
Dear Friends:
It’s that time of year when Deborah and I take a short break to recharge and pray for the New Year. We are reflecting on God’s goodness and thanking Him for every blessing He sent our way. We are especially grateful for the donors who helped us take new territory.
Our budget has grown so much because of the number of projects we are operating in 11 countries. But as expenses have increased, so has the level of generosity from our supporters who share our vision to take the healing of Jesus to marginalized women around the world. Thank you for an amazing 2024! Here are just a few of the highlights:
The Pakistani women in the photo below are rejoicing that construction of their empowerment center is almost finished. Soon they will be taking classes on discipleship, tailoring and literacy. They will also be making tote bags and other craft items to sell so they can make a living wage. This is a special blessing because many women in this area have been abandoned by their husbands.
The Sri Lankan girl below is one of the many students we began helping in 2024 in the city of Bandarawela. We provide monthly hygiene products so they don’t have to drop out of school. We hope all of them will graduate! Our directors, Micho and Steffni, are also discipling them.
At our ministry in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a group of traumatized women arrived a few months ago from the Kivu region. They had been raped by soldiers, and some of them have lost their husbands or parents in the violence. Today we are housing and feeding them, and they are enrolled in our classes on tailoring and discipleship. In December we began construction on our new shelter and school there!
Our new women’s facility in Masindi, Uganda, includes two large buildings. One is a residential shelter for women in crisis—especially young women who escaped forced marriages. The other is a training center with six classrooms for our vocational programs. It is the largest facility we’ve ever built, and we know it’s going to help countless women overcome poverty and pain. Thank you for making this possible!
Casa de Estér, our women’s empowerment center in Rio Hondo, Guatemala, was our first project to be completed. Each month abused women receive counseling in the center, and women attend seminars on baking and other trades. They also attend Bible studies and conferences there. We believe empowering women is the secret to ending poverty.
In July I visited El Salvador again, and my daughter, Margaret, traveled with me. We spent time with our directors, Carlos and Maribel de la Rosa, and we prayed on the land in San Marcos where we will build our women’s shelter. When this project is completed, women will be able to plant and harvest crops to support themselves. We need about $50,000 to prepare the land for farming and to build the shelter.
We now have two tailoring schools in Congo, in the cities of Goma and Nyiragongo. After the women learn how to make dresses and uniforms, they are given sewing machines so they can make clothes from home. This model is also being used at our two women’s centers in Malawi and in our new location in Katwe, Uganda.
In October 2024, a team of women from our women’s outreach in Zanzibar, Tanzania, went to our women’s shelter in Mbeya, Tanzania, and ministered to women there who have escaped sex trafficking. This is the first time women from one Mordecai Project location traveled to another location to minister. It’s awesome to see these women helping each other to find freedom in Christ! In 2025 we hope to send the funds to build a shelter in Zanzibar for prostitutes who are being rehabilitated.
One of the most fulfilling things I do in ministry is train young leaders. This year I took 16 young men with me to minister. They included Greg, David, Udjasiri, Jason, Danny, Gabriel, Karson, Kevin, Evan, Lawrence, Rodolfo, Carlos, Joseph, Yoni and my two grandsons, Grady and Hananiah. They went with me to ministry events in the U.S. and abroad. Below you can see Rodolfo, one of my spiritual sons from Mexico, as he preaches with me at a conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I know that my investment in these young men will pay off years after I am gone!
In 2024 I traveled to seven nations and twelve states plus Puerto Rico. My schedule was hectic but the Lord was so gracious to pour out His Spirit in all the events I did this year. I preached in 12 men’s conferences, six women’s events, nine pastors’ conferences and a marriage retreat. I also taught at five different ministry schools. I traveled to Uganda, Singapore, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Canada and Honduras. And I spoke in churches in Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. Below you can see me with our ministry team in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
We hosted three Bold Venture discipleship conferences in 2024. Below you can see the Bold Venture men’s discipleship conference I sponsored in Boston in July. This event was held in a Ugandan church, and most of the men who came were immigrants from Africa. We had about 16 languages there! We also hosted a men’s Bold Venture in Chicago, and a women’s Bold Venture in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We will soon announce our plans for Bold Venture events in 2025.
In 2024 the Lord enabled us to minister to a remote tribe in Colombia! Below you can see a man from the Wayuu tribe, an indigenous people group based in northern Colombia. A group of Wayuus came to our men’s retreat in Barranquilla in August, and they were so happy that the Bible is now translated in their language! The Lord touched these men in a powerful way that weekend! We are helping to end the mistreatment of women by doing these retreats. In many of these countries where I travel, domestic violence is rampant, even in churches. But when we teach on how men should love and respect their wives as equals, macho violence stops!
In 2023 I led an Eritrean immigrant named Petros to Jesus. This year, Petros was passing through my city on his truck route, and he asked me to baptize him. It was a glorious day! I love speaking in churches, but there is nothing more inspiring than leading someone to Christ and then engaging them in personal discipleship! During 2024 I also led a young man named Kane to Jesus in Uganda, and a young man named Cristian became a believer in Jesus when I was ministering in Colombia. I stay in touch with these guys, and it is a joy to watch them grow in their faith.
I ended 2024 in a special way with a smaller men’s retreat that I held at a camp in LaGrange, Georgia. We only had room for 54 men at the facility, so the smaller number made it more effective as a tool for discipleship. It was a joy to give some of the younger men a chance to preach 10-minute sermons. They are growing as leaders!
Thank you again for praying for me, and for helping us take the healing of Jesus to those who need restoration and empowerment. We are rejoicing in all the ways God provided for our needs in 2024. We have big goals for 2025. We need $450,000 in order to complete the projects that are underway now in 11 nations. If I had $200,000 near the beginning of 2025, we would finish 75% of our current projects! Please pray with us about these needs!
I am also praying that the Lord will enable us to purchase or rent our own office in LaGrange so we can train interns on site and expand our operation. If you or a businessperson you know is interested in investing in an office property, please contact me directly.
We need your prayers as well as your financial support. 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. We love you and we wish you a Happy New Year!
Lee and Deborah Grady
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