Changing More than Time Zones

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Psalm 18:2 NKJV

The day that we returned home from our shortened trip to Kenya we were met with the news of the COVID-19 virus and the beginning of the stay at home order. When we left for Kenya on March 8, we had no idea that the nation and the entire world would come to a halt. We were in Nairobi, Kenya and just two hours away from beginning our tour throughout the country to do ministry visits with our missionaries, doctors, nurses and other ministry workers. Marlene received a text from our daughter, Jessica, stating that the USA had closed travel from anyone coming from Europe. We immediately felt the Lord beginning to lead our hearts and minds to consider leaving Kenya soon. We had planned to be there for several weeks, but decided it would be best to leave. We made arrangements for a direct flight from Nairobi to JFK. We arrived on March 13 (Ned's 60th birthday, which lasted 31 hours in the flight through several time zones.)

We know that God was leading us and He truly was our help and strength and we thank Him for the provision that brought us back home safely to Indiana. The governor of Indiana instituted the CDC guidelines for social distancing and a statewide stay at home order. The offices of World Gospel Mission followed those recommendations and has remained closed with most employees working from home. We have continued our ministry responsibilities supporting missionaries, assisting some with difficult decisions of whether or not to come home. Also to help them cope with their situations that in some places have a much more restrictive stay at home order. We are finding all our people to be safe and doing as well as can be expected in these trying days and we ask that you join us in praying for them to remain healthy and safe in their respective countries.

As we have been house bound, like most of you have, and doing your best to social distance ourselves, (and now perhaps even wearing a mask), it seems there has been some time to pause, stop, and rest. Some thoughts that have come to the forefront are, the Lord has stopped our world and created a pause. In this pause where has God been in this time? What has God been saying to you? Where have you seen God at work? These questions we don't often ask, many times because we are so busy moving from one place to the next, one task to the next, but in the midst of this time we can reflect on these questions. The gift of Sabbath is a time to rest, a time to stop, a time to fully experience where God is at work and what He is doing in the world. This time is a chance we all may have a to listen to Jesus and hear His heart. It is time to read the Bible, to spend time in prayer, and to trust God even in the storms.

We have close friends that are sick and some are having big struggles with their illness. We continue to pray for the healing touch of God to be on them. We believe God is able and we invite you to join us in trusting in the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. As we approach this Holy Week, we know that it is one like no other in the lifetime of anyone reading this. Never has there been in our history this situation affecting the whole world at the same time. We know that we serve the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead to bring us the gift of Eternal Life through faith in His finished work on Calvary's Cross.

While we are home in Marion, IN we are thinking of each and everyone of you. We are praying the Lord will bless you greatly during this Easter Season. We pray that you will be safe, that you will be healthy, and that you will find the power of the risen Lord to be your strength and your salvation.

We love you all much and we thank you for your continued support for the ministry and for your prayers. We look forward to continuing to serve the Lord in support to all our missionaries serving around the world. We pray that your church, your family, and all you know will blessed abundantly.

Sincerely yours,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765-664-7331

www.wgm.org/mcgrady

"Up, up and Away...."

Well.... it is "up, up and away!" We will be traveling to Kenya for most of the month of March. We will be accompanied by our new co-workers, Jeff and Christine Stanfield and together we will travel to all of WGM's stations throughout the country visiting our 40 plus missionaries serving cross-culturally in medical, orphanage, and community development and educational ministries.
Our flagship ministry at Tenwek Hospital, as well as Chigoria, Nairobi, Kijabe, Olderkesi will round up our 20 days of ministry there. We have made several trips to Kenya over the years and we are excited to once again visit a part of the world that has captured our hearts. God is doing a great work through our missionaries in Kenya and we are thrilled to partner with them in support and prayer as we go to encourage and bless them. We ask an interest in your prayers for the 4 of us as we seek to be Jesus' hands and feet there in Kenya.
We ask that you will pray for our travels, for our visits with each person, for the Kenyans we will interface with, for our health and safety as we go.
Many of you have been aware of my mom's illness and hospitalizations over the holidays. Marlene and I were able to make a quick visit her prior to our trip.  We are grateful to report that mom is making good progress in her recovery and gaining strength in her recovery process. We will be planning to be together with mom for our granddaughters birthdays over Easter Weekend.
As always, we realize that we can not do this ministry alone. We need you as partners in this work to support us in prayer. Through your support we are enabled to go to care for others across the way. Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
Ned and Marlene 

