Ministry Newsletter

Dear Friends of the Mordecai Project:

Before I share some amazing reports from my recent trip to Colombia, I want to ask for special prayer for my next assignment. I really do need your prayers in this situation!

I am not at liberty to share details about this trip, which will be to two countries in Central Asia. I will be traveling there with four of my Russian-speaking friends from Philadelphia, and they will be serving as my translators. We will be doing special events for men, women and pastors during a week’s time. Please pray for protection (there is some persecution of Christians in this region), strength (the flights take 15 hours one-way) and a strong anointing of the Holy Spirit on our meetings. Please also pray for the members of my team: Ulan, Alex, Alex and Timothy. The dates of the trip are March 25-April 3.

Thank you also for praying for my recent trip to Barranquilla, Colombia. In spite of an unexpected flight delay, I made it there safely and experienced God’s blessings. Below you can see me speaking at a church with Dr. Nori Menendez, who serves as our ministry director in Colombia. Nori has been my translator on all seven of my trips to Barranquilla and she is doing an excellent job ministering to victims of abuse and domestic violence.

During this trip the Lord open new doors with Baptists in Colombia. In the photo below you can see me with Pastor Enrique and Dunia Murillo. They pastor a Baptist church in Barranquilla and serve as regional leaders in their denomination. They are totally open to the Holy Spirit and to the ministry of women, and Dunia arranged for me to speak at two large Baptist conferences for women while I was there. The Holy Spirit took over! Many women were saved, and others were encouraged to step out to be the “Deborahs” of their generation. Now there are many new doors opening to Baptists in the whole country.

Below you can see Nori praying the sinners prayer with a group of women who came to the first women’s event in Barranquilla. During my 12 days in Colombia we saw dozens of salvations. Colombia is experiencing a time of harvest!

I was blessed to have a great team with me in Colombia. My dear friend Luis Roig, a pastor in Puerto Rico, brought five men from his church to serve at our three-day men’s retreat, Hombres de Valor (“Men of Courage”). These guys—Jeff, Joe, Omar, Israel and Ricky—led small groups, served meals, helped with registration, and prayed for and counseled the men. I could not have done this event without them.

Below you can see Luis preaching on the second day of the event. We had 161 men for the three days, and they were transformed by the teachings, worship, close fellowship, small groups and mealtimes. Luis and I preached about sexual purity, faithfulness in marriage, healing from father wounds, the importance of friendship and the priority of discipleship.

You can see the entire group below. When I asked the men how many of them had a father in the home while growing up, less than half of the hands went up. There is a crisis of fatherlessness in Colombia, so many of the men struggle with addictions and emotional pain. Yet the Holy Spirit brought incredible healing to many hearts.

Below is one of the success stories of our ministry in Colombia. Two years ago the pastor in this photo, Sergio Castro (show with me and his wife, Kristi), came to our retreat in Colombia with one disciple. The next year he came with nine disciples. This year, he brought 19 men! Sergio is modeling discipleship in his church, and now he has become the national leader of his denomination (Pentecostal Holiness) even though he is only 32. Sergio served as my translator during our men’s event and I am so proud of him.

Below you can see Sergio leading his small group during the men’s retreat. This is where a lot of the most intense ministry takes place. In Colombia, it is not typical for men to open their hearts and share about their personal struggles. The macho culture tells men that they must be strong, independent and closed. But we are teaching them that Christianity calls us to transparency, humility and openness. A great change is happening in men’s lives because of this shift. Thank you for being a part of it!

My last moment at the men’s retreat was baptizing this young man, Jair. We actually had four first-time decisions for Christ during the men’s retreat, not to mention all the others who were saved in eleven other events during my time in Barranquilla. This baptism photo reminds me that the ultimate change that comes to a country happens when one life is revolutionized by conversion to Jesus! Change happens one life at a time.

Speaking of our men’s retreats, I want to remind all men to mark your calendars for our first men’s Bold Venture event in 2018. It will be held in LaGrange, Georgia, July 12-14. You can see the poster below, and you can register at boldventure.org. During the retreat I will celebrate my 60th birthday, so I hope everyone can come and be a part of that celebration. My mentor Barry St. Clair will be speaking, along with Robert Kaahwa from Uganda, Luis Roig from Puerto Rico, Eddie Taylor, Felipe Amorim, Matt Judd and Chris Maxwell. I hope you can join us! (And our women’s event will be in Atlanta in September!)

Thank you again for your prayers and your faithful financial support. We are indebted to all of you.

Lee and Deborah Grady

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