On the Road with Mike and Sarah

Almost there!

2012-01-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the next step on our continuing journey! Now that we have entered a new year, our move to Uganda seems more real every day. We have our replacements trained for our stateside jobs and we are completely focused on Africa.

It has been quite a journey for us and, by extension, many of you. We would not be here without you. You make this happen. Each time we go out, we take you: doctors, pastors, teachers, business men and women, other missionaries, family members, stay-at-home moms, and so many more of you who have joined this journey with us.

children at one of our sponsored bush schools receiving a protein meal

In the last three and a half years you have ministered in the desperation of an American Indian Reservation. You have spent time working in low income areas of Washington, DC. You have ministered to the homeless in Portland, OR and Las Vegas, NV. You have done medical work in earthquake ravaged Haiti.

In the last year, you have also done children’s ministry, trained pastors, worked in medical clinics, and shared the Gospel throughout East Africa. On our most recent trip to Uganda in October, you were able to pass out shoes to the children at our bush schools and bring some much needed repairs to the school buildings. You helped with outreach and children’s ministry at several bush churches and you got to do probably the most impactful thing you’ve been a part of to date: training and encouraging the 12 district leaders who are in charge of the 265 churches we are working with in Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania and, now, South Sudan! Seeing those twelve pastors come together was amazing!

Mike with Pastor Patrick, one of our bush church pastors

We are continuing our preparations to go to Africa and our goal is to fly out February 1st. You may remember that we were planning on leaving just after Christmas. We were planning on leaving with a mission team, but they had to cancel. This ended up being a huge blessing. We have had so much to do in preparation for our move: physicals, dental exams, eye appointments, visiting churches and supporters, and seeing our families before we leave. Once we fly out this time, we do not plan to return until the end of November. From now on, we plan to spend each December and January in the US seeing family and speaking at churches before leaving again in mid-January or the first of February each year.

We are now in the last few weeks of preparation. But, three big things need to happen before we can leave at the first of next month.

Our car needs to sell for the right price (’07 Ford Escape for $9,000-$9,500).
We need to purchase tickets and visas for Africa which will cost about $3,000-4,000 depending on ticket prices and the visa we get.
We need an additional $2,200 in monthly support commitments to enable us to cover ministry and living expenses well. Yearly commitments and special donations help to offset this total as well.

Sarah with children in Congo

We know God is calling us and have seen His amazing provision over the last year. We are so excited to see all that HE does in 2012 through you! Thank you for your prayers and support over these many years. We look forward to sharing all you are doing in Africa and we look forward to many more joining us in ministry there.

God’s blessings for your New Year!

~ Mike and Sarah McCord

Contact Us:

Email: mike.mccord@helpinghandsmissions.org

sarah.mccord@helpinghandsmissions.org

Skype: mhmccord1 (Mike) or shmccord2 (Sarah)

Tax-deductible donations can be

made online at: https://www.helpinghandsmissions.org/ways-to-help/donate-now/

or mailed to: Helping Hands Foreign Missions

1715 Cleveland Highway

Gainesville, GA 30501

Please include a note designating for Mike and Sarah McCord

October Update from Uganda

2011-10-20T13:41:00.000-04:00

Hello from Uganda!
We have had an amazing trip and time is flying! We were in just a few days before the first mission team arrived. We had team members from a church in GA come as well as some team members from Germany. It was so neat to see God mesh everyone together to be His hands and feet here in Uganda.

The team members worked in two nearby villages last week – Nangwe with Pastor Patrick and Myumbe with Pastor Mike. Each day the team split up, half doing hut to hut evangelism and the others doing children’s ministry. Then each afternoon, the team held a church service for the community, giving an opportunity to connect all the new contacts to the local church. We lost count through the week, but we are estimating over 100 became born-again Christians through the love of this team! We are truly praising God for His mighty work in each of our lives!

I am, of course, doing my work with the children at our school in Busia as well as our bush schools. HHFM has a Child Sponsorship Program and the child sponsors in America sent in extra donations for school supplies for all of the children. So, I have been busy shopping for and distributing school supplies for the children. In Busia, our main school, all the children are receiving school notebooks, pencil packs, calculators, and mathematics sets.

In Syonga, one of our bush schools, they didn’t even have curriculum to teach the children. So, I was able to purchase the government-required curriculum and teacher books for every subject in each grade level. We also had a local church donate flip-flops, so every child at Syonga received shoes!

Here’s some more great news, too! Arafat is thriving! When we arrived almost 2 weeks ago, Arafat had turned a corner. His wounds are healing, he is off all medication, and he is regaining strength. We brought some hand and ankle weights for him to start building up his muscles again. And we found a cane for him to use when he gets tired. He is doing so well! He is now up to 64 pounds – that’s a 12 pound increase since we arrived! Mike also measured his arms to check the malnourishment level, and he is now out of the danger zone. God is doing miracles in this young boy’s life – he is growing stronger physically and spiritually every day. He is also developing quite the personality, as you can see from this picture!

This week, we are continuing our work and preparing for the next team arriving on Thursday night. Here are some things we are working on and how you can be praying for us.

Mike is studying and preparing to teach the local pastors coming in for training next week. Mike, along with 4 other pastors from the US will be teaching/training district pastors, who will then take the material to the pastors under their care. We will have pastors here from Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, Sudan, and America! I know it will be such a special time for them all to grow in their faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!
This week, I am continuing to make visits to the 5 bush schools sponsored by HHFM. I am meeting with the teachers and pastors, seeing how the schools are operating and what their needs are. Please pray for me as I hear and see the many needs. So many needs are so basic – food, curriculum, latrines, roofs, walls. Pray that I will hear God’s voice above all others and will use our resources in the way that He most desires.
The Busia church is having a revival in the marketplace every night this week. Please pray that many will hear and accept the Truth and that God will be glorified. We still have one team member (Joshua) here with us this week. Mike and Joshua may be going to the revival to preach or give testimonies throughout the week.
On Thursday, Mike and I are meeting with a probation officer, Carol, in Kampala. As HHFM prepares to build the Village of Eden orphan village, we have to get guardianship of all the children who will be living with us there. So, we were given Carol’s name, so she can help us go through the process. Pray that we ask all the right questions. Pray that our meeting with her will be effective and that there will be a clear and easy path.

Thank you all so much for your prayers during this month. We are so grateful for each and every one of you!

~ Mike and Sarah

Headed to Uganda!

2011-09-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

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^stHHFM 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

Prayers and Praises

2011-08-16T19:12:00.000-04:00

Wow! God is doing so much as we prepare for our move to Uganda, Africa! Things seem to be happening at lightning speed and we want to keep you up to date. So here are some new prayers and praises from the last 2 weeks.

Praise!

Mike was accepted into a Missionary Medical Intensive course through Equip International. This group operates out of Marion, NC and teaches intensive medical courses for people going to developing countries to serve. This was a HUGE answer to prayer for us. Mike has wanted to do this course for a while, but we never had the time or money. Well, someone offered to pay the course fees for him! Then, Mike called to register and the class was full and had a waiting list. As he was talking with the registration person, Mike shared what we are doing. They put him in touch with the instructor, and they agreed to let him in the class!

The course is September 18^th – 29^th. So, we pushed back our plans to go to Uganda until October 1^st. This gives us a little more time to move and get settled in our basement apartment, a little more time to raise funds, and a little more time for visits with friends, family, and supporters.