New Beginnings

Welcome to January 2020, a year of new beginnings. I recalled preaching one of my favorite sermons this time of year, entitled, "A New You for a New Year!" Marlene and I pray that you will have a blessed New Year, full of the newness of Christ,  and His presence in this new year. May you be made new in His love.

Speaking of new things, I want to ask you our loyal supporters and prayer partners to join us in praying for a very special week for us during January 27 - Feb. 1. We believe we have some new plans for ministry and new direction from the Lord that we will be seeking during our Member Health Team's Strategic Planning Retreat. God has doubled the size of our team of workers and has strategically placed us together for this time, to make even a greater impact of our missionary workers serving around the world.  

Would you prayer for our retreat? We will be together for this week, seeking God's direction as we plan, strategize and wait on the Lord for His direction for our team. We have grown from five workers on our team to 10 and this will be our first time together as a full team. We are meeting in Sarasota, FL and have invited Dr. Daniel Tolan, a WGM missionary to serve as our facilitator of our retreat. Please join us in praying for our team as we begin this journey together. Our team will be traveling from IN, OH, and Bolivia to join our team together.

Marlene and I will be staying on in Florida for a time to connect with supporters and to speak at Presbyterian Village Chapel in Largo. We will also have time to go to Avon Park Camp and meet up with missionaries in the Florida area. We look forward to this time and what God has for us.

Looking ahead we will be speaking at our home church, Encounter Church (Trinity Wesleyan Church) in Jackson, MI on Feb. 23 and at Christian Fellowship Church in Jackson, MI on Mar. 1. Then we will be ministering in Kenya, Africa from March 8 - 25. So please continue to pray for our travels, our ministry and all that God is doing in us and through us.

Thank you for those that have inquired about Ned's mom. She was hospitalized twice in the month of December for pneumonia and was recently released from rehab to her home where we are continuing to support her needs for recovery. On Dec. 28 we had a 95th Birthday celebration for mom. This picture is our daughter Jessica, who served as the MC for mom's party, and Rowen, her daughter that sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "Happy Birthday" to great grandma McGrady. We had a wonderful time celebration with over 125 people.

Champions Corner - A Year in Review

Champions Corner Ned and Marlene McGrady

What a whirlwind and amazing year we have had. As 2019 comes to a close, we wanted to share with our family and friends a snap shot of this past year. We thank you for your continued support and prayers for our ministry. We are so thankful for your faithful support and prayers for this work.

In this issue:

• ·  A summary of this year’s ministry highlights.
• ·  A special wish for a very Merry Christmas and most blessed New Year.
• ·  A message of THANKS to you for your prayers and support.

 “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven.” Psa. 89:1-2

January- We were involved in three, week long trainings at our mission headquarters in Marion, IN. Helping to debrief returning missionaries, and assisting in preparation of sending out new global workers to the nations.

February- We traveled to Peru for a ministry trip to conduct a retreat for workers.  We had a great time of worship, and renewal. Our missionaries were greatly encouraged as we spent time in prayer, listening and learning.

March- Was a month to work out of the office at headquarters.

April- Our granddaughter Rowen turned three and got a baby sister for her birthday. Elliot Justine was born on April 22 and we welcomed her to our family. Marlene celebrated her birthday just one day before Elliot came into the world. Marlene, Rowen, and Elliot all share April birthdays.

May- Ned surprised Marlene with a trip to Yankee Stadium. Having grown up in Upstate New York, Marlene has always been a Yankee’s fan and she had a dream to go to a game. We had a great day and the Yankee’s won, making the day complete.

