Reflections on 2009, looking ahead to 2010

Well, here we are at the start of a new year and it seems appropriate to look back over the year that just ended - not to pat ourselves on the back but to see just how gracious God has been to us in all His dealings with us. 2009 was an incredible year for this ministry and all the glory goes to God who is the One leading and directing all of our good works. The brief synopsis of our year looks like this -

Total number of team trips to work with our partners outside the US - 5
Total number of countries visited - 5 (Guatemala, Haiti, Uganda, Rwanda, DR Congo)
Total number of team members on those teams - 61
Total number of children "processed" on those trips - 1,527

These numbers are staggering to us given that at the start of 2009 we only envisioned 3 team trips with the potential of 31 total team members! Praise God for His incredible provision!

This year also brought us a new ministry partner - Pastor Merari Rodriguez of Iglesia Galilea in San Lucas, Guatemala. We look forward to many years working in partnership with this incredible man of God.

Looking ahead to 2010 our theme for the coming year is "Increase Capacity". We are currently talking with another international Christian relief ministry about a possible partnership between their ministry and ours. If this partnership develops, there is great potential for more growth of our ministry so our primary focus here at home will be to look for ways to continue to increase our capacity. We have already made great strides in this direction taking full advantage of the incredible opportunities provided to us through modern technology. Already we have been able to set up a new system for remote assistance from some wonderful volunteers in Southern Maine, Texas and Utah who are able to work on our computers here in Central Maine without leaving their homes! We are also looking for even more volunteers to help streamline our old system of lists and charts to make it more efficient, thus increasing our ability to add more ministry opportunities. But we do all these things with our eyes directed towards God, who is the One who will bring it all to pass.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed with and for us and have supported us for the past 8 years. Little did we know where all this would go when we made that first trip to Haiti just 8 years ago this month. We thank God for the incredible ministry He's given us and we pray to be equal to the tasks He continues to set before us.

For Him and for the children,
Jamie

Samsung 7.2 megapixel digital camera for sale!

One of our volunteers graciously donated an "upgrade" camera to our ministry so we no longer need our trusty Samsung 7.2 megapixel digital camera. It's in excellent condition and comes with the manual, USB cable, CD rom, and we'll even throw in the soft case and a couple of 256 MB SD cards. Our asking price for all this is $45.00. Photos are available by request.

If you are interested, please e-mail us at info@hishandssupportministries.org.

Final Tally in our His Hands for Africa Child Sponsorship Challenge

We ended our His Hands for Africa Child Sponsorship challenge with 15 children chosen for sponsorship. I know that's short of our goal of 25 but I am still very happy to have found sponsors for 15 more children!!

Thank you to everyone who participated! And, you know, just because the challenge is over, you don't have to stop talking, posting, sharing!

So....who will you talk to about sponsoring a child?!
Thanks again!
Jamie :-)

Day 19 update

As of today, here are the current totals in our 2 sponsorship challenges:

In our Africa Child Sponsorship Challenge, 9 children have been chosen. We need to find sponsors for 16 more children. This challenge is scheduled to end on June 30th - just one week from today!

In our Haiti Child Sponsorship Challenge, 13 children have been chosen. We need to find sponsors for 37 more children. This challenge is scheduled to end on July 24th.

Both goals are still within reach but we need your help! Please talk to your friends, family, neighbors and even strangers. Let them know the children need our help! Post messages in your social networking or groups sites. Let's find sponsors for these children!

Thank you!
Jamie

Day 10 update

It's day 10 of our sponsorship challenge and our official count is 7 African children sponsored and 8 Haitian children sponsored. In order to meet our challenge goals, we need to find sponsors for 18 more African children by June 30th and 42 more Haitian children by July 24th. Our goals are still within reach but we need help. Please talk to your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. Let them know these children need our help. Please ask them to visit www.hishandsforafrica.org or www.hishandsforhaiti.org.

So.....who will you talk to about sponsoring a child?

Thank you so much!
Jamie :-)

Two sponsorship challenges!

We are currently running sponsorship challenges in both of our sponsorship programs. In our Africa program we are trying to meet the goal of finding sponsors for 25 children in 25 days. The challenge started 2 days ago and will run until June 30th. In our Haiti program we are trying to meet the goal of finding sponsors for 50 children in 50 days. Again, our challenge started two days ago and this one will run until July 24th. The children in the Congo and the children in Haiti will start a new school year in September so it would be wonderful to find sponsors for as many of these children as possible so they can start a new school year with a sponsor. Can you help? Please talk to your friends, neighbors, relatives, or anyone who will listen. Let them know these children need our help. Please ask them to visit www.hishandsforafrica.org or www.hishandsforhaiti.org.

Thank you!
Jamie :-)

Welcome to the His Hands Support Ministries blogspot!

His Hands Support Ministries is incorporated under the laws of the State of Maine as a 501(c)(3), non-profit, charitable organization. We are currently administering two all-volunteer ministry programs - His Hands for Haiti Child Sponsorship Program and His Hands for Africa Child Sponsorship Program. We are also investigating new opportunities for service in other parts of the world.

These are some of our core principals:
We strive to promote unity within the body of Christ - HHSM recognizes the need for unity in the body of believers who all share the common bond of faith in Jesus Christ and have experienced His saving grace. Our fellowship is made up of believers from many different denominations including Baptist, Evangelical Free, Assembly of God, etc. and we have joined together with our brothers and sisters living in poverty to try to make a difference in the lives of these people. Our purpose is not to start an American work overseas, but to come alongside our foreign brothers and sisters to support and encourage them in the work they are already doing.
We are a faith-based ministry – We do not and will not actively solicit support for the operational needs of the ministry, only for the children or other special projects. 100% of the sponsorship fee we collect will ALWAYS go to the children, not to the running of the ministry itself. When the ministry has a need for funding, we go to God with that need, and not to man, for we know that God is the one who provides for all of our needs.

We have a 7 member board of directors who have varying levels of experience working on the mission field and at home and they attend churches of different denominations.

To learn more about His Hands Support Ministries or either of our two Child Sponsorship Programs, please visit http://www.hishandsforafrica.org/ or http://www.hishandsforhaiti.org/. (At some point in the future we will also have a website at http://www.hishandssupportministries.org/.)