April 2025 - McCarty Ministry Minute

FAMILY UPDATE

Greetings from the McCartys! Here we go! The McCartys have had lots of changes in the past few months! I have continued to recover from Atrial Fibrillation (the effects of which exacerbated my cardiomyopathy) and returned to Africa for the first time in 18 months. Maw has moved back home to have more support and time with family. Everyone else is growing up!

Tracy continues to be a stable rock in our family, helping EVERYONE in their time of need (especially me over the past year+)! She continues to lead at Born2Be and adores her grandsons! I do not know how our family would have survived the past year without the joyful support and encouragement she provides!

The Chidesters

Gideon & Reuben’s parents (Cody & Dakota) are doing great. Cody continues to manage the DEK Plumbing on-site presence for Moore Supply. Dakota is staying at home while the boys are small, and has started some basic homeschool teaching with Gideon. He is sounding out words and writing letters. Reuben is his own little person. He doesn’t talk about things… he just does them! Between the two young ones, Dakota and Cody have their hands quite full!

Trinity is anticipating the completion of her Master’s Degree in Dietetics through Abilene Christian University in May. Then comes the Registered Dietitian Exams, and then, hopefully, gainful employment! She has had a broad range of experiences from the clinical hospital setting to institutions and public school food planning. It has been a wild ride that has taken her from Waco to Sherman and most everywhere in-between. I am pretty sure she is ready to be DONE!

Remington has changed majors to Kinesiology and will be starting in the honors college of Texas Woman’s University in the fall of 2025. She is excited for the larger campus opportunities and her new field of study. As she is finishing her time at Brookhaven College, she has also taken an Assistant Coach position with a Select Volleyball Club and has greatly enjoyed her time coaching young players.

Sierra is in her last quarter of her Junior year at DCA! This does not seem possible to Tracy & I. She is President of the Silver Saddle 4H Club and has discovered a passion for shooting sports! This month, she will complete in her first small-bore, 3-position competition in Brownwood, TX!

Maw (Vival) has experienced some life changes of late, but is doing very well with them. In January, we all decided it would be best for her to come back to live with us, and began that transition. We are still figuring out some health issues but are making great progress! We are glad to have her home!

Additional Family Photos

Don't Forget our upcoming Through The Nations Events!

MINISTRY UPDATE

FINALLY BACK!

After 18 months of dealing with heart issues, I have finally recovered enough to return to Africa and have some in-person time with my teams. It felt good to be back, though I am out of practice of international travel! If you are curious about my health, I did have a minor episode of A-Fib while in Zambia, but I did rest an afternoon and follow the medication protocol my cardiologist had set, and my heart returned to normal rhythm by evening. (I am attempting to be more wise as I get older.) Myself, Pastor Chiwata, and Pastor Mathias departed at 4:30AM for the drive to the Nyimba area where we would be holding our trainings. We went ahead in order to join in the worship service at Hofmeyr Praise Christian Centre, which is about 15 minutes outside the town of Nyimba near the border of Mozambique. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/YtqAPxuuG5FZncnj6]

The Road to Nyimba

Sunday Service - Hofmeyr Praise Christian Centre

I am sometimes asked what an African Sunday church service is like. The Sunday I arrived in Hofmeyr, the church was hosting a special service with several worship choirs from the surrounding area - including across the border in Mozambique! It was beautiful. Here are some samples for you to enjoy! I did preach (Psalm 107) and we had a wonderful time in worship together! The rest of the team arrived that evening.

Guest Choir from Mozambique

Hofmeyr Praise Christian Centre's Traditional Choir

Hofmeyr Praise Christian Centre's Youth Choir

Guest Woman's Choir from Mozambique

Kairos Africa Collaboration

We began this work by partnering with a ministry called Kairos Africa whose focus is Literacy Training. In their Teacher Training Workshop, they teach those who can read and write how to become literacy teachers to their community. If one faithfully follows the process, they can be functionally literate in less than 6 months!

This is a critical need on the border of Zambia and Mozambique, where we have a thriving work which is multiplying Disciples, Leaders, and Planting Churches… but is hindered because of the high illiteracy rate in the area. It is our hope that these 60 community leaders will return to their homes and begin to teach others how to read and write, and that their work will begin to “unlock” this hindrance and allow multiplication to occur faster!

Kairos Africa's Teacher Training Workshop

Strategic Impact Leader Launch

Following Kairos' 3-day Teacher Training Workshop, we gathered Pastors and Church Leaders from both sides of the border for our intensive training called a Leader Launch. We train on three tracks in a Leader Launch: 1. Personal Growth & Godly Character, 2. Leadership Skills, and 3. Multiplication Ministry leading to a Movement! This conference includes both an experiential component of evangelism and discipleship as well as an opportunity to continue the training through our Journey program.

297 new souls were won to faith through personal evangelism, 60 Pastors and Leaders continued into the Journey program, and 24 advanced from Journey Stage 1 to Journey Stage 2!

Beautiful Feet... and a Machete!

One of those who progressed from Journey Stage 1 to Journey Stage 2 was Agness Phiri. She is from the Compho village of Mozambique and attended a Leader Launch a few years ago when our Strategic Impact Zambia Team first began work in the Nyimba, Zambia area.

When she returned home to Compho, she was on fire to win souls and plant a church where there was no church! One village within walking distance of Compho burdened her heart. They had no church — no representation of Christ at all — but also no clear path from Compho to get there. So Agness grabbed her machete and started to physically clear a path by hacking through the bush. Over the next months, with “beautiful feet” [Romans 10:15] of the gospel and a machete in hand, she not only cleared a path to the village, she cleared a path to Jesus for the people of the village. Now, a little over 2 years later, there are over 150 people who are part of the new church — and they just hired their first Pastor!

When I heard the story and met Agness, I knew I had to present her with a fitting gift. So I bought her a brand new machete to make more paths for the gospel in Mozambique! Pray for Agness as she continues to proclaim Jesus and grow in leadership!

Strategic Impact Zambia National Team

We finished the work by returning to Lusaka for a SI Zambia Team meeting, gathering our senior-level national leadership from across the country for a time of fellowship, testimony, encouragement, and prayer. It was a blessed time to hug the friends and ministry partners I rarely get to see! Their testimonies were beautiful stories of how the Lord is using Strategic Impact to expand His kingdom into new locations and new hearts! And, we have similar teams at various stages of maturity across 16 nations of Africa — and on many other continents, as well! You can hear some of their testimonies below.

Testimony from the Serenje Area

Testimony from the Kafue Area

Testimony from the Chadiza Area

THANK YOU!!!

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the Gospel is moving forward into places where it has never been preached! Agness never would have taken the gospel to that village if YOU had not helped to send her! “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15)