Power of Prayer: McClung family moving to Poland to pursue ministry as YWAM missionaries

LINDALE, Texas (KLTV) - An East Texas family is preparing to embark on a long-term mission to serve others in the region from a newly-established ministry base in southern Poland.

This week marks one year since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The anniversary highlights an ongoing humanitarian crisis across central Europe.

In early May, the McClung family plans to leave the sprawling Youth With A Mission (YWAM) ranch in Lindale to set up a new home in the town of Ustroń, Poland.

“God has really provided for so many of our needs and really set a place for us there,” Joshua says.

Josh, Meg, and their two children have spent the last three years in prayer and preparation at YWAM’s training and outreach headquarters in East Texas. The ministry currently has more than 18,000 staff deployed in 1,100 locations in 180 countries.

“It was definitely the voice of the Lord say, ‘Just commit and watch what I’ll do,’” Meg said. “And I was like, oh gosh, I’ve been like asking him to take care of all those things before I would give my yes. And that’s not faith.”

Over multiple trips to Poland and even into Ukraine, the McClungs say their eyes and hearts have been opened to a desperate situation.

“People had their home completely destroyed, burned down, bombed, and no longer had heating,” Josh said.

The McClungs are being led to Ustroń, a community of 16,000 residents located about 230 miles south of Warsaw. Last Fall, they helped convert a former hotel into an 11-room facility to house Ukrainian refugee families.

Earlier in the Spring, they also spent two months ministering to the Ukrainians flooding across the border into Poland. Despite the language barrier, Meg says they were able to make person-to-person connections.

“When we would arrive at the bus station or maybe the refugee centers where there were a lot of people in one place, often I think they felt like like just one of a thousand or one of many. And not really like an individual,” Meg said.

“Maybe they can’t understand all the words that I’m speaking, but they can hear the heart behind it. It was such an amazing experience to just to make them feel like an individual, to make them feel seen, to hear them, and to value them for who they were.”

Their 9-year-old son, Oliver, and 5-year-old daughter, Rymer, also play important roles in this cross-cultural ministry.

“We saw our children relating to the kids in a way that we wouldn’t be able to,” Meg said. “And they just don’t have the same language barrier. Play is an international language.”

The family of four is dedicated to spreading hope across borders, especially in difficult settings.

“Even though we can’t communicate and tell people, that this is God that’s doing this through us, they can see just through our actions that we do love and value them,” Josh said.

In October, Josh and Oliver even ventured into central Ukraine to join other volunteers in constructing modular housing for people who were living in the rubble of their former homes.

The McClungs will be part of YWAM’s efforts to re-establish a permanent presence in Poland that can find long-term solutions for families fleeing the war zone in Ukraine.

“So how do you provide some ministry that involves a very holistic approach of counseling and trauma healing, prayer, and finding a job and an occupation? And teaching language so that they’re able to exist in the community that they’re in,” Josh said.

Part of their purpose will include training other missionaries and preparing them for outreach and evangelism across central Europe.

“There’s no finish to that. We continue to every day discover new things and discover new things about who God created us to be. And what he’s calling us into.”

Josh says it’s all about simple steps of obedience guided by the power of prayer.

They won’t be alone in this journey. Meg’s sister and brother-in-law are also living in Poland as part of full-time missionary ministry.

The McClungs maintain a blog about their outreach and invite others to follow along for updates. Click here to read more.

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