June and July- We stayed in Marion, IN and assisted with several trainings, Renewals, Camps and other conferences that we were involved in. WGM does a great job of training, encouraging and helping to prepare global workers to help make positive change in our world. Currently we have over 250 workers serving in over 25 countries around the world. We are honored to be a part of their lives and help to support their success in mission work.

August- One of the frequent questions we are asked is “how do we take care of ourselves?” In answer to this question we took a two week sabbath vacation and went to the beach and to the mountains and had a great time of personal renewal and practicing what we preach in the stewardship of our own self-care.

September- We had global workers in to Marion, from around the world, for a time of Debriefing and Renewal.

October- We traveled to the WGM Asia/Oceana Field Retreat that was held in Manila, Philippines. Over 30 missionaries and their kids met for a week of teaching and spiritual encouragement. After that retreat we traveled to Papua New Guinea and visited our missionaries working in that area of the world. 

 November- We traveled to the “End of the Earth” Ushuaia, Argentina for a field retreat with our global workers serving in there. God met with us in a great way as we shared in this time of retreat together.

December- is the time to say, 

“Thank you again for your support and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” 

from Ned and Marlene McGrady

To the uttermost parts of the World!

"To the uttermost parts of the World" became a reality to us as we boarded the plane in Indianapolis to begin our 20 day travel to the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Our ministry of pastoring missionaries and supporting their well-being took us first to the capital in Manila where we joined with over 20 WGM Global Workers and their children from Asia and Oceania.

We studied about Biblical Muticultural Teams and had two facilitators from Argentina that lead us in this important training to help our teams grow together and reach out to those to whom they minister. Our Member Health Team provided times of fun, s'mores, activities, worship, devotionals and more. Ned lead the evening sessions based on the book by Dr. Matthew Sleeth, "24/6" as we considered the importance of Sabbath Rest and stewardship of time in caring for our relationship with Christ. We closed our time with Communion and we were grateful for the close presence of the Lord in our midst. Many of you were praying for us and for this retreat and we appreciate it so much. God was faithful and your prayers made the difference. We spent this week enjoying the fellowship of our workers and being available to listen, pray and encourage them in the work they are doing in this part of the world. The ministry to our workers' children was also a key part of what our team was able to provide as we spent this week together. The retreat center was a very nice facility and we were so blessed to have this time with our people. A baptismal service of several young people was happening at the retreat center during our time there. It was so great to see the Lord at work among His people, all around the world! What an encouragement. We are so very blessed to be a part of this ministry. We have often said we have the best job in the whole world. We get to love, care, pastor, counsel and encourage people that are working cross culturally to make a difference for the Kingdom. We know that this is only possible because of  churches and supporters that faithfully stand with us in financial support and prayer. As our week closed out, it was time for us to begin thinking about the next leg of our journey to the uttermost parts of the world. We headed to the airport in Manila to fly to Papua New Guinea.    

 The trip to PNG was very interesting to us because 41 years ago, when Marlene was a Sophomore at Ohio Christian University, she went on a summer mission trip to help with medical clinics in the bush.. Among her many gifts and abilities she is an LPN, so her summer internship included giving lots of vaccinations and helping to meet the health care needs of the people. It was interesting to return there and see many of the sites she had experienced. The pictures here are of the mission station in Kar where she ministered. Today, the church is still vibrant, but missionaries are no longer present at this location.
Ned was visiting PNG for the first time, so it was all very new and interesting as we shared this time together. One of the really meaningful experiences was the opportunity to speak to the pastors that are in training at the Christian Union Bible School in Mt. Hagen.

Their teacher, Rev. Shawn Waugh, who is pictured here with his students, invited Ned to share his testimony with them. He was able to encourage the students to realize their calling as ministers and the fact that calling is the one main factor that can hold you steady when the demands of ministry press in. The picture below of the students depicts the local Cook House on the Bible College grounds. The traditional hut is complete with a fireplace and yes, those are two chickens waiting to be cleaned and prepared for lunch. The Bible School is in process of expanding and work teams are there at the time of this writing to build more modern housing, showers, and facilities to better serve the pastors as they bring their families with them to Bible College. God is truly at work in PNG and the church is growing and lives are being transformed; thus communities are being transformed and our workers there are doing a great job in promoting the Good News to the people.

