From August 18-28, Visionering/SHELTERecords recording artist Matt McGee will travel to India to experience the ministry and aid Mission of Mercy provides for the country. Mission of Mercy has been serving in India for over 50 years, providing medical care, food and education for many of the countries poorest citizens. Matt will be surveying the organization’s work in the country, and will get to meet his sponsored child. A large focus of Mission of Mercy is building relationships, and the songwriter will get to spend time with Riya, the girl he sponsors in West Bengal, India. Matt states this is one of the main reasons he’s taking the trip. “I’m so excited to finally get to meet this little girl that I’ve been praying for, and let her know how much she has invested in my life without even knowing it.”
Matt and the Mission of Mercy team will arrive in Calcutta Friday Aug 20. Mark Pluimer, Director of Media, describes the trip, “In Calcutta, we will tour Mission of Mercy’s 200 bed hospital. The hospital serves over 110,000 people a year – 60% of those served are indigent. We will also spend significant time serving in the feeding lines. Mission of Mercy feeds over 25,000 people on the streets of Calcutta the only meal they will get that day.”
After their work in Calcutta, the tour will take an eight hour train trip to Ranchi, due west of Calcutta. Two days will be spent there, touring clinics and schools where Matt will spend significant time playing for and getting to know the children in the area. After two days, they will return to Calcutta where Matt will visit several Mission of Mercy schools, and visiting Mother Theresa’s work in the city. All throughout the trip, Matt will be leading devotions, sharing his music, and making direct connections with children in this developing country.
“This trip is the chance of a lifetime,” continues Matt, “and I feel humbled to be able to experience a little of the people’s lives in India. I pray that with Mission of Mercy we can make a significant difference in the lives of these people.”
When getting back into the states, Matt will take off on the Utour with downhere, Tree63 and By the Tree. The Utour will be hitting all of the SEC colleges and several other universities across the country, sharing a message of hope and suicide prevention. Matt’s debut album “Worship Through the Valley” was released early in 2004 on Visionering / SHELTERecords.
