Packing My Bags

Making final preparations for my travels to Thailand, I realize this is actually happening.  It seems like not very long ago that I was considering the internship with eMi, having no idea what I would end up doing.  And now in a short time I will be heading across the world on one of the most unique projects eMi has done.

This has been somewhat of a crazy time preparing for the trip.  It's unusual for eMi to have an actual build project, which means a lot of designs have had to be completed beforehand, construction supplies and materials found in country, and generally a lot of work in a short amount of time.  To make things more complicated we've temporarily lost our project leader, Rex.  His mom passed away on Tuesday night and he has had to completely reschedule his travel plans around the funeral.  Even though the death was expected, it's obviously still hard on him especially while there is so much to do.  I've been trying to fill in for him as best I can, because I want him to be able to focus on his family and be able to process things over the next few days.  This means the rest of the team will be flying out to Thailand, getting transported to the work site, and starting construction of the earthbag and hypar roof project without our leader.  Seeing as Rex is the designated expert on earthbag construction, he has assigned me the task of researching and learning as much as I can to lead in that area until he arrives.  This should be interesting.

God has certainly done some amazing things as far as bringing much needed help and pulling things together at the last minute.  I have no doubt that He will work some miracles during this trip to provide for us and for the ministry we are serving.  My hope is that our team will be an encouragement to the Free Burma Rangers and give them increased motivation for the work they do in medical support for the IDPs and refugees of Burma.  These members of the FBR are on the front lines of a war zone, risking their lives to help these outcasts.  They have given up lives of comfort and safety to share God's love with the hopeless.  I'm guessing they could use some encouragement.  I'm also excited about the potential impact that this building technology could have for people there and around the world.

This week a team of volunteer engineers with eMi participated in a training exercise with TSC Global, a secular organization that developed of the hypar roof.  We learned techniques to construct a roof system very similar to what we will be building in Thailand.  This was a huge advantage and we feel much more prepared for the project.  Also one of those last minute acts of God I was talking about is that Steve, one of the top guys from TSC, recently decided to join us on the trip to help with the roof system.  He is a believer and he will be a great help to us in the field.  So thank God for that.

Members of TSC explain procedures for mixing latex and concrete

Getting the right shape with mesh strips in tension over roof frame

Applying the latex/concrete mix to the hypar membrane

Over the next three weeks I'm not sure how much I'll be in contact, especially at our remote location (which has no address).  The trip includes about a 14 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea and a flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  From there we will drive to Mae Sariang near the Burma border where our prototype build site is.  So it's going to be quite a bit of traveling (about 33 hours total), and with the 11 hour time change it will be pretty exhausting.  After the first week and a half we should be done with the construction training.  During this time the team will also be gathering information and developing designs for the medical school to be built in Burma.  At the conclusion we will present preliminary designs and results to the ministry.

This is Monkey, who will be our guide in Mae Sariang

The last week Rex and I along with the other intern, Seth, will attend an appropriate technology, community development, and sustainable agriculture conference in Chiang Mai.  This will give us a chance to show people from all over the world what the team has accomplished and to promote eMi.  Seth, the team architect Bill, and I will spend our last day in South Korea networking and exploring, then on October 8 we'll finally return home, God willing.

Please pray for us as a team, that we would bond well and get things off to a good start without our leader.  Even though things are hectic and I feel a little unprepared with all the uncertainties, I have a great feeling about the trip.  I think God is going to do some really awesome things in the hearts of the volunteers, the Free Burma Rangers, and myself.  Again, I can't thank everyone enough for the support I have back home and everywhere else, it really keeps me going.  Thailand, here I come...

eMi Partnerships

The main goal of eMi is to partner with other ministries that are already sharing God's love with people where they are.  This is a pretty cool video of how eMi projects work in the East Africa region.


EMI from Halle Project on Vimeo.

A Day at the Office

Having two weeks under my belt at the eMi office here, I'm starting to feel a little more at home.  Just in time to get ready to leave for my project trip.  We leave for Thailand on Saturday morning, less than a week away!  Most of my work lately has involved frantically trying to finish design drawings for the construction training part of the project, making travel arrangements, and preparing trip details for our team.  Needless to say my project leader, Rex, has kept me busy.