We took a 5 hour trip out into the bush to visit Seth and Veronica Porter and their family in Montanda. They are working out in the remote parts of this country to build churches, mentor young people and disciple people in the faith. Seth works with his guys with a mobile saw mill to prepare lumber for building and he is currently working on three church plants. This wonderful, young family is doing a tremendous job of serving the Lord.
They were in the earthquake a few years back that hit in PNG. Their home was rocked off its foundation and though shaken, their faith and commitment to serve the Lord has not been shaken. They continue to be a bright spot in the bush for the Kingdom and we were so blessed to minister with them. You

can see a picture of Seth with some of his guys. It was such a joy to see this ministry and what God is doing in the bush!
We spent time during our visit with each one of the missionary families. We ate together, laughed together and prayed together. It was a joy to hear their hearts, see their work and have a chance to experience a small part of what God is doing in their lives and ministries. We have found that it is times like these that make a difference. One of our greatest joys was to sit with their children and ask them what we could pray for, and as we did we found ourselves praying for their friends, their families and their parents as they work in PNG.
God met with us in special ways during this visit and we know that it God's blessing and favor that was with us. Thank you for your prayers for us and for our visit there. We had a chance to go to the local market and shop for food and a few gifts.

Ned found coffee that he really liked and brought some back. He would love to share a cup with you and just thank you personally for your support and for your prayers.
We have one more trip to take this year and we want to ask you to continue to pray with us as we plan to travel in November. We will present at a mission conference in northern Indiana just before we fly out to Argentina on November 24.
We will not be home this year for Thanksgiving as we will be doing ministry to our Global Workers through providing a retreat time of respite and renewal for them. 
At the close of this year we will have done ministry, preached, counseled, taught, or visited in 30 countries around the world. WE THANK GOD for His mercy and great grace that sustains us and keeps us. 
If you would like to be a part of our ministry team and want to learn more about how you can partner with us please let us know. If there are any special prayer requests or if you would like to have us come to your church to share, we would love to hear from you. 

Our giving site for secure, online donations is www.wgm.org/mcgrady

Thank you for you love, care and support.

Ned and Marlene McGrady
Missionaries with World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
727.459.2966

Fall into Rhythm

This is just ONE of 5 different weeks of inspirational training that we either participated in or provided during this summer. Now that school in Indiana has resumed and summer is winding down we are excited to gear up for the Rhythms of fall. We have several ministry visits to make in the months that are ahead.

In September we will have our Fall Renewal time and are looking forward to ministry to 13 missionaries and 9 children. These times of Renewal are always so encouraging as we encourage folks to stop and allow the rhythms of work to give way to rhythms of rest and renewal. One of the greatest results we see from these encounters is the gift of time we give to STOP and listen to the Holy Spirit and rest in God's presence. Maybe you would take some time right now to just PAUSE and rest in His presence and fall into His rhythms of grace and care for your soul.

We have some major travels gearing up for our ministry. On October 5 we will fly to the Philippines to the WGM Asia/Oceania Regional Retreat. We will have a week of retreat and learning together as we help lead our servants in that area of the world to fall into His rhythms for their hearts. On October 13 we will travel to Papua New Guinea for a field visit to that country. Marlene served the summer of 1978 as missionary nurse to PNG and she is anxious to return to this beautiful country and Ned is excited for his first ministry visit to this part of the world. We ask a sincere interest in your prayers for us as we prepare to make this trip to the other side of the world. We count on your prayers and your support. Thank you.

We will be back for a couple weeks before we will leave to present at a missions conference and then fly off to Argentina over Thanksgiving to minister to our missionaries serving there. We want to serve well and we need your prayers to make that a reality.

We are pleased to share that Jordan has accepted the Foreign Language Lab Supervisor position at a local middle school in our county and we are grateful for this door that has opened up for him to serve.  He is excited to share his experiences from living in South America and on The Border with young students this year. He also is excited to coach both soccer and basketball. We join him in thanking all of you for your faithful support and prayers for our family over the years.

