In 2007, Jill (Ulrich) McElya found herself in an unfamiliar position. She felt God’s prompting to move to India; a place to which she had never been, nor had given much thought over the course of her life. Yet, through prayer, connections with others, and several “fleeces”, Jill was able to more clearly discern that God was, in fact, prompting her to move to India. The final fleece was a mission trip with Common Ground in 2007 to visit an orphanage in Raxaul, India; a trip on which she and the Common Ground team spent time with orphan children. She saw village life of the poor in India, and through this trip, she became certain that God was leading her to move to India.

Within just 2 months, Jill found herself living in Chennai, India working for International Justice Mission. At IJM, Jill leads the office’s legal team, which works with local authorities to identify and rescue victims of forced labor slavery. In this role, Jill has been able to participate in nearly 30 rescue operations and see hundreds of captives set free.

After moving to India in January 2008, Jill kept in touch with Brad McElya, who she met during the mission trip to India. Jill’s furlough visit home and a subsequent visit to India by Brad led to a dating relationship in spite of the distance between them. In December 2008, Jill and Brad were married and Brad returned to India with Jill, this time to live there.

During Brad’s time in India, his eyes have been opened to India’s female infanticide problem. Because of the astronomical number of infant girls that are murdered, and because Brad believed something needed to be done to combat it, he formed The Rhema Project; an organization laboring to eliminate infanticide and other forms of discrimination against the girl child in India.

During their time there together, God has given Brad and Jill a very deep and genuine love for the people of India. Their hearts break because of the injustice they regularly see, and they have been forever changed. Brad and Jill see that God wants us to join with Him in sharing good news with the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners, and setting the captives free.

On that Common Ground Mission Trip to India in 2007, neither Brad nor Jill were aware of what God was bringing together. The gathering of people with open hearts has allowed God to bring a glimmer of hope to the people of India, a partner in life and ministry for Brad and Jill, and a message of encouragement and provision for God’s people.