Retiring missionaries give thanks for service

ATLANTA – 140 missionaries and staff gathered for a Town Hall Zoom meeting on Nov. 13, 2024, to talk with General Secretary Roland Fernandes and to celebrate milestone years of service for some missionaries and retirement for others. By the end of 2024, six missionaries at the gathering will be retiring from service in five different countries.

Fernandes affirmed Global Ministries’ rich history in sending missionaries over more than 200 years, and that they are all part of this legacy. “I want to remind all that this is not work that you do for Global Ministries or for The United Methodist Church, but work you do for God, and God has called each of you at this time in the place that you are. We live in hope knowing that God is with us and that we have the love of God amid all that is happening.”

The Rev. Dr. Judy Chung, executive director of Missionary Service, congratulated the group of retiring missionaries and gave each a chance to speak. They come from seven different countries and retire from assignments in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central Africa, the Philippines, Zimbabwe and Liberia. 

The Rev. Dr. Ediberto Lopez Rodriguez, from Puerto Rico, served for 23 years as a missionary professor in New Testament studies with the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. He said: “I am very grateful for these decades of service to the Lord in the ministry of Global Ministries. My joy comes to fruition when I see my current pastor explaining Scripture every Sunday with competency, and I see his effectiveness as a pastor. He is one of probably 2000 students I taught. If I had the chance to have another life like this, I would come back to my teaching place, to my theological education work for Global Ministries or to whatever place the Lord may send me.”

Nan McCurdy and Miguel Mairena, who are married, retire after 36 years for McCurdy and 28 years for Mairena. Originally Nan started her missionary service in San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua, with her first husband, Phil Mitchell. They were sent by the Baltimore-Washington Conference in 1985. “Phil and I discovered that our most worthwhile work was accompanying people who were grieving and suffering,” McCurdy said. “Almost every family had lost someone at that time.” After becoming Global Ministries’ missionaries in 1988, Mitchell died from a pulmonary embolism in 1991, leaving Nan, and their two girls, ages 13 months and 3 years. When given the choice of staying in Nicaragua or returning to the U.S., McCurdy chose to stay.

“I explained that I was grieving in a country where nearly everyone was grieving, so God had placed me where I needed to be,” she said. She continued work for two years with a foundation for war victims.

McCurdy and Mairena met in Nicaragua and were married in 1995. They served together through four more missionary assignments, the last being with Give Ye Them To Eat (GYTTE) in Puebla, Mexico.

Miguel Mairena grew up on an island in Big Lake, Nicaragua, and had no access to start primary school until he was 20-years-old. He values education very much. “Beginning in 1996, every time Nan and I were in the U.S., I would go to Wesley Seminary for one or two semesters. I graduated in 2007, later in Nicaragua.” He studied law on weekends in Nicaragua and now has a master’s in criminal law as well.

To GYTTE, in Mexico, Mairena gave legal advice, theological advice, but most of all, his ability to fix anything and invent solutions to problems at the 40-acre farm and training center. With his help, they now have water all the time and solar-heated showers.

Grace Musuka began her assignment in 2012, working with United Methodist Women (now United Women in Faith) in Central Africa as a Regional Missionary. Her assignment has been to empower women as peace builders, healers, economic developers in their communities and as leaders in their churches.

“I witnessed women growing spiritually, economically and in their self-esteem,” she said. “I plan to keep growing in my legacy, and my sincere appreciation goes to United Women in Faith and Global Ministries for the chance they gave me to be part of this journey. I’m retired, but I’m not tired. I’ll continue in my work.”

A second Regional Missionary, Emma Cantor, focused her work on leadership and organizational development in Asia. Leadership training encouraged women to stand up for themselves and recognize their abilities. Cantor provided literacy education that combined spiritual growth and various social issues.

She noted: “Some of these young women have become scholars and some went on to careers, so they have developed their leadership and become good decision makers. The leadership in rural areas is about economic development that has given the hope for women and young people to become effective, passionate, compassionate – to help themselves and to help their communities.”

Dr. Emmanuel Mefor is a medical doctor from Nigeria. He and his wife, Florence Mefor, a nurse midwife, have served as medical missionaries in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Dr. Mefor will be retiring from his assignment as a general practitioner with Old Mutare Hospital in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Florence Mefor continues as a missionary with Old Mutare, so they will remain in Zimbabwe for a while longer. Dr. Mefor plans to continue work on a voluntary basis.

“My 24-year journey of missionary work was neither prepared for nor premeditated,” he noted. “We Christians are all called to work daily in the vineyard of our God. To the younger and will-be missionaries; remember that there will be obstacles along your way. Prayers, integrity and passion for what you do are paramount. Being passionate about what you do is the driving force that makes you tireless.”

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries.

Global Missionaries

Global Ministries missionaries are a tangible connection between The United Methodist Church and mission. Through denominational or ecumenical ministries, missionaries bear witness to God’s presence all around the world. They are called by God and sent out to serve by the church, usually placed in a new cultural context beyond their country of origin. Missionaries engage in ministry that is defined by mutuality and partnership, seeking to expand the mission of God already present and active in people and places.

Explore the work of Global Ministries missionaries.