We trust that you will sense God's presence as you too fall into rhythms of His grace and care.

Sincerely,
Ned and Marlene McGrady
Directors of Member Health
World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952

www.wgm.org/mcgrady

Summer Season

We are entering into a summer season of conferences, training and helping to prepare missionaries for ministry around the world. This week we will be interviewing six (6) new missionaries seeking to answer God's call on their hearts. We are very involved in the assessment process for these missionaries and assuring their preparation for service. Our work in the area of member care not only helps prepare workers to go out into the harvest field, but also allows us to support workers that are coming back from their fields of service for home ministry assignment. June and July are full of events that we will help to facilitate and participate in helping our missionaries to flourish in every way.

One of the most important ways that we suggest to our workers to flourish is to rest well, so that they can have the long haul in perspective. We talk about rest in the form of Sabbath. Sabbath is taking time out to care for the soul. Doing those things that feed the soul and bring life to the heart. We know that God desires for us to be healthy spiritually, emotionally and physically. This wholistic approach to health and well being often challenges us to emphasize the importance of taking the gift of time that allows the cares and concerns that are often weighing heavily on the soul, to be set aside. It is delighting in being aware of God's blessings, savoring the sights of creation, and giving thanks for the blessings that are so easily missed by our seemingly, necessary preoccupation with our work.
One of the ways we do this is through a Renewal time that we lead for our missionaries. Three or four times a year we lead the WGM staff through a time of refocus and renewal. There is time to refresh the soul and to regain a perspective on who God is and how He invites us into relationship with Him.

A big question we are often asked is, where are you traveling next? Perhaps that is due to the fact that over the past nine (9+) years we have been to 26 different countries for ministry visits. We often comment that it is hard to believe that a little girl for a small country town in up-state New York and a little boy for the hills of southern Ohio would some day travel the world and who would have imagined that we would be answering God's call to serve in missions. We have lived cross-culturally on the Tex/Mex Border, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

So what is next? Where are you traveling next? We will be heading to the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Argentina, all three are new countries that we are yet to visit and that will bring our total to 29 different countries. We will have the privilege of leading retreats for missionaries in these locations and getting a feel for what ministry is like in these places that God has called for them to serve. We ask an interest in your prayers and we make these plans for this fall. 

In answering this question, "where are you traveling next" we are also reminded that we don't go anywhere alone. Through the prayers of people like you we have the confidence that God goes before as and we always know that we take each one of you with us. You travel with us through your financial support and and you travel with us through your prayers and we thank you for standing with us through these many years of ministry. We thank our God upon every remembrance of you!

We also want to extend and invitation to you to join with us for the WGM Day of Prayer on June 10, 2019. Every hour of that day, we’ll pray and fast over each field, asking for guidance, wisdom, and boldness in sharing the Gospel. We are inviting you to join us by visiting the Facebook page of  WGM Day of Prayer June 10 . The WGM facebook page will have a 24 hour prayer focus for every country where WGM has a presence and will allow you to interact with every country that we have missionaries serving. We are convinced that what our world needs most is prayer. More is wrought by prayer than anything this world can offer. So we want to invite you to join in and pray.

Perhaps you know of missionaries that have special needs, please make a commitment to pray for them and go to the Facebook site on the the WGM Day of Prayer June 10 to participate. It is also a great time for you to stop and pray for your own missionaries and ask what may God have you to do to support them even greater ways. 
One of the prayers we often share together at WGM is the prayer in Luke 10:2, praying that the Lord of the Harvest would send forth laborers into the Harvest field. This day is set aside to pray. Please consider joining and being a part.
We do thank God for you. We thank you for your care and concern and for your faithful giving to our ministry. God is enabling us to see great things done for His glory.

To make a financial gift to our ministry go to www.wgm.org/mcgrady  where you can make a secure donation to support this work. We appreciate you and wish you a wonderful summer season.

Sincerely
Ned and Marlene McGrady
WGM Missionaries
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952
765.671.7240