Read letters from James and Jodi McGill
Subscribe to James and Jodi McGill's letters
For older letters, contact Mission Connections
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 156
James and Jodi McGill
Mission co-workers in Malawi since 1995
Serving at the invitation of the Church of Central Africa
Presbyterian/Livingstonia Synod
Give to Jim and Jodi's MinistryDownload Jim and Jodi's prayer card
Contact: Jim McGill (jim.mcgill@pcusa.org)
Contact: Jodi McGill (jodi.mcgill@pcusa.org)
Jim and Jodi will next be in the USA, based in Atlanta GA, mid-July 2015 - May 2016. Email them to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Jim and Jodi McGill's ministry
Jim and Jodi McGill have been under appointment as mission co-workers since 1995. Their most recent assignment, which began in 2000, is in Mzuzu, Malawi, just two hours from Embangweni, where they had lived for 10 years. Jim and Jodi moved to Mzuzu at the request of the Synod of Livingstonia of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), the PC(USA)’s partner in Malawi, in order to widen the scope of their work to include the entire synod. After their reappointment in June 2004, Jodi began working part-time at the Ekwendeni Hospital’s nursing school as a clinical instructor.
Malawi is a landlocked country bordering Tanzania to the north and east, Mozambique to the south, east and west, and Zambia to the west. Mzuzu, a small town with electricity, email access, shops and several schools, is located in the northern region of Malawi. The predominant illnesses in Malawi are malaria, pneumonia, anemia, malnutrition, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. The average life expectancy is 35 years, which reflects the high mortality rates from malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Jim serves as coordinator of protected water within the Synod of Livingstonia’s Development Department. He coordinates the clean water and sanitation work of the synod’s three hospitals and the clean water section of the synod’s Development Department. The focus of his work is to ensure sustainability at the community level and to ensure the church is a strong presence in the rural development of Malawi and an effective advocate for its people.
Mother’s Day Project aids African children and families
Read "A mission of health and hope" in Presbyterians Today
Country context
Malawi, a relatively small country on the African continent, is poor and has suffered from drought and floods as well as the spread of HIV/AIDS. In spite of the many challenges and hardships Malawi faces, the faith of its people remains strong. With roots in the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, and the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, the CCAP was formed in the late 1940s. Since beginning its involvement in Malawi in the 1950s, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has sent many long-term and short-term mission personnel to serve in the country. The Synod of Livingstonia, one of four synods of the CCAP, grew out of a mission station founded in 1875 and named in honor of David Livingstone, the famed Scottish Presbyterian missionary.
About Jim and Jodi McGill
Prior to their move to Mzuzu in 2000, Jodi was a staff nurse on the wards of Embangweni Hospital, which was founded by mission personnel of the Free Church of Scotland in 1926. She treated patients in the outpatient department, assisted with administration, and worked with Malawian counterparts to develop and implement primary health care projects. In Mzuzu, as coordinator of primary health care, she works with the synod’s three hospitals, the congregation-based malaria prevention program, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, support programs in communities and hospitals, and a variety of other public health programs.
Jodi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and microbiology from Northern Arizona University. She also holds an M.S. in nursing and a master's in public health from Emory University. She has served as a nurse both in the Atlanta, Georgia, area and in Africa.
Jim received his B.S. in physics from Wake Forest University before finishing his M.S. in geological engineering at the University of Arizona. Jim has spent many years in Africa doing geophysical research for the Geology Department at Duke and as the child of Presbyterian missionaries to Congo.
The McGills are the parents of six children, twins Jason and Michael, Salome, Selina and twins Joseph and John.
Birthdays:
Jodi - December 19
Jim - October 26
Jason - July 15
Michael - July 15
Salome - September 28
Selina - October 21
Joseph - August 14
John - August 14