This leads to yet another praise! The airline tickets we found for the 1^st of October were about $200 cheaper per person than the ones we were finding for the 1^st of September. So, we were able to book our flights today!

Praise!

On Monday, Mike met with the pastoral staff of our home church, Lanier Hills Baptist Church. The meeting was to examine Mike and approve him to be ordained as a minister. He passed!

Mike will be ordained to full-time ministry on Sunday, September 11^th during the 9:30am worship service. We would love for you to be there and share this special time with us.

Prayer and Praise

Please pray for Arafat. Many of you have been praying faithfully for this young boy. He is 12 years old and was hit by a motorcycle about 6 months ago. He has had multiple surgeries and has fought hard. He is not doing well now. He is getting weaker every day. His body cannot hold nutrition and he is basically starving to death. It has been a very long and hard journey.

Pam, a nurse volunteer, has stayed with him and faithfully cared for him throughout this time. This week, Arafat has had an increase in pain. The strong pain medicines are not working well for him any longer. He hurts and cries and there is nothing more anyone can do. Please pray for Arafat, for God to heal him or to stop the suffering.

Please pray for Pam. Arafat has become just like her own child. It is so hard to watch any child suffer, but especially one so close to her heart. Also, most of our staff had to leave this week to return to the US for several mission events happening this month. So, Pam is left with very little support for the next few weeks. Please pray for emotional, physical, and spiritual strength in the coming days.

Our praise is that Joy, a HHFM missionary in Uganda, has been able to talk with Arafat and has confidence in Arafat’s salvation! Arafat is from a Muslim family, but many, many people have shared about Jesus with him. He clearly understands salvation and remembers Pastor Samuel sharing with him about our need for Jesus. Joy shared that it was a wonderful conversation and he truly had joy all over his face as they talked about many things in the Bible and about heaven.

Prayer

We have our annual HHFM fundraiser event this weekend. Everyone is so busy with last minute details. This week is definitely filled with long hours and lots of work. Please pray for the energy and strength for our entire staff as we plan and prepare.

Starting the day after our event, our staff conference begins. So, we have another full week of meetings, Bible studies, church functions, and some fun outings too! Again, please pray for energy and strength. Please pray for a beneficial time of growth together in God’s Word, a strengthening of our world-wide ministry team, and refreshment in the work God has called us to.

Right after the staff conference, we will have just a few days to finish moving out of our apartment. So, Mike and I will continue our sprint to the finish line – September 1^st! One way or another, it will all be done by then!

Praise and Prayer

We continue to see God working and arranging everything as we prepare for our move to Uganda. We have gained a few more financial partners. Huge praise! And we have faith that God will continue to move in people’s hearts. Please continue to pray with us for God’s financial provision. God created us, He called us, and He will provide!

Thank you for praying with us and praising God with us!

Really BIG news!!!

2011-08-05T15:46:00.000-04:00

This month marks our 1 year anniversary with Helping Hands! God has done so much in us. We have seen His provision and we have seen Him working around the world. This is definitely a journey, a road, God has called us to. He is faithful in showing each new step and we are so excited about the next step God has for us! So, here’s our news…

We are moving to AFRICA!

There seems to be so much to tell and so many prayer requests to ask for as we prepare for this huge step. It is impossible to fit everything in one newsletter, so we’ll start from the beginning.

We have been praying about this for a while, not in real specific terms, but knowing God was up to something. We feel this has been confirmed in both of our hearts and with the leadership and staff at Helping Hands. God has flung open the doors for us, and we are going! We really have a peace in our hearts and an excitement about all that awaits us.

Sarah will be working at the schools we are operating and supporting in Uganda. We have one school in Busia with about 800 children, and we have five other bush schools we are supporting with about 1000 children. She will be working with the teachers and staff at each school to provide training, leadership, discipleship, direction, and financial accountability.

Mike will be coordinating and directing the different ministries Helping Hands has going on in Africa. He will be working closely with pastors and church plants in Uganda, Kenya, Congo, and Tanzania. He will be working on our medical ministry with the children at our schools and the community around us. And he will still be leading mission teams who come to serve with us.

Right now, we are to be in Uganda as previously planned for the 2 months of September and October. We already had plans back in America for November and December, so we will keep that scheduled. There is a mission team scheduled to go over to Uganda right after Christmas into the New Year. So, that is when we will plan to move. We will probably travel with the team a few days after Christmas and start our new year and a new season of life in Africa!

We will be living here, at our mission compound.

There is so, so, so much to be done before we move. We will be setting up basic home necessities in our temporary basement apartment, boxing up extras, and selling what we can. We are constantly thinking of things we need to do before we leave and have quite the list going! We really need your prayer as we prepare. Please pray that, as we prepare physically, we also continue to allow God to prepare our hearts for what He has planned.

During our trip in September and October, we will begin taking on our new roles and laying ground work for the new year. Please pray for wisdom and understanding as we dive into all the intricacies of a new culture and new roles.

With a move like this, we have many extra expenses (such as visas, immunizations, etc) as we set up ministry and life in a new country. We also need to buy plane tickets right away, which are about $1800 each. If you are able to give a special donation to help us with these extra costs, it would be greatly appreciated!

We also need more people, churches, and businesses to partner with us on a monthly or yearly basis so we can budget to meet our personal and ministry needs. Currently we have raised about 37% of our budget. We want to be at 100% before we leave in December.

We will keep you updated as our plans develop. We are excited for all God has planned and are so blessed to have you on this journey with us!

If you would like to make a donation to our ministry with HHFM, please send a check made out to Helping Hands Foreign Missions and mail to:

1715 Cleveland Highway

Gainesville, GA 30501

Please note that it is for Mike and Sarah McCord

Or you can donate online at

https://www.helpinghandsmissions.org/ways-to-help/donate-now/

June Ministry Update

2011-06-16T17:01:00.001-04:00

We have been super busy traveling since we got back from Africa in March. We have been so blessed to visit with friends and supporters and to share our ministry with individuals and churches. We’ve been in North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama (twice) so far. We just enjoyed our first free time at home and our first Sunday at our home church since Easter weekend. We are headed to Alabama and south Georgia again in the next few weeks. We appreciate your prayers for our safety, energy levels, and spiritual refreshment during the weeks ahead.

Mike is working on plans and team training for several mission trips. There are teams going to work in Bolivia this summer, both in mountain villages and in remote jungle villages. This fall and winter we also have several teams going to work in Uganda.

I have been busy building up our Child Sponsorship Program. We have about 400 children in Uganda sponsored through our program now and at least 1,000 more waiting! I have also been working to raise money for a Feed the Hungry fund to provide food for our children who are not yet sponsored.

Psalm 1: 1-3

¹ Blessed is the man
   who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
   or sit in the seat of mockers.
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
   and on his law he meditates day and night.
³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
   which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
   Whatever he does prospers.

Last week, we were asked an interesting question, one I had not really thought about. How do you stay refreshed? We do have to be faithful in prayer and in reading and learning God’s Word.

But, we also have you to thank! We know people all over the country are praying for us daily. We have a wonderful home church and are blessed every time we are able to go. We have family, friends, and co-workers who love on and encourage us.

So…THANK YOU!!!

You are vital to our ministry with Helping Hands and it would thrill us to have you involved! If you are interested in joining a trip, email Mike to get some more info. If you are interested in helping with the children, email me to see what you can do. Here’s a few more ways you can get involved, too!

