Headed to Uganda!

Hello Friends and Family!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement during our very busy season of life.  We want to quickly catch you up on all our prayers and praises from last month and let you know what’s coming up next.  So, here we go…

We had our annual Helping Hands Foreign Missions Legacy of Hope Gala on August 20^th.  We had a sold-out crowd, great food, and a really fun auction.  But the best part was seeing God do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20).  We raised enough money to build 8 children’s cottages at the Village of Eden in Uganda – providing homes for 80 children!  The whole evening was truly a work of God!

We had our 1^st HHFM staff conference the week following our gala.  We had everyone from Uganda, Bolivia, and the USA together all week for Bible study and training sessions.  It was so neat to see God work through each speaker/teacher.  We as a staff really believe a revival is coming and we are so excited to see how God will use HHFM!  We have to be ready, devoting serious time to prayer and reading God’s Word, listening, and following what He commands.  We also had some fun outings throughout the week.  One of highlights was taking our friends from Uganda and Bolivia to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.  This was the first time for them to see so many of God’s amazing creatures.  It was so fun!

On September 11^th, Mike was ordained into full-time ministry at our home church, Lanier Hills Baptist Church.  It was such a blessing to hear our pastor teach on how God creates each of us for a purpose, then be able to take the next step in fulfilling ours.  Here is the link if you would like to listen online: http://podcasts.randallpopham.com/2011/09/11/divine-disgned--designed-for-a-po.aspx

On September 18^th, Mike left for his Missionary Medical Intensive course.  He has been there 2 weeks and it has been intensive!  His days have been full of class lectures, skill practice, and case studies.  He has been able to learn so much, though, and I know he will be a blessing to the people of Uganda and our staff there.

During all of this, we have also moved into our new basement apartment, and been preparing for our trip to Uganda!  We will be moving to Uganda at the end of the year, but we are going to spend the month of October there as previously planned.  Mike will be leading two mission teams throughout the month and I will be working on our Child Sponsorship program and visiting the 6 schools HHFM supports.  Below is a schedule of our month in Uganda.  We would love for you to pray specifically for us and the mission teams throughout the month.  During our trip, I should be able to send out email updates, post on our blog, and update Facebook.  

We are so grateful for your prayers and support!  

 

Our time in Uganda

Saturday Oct 1^st – Flying to Uganda

Sunday Oct 2^nd – still flying to Uganda, arrive late night in Entebbe

 

Monday Oct 3^rd – driving to Busia, Uganda (6 or 7 hours driving)

Tuesday Oct 4^th & Wednesday Oct 5^th – getting settled and ready for the mission team

Thursday Oct 6^th – Mike heads back to Entebbe to meet mission team arriving that evening

Friday Oct 7^th – Mike returns to Busia with mission team

Saturday Oct 8^th – Thursday Oct 13^th – Mike will be leading the team as they work with local church plants doing children’s ministry, home visits, and evangelism.  We will be working with the church members to involve them in ministry and hopefully encourage them to continue outreach in their area.  Sarah will be visiting the 6 schools receiving support from HHFM.  She will be working on Child Sponsorship and also distributing school supplies to all the children.

Friday Oct 14^th – taking team back to Entebbe to fly home and we return to Busia

Saturday Oct 15^th – Wednesday Oct 19^th – we will still have 1 team member with us, so we will still be doing some ministry, but also getting some rest, preparing for the next team, and preparing for our full-time life and ministry in Uganda

Thursday Oct 20^th – Mike will return to Entebbe to drop off the 1 remaining team member returning to the US and pick up the next mission team

Friday Oct 21^st – Mike and team return to Busia

Monday Oct 24^th – Thursday Oct 27^th – We will be hosting the 10 district pastors from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo.  Mike and the mission team of pastors from USA will be doing training and discipleship for the pastors at our compound each day.  The African pastors will then return to their districts and begin training the pastors they oversee.

Friday Oct 28^th – we will return to Entebbe with the mission team and get them to the airport to fly out that night.  We will spend the night in Entebbe and fly out Saturday Oct 29^th.

Sunday Oct 30^th – we arrive back in Atlanta, GA

We will have just 3 days at home, and then we will be hitting the road again!  We have received a wonderful blessing and will be spending a week with family at Lake Tahoe.  Hopefully we won’t be too jet-lagged and will be able to enjoy this precious time with family before our move!

Thank you so much for praying!

~ Mike and Sarah McCord