Biography

Amazed! We are totally amazed by the path that God is opening before us. Most of you know we are committed to missions. We participated in trips to Guatemala, Kenya, Australia, and Swaziland. We have served on Missions committees in two churches and Amy worked in the Missions office at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. We both knew of God’s call on our lives to “Go” as missionaries and Amy told her family to prepare for the possibility that we would one day be going to Africa as missionaries…..

Then, “life” happened.

It seemed it was never the time, never the situation. Moving to Texas, infertility, the addition of Katie to our family, the loss of Amy’s Daddy, Steve’s heart surgery, the birth of Maggie, and the birth of Ellie! Life. Not the time. Not the situation. Not yet. Not now. When we were presented with the opportunity to serve through our church in Swaziland, Africa, Amy felt that this was the answer. We could be involved in missions, in Africa, in caring for orphans…and still stay “home” except for a couple of weeks a year. It was a safe way to answer the call that God had placed on our hearts all those years ago. But, God is not a God of feeling safe, being comfortable.

After our first trip to Swaziland, we began to realize that God was possibly nudging us toward a stronger commitment to these people, this country, these orphans than just a couple of weeks a year. After months of telling God why it wouldn’t work, wasn’t a good idea, wasn’t a good time, we returned to this place that stole our hearts…praying that He would make it clear, confirm what we already knew: this was Home. He did just that. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, with amazing clarity He said, “Who knows but that you have been put in this position for such a time as THIS.” (Esther 4:14b).

And so, we will obey. We will follow Him, one step at a time, down the path that He will design, that He will forge, rather than one of our own making. God is trustworthy. We know that. We have seen that. We trust that.

As you can imagine, there are many logistics involved with a commitment of this magnitude and we have much to ask of you friends. Though we believe we are in so many ways very ill prepared, we do believe that we are very well surrounded. I cannot imagine a better, stronger, more supportive group of people than the ones we call our family and friends. We are not prepared financially to take this giant step. Being in the early stages, there are many decisions we will make and each one is a huge financial commitment. Because of this, it is a very daunting task…however, we believe the decision to move to Swaziland and minister to the beautiful children there cannot be a financial decision. Our Father has provided in the past and we are confident He will provide in our future. We have learned in our past situations that we have to lean on God and rely on HIM for everything we need. Right now we are in need of your prayers as we make the necessary plans for moving to Swaziland.

To fully explain what we will be DOING in Swaziland, here is a little background. It is the last ruling monarchy in Africa and has a population of approximately 950,000. It also has the distinction of having the highest HIV infection rate in the world. The life expectancy in Swaziland is approximately 30 years. The number of orphans created by this scenario is staggering. Our friends Jumbo and Kriek Gerber are full time missionaries there now and are trying to help thousands of orphans every day through local Care points. These are places where children can come (some walking 3 miles each way and carrying a younger sibling) for food, relative safety, discipleship, education, and basic medical attention. It has become an overwhelming task for the Missionaries that are there to oversee all that needs to be done. So our main focus initially will be to support their efforts in feeding and discipling these children. We will also be assisting and discipling the Discipleship Team (a group of six amazing young African Believers) in this task. There are so many other things we dream of accomplishing by being there like assisting in planting churches, establishing more stable medical care, developing a school and library. The main thing is not what WE will accomplish, but what GOD will accomplish for His Kingdom’s sake.

Part of God’s confirmation of this next step in our lives has been to see how the “puzzle pieces are coming together”. For several years we have longed for a small group where we both “clicked”, where we could develop lifelong friendships and commitment to other families. God brought us into just such a group almost three years ago. He showed us His idea of caring for one another through this group as together we helped each other face the trials of this fallen world: the tragedy of the death of a child, marital issues, financial ruin, unemployment, and parenting issues. We also have had such fun and shared such good food, such bad jokes and just a great fellowship time and Bible study together. And now we will be going to Swaziland with one of these families…all of us together as a team. What we saw as an answer to our little prayer was part of God’s bigger plan. All this time He has been preparing us to be able to work together, travel together, play together, pray together and face adversity together. Mark and Allison Clyburn and their two little girls Madeline and Emma will be our team mates. We traveled with Mark and Allison on the last two trips to Swazi. Our girls truly love each other and get along very well together. Allison is a teacher at Evangel, a local Christian school, and will be overseeing the home schooling of all the girls. We see God’s plan in fitting us together as a team, not only as these two families, but also in how we will fit in with the other families in Swazi already.

We are being sent through Westwood Baptist Church and Adventures In Missions. AIM is a sending agency based in Gainesville, GA. We are so excited about partnering with them to reach the people of Swaziland.

We know there will be many questions about how this will work. We welcome any questions, phone calls, emails or visits. Our goal is to leave June 1, 2010. This of course is up to God and our financial support. We cannot leave the country until we have 100% of our monthly financial needs committed by our partners. We have found that the cost of living in Swaziland is much like it is here. There are some things which are less expensive and some things which will cost more. Adding in taxes, SS, Medicare, etc…, we have found that the costs are actually a little higher when all is said and done. In our limited vision we have no idea how any of this will work out. It is totally out of our ability to make all of the things that need to happen by the time they need to happen, but God is a big God and all things are possible through Him!

We would ask you, our friends and family, to partner with us in this journey. We would ask you to commit to pray for us on a regular basis. Please pray for all the details to be worked out by God in His timing. Please pray for our discipline in the basics. Please pray for wisdom as we make life changing decisions. We would also ask you to pray about how God may have you partner with us financially. We would be honored to be sent out into “the uttermost parts of the world” as your servants. Together, through God, we can change the terrible conditions in this country where the adversary has such a strong hold. We hope to talk to you in the near future.

Working Together in Christ,

Steve & Amy McAdams
Katie, Maggie, & Ellie

James 1:27 This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.