is cool, relatable and energetic. That is not what students need. Students get all of that in their normal life. They need someone who is holy and stable. They need someone who is present,” he said. “Some youth pastors might feel like they’ve aged out, but that’s not the case. Students need mature adult believers who are going where they want students to go. As a leader, you can’t take people where you’re not going, so you have to have the kind of walk you want your students to have.”


McGaha’s work with students has been marked by many high moments and reasons to celebrate.


It has also been marked by tragedy. “My sister committed suicide on the Friday of the biggest ministry event that we’ve ever had at our church. There were 430 students participating from more than


20 churches. In the peak of ministry joy, one of the great highlights for our church, here comes deep tragedy,” he said. “It’s the deepest loss I’ve ever felt,” McGaha said. “But it’s not where I decided I was going to trust God. My perspective on faithfulness to God in calamity and tumultuous times was not formed in that moment, but over years of ministry ups and downs.”


His sisters’ death was followed by the death of his cousin a little more than a year later.


“We were as close as brothers,” McGaha said. “I lost two of my closest family members in 15 months. My grandmother passed away in the middle of all of that. I had to figure out how to minister to my family and how to allow myself to be ministered to.”


Through heartbreak and suffering, C OM P A S S ION


Partnering with Chosen Children’s Ministry, 12 students and five faculty members from NGU’s Physician Assistant program traveled to Nicaragua earlier this year to provide medical care and reach a community in need.


The PA program has been organizing these trips since 2018, partnering with local churches in Nicaragua. During their most recent trip, the group provided care to about 400 people, distributing around 1,600 prescriptions including antibiotics, blood pressure medication, diabetes medication, anti-parasite medications and more.


“Where we go is very rural and very poor. These families live on $2 a day,” said Dr. Jordan Hairr, Dean of NGU’s College of Allied Health. “They live in family units. They don’t have homes with rooms. What usually hits students the most is how much joy these people still have. If you were to live like that in America, it’s not likely that you’d still have that kind of joy. They are much more thankful and it’s very important for students to see how much can be done, even with very little resources.” Hairr said the group hosts the clinic in a local church, giving attendees the


Physician Assistant students served in Nicaragua in 2024.


opportunity to interact with pastors and church members.


“We hold the clinic in church, and the pastor is there meeting people he might not know,” he said. “There’s a hope that not only are we helping their physical health but also their spiritual health by getting them connected to a church.” In addition to clinical care and prescriptions, the team also provided hygiene bags to those they served. Hairr said the trip is a way to show compassion


to communities that don’t have access to basic necessities.


“There’s a big need because health literacy is so low. A lot of these families don’t have access to clean drinking water, so instead of drinking water they drink soda. That causes a lot of medical problems. In America, problems like diabetes and hypertension are due to excess. In Nicaragua, it’s due to not having enough and having to manage with what they have.” ◆


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McGaha said he relied on the Lord. “You have to distinguish between what you’re feeling and what’s actually true,” he said. “I feel abandoned by God. I feel angry with God. I feel I deserve better than this. Sometimes you feel like you bear responsibility or guilt or that you should have been able to do something. But that’s not the case. This life is a vapor, and death is not permanent in Christ. I have to live that out. This is difficult now and feels bad. But God is good.”


McGaha said while navigating these tragedies has been difficult, God has provided peace.


“The prayer is that God would comfort you supernaturally,” he said. “It’s not inherent or in your nature to be able to trust in the Lord during times like these. It’s not the way that we’re wired. It has to happen through the work of the Holy Spirit.”


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