Missions
Our Approach to Missions
Southport Presbyterian Church has a long and rich history of partnering in missions locally and globally. We believe that missions are an essential aspect of the life of the Church and are part of our Move Out strategy to serve outside our church walls to bring the Gospel to others through words and deeds. Whether we are serving our local elementary school and food banks, supporting regional staff in organizations doing youth ministry and college ministry in our area, sending our members out on short-term service trips to Kentucky and Mexico each year, or supporting missionaries engaged in missions around the globe, we know that it is all part of Kingdom work to love and serve God’s world.
It is the call of the Church to be ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), inviting those around us into a transforming relationship with Jesus. We pursue that by volunteering and serving in our southside community, and supporting over 30 individuals on the mission field who have been sent directly from our church as well as people who have been part of our wider relationship network (Colossians 4:3). 10% of our annual church budget is designated towards the work of missions domestically and globally.
How Can I Help?
You can get involved by:
- Praying for our mission partners
- Participating in our local service opportunities
- Joining the Missions Committee
- Giving to the church
We have options for everyone!
Columbia Spring Break Missions Trip
Join our Missions Team for a chance to serve with one of our mission partners in Columbia over spring break! The group will be working with their soccer ministry and more. Details:
- Ages 12+ with Parent
- High School + without Parent
- Cost is Flight + $80/day ($400 deposit due Dec. 1)
- All transportation, meals, and linens provided
ACCOMODATIONS:
Dorm Style Bunks
Chef Cooked Meals
Purified Water
Learn about our mission partner
For additional questions, contact:
Dani Grimes
cdfegett@gmail.com
Meet Some of Our Missions Partners
Bruce & Kathy McClenahan
Serving with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru)
Bruce grew up here and was a member of Southport Pres. He has served in the mission field for 4 decades. He married Kathy, a missionary nurse serving in Uganda in 1988. They have three adult children – Abby, Zac and Kaeli. Bruce, who has a Master of Divinity, and Kathy have served overseas in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and southern France. In 2007 they continued a focus in international missions by joining with the Jesus Film project in Orlando FL. For the past 13 years they have developed specific strategies for using the Jesus Film content around the world. During that time, they and their team have upgraded the original Jesus Film, digitized 173,000 movie frames, converting the footage to high definition, and added an Old Testament introduction and an evangelistic close.
They continue to strive to develop the film into hundreds of languages. Bruce and Kathy have led multiple mission trips sharing the film to various African nations. Bruce now serves as the Global Expansion Team Leader for the AMORE region. AMORE is an acronym for the least reached regions of the Americas, Oceania (including Australia, New Zealand and the pacific islands), Russia and parts of eastern and western Europe. Bruce travels frequently to meet with the Cru and partner leaders. Bruce is now developing the training material for 13 Jesus Film Project area representatives. Each of these representatives serve a grouping of countries that share common characteristics. Kathy obtained her masters in counseling several years ago. She now serves as a licensed mental health counselor ministering to a broad spectrum of people, both those involved in their ministry and many in their local community. To give you a sense of how effective Bruce and his partners are sharing the gospel message, over Easter weekend, last year amidst the pandemic there were more than 163 million views of the Jesus Film, Magdalena, or the Jesus Film for Children on television in 111 countries.
Keir Thelander
Serving with Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS)
After serving a decade as one of the primary training physicians with Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) at the Bongolo hospital in Gabon Africa, Keir was moved to Cleveland in 2016 to serve as the organization’s Chief Medical Officer. With PAACS just recently becoming an independent mission organization, Keir’s title has changed to Executive Vice President. PAACS mission is to train African surgeons to glorify God and to provide excellent, compassionate care to those most in need. The long-term goal is to keep these trained surgeons serving in the African countries where they are so desperately needed. While addressing the patients medical needs, they also strive to share the Gospel. In many locations of Africa today there is only one surgeon for every 250,000 people. PAACS is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Like most ministries, the progression during the first ten years were challenging, but about the time that Keir joined the organization in 2006, things began to advance. In 2008, Bongolo was able to graduate its first resident surgeon in 9 different programs. Today PAACS has 16 programs in 8 countries partnering with 12 mission hospitals. They have 121 graduates now serving in some of the most underserved countries in Africa and are currently training 105 residents.
Keir and his wife Joanna raised their children Luke and Sarah in the jungles of Africa. Joanna self-taught their kids through their elementary years. Keir’s new assignment requires him to travel to various locations in Africa during the year. The historic foundation and current emphasis is to produce general surgeons, however in recent years they have diversified into several needed specialty training programs such as orthopedics, pediatrics, neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery. They are planning to add several more surgery specialties to their training programs. Plans are under way to add three new general surgery programs in Madagascar, Burundi and Malawi.
