Jahswel & Cheyenne Mpagaja Newsletter (Spring 2025)

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! We hope you are doing well as you are reading this newsletter! 

HE IS RISEN!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter with our fellow staff here at Teen Missions; most of us came together for a Good Friday brunch, and celebrated together with a huge egg hunt on Sunday afternoon spanning down our whole street! It was so much fun for all the staff kids. This is really the first year that Jedidiah can understand what Easter is all about, and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be forgiven. He has a lot of questions about it all! “Mom, why is Jesus bread? How come some people didn’t like Jesus? Why did Jesus die?” His questions catch me off guard and they really make me stop and think, and I love it! It leads to really great conversations. It’s such a special time in his life to be shaping his thinking and his beliefs about who Jesus is. Every day I ask the Lord for wisdom!

LAZARUS TURNS ONE

Lazarus is ONE YEAR OLD! We celebrated his birthday here at home with friends, and, to our surprise, with some family too! My brother Joshua and sister-in-law Jerry drove all the way down from PA to surprise us for the weekend to celebrate Lazzy’s birthday! It meant the world to us, and we had such a great time together! I was beaming as we celebrated our second boy, and the peace, love, joy, and cuddles that his life has brought us. He just started WALKING at 13 months old, just like his big brother did! He is so proud of himself and is now walking all over the house and chasing after Jedidiah. He is such a gift to us. We love him beyond words and are so proud of him! 

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT A DAY WILL BRING

As we were blowing up balloons for Lazarus’ birthday party, I posted a short video on Instagram of myself tying a balloon by wrapping it around a coat hanger so that you don’t need to use your fingers. Lo and behold, the video went viral and had millions of views by that same evening! As I’m writing this, it has 158 million views. Through this one video, the Lord has been providing for us in the most unforeseen ways! It is something I never imagined would happen to me, but the Lord has now given me a platform to share what our family does in service to the Lord all through a ten-second balloon-tying video. I started with 683 followers, and I now have 26,000! I pray that He can use this all for His glory. He works in mysterious ways, that is for sure! 

MUD RUN

Every year, Teen Missions hosts the Tough Gator Mud Run in the beginning of May and there was a great turnout this year! There were 631 runners, and the Lord answered our prayers for rain the morning of! Jahswel was stationed at one of the obstacles and had a great time cheering people on. All of the proceeds that come in from the Mud Run are sent overseas to Teen Missions different bases to provide medication and other various necessities. God is good!

FULLY FUNDED!

It is by God’s provision and grace that we can say we are fully funded for our trip to Uganda this summer! PRAISE THE LORD! We are counting down the days until our fellow leaders (3) and team members (17) arrive! With our family, we will have a total of 24 people on our team, and this mama is the cook! I have been meeting with my fellow staff ladies to gather their menu ideas, recipes, and wisdom for running the kitchen for our team, and I’m getting more and more excited! Please pray for us as we continue preparing for the trip by getting supplies, sorting out childcare, and in our personal devotion time with the Lord as we hide His word in our hearts and seek His wisdom. We cannot wait to tell you all about what God is going to do on this trip when we get back!

JAHSWEL’S PROJECTS

Jahswel: My work time is split between outside and inside the office. I was asked to oversee the job in the tent sites to build 12 permanent tent pads. It has been going well. I’ve worked for more than a month, and I, along with a couple of others working with me, have completed 8 so far. We start by leveling the ground, building the frame, then screwing in the decking boards. This project was put on pause due to the Mud Run, as I was helping build the obstacles. I still have 4 left to build which I’m hoping to finish before the summer Boot Camp program starts in mid-June. 

In the office, I have been working on editing the manuals for the Matron Unit, Rescue Unit, and Circuit Rider ministries. I’ve completed the Matron Unit manual and Rescue Unit manual. We are working to improve the operation of these ministries to be more effective and efficient in the way they are run. I will finish editing soon, then I will begin communicating with coordinators at our overseas bases to hear from them directly about how we can implement these changes. Having experience in these ministries from when I was serving on staff in Malawi, has helped me to see the areas that need reassessment. And I am excited that I’m able to see these ministries from the other side with this opportunity to improve it in ways that can help the ministry flourish. 

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Please pray for safety for our team as we travel and on the work site.
• Please pray for good health for our team when we are in Uganda. 
• Please pray for the Lord to provide more committed monthly supporters for our family as we serve the Lord with Teen Missions. 
• Please pray for wisdom for Jahswel as he works on editing the manuals. 
• Please pray for strength and joy in the Lord for Cheyenne as she is at home full time with Jedidiah and Lazarus. 

We could never say THANK YOU enough for all of your prayers and support for our family as we serve the Lord with Teen Missions. We hope you have a great summer!

May the Lord bless you! 

Jahswel, Cheyenne, Jedidiah, & Lazarus