Laugh a little…

Helping Hands is hosting a comedy night Saturday, July 16^th at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. Come hear Christian comedian Jeff Allen, have some laughs, and help HHFM as we work to build a home for orphans in Uganda, Africa! Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com.

Get all dressed up…

Join us on Saturday, August 20^th for our annual Legacy of Hope Gala! Meet our ministry staff from the USA, Uganda, and Bolivia. Hear about what God is doing all over the world. Join us for a fun evening raising money to send Christ’s legacy around the world!

Flying somewhere?...

If you are flying on Delta, you can enter a special SkyMiles # for Helping Hands. You still get your miles, but HHFM gets them too! Just go to your profile page on the Delta website. At the bottom, you can enter a Company SkyBonus Number. Ours is: US0002345.

We love to share...

We would love to share more about our ministry with you, your church or Sunday school class, or other groups. Please contact us to set up a time! We will be around for the summer and are headed back to Africa in September!

Pray…

Please pray for safety as we travel over the weeks ahead.
Please pray for the teams being formed and trained to go on mission trips this summer and fall.
Praise God with us… Our current apartment lease is up the end of August. God has blessed us with friends who have offered a basement apartment to us. We will be moving in just before we leave for Africa.
Please pray for spiritual and physical refreshment as we continue a busy schedule.

Thank you!

Mike and Sarah McCord

Because It's There

2011-04-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

In the early 1920’s, a British mountaineer named George Mallory was planning to climb Mount Everest. When asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, Mallory replied, “Because it’s there.” When I heard this, it reminded me of Africa. Many may ask us – why do you go? Can you really make a difference? But once we see the people, see the needs, see God working, participate in God’s love taking on hands and feet – we have to go! It’s there, it’s a commandment. We must go!

We had an amazing trip to Uganda last month. It was a fast 10-day trip, but there was so much we were able to accomplish. We had a mission team of about 20 people from Georgia, Utah, Illinois, and one from Bolivia! We had people from all sorts of career fields. We had an age range from early 20’s to 60’s. God definitely put each person on this team for this time. Mike did an amazing job leading the team. They hit the ground running, doing medical clinics each day, seeing about 650 patients over four days. Children’s ministry was going on each day as well as evangelism and prayer ministry. We prayed with many of the people who came through the medical clinic. Team members also walked through the villages sharing about Jesus and praying for those who could not be seen at the clinics. We saw many people accept Christ as Lord of their lives. They have the opportunity to grow in their faith at each of the churches that hosted a clinic.

We also had over 200 care packages from our Child Sponsors to distribute. I worked on that each day with the children at our school in Busia. It was a blessing to see the children receive gifts from their sponsors in America – to know they were thought of and prayed for. I want so much for these children, just as if they were my own. I want to know every name and every story. I want them to know someone cares when they get sick or hurt. I want them to be given a good education, to know they can look to the future with hope. I want them to know and love God, to know how much He loves them, and to know all He has planned for them. This burns inside my heart like never before, and it will never leave.

A highlight of this trip was working with our children in Syonga, one of our bush schools with 270 children. We were blessed to spend time there and feed the children beans that day. Some of you raised money to help us feed them. These children are hungry. Right now, they only get beans once a week. I was able to leave money with our staff so they can get beans a few more times each month for the coming months. It is still not every day – but it is improvement. Please pray for us as we begin to open up sponsorship opportunities at this school. Having regular sponsorship funds to use will help us meet our goal of feeding these children protein every day.

This is Arafat, a 3^rd grader at our school in Busia. In my last blog from Uganda, I mentioned one of our children had been hit by a motorcycle and was having surgery at a hospital in Kenya. We were told his intestines were damaged but the surgery went well, and he was improving. This past Sunday, he walked to church and Dr. Brenda saw him. The surgery corrected some of the injuries, but not everything. He is so weak from malnourishment. Our children at school get a protein meal every day - they are healthy. Arafat used to be healthy. He is so malnourished now because he cannot retain anything he eats. We know God can heal Arafat. We know God is working in this situation. Dr. Brenda and Pam (a volunteer nurse) had not planned to stay in Uganda, but felt they should stay longer. God knew what they would be doing. Please pray for Dr. Brenda and our other staff/volunteers caring for Arafat. Please pray with us for his complete healing. Please pray for our staff as they try to find the medical supplies needed to care for Arafat. Please pray for his guardian family (they are Muslim) to know God through this situation.

Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue working with Helping Hands. I know we say this all the time – but we really can’t do this without you! Your prayers and support enable us to provide resources, love, and hope to the precious people of Uganda and many other countries around the world.

Hello from Africa!

2011-03-12T04:06:00.000-05:00

Hi!
I'm sorry I haven't been able to update everyone until now. It is around Noon (I think) on Saturday. We had a safe journey - our flight into Amsterdam even landed an hour early! Praise the Lord! We did not have any luggage lost or delayed. That is quite a miracle considering we were traveling with over 40 pieces of checked bags! Our drive to Busia yesterday went well and we had time yesterday afternoon to visit the school and prepare for ministry today.

The team is currently out at a bush village doing a medical clinic and evangelism. They were expecting to see at least 200 patients today in the clinic. They will be doing this each day throughout the trip (except Sunday) - so they will need a lot of energy and strength!

I went shopping this morning with Edith (my local co-worker with the sponsorship program). I had a much smaller list than my last visit. So, all of my shopping is done (except for shoes which we have to wait until Monday to buy).

I had a little excitement today - I had my first boda-boda ride! The locals travel mostly by foot. Some people have bicycles with cushion seats on the back and you can pay for a ride. It's a bicycle taxi! It was a little scary going over the speed bumps, but it was fun!

It is VERY HOT here. It has regularly been over 100 degrees lately. Even in the shade it is in the 90's. This is supposed to be the rainy season, but there is a drought. People here are not able to plant crops now like they should, so I'm sure there are harder times coming with a lack of food.

I had blessing today - I saw Christine making charcoal! If you remember, in October I visited with her and HHFM was able to give her some seed money to start a charcoal business. Now she is able to buy nutritious food for her and her children!

Please continue to pray for our mission team. Everyone is still getting adjusted to the time difference and spending all day working in this heat, too. I know we will all be exhausted by the end of the trip.

Also, please pray for the HHFM Village of Eden project. Last night after we arrived, I was told of several situations that make this project so urgent. Last week, the guardian of 2 of the children in our school passed away. They have an aunt, but she already has 8 children she is trying to take care of, so they have nowhere to live. There was another case like this just a couple weeks ago as well. We usually try to find a local Christian from the church to take in a child when this happens, but everyone is running out of room and resources. With the Village of Eden built, we will be able to provide homes for 2000 orphans! Also, one of the children in our 3rd grade was hit by a motorcycle and had surgery yesterday - I am told he is recovering well, praise the Lord! With the Village of Eden built, we would have a safe place for our children to learn and grow! Last week, 2 of our highschool students went on their first mission trip! Ugandans ministering to people in Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo - what a blessing! We hope this Village of Eden will become a sending point for local missionaries all over Africa!

Some of our Board of Director members are coming in later this week. They will be looking for land (approximately 500 acres) to purchase to begin building the Village of Eden. Please pray for wisdom as they look at different tracts of land. Please pray for grace in the purchase price, too!

I am so excited and so blessed to be a part of a project that can change so many lives! Thank you for your prayers and support. YOU are a part of this project that can change so many lives!

God bless!

Off to Africa!

