Ministry Newsletter

From Lee Grady / Praise Reports and Prayer Requests

Dear Friends of the Mordecai Project:

We hope you are recovering from the challenges of this pandemic season. I know it hasn’t been an easy time for any of us, but I am thankful that the Lord is not in quarantine. He is near! I love Psalm 73:28: “But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me.”

Thanks to everyone who has been asking about us. I have had the first dose of the vaccine, and will get the second dose next week. I’m doing this so that I can travel overseas with no hassles. I will also be visiting my mother for Mother’s Day this weekend! It will be the first time they have allowed guests inside her nursing home since March of last year.

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, my ministry assistant, Paul Muzichuk, is stepping down so he can go on the full-time pastoral staff of his church. My new assistant is Abdiel López, shown with me in the photo below. Abdiel grew up in Cuba, and his mother, Beatríz, planted many churches there. Abdiel understands the importance of empowering women for ministry, and even at age 25 he already has a lot of experience in missions. He graduated from Holmes Bible College last Saturday. He is an anointed young man with a passion for Jesus. Please join me in welcoming him to our team.

Deborah and I left Florida five years ago to return to Georgia. But this month I preached in Florida three times! Below you can see a special Holy Spirit renewal night we had at Christian Heritage Church in Lake City, Florida. This church is pastored by my good friend Chris Jones. He is doing a great job pastoring this church. I preached about Pentecost, and some people were filled with the Holy Spirit in the evening service. I love to invite people to go deeper with God!

I took a young disciple named Alex Kryachun with me to Lake City. Alex is from a Russian background, and he attends a Slavic church in Jacksonville. The people loved meeting him, and I had him pray twice in Russian from the platform during the weekend. He also served with me at the altar, praying for people. It is such a joy to give younger disciples the opportunity to minister. I know that Alex grew a lot during the weekend.

The pastor in the photo below, Cameron MacMillan, came to a meeting I did in Deland, Florida, last fall. I prophesied over him in that meeting and he got a copy of my book, Set My Heart on Fire. Then he decided to invite me to lead a weekend of renewal at his Episcopal church in the Orlando area. I did a special Holy Ghost night at Church of the Good Shepherd, as well as Sunday morning, and the Lord touched many people. One lady was healed of deafness in one ear! I am so grateful to be connected to Cameron now.

Church of the Good Shepherd was a strategic church during the charismatic renewal days of the 1980s and 1990s. So it was an honor to stand in that place (below) and invite the Holy Spirit to move again. While I was in Orlando, another congregation, Church of the New Covenant, hosted a breakfast for The Mordecai Project. Many of our supporters came and I was able to share the latest reports on our work overseas.

This past weekend I flew back to Central Florida and preached at Riverside Church in Sebastian, Florida, a church pastored by my good friend Grant Foster. Riverside has been supporting me as one of their missionaries for several years. This time I did a special meeting for men on Saturday, as well as Sunday services and a Sunday night encounter service. Below you can see me with a few of the guys who came to the men’s retreat. Some of the guys from Riverside will be coming to our Bold Venture men’s retreat in Alabama this fall.

Below are three young guys who hung out with me during the weekend in Sebastian. Ben Santana (far left) drove down from Deland and David Bakthakumar (2nd from left) drove up from Boca Raton to spend time with me. Matthew Hemmerlein (far right) lives in Sebastian. I was able to make a personal investment in these guys while ministering at the church.

On Sunday morning at Riverside Church, this man, Oscar (in the middle), decided to give his life to Jesus! He is originally from Bogota, Colombia, so my friend Ben translated for me as we led him to salvation. I love miracles, but the miracle of salvation is the most powerful of all.

We have a growing list of needs related to our overseas projects. Below you can see our most recent women’s discipleship class in Pakistan. More women are coming and learning the Bible, as well as attending our sewing classes. If your church would like to sell some of our beautiful Pakistani tote bags, please let me know. You can sell the bags to women in your church, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to support these abandoned women with a living wage.

Our pig farm in Masindi, Uganda, continues to grow, and we are in urgent need of an additional fence to keep the pigs enclosed. More and more women are learning to care for the pigs and to sell them for funds to support their families. If you or your church can send us $1,200 we can purchase the fence immediately. We also want to begin supporting the girls in the Rehoboth Primary School in Masindi, Uganda. You can do that with a $40 per month gift. Please designate it for Masindi, Uganda.

