Ministry Newsletter

Dear Friends of the Mordecai Project:

As we step back and reflect on 2019, we feel overwhelmed and overjoyed by God’s faithfulness. Lee traveled to nine foreign countries and 11 states, plus Puerto Rico—and he slept in 51 beds! He also hosted seven discipleship retreats for men, numerous events for women, and he took 20 young disciples with him on ministry trips so they could be mentored. We could not have done any of this without the faithful prayers and financial support of you and others who stood with us.

We are looking forward to taking a few days in the beginning of 2020 to pray for the year. We encourage you to do the same. The Lord wants to give us fresh oil and a fresh word to sustain us in these challenging times. If you have any special prayer requests you’d like to share with us, please reply to this email.

The Lord used The Mordecai Project in some significant ways this year. Most of all, we were able to confront the cultural strongholds that oppress and marginalize women. You can see a photo below of a special service held in February in a village near Masindi, Uganda. In that place, women are often referred to by their husbands and “less valuable than cows.” After Lee preached there, the men of the village repented before God for degrading and devaluing women—and a new era of equality began as they embraced a biblical view of marriage. This is what our ministry is all about.

In the photo below, you can see a pastor from Esquipulas, Guatemala, kneeling in front of his wife. He did this in response to a sermon Lee preached in a pastors’ conference in July. He shared about how God wants husbands to serve their wives just as Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. This pastor, along with many others, repented for the machismo attitude that has sidelined women and victimized them for so many years. The culture of domestic abuse is unraveling there now!

And in the photo below you can see some of the women who attended our women’s conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in May. Many of these women live in abusive marriages. Others endured the cruel practice known as “bride stealing,” which means their marriages began with rape. Yet today, God is unraveling this cultural bondage. In fact, last year the nation of Kyrgyzstan outlawed bride stealing! We are seeing significant spiritual impact since we have been traveling to Central Asia.

And below you can see the moment in May when Lee washed the feet of an Indian pastor who leads a Telegu-speaking congregation in Singapore. This pastor was told by his culture that certain people are “untouchable.” But Lee demonstrated that God’s love crosses all ethnic and economic barriers. Jesus reaches out to the untouchable! This was a significant moment for everyone in that room. It has been an honor to share the love of God in such a way to so many people around the world. Thank you for making this possible.

Also in 2019 it was an honor for us to equip and empower so many women for ministry. You can see below our women’s Bold Venture retreat, which was held in Deland, Florida, in October. The devil has been on the warpath to discourage and derail women who have been called by God. But the Holy Spirit is working to encourage, train and position His daughters for maximum impact. We are blessed to be a part of that process!

Your faithful support has made it possible for us to not only preach the gospel but to demonstrate God’s love through projects of compassion. Below you can see the progress of our women’s shelter in Rio Hondo, Guatemala. We still need about $20,000 to complete the shelter and furnish it. One of my board members, Luis Roig, visited the shelter this month and he feels we will be cutting the ribbon in a few months. Please pray about how you can help.

Below you can see that we are making slow but steady progress on our girls’ home in India. All permits have been secured and construction has begun, but we have had weather-related delays this fall. Please pray for the construction to be completed in 2020. Meanwhile, the 33 girls we are caring for are still living in the older facility. We are so ready to move to the new house!

In February we purchased land in the town of Masindi, Uganda, for our first women’s empowerment center. We now have crops growing on the property, along with beehives, a pig-raising business, and a sewing center. Women from the community who have been abandoned or abused are learning how to start their own businesses in this center. Your gifts made this possible. (We need just $2,500 for operating expenses in 2020.)

In 2019 we also launched our first project in Pakistan to teach women needed skills. A group of abandoned women made beautiful tote bags that we sold in early December to donors and friends of our ministry. We were able to make $1,500 to invest back into the women’s center we are building there. Lee will be going to Pakistan in 2020 to officially launch the project. Please pray with us about this!

Below you can see some of the women who made the colorful tote bags. Women in Pakistan not only suffer from domestic violence and abandonment; Christian women are often overlooked for jobs, or they are even fired, simply because of their faith. The project we started will help these women make a living wage to support their families.

Below you can see one or our supporters, Janese Bennett, with a tote bag she purchased this month. We hope to eventually feature these bags on our web site, along with other items handcrafted by women who live or work in our shelters overseas.

There is no way we can tell all that happened in our events in 2019. People were saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and trained for ministry. People were encouraged through personal prophetic ministry. Others were delivered from life-controlling addictions. In other cases marriages were healed. Thank you again for believing in our mission!

We need your support more than ever. If you would like to help us with a special end-of-the-year gift, please make your donation before December 31 to get tax credit. We especially need funds for Guatemala, Peru, Uganda or India—but you can also help launch our work in Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi or El Salvador.

Just click on the “Donate” button below to give online, or mail your check to The Mordecai Project, P.O. Box 2781, LaGrange, GA 30241. All gifts are tax-deductible.

We also want to mention how grateful we are for Lee’s assistant, Paul Muzichuk, who has served The Mordecai Project so faithfully as our ministry administrator. Below you can see Paul with his wife, Maria, and their children. We could not carry out this ministry without the help we get from him. They are serving as directors of counseling at their church in Jacksonville, Florida.

We appreciate your commitment to us. And we love you so much! We hope you have a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!

Lee and Deborah Grady

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