2011-03-09T09:41:00.000-05:00

Hello friends and family!
I had the beginnings of a regular newsletter update, but time has evaporated and I am reducing it to a quick note. Mike and I are leaving for Uganda today. We have quite the mission team with us today. We have team members from Georgia, Utah, Illinois, and Bolivia! We have doctors, pharmacists, nurses, others adults without medical backgrounds, college students, and a pastor. Our ages range from early 20's to 60's. I know God has put this team together and I am so excited to see what HE does through us!

Mike and the team will be doing medical clinics and ministry at different bush villages each day beginning on Saturday. During these clinics, we will be having evangelism and childrens' ministry going on, possibly doing some home visits, and prayer ministry. I will be working at our school in Busia each day delivering care packages to the orphaned and needy children. We also hope to show the Jesus film in some of the villages at night.

I will try to email updates as I can. Electricity and internet is not always available. We will be coming home on March 19th and I will definitely send out an update then! I try to post updates on Facebook or send out emails as well.

Helping Hands has a blog you can also follow: http://hhfmnews.blogspot.com.

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support! We could not go without you!

2011-02-09T11:49:00.000-05:00

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!

We need YOU!!

2010-12-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

To the right you see a picture of me working at a clinic near Lake Victoria in southern Uganda. Just below is a picture showing the effect of jiggers, which are flees known for inhabiting dusty and dirty areas in tropical regions. This was the first time I had seen this particular ailment and the more I understand it, the more horrible it becomes. Jiggers burrow into the skin and lay eggs. Over time the flesh in the affected area rots. We could not do much to treat this condition with the basic equipment we had, but we did what we could - soaking the wound in betadine, covering it with triple antibiotic and wrapping it with gauze. The ministry was also able to purchase shoes for the 200 children in this village with the hope that this would halt or slow the jigger infections.

During our one day clinic we saw many cases of jiggers, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, and at least one very sick infant with a high fever. Aside from HIV/AIDS, nearly every condition we saw could have been easily prevented or treated in the U.S. These people do not have that option. Due to funds and distance, many cannot even afford to get to the local public hospitals, which are two hours away. They are forced to wait on U.S. medical teams that come through with the little bits of care we can provide. I am only an Emergency Medical Technician in the U.S., but in Uganda I function like a doctor.

There is little we can do without all the equipment and facilities we have in America. Leaving these clinics is frustrating because we cannot do more, but also rewarding to know we are helping some. It is also comforting to know that we bring more than Tylenol, Band-Aids, and the occasional antibiotic. The ultimate reason we do these clinics in villages or help provide food and education for orphans, widows, and others affected by poverty is to share the love of Jesus Christ. We do not bring Help for Today alone we also bring Hope for Tomorrow and, Lord willing, Heaven for Eternity to the people of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo as well as those in Bolivia and other parts of the world. We are more than social services for the poor but, more importantly, God’s conduits for new life in Christ. What a tremendous honor, privilege and responsibility!

While this work is tremendously rewarding it is also tremendously expensive. The people of East Africa cannot afford to pay our salaries or pay our way to serve there. Though teams can help offset some of my travel expenses, Sarah is still responsible for her trips to help the orphans and serve with me. Neither teams nor those we serve can afford to fund our salaries. This is where you can help. We are currently at 27% of our monthly support goal for our salaries. When you add our salaries with the cost of doing ministry we are only at 18% of our need.

Will you serve the people of East Africa and others around the world by helping to support Sarah and me? We cannot do it without you and many others. Certainly no amount is too large but neither is any amount too small. It all brings help to the people of East Africa and allows us to share the love of Christ. Your monthly contribution of $25, $50, or more is a blessing to us and a tremendous help to our ministry.

Please take time to pray and consider supporting our ministry at Helping Hands Foreign Missions. All donations are tax-deductible. If you have any questions, or would like more information, please feel free to contact us any time.

Thank you!

Mike and Sarah

Contact Us:

At Home: 811 Crest Park Point, Gainesville, GA 30504

Mike: 251-605-1806 Email: mike.mccord@helpinghandsmissions.org

Sarah: 251-689-3148 Email: sarah.mccord@helpinghandsmissions.org

Pictures from Africa

2010-12-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

We have been back for over one month now. It’s hard to believe, and it’s hard to summarize a month in Africa. We were met with so much need and helped as we could. It was good to be free from the many trappings of everyday American life. It was a great month!

If you’ve ever been on a mission trip, whether for a week or a month, you know God does as much work in you as He does through you. Being a full-time missionary does not change this fact. It is a wonderful, life-changing experience to be involved in missions. I highly encourage you to go on a mission trip – it would be a great goal for the New Year!

Thank you SO much for your prayers and financial support. God used you to bless people in Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. Please continue to pray for us and HHFM as we do our work here in America and prepare to return to Africa in February!

I sent out fairly regular updates throughout our time in Africa, but I wasn’t able to get many pictures out. So, here is a short overview in pictures!

We fed children at an orphan school in Goma, Congo. The local Christians who run the school do so voluntarily, and with little resources. They meet under a structure made of sticks with a partial tin roof. They cannot even afford to feed the children once a month.

Then we went to a women’s meeting. Christian women in the area felt it was important to have a women’s ministry once a month. They sing, teach the Bible, and try to meet needs. When we arrived, there were about 300 women, some who had been waiting 5 hours for us to arrive! Many of these women are widows, victims of rape and war, and living with HIV/AIDS.

We also visited two Pygmy villages where there are new church plants. We gave out bags of corn, but the need was so great, we ran out of corn in the second village.

We then headed to our mission base in Busia, Uganda. While there, we had a mission team come. They built trusses so a roof could be put on the church. Here is the final product! The inside still needs to be finished, but the church should be able to have weekly services in this new building by Christmas!

The mission team did sports camps at some of the bush churches as well as evening church services. Many of the bush churches meet under trees or partial structures of sticks and tarps. But, they always welcomed us with singing and dancing, and were always so generous. Often they gave us gifts of chickens or goats, as a thank you for coming to their village.

I spent most of my time working with our school children in Busia. We have a school with 800 students from 4 years old to 9th grade. All of the students are orphaned, or come from a very poor family with only one parent, or maybe there is HIV/AIDS in the home. We offer a free Christian education to these children and accept any child, even the Muslim children. They all hear God’s Word, they all see His love at work. We provide a meal with protein every day for every child. We do this through our child sponsorship program.

So, my time was spent getting to know the children and the teachers, giving out gifts from sponsors, and visiting some homes of our children.

Mike spent his time preaching, teaching, and doing Pastor training at bush churches in the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. This is a huge need as nearly all of pastors have no formal training and some do not have Bibles.

Mike was also able to work with Dr. Brenda to give medical care to children in the Lake Victoria Area.

Finishing Up

2010-10-25T08:38:00.003-04:00

We are back from Lake Victoria! We had a great time of ministry there. Mike and Brenda did a medical clinic all day on Saturday. I started the day off with about 100 children and that steadily grew throughout the day. After lunch in the pastor's hut, we went back out to continue our work and there about 200 children! We had arranged to give shoes out to the children, because many of them are suffering from "jiggers" - little bugs that get in the skin and it eats away the flesh. It is just from a lack of cleanliness and no shoes to protect their feet. So, all afternoon, myself and my translator fitted children with shoes. The word spread and we ended up not having enough shoes. So many people came. There is so much need everywhere!