The flags show locations of sending
offices, field offices, and countries
eMi has worked in

The office is a pretty nice place, an older building in downtown Colorado Springs.  My desk is located in "The Fishbowl" which is the open area in the middle where everyone upstairs can look over the railing and watch what I'm doing.  It keeps me accountable I guess.  Actually it's great because I'm not stuck in a cubicle - I can only sit so long in a little box.

The staff has been really great to work with, these people know what they're doing and have fun doing it.  It is a laid back environment but everyone is very invested in their work and the many projects going on at once.  We have professional engineers, architects, accountants, and people in administration who are all strong Christians with very different stories and backgrounds.  It's a great picture of the body of Christ working together.

Every morning we have a time of prayer and devotions with all of the staff.  This is a good way to start the day because we get updated on what is going on with projects and in people's lives.  I especially like Fridays at the office.  At the start of the day is worship time (utilizing the piano right by my desk, or a guitar) and then during lunch the interns go to the local soup kitchen called the Marian House.  This gives us an opportunity to serve the community by literally serving food to the poor and homeless in the area. We also have a chance to talk and eat with these people who are going through some rough times.

Hard at work, as always

The Fishbowl

Forcing a smile through the pain

While I've been pretty busy with work, I've had a chance to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.  The interns haven't gotten sick of each other yet so we've been hanging out quite a bit.  We've found some good disc golf courses, plenty of rocks to climb on, and a small treasure from geocaching.  Yesterday a group of us made the trek up to the top of Pikes Peak.  I'm still recovering and my legs are a little sore.   But it was worth it because now when I'm walking around Colorado Springs I can see that big mountain on the horizon and say, "I was up there!"  It took us about four hours to hike up 4200 ft from the Crags trailhead.  And then three hours back down.  So with the combination of waking up at 4:00 in the morning, walking up steep slopes, climbing over boulders, temperatures in the 30's, and the lack of oxygen at 14,000 ft it was a tiring day.  I took a few pictures along the way.  All in all not bad for my first 14er (I'm learning mountain talk).  Hopefully I'll have a chance to do some more hikes like this.

Don't look down...

Above the clouds

The few, the proud, the COS interns - minus Mike who's in Africa right now (sorry Mike)

Walking In Step

Having completed my first week in the office at eMi, this long weekend is quite a relief from the busy schedule, giving me some much needed rest.  It's hard to believe so much has happened in the past couple weeks.  During the first week of orientation we discovered and discussed our strengths and spiritual gifts.  One of my strengths was "Futuristic" which basically means I am always looking ahead and seeing how things could be in the future.  While this psychological test tells me this is a strength, I usually see it as a weakness.


A lot of times I find myself thinking, "Where does God want me to go?  What if I make a wrong decision?  Is that really God's voice in my head, or my own?"  Sometimes I want God to be like some kind of divine GPS, telling me turn by turn directions for exactly what He wants me to do.  As if God's will is this intricate map that He has laid out, hoping we don't take one wrong turn and mess it all up.  There are times when I find myself getting so caught up trying to figure out the direction God is leading me in the future that I miss what's right in front of my face.

"Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."  

Proverbs 19:21

The former president of HCJB Global, Ron Cline, spoke to us during our devotion time at the Technology Center over the summer saying, "God's will is a journey, not a destination."  So many times we make plans and think we know where we're headed, and then God changes those plans unexpectedly.  I have learned this the hard way a few times.  At eMi we have talked about how God is not calling us to a specific place or action, but He is calling us first to Himself.
 
During the summer at a Bible study with a local church group we discussed what it looks like to follow Christs' example of caring for the poor around us.  One thing that came up that's important to remember is that we can't often accomplish big things.  Usually it's the small actions we take each day that make all the difference in the lives of others.  God nudges us toward action, presenting opportunities for us to show His love to people around us every day.  As for me I need to work on not trying to run ahead of God to figure everything out, but walking in step with Him each day.

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." 

