a recent team he had taken to the Baby Center in Kenya as well as the Holiday Clubs (VBS) that they do at local African Gospel Churches in Kenya.  He shared his passion for these children, and the concern they have for more children to know Jesus. He recruited team members and financial and prayer support for the next team they are planning to organize in April of next year.

Our time in Northern Ireland also gave us the opportunity to complete a semester long counseling class in two weeks time.
We were in the classroom for a total of 75 contact hours and learned some new methods of counseling that we practiced, videoed and learned from. Marlene was able to get all of her continuing education requirements met for her licensure and Ned was able to get his for chaplaincy certification completed.
On the plus side of some long hours in the class room was the location where we were. Rostrevor, Northern Ireland is a beautiful place. Interestingly, Ned recently learned that he was 57% Irish and sure enough both of us felt at home there. The culture, the food, the experiences of being in Ireland sure had carried a home feeling. We enjoyed the experience of learning, the sights we saw and the opportunities for ministry that we were given. It truly was a beautiful place in God's creation.
We also learned that Rostrevor was the boyhood vacation destination for C. S. Lewis. He would spend holiday time in this beautiful area that literally inspired him to create and write about the land of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia were an inspiration of imagination and deep spiritual symbolism that C.S. Lewis conceptualized during his boyhood years in this area of the world. At the top of the Cloughmore Trail was the area that Lewis would lookout over the water and envision the happenings of Narnia. The park at the base of this mountain has a Narnia Trail with scenes from the land of Narnia. You can enter the trail through the Wardrobe that you can see Marlene peeking around the door as we walked the Narnia trail. One of the special spots was coming up on the big wooden carved structure of Aslan. In the story Aslan is the savior of the land of Narnia. See Narnia never had Christmas and Aslan (Jesus) came to give Christmas to Narnia. Aslan moved throughout Narnia bringing hope. We are thankful that Aslan is still on the move today, changing lives and meeting needs around our world.
The Chronicles of Narnia are so fitting to the work we do as missionaries. It is natural for missionaries to experience that it is hard to come back. Re-entry shock and cultural shock happens just like it did when the characters, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy stumbled out of Narnia and back into the dusty wardrobe of their home. They were not the same people as they were before they went to Narnia and their experiences of this new land were difficult to understand, assimilate and process. The people they return to hadn't seen what they seen or experienced what they experienced. It was as though they no longer fit in to the life they came from and returned to. Transition is a reality to face and our missionaries need our support to do it well. Our work as missionaries is to help our missionaries do this well. Your part in our ministry and your support and prayers makes a huge difference. 
As we look forward to what is ahead we know that we have a great partnership with you our faithful friends. It is your prayers and your gifts that make our work go forward. And as our partnership includes Aslan, (Jesus) we can continue to make a difference in our work for the sake of the Gospel and the cause of Christ.

Please pray for us as we continue in our travels.

November 11, Village Hope Churches in Parma and Jackson, MI.
November 15 - 18, Mental Health in Missions Conference, Angola, IN.
November 21 - 25, Thanksgiving with family in Ohio
December 2, Lakeview Wesleyan Church, Marion, IN
December 6 - 11, Mexico field visit to our missionaries

Your prayers for our travels and the work God has given us to do is so appreciated. Also, please do not forget to join us in prayer for Jordan and the financial support that he needs to raise for his ministry.

We love you all and appreciate you so much!
Ned and Marlene McGrady
Directors of Member Health
Missionaries with World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765.671.7240
www.wgm.org/mcgrady