Reaching to Cusco, Peru! October 2012

 During the month of September we traveled to Cusco, Peru to work with WGM's Team of missionaries partnering with the church and various ministries to help reach that city for Christ. No we were not under a Tsunami warning but from the view of Ned's hospital bed the trip seemed a little like one.
We arrived safely in Cusco after an all night flight and was preparing for various ministry opportunities including preaching, teaching, a special ladies meeting at the Agape Church and a retreat with the missionary team. The next day I (Ned) became very ill and it lasted in to the next day when on the advise of a missionary doctor we headed for the hospital.

I worked many years as a hospital chaplain but never was a patient until arriving in Cusco. The hospital was a step back in time but a nice new building that offered attentive care. The ER doc admitted me for hydration and antibiotics to treat a parasite that had taken up residence in my body. Two days later the bugs had been bombarded with enough antibiotics and other medications that the symptoms subsided and I was discharged late that second day. Thankfully Marlene is an LPN and was able to stay at the hospital and between the two of us and the help of the missionaries and your prayers we made it through that trial.

Due to this minor tsunami that hit me, all of our ministry at the church changed as we were only able to pray for the city of Cusco from our 6th floor window. Our plans to go to a retreat center for a few days were also curtailed as others of our team had some of the same symptoms as I had. So we decided it was best for everyone to stay near to home for the week.

But God was failthful to us, as we continued to lift up Christ in Cusco. For a few hours each day we met with our missionaries David and Cathlene Strong and Ann Seaney and we talked about ministry and missions. We spent time discussing ways that the local Agape Church may help discover its gifts and talents and use them to make a strong impact in to the lives of local Cuscanians.

The city of Cusco is a very large city and reaching 1/2 million people. It is set in the heart of the Andes Mountains and is at an elevation of 12,000 ft.  Up the mountainside, overlooking the city is a large white statue of Jesus and His arms are outstreached over the city. As we peared up at this huge statue of Jesus the verse of scripture came to my mind, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." John 12:32 NKJV and I prayed Lord may our WGM missionaries be blessed as they are "lifting up Christ in Cusco." Jesus said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3: 14 -15 NKJV. Please join us in praying for all our missionaries sharing Christ in foreign lands. Marlene and I with the stength of the Lord, spent time investing in the lives of some great missionaries and we had the opporunity to encourage them in their work on the front lines as they are daily lifting up Christ in Cusco.

The people of Cusco are wonderful, warm and friendly and they have some religious influence in their lives, but as with so many people in our world, the clarity of who Christ is and what He came to do gets clouded by busyness, other priorities as well as false religions. Even though Jesus stands watch over the city of Cusco with arms outstreached most Cuscanians would rather tell you about "mother earth" and caution you to treat her with respect by giving her a drink of water by pouring some on the ground. Our missionaries have sensed God's call to Cusco to proclaim Christ and to introduce folks to the Creator God himself! The one that invites us to drink of the Living Water, so as to thirst no more! Pray for our team serving there as God works in them and through them to accomplish His purposes. God has Cusco on His heart! Will you pray?

By the end of our stay in Cusco it seemed like it was a little bit like a Tsunami, as we had a lot of unexpected things happen to us. But in spite of all that happened we saw God work in some amazing ways resulting in some real God inspired ideas to use the teachings we did with our missionaries to impact and share with the Agape Church. Perhaps had our plans not changed, we may not have had the focus on how God may want to use the missionaries in new ways to impact the church. Good things do come out of Tsunami's ya know. Well it was time for us to start our journey back to the USA. We had a flight to Lima the capital where we had visited with missionaries back in 2009 and we enjoyed the city overlooking the ocean. And for those of you that know me well, I love Dunkin Donuts coffee, and amazingly enough that evening we enjoyed a visit to the local DD's. The coffee reminded us of home and as a souvenir we bought the coffee mug that said, "I love DD Peru!" We took a night tour of the city and returned to our guest house for a short night stay before heading to the airport for our return to Miami and eventually Indianapolis. We thank you so much for your prayers and support that makes it possible to fulfill our part in the great commission work of seeing our world reached with the "Good News". You are truly our "Champions" and because of your faithfulness in prayer and giving we can go! We are humbled to be your missionaries and we are committed to ministering the love of Jesus wherever we go.

Stationed locally, serving Christ Globally,

Ned and Marlene McGrady

World Gospel Mission

Box 948

Marion, IN 46953

 the month