We ended the night in our $2/night hotel. It was 4 walls and a bed. There was an outdoor latrine and shower at the end of the alley between the 2 rows of rooms. It was very hot because there was no breeze able to get in to the rooms, so we just went to bed. It really was OK for $2...and we were just that exhausted!

Then Sunday, I had the "children's class" which consisted of about 300 children from babies to teens. When we saw the number of children, Brenda stepped out of teaching the women's class to help. So, we had some of the children under one tarp and the rest under and around another "building" (it was sticks with a thatch roof). I stood in between the 2 groups with my translator and taught about Jesus feeding the 5000! Mike taught the men and women for Sunday School, then he preached during the service as well.

After the service, we had lunch in the pastor's hut again. Then we had a pastor training meeting for the local pastors. Mike taught again during that time. As a thank you for all we did, the church members gave us a goat! So, the goat road under my legs in the van all the way home - 2 hours! Needless to say it wasn't the most relaxing trip I've ever had! It was very nice to get back "home" to Busia and get a shower, even though it's cold, and sleep in a clean bed.

Today, Mike and Brenda went to look at different land for sale - for the Village of Eden project. Please continue to pray for wisdom for all involved in this huge project!

I spent the morning finishing up gifts with the sponsored children. Then, I went with 2 school staff members to visit a few families. The first family is a mother with HIV and she does not have money to get nutritional food to eat. We were able to give her a mattress to sleep on, and give her a little bit of money to start a business from home. With the money we gave her (about $50) she can start making charcoal to sell. Then she can use the money she makes to buy nutritional food for her and her children. I told her I would come visit her again in March when we return to Uganda, to check on her and see how her business is doing. Please be praying for her and her family.

Well, just one more day here. Wednesday we leave for the airport and begin our long journey home. Thank you for your all your prayers and support! We could NOT do this without you!

Our last week in Africa!

2010-10-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hello to all our friends and family!

We are finishing up our time in Africa. It has been a great trip! We have less than one week left here in Uganda. It's hard to believe. It's gone quickly, but we've done so much, it's hard to believe we've only been here 1 month!

Today, I stayed at the school and handed out more gifts from sponsors in America. One girl in 9th grade got a new dress, she tried it on immediately and was so excited!! Another little boy got a package of goodies and toys, one of which was a yo-yo. I had to explain what a yo-yo is and show him how to use it. And another child got a package with one of those slimy/gooey-feeling balls. I think the 2 women helping me had more fun with it than the child will! They kept trying to touch it and squeal and throw it at each other. I wish I had a video!

While I was playing :) the rest of the group went to visit a bush church. We had tried to go last week, but got stuck in the mud. And then we were supposed to go earlier in the week, but it rained and we knew we would get stuck in the mud again. So, today was the 3rd attempt. From what I hear, it was beautiful! It was very much out in the bush. They took the van as far as it could go and then had to walk the rest of the way in. There were about 30 people in the church there. They had a church service and Mike preached. Then they had lunch at the pastor's house. As a gift for the visitors (us), the church gave a goat and a chicken! So, there was a little extra company on the way home. It was such a huge gift for them to give! But they are so thankful to have visitors!

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) we will be driving about 2 hours to Lake Victoria to visit a bush school and bush church. Tomorrow, Mike and Dr. Brenda will be doing medical checks on all the children at the bush school - we are expecting about 250! It will be my job to keep all the children entertained during this time! I am going armed with 1 helper and a tote full of paper, crayons, scissors, glue, and bubbles! I'm sure we will all be worn out by the end of the day, but I know God has so many blessings in store!

We will be spending the night there in a local "hotel". I'm not sure what we can expect - it only costs $2 USD per night! SO, things could be interesting :)

Sunday, we all will be teaching Sunday School, Mike will be preaching, and we will also do a training for the pastors after lunch. We hope to leave there at the end of the training and be back "home" in Busia by 7pm.

Monday and Tuesday we will be finishing up things around the mission house and the school. No one will be back for a few months, so we need to leave things in good order. I will be finishing up things with the Child Sponsorship Program. I think Mike may be doing another pastor training on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we head to the airport to begin our journey home!

I will send out another update (and pictures!) as soon as possible. Thank you all so much for your prayers!

Our week in Uganda

2010-10-16T09:39:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends and Family!
We have had a wonderful week with our mission team here. You can check out all the updates from our HHFM Uganda blog, www.helpinghandsuganda.blogspot.com.

We went to Entebbe yesterday to take the mission team back to the airport. On the way, we got to stop at Bujagali Falls, on the Nile river. It was beautiful! Since our camera is gone, I don't have pictures personally, but some of the team members took pictures and I will get them out as soon as possible. Then we stopped in Kampala to shop in a local market area. We also had pizza for lunch! It was SOOOO good to have something besides rice and beans!!

We got the team to the airport and started our trip back to Busia. It normally takes about 5 hours, but there was a major traffic jam in Kampala. So, we sat and waited and creeped along. But, one of the guys had a gadget that will broadcast your Ipod music on a radio station - so we got to listen to American praise and worship music the whole way back. It was an awesome time for us to be refreshed and simply enjoy being in the presence of God! There wasn't anything else we could do, or wanted to do!

This morning, we received some sad news. One of the children, Dickson, in our school passed away last night from malaria, He was in the 7th grade. I cried. But, Pastor Moses shared that this boy's life was very hard. He didn't have parents, and he had been living with his grandmother. His grandmother had been sick. So, the boy would get up early and draw water and make a meal in the morning for his family, then go to school until the lunch break and run home to take care of his grandmother, then come back to finish up the school day. His grandmother just passed away about a week ago. So, he was left without a guardian. Pastor Moses was planning on taking him in. He had been sick with malaria and had received treatment, but some of the medicine is not working as well on one of the strands. So, he was in the hospital in Kenya receiving more treatment, but it just didn't work in time. There is some extended family I think, and we were able to get enough money together to help them get the body back here so we can have a funeral service. I think that will be next week.

Tomorrow, Mike, Dr. Brenda, Aaron, and Kim (other staff members) will be leaving to go to Kenya to visit some bush churches and do some pastor training. Dr. Brenda will be giving updates on HHFM and how the ministry is doing. Mike will be teaching the pastors about stewardship/tithing and encouraging them to teach that to their congregations. Aaron will be teaching on evangelism and how they can get their members involved in reaching others for Christ. Kim will be teaching on discipleship, encouraging the pastors to have teaching for new believers, youth, and adults, so their members can be growing in their relationship with Christ. All this will have to be covered in a 2-3 hour time period. Each day they will be traveling to a different area so the pastors in each area can all receive the teaching. They will be coming back on Tuesday night.

I will be staying in Busia with Joy (staff member full time in Uganda) and George (a HHFM volunteer who does so much!). We will be working on getting more gifts passed out to our sponsored children. It has been such a blessing to watch the faces of these children as they receive mattresses and blankets, shoes, or a letter from their sponsor in America. Some of the sponsors have sent pictures and it has been so neat to show the children what snow looks like, or how the leaves change colors in the fall. I look forward to doing more of that this coming week!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support!

Our First Week In Africa!

2010-10-06T10:17:00.000-04:00

Hello!

We made it to Africa - and have already had quite the journey! There is so much to tell and so many pictures to show. We ended up being in the Congo longer than we planned. It took us 2 days to get there instead of 12 hours, and we stayed an extra day to do some more ministry. So, we did not get to Busia, Uganda until Monday evening. We had a wonderful week of ministry in the Congo - there is so much need!

