Mothers, Grandmothers, and Missions
“You have the faith of your mother, Eunice, and your grandmother, Lois. That is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…” (2 Timothy 1.5-6).
By Grant McClung
“So, what is this with the McClungs and missions?” Janice and I had just been seated with our guest at a local restaurant. We were hosting an international missions prayer leader and visionary. She was well acquainted with the “McClung missions heritage” among me and my cousins Floyd, Alan, and Judy (Orred) McClung – all of them longtime missionaries with Youth With a Mission. Other cousins have also served overseas.
After a short pause, I gave her what seemed to be the consensus across our extended family: “My Grandma McClung prayed for her grandchildren to be missionaries.”
Grandma McClung was the only one of my four paternal and maternal grandparents who lived long enough to witness my answer to the missionary call (to Germany in 1976). Yet, many family stories and recollections about my other grandparents — passed down around holiday meals and family reunions — have convinced me that all of them held me in prayer before the throne of grace long before I set foot on foreign soil. My grandparents lived out a committed Pentecostal faith and made the kinds of discipleship decisions that left lasting, Christian family legacies.
My mother, Pauline [McClung] Bird, joined my Dad (Lloyd McClung, now deceased) in sacrificing so I could attend a private Christian high school and Bible college where I was exposed to teaching on Biblical mission and given the opportunity for a short-term missions trip to Mexico that forever changed my life. I was mentored into a ministry in world missions because she was willing to pray, give, and release me with her blessings and affirmation. Today, I thank and honor my Mom for her example, prayers, and support.
As we honor and celebrate Mothers (and Grandmothers) this Mother’s Day, let us thank God that they were serious about their personal faith, sincere in their love for their families and church, and sacrificial in their giving to evangelism, church planting, and world missions. Now it is time for today’s ‘missional Mom’s” and Grandmothers to “pray it forward” for a new generation of missionaries! Through our prayers, encouragement, and support, may they, like young Timothy, “fan into flames the spiritual gift” God has given them and begin their own global missional stories!
Grant McClung, President of Missions Resource Group, is the author of numerous missions publications, available through “Resources” at www.MissionsResourceGroup.org