Keir Thelander
Serving in Athens Greece, Greater Europe Mission
Bob and Maria, through the Greater Europe Mission, have been serving in Athens, Greece for over 50 years. Bob enjoys teaching both Greek and English classes at the Greek Bible College. The teachers at the college try to provide a unique experience for students where they might study God’s word in the context of a close-knit family that impacts their walk with Christ. Bob teaches several classes including Counseling, Christian Family, Psychology. Bob writes of the challenges faced in going to virtual classes with modern technology during the coronavirus pandemic this past year.
Bob also enjoys preaching at the Evangelical Church of Agia Paraskevi. The Church has been renting their facility and last summer sought to reduce their costs by finding a used building that they could purchase. They finally executed a signed contract this January and are striving to make the needed repairs so that church services may begin at that site in March. Maria actively visits with people and assisting Bob at the church. A couple of years ago Bob and Maria, working with another missionary who was focused on an anti-trafficking ministry, established a used book store in order to employ women coming out of prostitution. Bob committed half a day once a week addressing plumbing, electrical and needed repairs to get the building acquired for the store ready to open.
Bob is also a talented magician and he uses that talent to present the Gospel by magic. He started the Fellowship of Christian Magicians UK in 1986. More recently Bob has been teaching Walk Thru the Bible Swedish instructors how to incorporate magic into their presentations. The children (and adults) here at Southport have enjoyed Bob’s sharing of the Gospel with magic for many years during his visits.
Mark Wittig
Serving with Christian Union Sports Club in Medellin, Columbia
During the 1980’s and the early 1990’s Medellin was known as both the drug capital and the homicide capital of the world. Mark’s ministry evolved out of a neighborhood soccer tournament organized as a way to reach out with the Gospel to young men being recruited into the life of violence and crime spawned by the Medellin Drug Cartel. Several years ago, Southport Pres provided a large sum of dollars that enabled Mark to acquire land on a main street in one of the poorer sections of Medellin for his initial soccer complex. Over the years the ministry has grown dramatically to involve more than 3,500 players (boys and girls), 120 teams and a coaching staff of more than 30. In addition, Mark organized the launch of a brownie business to provide financial support for the ministry. Over the years the club’s soccer program has been expanded to 18 different sites in the poorer sections of Medellin and more recently to a dozen other communities of Columbia.
Mark has used the population’s love for soccer to witness for Christ introducing Jesus to players and coaches alike. He has incorporated Bible study, devotions and a prayer life into all these sports ministries. His program has turned troubled youths and coaches into powerful witnesses for our Lord not only in Medellin, but also around the world.
Mark recently shared three good news happenings with his ministry. First, an experienced Christian businessman, Rafael Escobar has been hired to be the general manager of the brownie factory with plans to grow production providing an even greater percentage of revenue for the sports ministry budget. Second, a supporting church has enabled them to acquire a new depositor machine that will allow them to expand their line of baked products. Thirdly, they celebrated the inauguration of their new center. The center has a synthetic field/auditorium to be used for worship, soccer, aerobics and conference sites. It houses a library and a computer lab for the kids, a kitchen and dining room for the hungry and showers that may be used by the homeless.
Paul & Charlotte Mpindi
Serving with Mission French Africa Ministries
Dr. Paul Mpindi is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He came to the Lord when he was 15 and received God’s calling for the ministry in his twenties. Paul has two Master degrees and a Doctorate degree. He and his wife Charlotte have made Grand Rapids, Michigan their home for the past 28 years although they both travel to Africa regularly in their ministry. They have three adult sons.
Dr. Mpindi felt called by God to do evangelism and discipleship in French speaking African countries. His evangelism efforts are directed towards Muslims in West Africa (Benin and the Ivory Coast). His discipleship efforts are directed towards pastors and lay leaders in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon). His three ministry goals are to (1) bring Muslims to Christ in West Africa, (2) train African pastors, and (3) disciple lay leaders in Africa. He heads Mission French African Ministries. Dr. Mpindi’s ministry has a 4-step approach. (1) Dr Mpindi, when he is in Africa, preaches at large evangelistic events in these countries. Followers of his message at one event in 2009 note that 3,000 people came forward to give their lives to Christ and another 5,000 people made a recommitment to live as disciples of Christ. (2) His ministry messages are broadcast daily in these countries. (3) People who respond positively to the broadcasts are then enrolled in Bible correspondence courses. (4) Pastors, who are terribly lacking in Biblical knowledge, are enrolled in a 3-year pastoral and theological training program.
Dr. Mpindi notes that in these Muslim countries he is forbidden to talk to women directly. This is the role that Charlotte plays in their ministry. For nearly two decades Charlotte has been ministering her message of salvation and freedom to her West African sisters through weekly radio programs. These women are forbidden to go to church, but they can follow Charlotte’s radio programs in their homes. Charlotte also reaches out to women in Central Africa who struggle with issues related to emotional and physical abuse, poverty, AIDS, violence and rape. Charlotte regularly serves as a keynote speaker in women’s seminars in these French African countries.
Organizations We Support
