Letters from Nancy McGaughey
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The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 139
Nancy McGaughey
Mission co-worker in South Sudan since 2009
Serving with the Association of Christian Resource Organisations Serving Sudan (ACROSS)
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Contact: Nancy McGaughey (nancy.mcgaughey@pcusa.org)
Nancy will next be in the USA May - July 2016. Email her to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Nancy McGaughey's ministry
Nancy was appointed in January 2009 as a mission co-worker to serve as health coordinator with Across, the Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan. She serves at the invitation of the PC(USA)’s partner in the Republic of South Sudan, the Presbyterian Church of Sudan.
In her position in the Republic of South Sudan, Nancy is charged with building the capacity of Across' field staff who work in health, HIV/AIDS and household food security. She provides training, technical advice, guidance and support. She is also charged with working on long-term strategies and policy development.
In the broader context of developing the Republic of South Sudan after many years of war, Nancy is also building and fostering relationships with government departments, church and community leaders, and other NGOs and stakeholders. She oversees the program staffs, including the staff for development and training.
During the war, which began in 1983—and was basically a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War from 1955 to 1972—approximately 1.9 million civilians were killed in southern Sudan, and more than 4 million southerners were forced to flee their homes. The conflict ended with the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005. Due to the military superiority of northern Sudan, most of southern Sudan was decimated.
Country context
In 2005 a peace accord was signed that ended a bloody 50-year civil war between rebels in the mostly Christian and animist south (mostly black Africans) and the predominately Muslim government based in the north (mostly Arabs). This fragile peace is holding, but conflict continues in the country’s western region where government-backed Arab militia have killed thousands of fellow Arabs living in Darfur. Amid adverse circumstances caused by war and poverty, Christianity in Sudan is vibrant and growing. The PC(USA) has longstanding relationships with two partner churches, the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, which serves northern Sudan, and the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, based in southern Sudan, now the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. The PC(USA) joins its partners in a holistic approach to ministry that includes education and leadership development, community development, evangelism, and new church development.
About Nancy McGaughey
This is not Nancy’s first appointment as a PC(USA) mission co-worker. She was first appointed in 1987 to serve in Jumla, Nepal, in tuberculosis and leprosy care, in mother-child health care and in vocational education. She served until 2002 in that capacity. She had previously worked in Nepal in child health education with the Peace Corps from 1977 to 1980.
Read: Getting Around in South Sudan - by Nancy McGaughey
“I worked in Nepal for 15 years,” writes Nancy, “most of the time living closely with Nepalis. I learned how intelligent the ‘uneducated’ really are, how people of a different culture can become just like your own family, how to worship God in different ways, and how to depend upon Him for everything—for protection from insurgents, strength to continue, tickets. Nothing is too big or too small. I made friends from many different cultures—Canada, England, New Zealand as well as Nepal. I went into mission service thinking of the difference I would make in the lives of others, but returned realizing that the biggest difference was made in my own life.”
Nancy resigned from mission service in 2002 to return to Indiana for family medical reasons. During her time in Indiana, she worked at St. Clare Medical Center in Crawfordsville, Indiana, until her service with PC(USA) began again in January 2009. While at St. Clare she served in a birthing facility, assisting women deliver babies and doing postpartum and nursery work.
A registered nurse, Nancy holds as associate degree in nursing from Indiana University School of Nursing. She holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, the former in vocational home economics, the latter in vocational and technical education. Nancy also holds a certificate for teaching secondary education in Indiana.
Nancy is a member of Russellville Community Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ in Russellville, Indiana, and an attendee of the Harvest Fellowship in New Market, Indiana.
Birthday: November 22
