11/10/2025
Hey friends, welcome back to the Help My Abide podcast. I can’t believe it, but this is the final episode in Season 5: Back on the Field. What a season it’s been. Before we jump in, I want to let you know that Season 6 is right around the corner. It’s going to be called “Beauty for Ashes,” and I’ve already started interviewing our guests. Let me tell you: it’s shaping up to be such a powerful and insightful season. I can’t wait to share it with you.
Today, we’re closing out this season with a really special conversation. I had the joy of interviewing Meagan Sullivan. Meagan and her husband, Josh, along with their children, have been serving as missionaries in South Africa for the past seven years. Before heading out on furlough, their church had grown to around eighty members, and they have three young men currently training for ministry. The Sullivans have four biological kids, and two more who are theirs in their hearts.
In this interview, Meagan opens up about life on the mission field: about faith, about endurance, and about what it looks like to trust God in the middle of heartbreak and uncertainty. Their story is one of deep grief, but also incredible hope. Some of you may have already heard about what happened earlier this year when Meagan’s husband, Josh, was kidnapped in South Africa and then miraculously rescued. It’s a powerful story of God’s protection and presence, and I really encourage you to read the article about it. You can find the link in the show notes. It’ll give you even more depth and meaning as you listen to this conversation.
And, because every missionary has a favorite local dish, Meagan shared hers, it’s called umnqusho, or as she laughed and told me to say instead, samp and beans.
I loved this interview with Meagan. She’s someone who has been acquainted with grief, yet she continues to press on learning more about herself, her weakness, and her faith in her loving Heavenly Father. She’s so real, and honestly, she felt like an instant friend.
Make sure you stick around until the very end of this episode. You’ll hear a beautiful song sung by their church’s youth choir in South Africa, recorded just a few weeks before Josh’s kidnapping. Every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes.
Are you ready to be encouraged and equipped to abide in Christ? Let’s get into the heart of today’s episode.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/help-me-abide/id1691013592?i=1000736089089
YouTube: https://youtu.be/GoCM0LgW7gw?si=t3_5Yc2HN-ymzqJE