We visited an orphan school and taught a Bible story and we sang songs. We also fed them bread and juice. The people in the community who run the school do not have enough to feed the children even once a month!

We also shared with women in the community who are widows, poor, were raped during the wars, and some have AIDS. We gave out soap and salt after the church service.

We stayed an extra day to visit 2 Pygmy camps in the bush. They are very much an unreached people group and are just beginning to learn who God is. We gave out corn at both camps. At the second camp, we ran out of corn and some were picking scraps from the dirt.

Mike preached several times throughout the week at the different churches. We now have 3 churches in Congo! One in Goma and the 2 Pygmy camp churches! Please pray for the men who will teaching God's Word and discipling the new Christians!

I cannot possibly go into all the details in a blog, pictures tell so much more! I have posted all our pictures on my Facebook account (Sarah Huguley McCord). I will try to post them on this blog page as well. It may take some time, though. You can also get more updates on our whole team at www.helpinghandsuganda.blogspot.com.

Thank you for your faithful prayers! Please keep lifting us up to our Father as we have our mission team come in tomorrow.

Going to Africa!

2010-09-21T23:23:00.000-04:00

Hello to our dear Friends and Family!

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us over the last few weeks. God is providing all that we need! We were given the opportunity to travel to Marion, VA where Mike preached at his home church. We also traveled to Warner Robins, GA where I spoke at a women's mission meeting and Mike spoke at a men's group. Within one week of our last update, we had enough money to purchase our plane tickets to Uganda!

We are scheduled to leave for Africa on September 27^th and will be gone for a month. When we return, we would love to share about our trip and our ministry with Helping Hands Foreign Missions. Please contact us if you would like us to share with a group in your area! We will be available in November and December. Then, we are scheduled to go to Bolivia for the month of January and then back to Uganda in February/March.

Below, we have included a general itinerary for our trip, so you can pray more specifically throughout the next month. Please also be in prayer as we still need more committed monthly support to cover our living expenses while we are in the US and doing ministry internationally.

Sept. 27^th – Sept. 28^th
Mike and Sarah leave on our big adventure! We fly from Atlanta to Amsterdam and meet with Dr. Brenda there. Then we fly to Entebbe and meet up with Pastor Moses.

Sept. 29^th
Then the 4 of us will be driving to Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sept. 30^th – Oct. 1^st
Both of us, along with Pastor Moses and Dr. Brenda will be meeting with pastors and church leaders in the Congo to gather information about doing a church plant there.

Oct. 2^nd
We will be traveling from Goma, DRC to Kampala, Uganda and meeting the rest of the Helping Hands Staff.

Oct. 3^rd
We will travel to Busia, Uganda to prepare for the team's arrival.

Oct. 3^rd – 7^th
We will be making preparations for the mission team arriving on October 7^th. Mike and Aaron will be traveling on the 6^th and 7^th to pick up the team in Entebbe and bring them to Busia.

Oct. 7^th – 15^th
The mission team will be putting a new roof on a church building, doing a sports camp at four bush schools in nearby villages, doing a medical clinic, leading discipleship groups with our school children, dispersing gifts and needed items to the school children from their U.S. Sponsors, visiting some bush churches to encourage the people there, and doing hut-to-hut evangelism.

Oct. 17^th – 19^th
We will be going to Kenya to meet with and encourage local pastors and possibly do some Pastor/Church Leader training.

Oct. 18^th
Our 7^th wedding anniversary!

Oct. 20^th – 26^th
We will be wrapping up things in Busia and keeping up with some local contacts.

Oct. 27^th – 28^th
We drive to Entebbe and begin our travel home!

God bless you!

Mike and Sarah McCord

Newsletter Update - September 2, 2010

2010-09-14T09:20:00.005-04:00

Hello to all our friends and family!

As promised in our last update we did want to get out some news on our last summer of ministry with AIM. So, we have posted a summer ministry update on our blog for you to check out. Plenty has gone on in the last two weeks since we’ve been on staff with Helping Hands as well. So, we’ll start our update from there.

Despite the fact that Dr. K’s death was a tremendous shock and, needless to say, a very interesting time to start work at a new ministry, I can honestly say that God is Good! He has sustained us and allowed us to slide right in to serving here at full capacity! Our first task as we officially started in the office on Monday 8/16 was to jump in on the preparations for the upcoming Legacy Banquet slated for Saturday 8/21. Dr. K had always done a lot for this and not only was he not going to be there for the final week of preparation, he had not been able to do much work the entire week before due to his illness. We started the final week with just over 100 tickets outstanding, the finishing touches of the drama to complete, sets to build, a banquet hall to decorate, etc. By the end of the week, all the tickets were gone and we had seen our staff, our board, and countless volunteers show up at different points to complete everything and help the evening be a success. And what a success it was! God blessed our labor and allowed Helping Hands to raise approximately $100,000 for the Village of Eden project! If you are wondering, that more than doubled the old record. Praise the LORD!!

With the banquet behind us, last week began our official entry into our ministry jobs. We will still be doing the jobs planned for us, but we are picking them up more quickly and my role, especially, is already expanding. That said, let me start with Sarah. She is the Director of Children’s Ministry and has been given charge of the Uganda Orphan Sponsorship Program. She started at just the right time, with the summer orphan updates due to be sent. She has been working hard to learn the sponsors and their corresponding children in Uganda and she is looking forward to our upcoming trip in October, where she will be able to put some faces with names and help get information for more updates. Eventually Sarah will become more involved with other facets of the children’s ministry, developing evangelism and discipleship plans for the children’s ministry. Sarah’s position has been a huge need for the organization for some time and she came on board at just the right time. God always has perfect timing!

My position has always been a bit different. I was brought on officially to be the Director of Disaster Response and will continue in that role. It was always known that my position would end up encompassing much more than that, as I was to work directly with Dr. K, picking up other ministry tasks and pulling some things off his plate. The last thing he said to me was “I have a list for you next week.” I’m not sure what was on the list, and I may never know, but things are developing quickly regarding my position. Not only will I be developing the disaster program, but I have also been given two additional roles. One will be that of Mission Trip Coordinator. I will be helping teams prepare to go out on the field and helping them with much of their stateside logistics to include getting their flights to Uganda, Bolivia, etc. The other role I’ll be filling is Mission Trip Field Director. My experience from AIM has allowed me to hit the ground running with both of these positions, but I will be learning some of the “ins and outs” of Uganda and Bolivia before I take a team. It will be a quick learning curve as I’ll learn Uganda in October and, Lord willing, Bolivia in January. Assuming all goes to plan, Sarah will be traveling with me frequently.

We are very excited about what we’ll be doing at Helping Hands, about how God is working here, and about the team he has assembled. We have been blessed with incredible co-workers and definitely have the sense of God adding us to the team He has picked. We have also been blessed with a Board of Directors filled with Godly servants who are helping to guide and oversee this ministry. This is humbling and exciting at the same time!

The ministry of Helping Hands is a vital need and is all-encompassing, combining short term missions with ongoing ministry on the ground. We take teams to many places to assist other missionaries and ministries, but we focus the majority of our teams in places where we have full time staff - Uganda and Bolivia. Ministry is going on full-time in both locations and mission teams are able to actively further our efforts.

