Jahswel & Cheyenne Mpagaja Newsletter (Winter 2025)

Greetings in the name of the Lord! We are excited to share with you what He has been doing in our family over the last few months.

JAHSWEL’S CLASS

On December 18th, I (Jahswel) finished teaching the Poetical Books class at the Sojourner School of Ministry (formerly BMW) here at Teen Missions. In this class we studied through the books of Job —Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. 

It was good and challenging, especially teaching in a different country and culture. But it helped me so much to understand the culture and the language by spending more time with my students. It was intimidating at the beginning, because I doubted myself, like I wasn’t good enough to teach in the US due to my lack of school qualifications. And that filled my heart with fear, but while I was getting ready for my class, studying and praying, God reminded me that I don’t need to be afraid because it is His job and He will do it through me. He gave me peace and equipped me, as He says in Hebrews 13:20-21, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

And I can testify how He keeps His promises; He provided what I needed for the whole term and I enjoyed my class, and all my students did well. Glory be to the Lord. 

CHRISTMAS & BIRTHDAYS IN YORK, PA

We had a wonderful time visiting York over Christmas! Spending time with family and friends is such a gift, especially when you have gone long periods of time without it in the past. We stayed at Cheyenne’s parents’ house, where Jedidiah and Lazarus enjoyed lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa, their cousins, aunts and uncles. We played with new toys, made Christmas cookies, watched Christmas movies, watched snow flurries fall, wrapped and opened Christmas presents, saw lots of Christmas lights, read Luke 2, enjoyed the Christmas Eve candlelight service, and made a lot of precious memories. This was Lazarus’ first Christmas! 

I celebrated my 30th birthday with my sisters and good friends! We sang karaoke, had some delicious mocktails and chocolate fondue. As I reflect back on my life, these well-known lyrics come to mind and they certainly ring true for me: Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided; Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. 

The next celebration was Jedidiah’s 3rd birthday! This was a big year for him; he got the hang of potty training, became a big brother, helped Mommy in the kitchen A LOT, helped Daddy fix things, visited his fifth country, learned the books of the Bible, and can tell you that Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. He is a JOY! We are so incredibly thankful to the Lord for giving us our firstborn son. Parenting has become more challenging as Jedidiah is growing into a young boy, asking the why behind everything, and learning to obey right away with a happy heart as unto the Lord. We ask for your prayers for Jedidiah that he would grow into a man who fears God, and wisdom for us as we raise him. This verse has been a great encouragement and a comfort to me recently: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

NEW HOUSE

We grew out of our previous two-bedroom home, and on January 7th, we moved into one of the new staff houses! It has four bedrooms, and has been the biggest blessing for our family. We are now the last house at the dead-end part of the street where Teen Missions owns about thirty mobile homes for staff and volunteer housing. So we moved about twelve houses down from where we were. Now that we are far from the main road, Jedidiah can step outside and play with the other staff kids on the other side of the fence and come running home when I holler for him. When we sit down and look around the house, we cannot believe the Lord has blessed us in such abundance. We are incredibly thankful!

LAZARUS

Lazzy will be ten months old on February 2nd! I can hardly believe it! In the last few weeks he has popped his first two teeth, learned to crawl, pulled himself up to stand, and climbed stairs! He can now wave hello and goodbye, and shakes his hands signaling when he is all done eating his food! He is always looking to cuddle with mommy, go outside with daddy, or crawl after big brother Jedidiah. He is one sweet, snuggly, precious boy! We love our Laz-berry and we thank God for him. 

UGANDA SUMMER TEAM

WE ARE GOING BACK TO UGANDA! We can hardly contain our excitement! In 2022, we lived in Uganda for five months to help keep the ministry going at the Teen Missions bases there, and we LOVED it. We connected so strongly and so quickly with our fellow staff there, and it was a great blessing in our lives. We were heartbroken when we had to say goodbye, not knowing when or if we would ever be back. And now the Lord has opened the door for us to be the head leaders on the summer team this year! Teens from all over the US and Canada are signing up for Teen Missions summer mission trips, including our team to Uganda! After 10 days of intensive training here in Florida, our team will fly into Entebbe, Uganda via Virginia and Brussels. Then we will travel four hours to the Teen Missions base in Jinja, where we will stay for the duration of our trip. Our ministry project will be to provide eye care services and basic medical assistance across various villages and cities. We will also continue laying bricks to build the security wall around the base in Jinja. 

Last summer when we went to the Dominican Republic, my husband was a team leader, and I came along as a “family member”. This year, I have decided to take on the challenge of being the head female leader alongside my husband, and we will have two assistant leaders with us. Jahswel will oversee the team as they do their ministry project and many other activities, and my main responsibility will be to feed the team. Pray for us! I know it will be a challenge to take care of our boys along with keeping the team on schedule for meals. But I am so very thankful that we already know the staff in Uganda and will be around friends who can help. We believe God has such great plans in store for this upcoming team, and we are so very excited!

GIVE

The total cost we need to raise for this trip is $4,099. This amount covers Jedidiah’s plane ticket, food, ground transportation, etc., and the cost of Lazarus as a lap infant on the plane. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide! 

Thank you all so much for your commitment in prayer and support as we follow where the Lord leads us. Please be encouraged that your support is essential to our ability to be in ministry. May God continue to bless you as you bless us. 

Love,

Jahswel, Cheyenne, Jedidiah and Lazarus