In 1989 Dr. Michael Elmore was invited by Dr. Julio Fuentes, a surgeon from San Marcos, Guatemala, to come and work with him to train him in the techniques of endoscopy (the passage of a flexible instrument into the intestinal tract for the diagnosis of intestinal problems) and to do digestive clinics for the people. San Marcos is a town of 60,000 which serves some 300,000 indigent Mayan Indians in the surrounding villages. In 1990, accompanied by two others, Dr. Elmore went to Guatemala for the first time. He was assisted by Missionary Ventures International (MVI), a not-for-profit nondenominational mission organization based in Orlando, Florida. Each year since then, Dr. Elmore has returned with groups to do medical/dental evangelistic clinics.

As a result of the many physicians, dentists and allied health professionals that have accompanied him, strong relationships have been developed with the residents of San Marcos.

Dr. Fuentes owns El Jardin Hospital, a small hospital in San Marcos. Approximately 25% - 30% of his work is done at no charge to many of those who can not afford medical care. Dr. Elmore and many other physicians along with the aid of St. Francis Hospital Center have been able to provide Julio with significant upgrades in endoscopic and surgical equipment.

Dr. Elmore is a member of Indian Creek Christian Church (ICCC). Several years ago Gary Johnson, Pastor of ICCC, went with Dr. Elmore to do the first Pastors' Conference working with the local church Familial del Rey (Family of the King). Since then additional conferences have been held once or twice yearly to help educate local pastors who have had very little formal training. Subsequently the pastors at ICCC began doing conferences for the local pastors. These Pastor's Conferences have become a huge success because of many of the local pastors have had very little training. ICCC have recently developed a more formal four year training program for pastors who are interested in obtaining certification in pastoral studies.

In the Spring of 2003, Dr. Elmore and Jeff Cardwell, Founder and President of The People Helping People Network, joined forces for the first time on a trip to Guatemala. The trip was facilitated by Sally Brown, President of the Ambassadair Travel Club and Founder and President of Ambassadors For Children (AFC). Two homes were constructed working with Habitat For Humanity, a medical clinic was held in the village of Santa Teresa with the help of Dr. Julio Fuentes and food was distributed with the World Food Program. As a result of this trip, the scope of our future trips grew by networking with other organizations with similar interests and goals. This led to larger teams sometimes with our teams filling an entire airplane.

Dr. Elmore received the direction from God that He wants to send 3000 people a year on short-term mission trips. This vision will be a huge undertaking and will be accomplished only with God's leading, guiding, strength and power. The partnership of Dr. Elmore and Jeff Cardwell working together through The MCK Mission Foundation and The People Helping People Network is a major step forward in accomplishing our goal. MCK is an acronym for "Making Christ Known" emphasizing our commitment to Christ's Great Commission which is an integral part of each of our mission trips. We are very excited about our new partnership with Janet and David Michel and their new organization Bridges of Hope through whom we are working to expand our mission work into Colombia.