We also are ready to begin our women’s empowerment project in Rwentobo, Uganda. Below you can see Pastor Connie Birungi with some of the women who are ready to start microbusinesses. With just $100 you can help launch a woman into her new start as a small business owner. Please designate your gift for Rwentobo, Uganda, on our website. It is amazing how far a gift of this size can help to pull a woman out of poverty.

Two years ago I visited a village near Masindi, Uganda, called Kyendamwoyo. I met a dear brother in Christ, Moses Myebale, who is the principal of the Arise and Prosper Primary School. A few weeks ago the girls’ dormitory at the school was destroyed by a freak storm. The Mordecai Project would like to help build a dorm for the 100 girls who need housing there. We can build this structure for only $27,000. If you or your church can help, please contact us.

Many of our ministry partners are still suffering financially because of the pandemic. In Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa, runaway inflation is ravaging the nation. Our own ministry directors in Mzuzu, Tony and Charity Mkamanga, are really struggling. I would like to send a special offering to them next week to help them meet personal needs. Any amount will help. Please join with us and help us bear Tony and Charity’s burdens. They are sacrificing a lot as they continue to pastor their church and help abused girls. You can designate a gift for Mzuzu, Malawi, on our website.

We are still praising God that the girls’ dormitory in Moi’s Bridge, Kenya, is completed—and now the stairwell and balcony railings are constructed. We are so grateful for some generous donors who made this possible by donating $3,500 last month. Below you can see the 8th grade girls from Pastor Elijah Wafula’s school. These girls just found out that they had the best grades of any school in the district! The Lord’s favor is on these young women! Please join us in congratulating them.

Thanks so much for your prayers and financial support. This month I will be performing a wedding in Pennsylvania, preaching at a church in Illinois and leading a youth discipleship event in New Jersey. I will also be putting the final touches on my new book, Follow Me: How to Make Disciples Like Jesus Did. Thank you for your prayers and faithful support.

This week I have been meditating on this promise from Isaiah 45:3: “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, who calls you by your name.” I do not have access to great wealth, but I know that my Father in heaven has access to the funds we need. Please agree with me that the Lord will open the floodgates so that we can channel His resources to the places where the abused and the neglected need healing.

We love you and thank God for you. To give to our overseas work, just hit the “Donate” button below and follow the prompts. To give by check, mail it to The Mordecai Project, P.O. Box 2781, LaGrange, GA 30241. (Also, if you would like to make a special offering to support my assistant Abdiel López, we have a special place on the website where you can designate to him.)

Lee and Deborah Grady

The Mordecai Project
P.O. Box 2781
LaGrange, GA 30241

ABOUT US


The Mordecai Project is a Christian ministry devoted to empowering women, confronting abuse and transforming nations through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

DONATIONS


All gifts are tax-deductible. Secure online donations can be made at our website themordecaiproject.org/donate
Checks can be made out to The Mordecai Project and mailed to:
The Mordecai Project / Bold Venture Ministries
P.O. Box 2781
LaGrange, GA 30241:

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Rev. Matt Judd
Good News Church
Augusta, Georgia
Chris Revells
Pickens, South Carolina
Rev. Luis Roig
Casa del Padre
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Rev. Eddie Taylor
Rev. Beth Taylor
Taylor Ministry Group
Deland, Florida
Re. James Graham
International Gospel Outreach
Semmes, Alabama
Rev. Dee Mueller
The Hearth Ministries
Blairsville, Georgia

 

OTHER ADVISERS


Rev. Barry St. Clair
East West Ministries
Lilburn, Georgia
Rev. Doug Beacham
Bishop, International Pentecostal Holiness Church
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Rev. Chris Maxwell
Campus Pastor
Emmanuel College
Franklin Springs, Georgia
Rev. David and Angela Munizzi
Catalyst Church
Orlando, Florida
Barry and Myra Goldfarb
Deland, Florida
Mimi Haddad
President, Christians for Biblical Equality
Minneapolis, Minnesota 
Rev. Quentin Beard
Sioux Falls First Assembly
Sioux Falls, South Dakota  
The Mordecai Project / Bold Venture Ministries, P.O. Box 2781, LaGrange, GA 30241, United States