Gary and Peggy Ifft are examples of God using ordinary people to do His work. Having been born and raised on mid-western farms and having given their lives to the Lord early in life, they married in 1975. For years they had foreign missions on their hearts; however, they had to patiently wait for God’s perfect timing. It finally came in 2000, when they felt the strong and irresistible call from God at a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) leader’s conference to step out in faith and pursue the call to foreign Christian service. After 25 years of marriage, 26 years of Gary working for State Farm Insurance, their lives changed radically. Less than a year after the call came, including a semester of management training in Dallas, Texas, they found themselves in Ethiopia. Neither of them has ever looked back with regret on this drastic change in their lives.

They went to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia in January, 2001, serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators. After two and a half years, the Lord uprooted them and moved them to the countryside to serve with Project Mercy in opening up and running a modern hospital for four years. After that commitment was completed, they moved back to Addis Ababa to serve at the Korean Hospital for nearly two years. Their latest calling has taken them back out to the countryside to concentrate on integrated rural development in the area in and around the town of Ziway. Gary and Peggy have established the Misgana Ministries, to give an identity to the many aspects of this growing work.

Each of these changes and moves is a story in itself. These are documented in more detail in Gary’s book, “I’m Just an Illinois Farm Boy.” More about Gary's book

The focus of Misgana Ministries is aimed primarily at helping needy children. This is being done through a school feeding program, construction of a school for grades one through eight, the establishment of a nursery school, expansion of Sunday School, and development of a group home for orphans. That is not to say that Misgana Ministries deals only with children, though. A bridge has been built to allow easy access by some isolated villagers to education, medical care, and trading; a clinic is being contemplated, and some vocational training and businesses have already been set up, with more planned. More about Misgana Ministries' projects