(June 25, 2014 - by Harold Goerzen)  Billy Graham Crusades played a key role in the life of longtime missionary Nan McCloud, not only in her salvation in her mid-30s but in her calling with her husband, Mac, to full-time missionary service.

Nan went to be with the Lord in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, April 6, at the age of 86, just nine months after the passing of her beloved husband of 67 years, Dwite “Mac” Merrill McCloud. Her passing fulfilled the words of one of her favorite hymns, “Face to Face with Christ, My Savior.”

Nancy “Nan” Gage McCloud was born on Nov. 1, 1927, in Oakland, Calif., the eldest daughter of Wilson and Alma Gage. She graduated from Anna Head Finishing School in Berkeley, Calif., and during a family vacation, at the age of 16, she met her future husband, an Army Air Corps pilot awaiting his assignment in Europe. He was under the impression that she was at least 18!

They corresponded for two years while Mac was serving in Europe. Nan wrote in a diary many years later that “like God’s love, Mac’s love drew me to him.” Six months after he returned, Nan discontinued her studies in art at the University of Arizona, and they were married in San Francisco on June 30, 1946. After moving to West Lafayette, Ind., where Mac finished his degree at Purdue University, they returned to California.

By the early 1960s, Mac and Nan had given birth to three children, Anne, Ross and Lorna. Although they had a rich, full life, Nan always felt there was something missing. One evening, as she was watching a Billy Graham Crusade on television, she heard the testimony of Dale Evans who said that God gave His only Son to die for the sins of everyone in the world.

This impressed Nan, who could not imagine giving up her only son to die for anyone. She gave her heart to Christ, and soon after, with Mac, who had become a believer as a child, began nearly 50 years of joyful, faithful service to God.

Growing in their faith at the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, Calif., their lives were once again touched by a Billy Graham Crusade. They were volunteer counselors at the 1963 Los Angeles crusade, and while there they met a Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global) missionary who was serving in Quito, Ecuador.

“In the middle of counselor preparation, we found God leading us to become missionaries,” Nan shared in an interview several years ago. “Then different indications from God’s Word, the internal witness of the Holy Spirit and external circumstances brought us to the certainty that this was what and how Mac and I could best serve God.”

By year’s end they had applied to the mission, raised their support and arrived in Quito—a process that typically takes two to three years. Mac, who had expected to serve as an engineer, was assigned to finance, a department that he eventually led, while Nan set up house in a new part of the world—all in a new language as they studied Spanish with tutors in Quito.

Nan was soon involved in hospital visitation, writing radio scripts and prayer letters, and opening the family home to those visiting the mission as well as missionary kids who lived in nearby boarding homes and international staff.

When asked about a particularly satisfying experience in Quito, she replied, “Seeing others come to Christ, then discipling the new believers and seeing them grow spiritually and take on Christian responsibilities themselves.”

Although officially retiring in 1999 after nearly 36 years with the mission, the McClouds continued to help out for almost another 14 years, volunteering at the Reach Beyond Ministry Service Center in Colorado Springs.

Nan will always be remembered for her gift of loving, generous hospitality. Her family remembers Sunday evening sing-alongs in their California backyard, frequent visits from missionaries from around the world, home Bible studies in both English and Spanish for young and old, and wonderful meals shared with friends and family. Her daughters count this gift as one of their precious legacies. They still treasure and use the Bible verse place cards that Nan wrote out for holiday dinners with family and friends.

Dick and Pat Jacquin, Reach Beyond area representatives who first met the McClouds at their missionary orientation in 1991, said they admired them as the “definition of being coupled in marriage. Mac worshiped his bride, and she loved and respected her husband as a model of a Christian woman. Mac and Nan will always be remembered by us as the servants and team that Pat and I strive to be,” Dick said.

Nan is survived by three adult children, Anne Woodyard, Ross McCloud and Lorna Stiefvater, as well as four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial contributions be made to Reach Beyond in Nan’s name. Donations will be used to help under-supported missionaries. Gifts to the Nan McCloud Memorial Fund can be made by visiting https://reachbeyond.org/projects/read/nan-mccloud-memorial-fund or by mailing a check to 1065 Garden of the Gods Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80907.

Sources: Reach Beyond, Anne Woodyard, Lorna Stiefvater