In Uganda we are working with over 1600 kids, providing food, education, medical care, and clothing. Right now our facility is only a school, a medical clinic, and a church. The majority of the children in the school have a place to stay once they start attending. Some have a family member or guardian, but some are staying with other families in the area. Eventually, once the Village of Eden is built, we’ll be able to house all the orphans, give them three meals a day, have more education opportunities, a better clinic, and a safe place to grow up. We’ll also be able to work with more children. This is a desperate need! There will continue to be many orphans as there is a 30% (or higher) AIDS rate in the population. Many of these children end up living on the street and hooked on drugs. They battle abuse, disease, and malnutrition. Another horrible occurrence is abductions. Even in 2010, children are abducted by witch doctors to be sacrificed to their gods. That blows my mind! The Gospel of Christ can change these lives! We have one full-time staff member living there full time and we bring teams in several times throughout the year. We are working tirelessly to bring help for today, hope for tomorrow, and heaven for eternity!

In Bolivia we have forged a partnership with Word of Life ministry. Helping Hands built their compound a few years ago and we work out of that base when teams come. We have one staff member living there full time. We work with orphanages and out of the way mountain villages providing medical care, evangelism, VBS, etc. We also work in remote jungle villages providing medical care and what evangelism we can. Trips into the jungle start with a bush plane ride to the nearest village with an airstrip. It then continues with an 8 hour canoe ride up a tributary of the Amazon to a very remote village. Though Spanish is spreading, communicating with these people can be difficult as there are not many English speakers who also speak their Indian dialect. Sometimes all we are able to do is spread the love of Christ with our actions. When I hear about this ministry, especially in the jungle villages, I can only think about Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other missionaries who lost their lives in Ecuador 56 years ago. While I do not relish going through the same thing those men did, I still see them on the cutting edge of missions. That we are preparing to do some very similar things is humbling and exciting.

While all of this is very exciting, we cannot do it without you! Your prayers and financial support keep God’s work happening. It keeps our bills paid in the states and keeps us traveling and ministering in all these different places. Currently we are at about 40% of our monthly support for living expenses ($4000/month need). We are still in need of travel money for our upcoming trips. One of these is Uganda this October where we need about ($4000). We are supposed to leave on September 27th but will not buy tickets until we have funds committed.

Time is growing short for getting us to Uganda. We know God has called us to Helping Hands. Uganda is so much of what HHFM do, we need to go! Sarah needs to meet the orphans and work with the local staff so updates can go out to the orphan sponsors upon our return. I need to see the trip operation so I can lead teams there effectively. I am also hoping to get a crash course in tropical medicine from Dr. Brenda (co-founder and Executive Director of HHFM). My skills as an EMT will be maxed out in the places we go, but this is the reason I received the medical training I have.

We know God will take care of all our needs! Just the other day, Sarah and I decided to fast as we prayed for God’s provision. When we got to work, we were offered fresh sweet rolls. I declined. While we were at an appointment later in the morning, our fabulous office administrator, Lori, texted and said that she had lunch for us when we got back. We didn’t want to let her hard work go to waste, so Sarah and I agreed we would eat. When we finished our appointment, Sarah called to say we were coming back. At that point Lori revealed she had purchased us everything we needed to make a spaghetti dinner! Sarah told me a minute later that she had been asking God why were getting all this today when had been trying to fast. God seemed to be saying “Why are you fasting? I’m providing! I brought you breakfast, lunch and dinner today!” What an encouragement to us! God will provide all we need!

Thank you in advance for all of your faithful prayers and support. Please join us in lifting up our praises and prayer requests:

Pray for wisdom for Dr. Brenda and the Board of Directors as organizational decisions continue to be made and direction is set.

Praise for God’s continued provision. He has provided new coworkers and friends to teach us many “tricks to living cheaply”! Sarah learned how to make her own laundry detergent last week!

Pray for the financial means to do what we need to do on the field and keep things running at home.

Praise for all God is doing as HHFM moves forward, preparing to build the Village of Eden.

Pray for wisdom as we learn our new positions.

Please pray for discipline in our spiritual walks, that we would make sure we are walking closely with God and not just working on His ministry.

If you would like to donate to our ministry at Helping Hands Foreign Missions, please send your tax deductible donation to:

Helping Hands Foreign Missions

1715 Cleveland Highway

Gainesville, GA 30501

You can also donate online at: http://www.helpinghandsmissions.org.

Please make a note designating your gift for Mike and Sarah McCord

Summer Ministry Update

2010-09-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe we are in our 3rd week at Helping Hands already. It has been a whirlwind! You will be getting a further update on HHFM shortly, but as promised in our last update, we did want to get out some news on our last summer of ministry with AIM. It was a great season of ministry and we are so glad we were able to go out with a bang!

In addition to completing the final prep for the mission locations I was responsible for in Kenya, Washington DC, and Las Vegas, I was privileged to be able to lead 4 mission trips this summer. I started on June 21st with a flight from Atlanta to Nairobi, Kenya. I lead a team of 15 in Kenya at the Shangilia ("rejoice" in Swahili) Orphanage. We had a blast! The team was able to do a lot of hut to hut evangelism and saw several people come to Christ! We also saw several who began coming to our contact's church, Oasis of Joy. The team worked at a couple different schools with the younger children, and did some question and answer sessions with the high school students, giving the team an opportunity to share their faith. We were also able to do a medical clinic for a couple days, which was a great need as there was a malaria outbreak during that time. In addition to the ministries listed, we were also able to spend some time building relationships with the children in the orphanage and helping the staff at the facility, who work more hours than I can fathom! Some of our team was also able to get a tour of the Kibera slums on the way home. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi.

I returned from Kenya on July 6th. Nine days later, I was on a plane for Kalispell, MT for a week on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation to be followed by another week-long mission trip in Las Vega, NV. I was not coming home between the trips and was not looking forward to to being away from Sarah for another 2 weeks so quickly after being gone to Africa. I received a blessing though! While I was in Kenya, Sarah was informed that her replacement at AIM was ready to go and she was put on severance as of July 15th, the day I was flying to Montana. I hurriedly booked a frequent flier ticket for her and she joined me on both trips! It was a wonderful blessing and a huge help as there would have been no way I could have done as well by myself on back-to-back trips.

Ministry in Montana was wonderful! We had the same group from Washington State I lead the year before. They were able to jump right into ministry and relationships from the previous year. The week was full of relational ministry including visiting the elderly community center, hosting a community-wide basketball tournament, and having a talent-show evening. Four people came to know the Lord on this trip and are being followed up with by the local church.

We had a great week in Las Vegas as well. It started out with a challenge as the night we landed (the day before the team arrived). I had a message from our ministry partner saying we wouldn't be able to do a VBS as we had planned. The children in North Las Vegas, it turned out, are in year-around school, so a morning VBS would not be possible. Our contacts had just taken over the church, so they had just found out about the schedule themselves. Sarah and I prayed for wisdom that night and set out to look for ministry the next morning, just a few hours before the team arrived! God filled our schedule with great ministry opportunities for the week! We were able to move the VBS to be in the late afternoon during the week, work in the homeless shelter serving meals, work with a nursing home, help the local Salvation Army church, and do some door-to-door ministry in the community as we did promotion for VBS.

As the week wound down in Las Vegas, Sarah and I were looking forward to a flight back to Atlanta and a nice long weekend in South Georgia with Sarah's parents. This was not to be. As I have said before, I was responsible for trips in Washington DC. While we were in Las Vegas, I was helping the AIM home office deal with some leadership issues on the ground in DC. Toward the end of the week, we got the request to go to DC for the last week of the summer, to make sure things went smoothly. There was a staffing shortage due to the size of the group, so I received another blessing as AIM paid for Sarah to go up with me! We flew Friday night from Las Vegas to Atlanta, spent 2 nights with Sarah's folks, and then drove back to the Atlanta airport to fly to Washington DC.

