A “normal” life, that’s what we so often desire, what my heart wants so badly. But, what if God has a crazy life planned for us? What if it’s harder than I expected? What if it’s in a different country? What if it’s a life without certain niceties? What if it’s better than I ever could have imagined? Whatever life God has planned for us, I know it will be amazing, it will build our faith, and it will bring Him glory.

So, in between our trips to Africa, we live a not-so-normal, “normal” life. We often send updates and letters about our ministry in Africa and other parts of the world, but our ministry goes on here every day. We are full-time missionaries on staff with Helping Hands, so this is our job, even when we are home.

We have an apartment in Gainesville, GA and have the cutest kitty named Buddy. HHFM has an office in the Gainesville area. We work from 8-5 Monday through Friday. There are a few other people who work in the office with us. We usually have a prayer time every morning, and we have staff meetings every Wednesday morning. We are very much a “family”, and we love it!

Mike stays busy with emails, phone calls, and meetings. It takes a lot of planning and preparation to coordinate mission teams traveling all over the world! In the first 3 months of this year, HHFM will have done trips into Bolivia, Haiti, Uganda, Congo, Tanzania, and Kenya. Mike has coordinated most of this! He also does team training meetings with groups preparing to go on one of our trips. Those are usually on the weekends or in the evenings.

I spend my days working on our Orphan Sponsorship Program. We have about 800 students in our school in Uganda and another 800 in bush schools. I am constantly working to get updated information on the children so we can get more sponsors. Also, every time a mission team goes to Uganda, we allow sponsors to send cards and gifts and then the children get to send letters in return. So, a great deal of my time is spent coordinating the back and forth correspondence. I am also preparing a training session for mission teams so they are prepared for all the children’s ministry they will be doing in Africa. It is such good work!

We still travel a fair amount, even when we are “home”. We love getting to share about our ministry, and what God is doing through HHFM. So, we are often on the road speaking at churches, women’s and men’s ministry groups, Sunday school classes, etc. These trips usually happen on weekends or on Wednesday nights, so we miss our “home” church quite a bit. When we are home, we love going to Lanier Hills Church. We hope to be home long enough (someday!) to be in a small group Bible study.

Now it is time for Africa again. Africa is never far from our hearts and minds. We love the people, and there is so much we want for them. I want so badly for my 1600 precious children in Uganda to get a good education, to learn about God and to love Him, to have a home and family. Mike wants so badly for the pastors to receive good training, to be able to disciple the people in the churches, and to see God’s Truth spread to places beyond where we can go. We are so excited about our trip in March, to see all God is doing! Maybe you can come with us some time!

Here are some of our Prayers and Praises…

• Mike broke his ankle over the Christmas holiday. After a few doctor visits, x-rays, and an MRI, it has been determined that he needs to wear a walking boot for 6 more weeks. Please pray for quick and continued healing. He will be leading a mission team to Uganda in March. So, he needs to be 100% for that.
• Praise for God’s provision! In dealing with Mike’s ankle ordeal, we were given 50% off the medical bills at the doctor’s office and for the MRI. We do not have insurance at this time, so this was a huge blessing from God!
• We are trying to sell our Ford Escape. We had it on a car lot for 4 months with no takers. We also talked with a local car dealer who knows our ministry. He could not buy it for enough for us to pay off the loan. Please pray that we can sell it soon.
• We praise God for all the opportunities given us to speak and share about our ministry. We are so thankful to all our friends and family who have set up times for us to share with churches and ministry groups and speak at conferences.
• We are both going to Uganda, Africa in March. Please pray for us as we are making all of our plans and preparations.
• Please pray for the HHFM Board of Directors. They will be traveling to Uganda in March as well to look at property to purchase. We need 500 acres for our Village of Eden project. This village will be the new home for 2000 orphans in Uganda!

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your financial support. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for joining us in this ministry. Even in our “normal” life, God uses you to keep us going. We can never thank you enough!