The group we had in Washington DC was great and we had a wonderful staff to work with as well. The crew who had been running Philadelphia mission trips all summer came down to DC to work with us. They didn't have their leadership team, which is one of the reasons Sarah and I were there. For our last trip at AIM, we reprised the roles we had in New Orleans two years ago. The group was able to do a lot of relational ministry around the National Mall and on the metro. They were also able to do a VBS and help a local church with some much needed community outreach. It was a great way to bring our time at AIM to a close, but we were ready to be home after three weeks in three different places!

I returned to AIM for one more week in the office so I could tie up some loose ends and get my trip money reconciled. Sarah was able to start a week early at Helping Hands. The week went quickly and then, as you know, things got very interesting on Friday August 13, when Dr. K went to the hospital.

HIS way

2010-08-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

Hello to all! This week is our first official week on staff with Helping Hands Foreign Missions! We've been waiting and preparing for this week over the last 4 months. It's so exciting to be here! I had plans of giving you a big update on our summer mission trips (which were AMAZING!) but this is more important right now. I promise we will share about our summer very soon!

We knew that we would be jumping in to HHFM during one of their busiest times of the year - the annual Legacy Banquet is this weekend! But, no one knew just how busy this particular year would be. Quite unexpectedly, we had to say goodbye to Dr. Richard Kowalske, the Founder and President of HHFM. On August 14th, he died from malaria contracted during his last visit to Uganda. The memorial service was yesterday. We all celebrate and praise God for the life Dr. K lived!

Many of you have heard about this and may be wondering about the future of HHFM and our jobs with them. We want you to know that HHFM is continuing! There is a Board of Directors filled with men and women seeking to know and serve God faithfully. The mission of Helping Hands Foreign Missions did begin with Dr. K and his wife, Dr. Brenda, but it will continue through all of us. We are moving forward with all the mission trips planned, and we are moving forward with the Village of Eden project.

We know God called us here to HHFM. We know this is the right time for us to be here. We would LOVE for you to lift up HHFM and us in your prayers. Here are some specifics:

Please pray for Dr. K's family, especially his wife, Dr. Brenda
Please pray for the Board members as they lead and make decisions for HHFM
Please pray for Mike and I as we learn our new jobs and our new co-workers
Praise God for His provision! We are seeing our support account grow and have new monthly donors signing up. We are still not at 100%, but God is definitely providing!

Thank you all so much for your faithful prayers and support! We will keep you updated on all that God is doing through our new ministry at Helping Hands Foreign Missions!

"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

Kenya Mission Trip

2010-06-24T11:36:00.000-04:00

Mike made it to Kenya! He left Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon and made it in to Nairobi late last night. His flight was an hour late landing and then customs took a long time. So he didn't get to bed until Midnight. Then he was up a few hours later for his next flight into Kisumu.

Mike will be in Kisumu today and tomorrow. He will then fly back to Nairobi to meet his team coming in on Saturday. They will all stay in Nairobi Saturday night and then head to Kisumu together on Sunday.

While in Kisumu, they will be staying at and working with an orphanage. They will be doing VBS and doing some construction projects there. They will also go out in the surrounding villages to minister to people and hope to do a medical clinic.

The team will return to the States on July 5th.

Please pray for their ministry over the next 2 weeks. Pray that the work they do will be used to bring glory to God and draw people to Him! Please pray for safety throughout all their traveling and ministry time!

Thank you for your prayers and support!!

Newsletter 5.27.10

2010-06-01T20:18:00.007-04:00

A New Road

Just over 2 years ago, we set out on a journey - an adventure! We knew God called us to missions. We knew we were called to follow Him with reckless abandon. We followed as God led us to serve full time with Adventures In Missions. We started our journey in New Orleans and then moved to Gainesville, GA to continue working with AIM and to get us where we are today.

It is amazing to look back at how God has orchestrated the events of our lives. We have grown and learned a TON in the last 2 years. We have had really hard times and really good times. We've learned so much about ourselves, about who God is, and about what He has called us to. As we have continued to seek God through the last 2 years, He is once again directing our steps and calling us into a deeper faith and a deeper understanding of what He has planned for us.

Over the last year, we have realized the growing separation of what we are called to do and what we are actually doing. We have been earnestly seeking God and know without any doubt that He ahs called us to full time missions - to serve Him together, to use our gifts, our talents, and our passions for Him. While AIM is doing some amazing work - and God is definitely working in and through this organization - we have watched our passion steadily grow in a different direction. So, with much prayer, we started looking into different mission opportunities. Within a couple of weeks, we had 2 job offers. And now we have accepted one!

Helping Hands Foreign Missions

Helping Hands Foreign Missions is an organization based in Gainesville, GA, founded 7 1/2 years ago by a husband and wife team (both doctors). They work primarily in Bolivia and Uganda, but also in multiple other countries as well. They are involved in many facets of ministry including medical missions, church planting, pastor training, local missionary support, and orphan ministries. Everything HHFM does is with the purpose of giving Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow, and Heaven for Eternity.

Ther is so much to share with you about this organization and the roles we will be filling. We a re SOOO excited to see how God will be using us together with all our passions and gifts! Mike will be working to develop their Disaster Relief Program, working with medical missions, and working on the Village of Eden project in Uganda. Sarah will be directing the children's missions, working closely with the Village of Eden project. We will be sending out regular updates to let you know all that God is doing as we move into this next stage of life.

The Difference

We have been raising some support as we have worked with AIM the last 2 years. Praise the Lord that our support account has NEVER gone negative! We know God will continue to provide as we move into this new stage of faith-based ministry.

We will be going to 100% support. This means we do not get paid! We live solely on donations to cover all of our living and ministry expenses, including travel. With our currently monthly supporters, we have just over 10% of what we actually need. Please consider partnering with us in our new work. even just $10 or $20 a month is a huge benefit to us!

To partner with us in ministry at Helping Hands Foreign Missions, please send all tax-deductible donations to:

Helping Hands Foreign Missions

1715 Cleveland Hwy

Gainesville, GA 30501

Please put our names in the check memo line: Mike and Sarah McCord

You can also set up automatic monthly donations by mailing in the attached form with your credit card or banking information.

Prayer

Over the last 2 years, we have learned how valuable prayer support is to our ministry. Please consider partnering with us through prayer, making a commitment to pray 1 day a week for us.

Here are a few things to be praying about with us.

Please pray for us as we share our work with churches and individuals, and that God would bring more people to partner with us in our ministry at Helping Hands Foreign Missions.

We are not officially leaving AIM until August 15th and we are going into our busy season ! Please pray that we finish out well and that God multiplies our time as we have one foot in each world for the next few months.

Mike is leading and setting up several mission trips this summer.

Leading Kisumu, Kenya - June 26th - July 5th
Leading Blackfeet American Indian Reservation, MT - July 17th - 24th
Setting up Washington, DC (5 weeks) and Las vegas, NV (2 weeks)

Please pray for our ministry with HHFM. Pray that God wouldc ontinue to mold us, preparing our hearts, minds, and bodies for all HE has in store for us! We are so excited to be working to directly impact so many with the Good News of the Gospel.

Thank you so much for joining us on our journey!