Galations 5:25

Welcome to Colorful Colorado

After a long journey from the land shaped like a hand, I was able to settle in a bit in Colorado Springs.  I had just enough time to explore part of the city and move things into my new home - an apartment with my two intern housemates, Jay and Stephen.  The roller coaster-like roads have taken some getting used to, and I first noticed the effects of the elevation change (we're at about 6000-7000 ft) when all my containers of liquids exploded after opening.  But I must say the scenery here is much more interesting than the midwest.

Home sweet home for the next 4 months

Exploring the park right by our apartment

Last week was eMi intern orientation, a physically tiring but spiritually energizing experience.  All 28 interns serving in different eMi offices around the world met together here in Colorado Springs at a retreat center for eight days.  Our schedule was packed from about 7:30am to 9:00pm almost every day.  Staff from eMi gave presentations and discussions for technical and cultural training.  We studied the Bible with regards to missions and God's call for us as Christian engineers and architects.  Although at times it was somewhat of an information overload, we were given time to process our thoughts and spend time alone with God.  

The backyard of the retreat center

There were some really valuable lessons that helped me realize how God has designed me different than the rest of the body of Christ.  Some of these were finding our individual strengths, personality type, and spiritual gifts.  I realized there is so much that goes into reaching people of a different culture with the Gospel.  The training has helped me better understand how culture in different parts of the world plays a huge role in how we communicate the love of God to people.  We are always reminded to avoid the natural reaction of thinking that all unfamiliar cultural differences are bad - many are just different than what Westerners are used to.  

While we learned many things, we also had time to enjoy the great outdoors with some hiking and outdoor games.  It was nice to get some fresh air, even though there doesn't seem to be quite as much of it to breathe up here.  Even just a week after meeting all the interns, we became like family.  We shared our testimonies, studied the Word together, and prayed for each other.

Climbing rocks with new friends

Having to say goodbye to most of them was a little sad as they traveled to their offices in India, Uganda, Costa Rica, and Egypt.  But I am very excited about the group of nine of us serving here in the Colorado Springs office.  It's going to be a blast as we grow together and share experiences from our different project trips.  God continues to bless me and I am extremely grateful to be here.

Blessings and Goodbyes

Myself, Shogo, and Harold at the Technology Center

A funny thing happened the other day; I blinked and summer was gone.  At the end of my time with HCJB last week, I was excited to finally finish my projects and wrap things up.  While our work with the solar thermal tower had pretty limited success, we learned a good amount about the technology and its potential in the short amount of time we had.  As a new research and development project, from the start we knew that it could work well, or it could be impractical.  Basically our testing results and conclusions provided the framework for further development of this project, showing the need for a larger scale tower.

During my time at the Technology Center I also designed the electrical, water supply, and wastewater disposal facilities for a new RV parking pad being installed on the grounds.  As the funding comes in, construction should start soon.  The addition will let working visitors with RVs or trailers to stay at the Tech Center, providing more opportunity for help from volunteers.  Fortunately that will be something I left behind that will be
more tangible and useful immediately.

Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to so many people that have had a big impact on me in just these few months.  Having a great group of interns in and outside of work made the summer so much more meaningful.  I wouldn't have been able to do a lot of things without having them around - interesting lunch conversations, after-work frisbee, camping, and getting sunburned at the beach.  Unfortunately it seems like we had just enough time to become friends, and then we went our separate ways.  Our group was welcomed into the young adult group Bible study with Sugar Grove Church, which was really important to me.  To be able to share ideas and struggles with a group of Christians in similar places in life was one of God's many blessings He had ready for me in Elkhart.  I also owe a lot to Sarah and Andrew for not only letting me live with them, but feeding me (no small task), driving me around, and being my substitute parents for the summer.  I am very thankful for you guys.

These past few months God has shown me why He wanted me here.  Not only have I gained some valuable experience in engineering, but also developed meaningful relationships.  And I think that's more important than anything else.  God has been teaching me many truths through personal experience.  If there's one thing I've learned it's that missionaries are not super Christians.  I've had the opportunity to meet and work with many of them from all over the world.  And while I wouldn't necessarily call them normal (sometimes crazy is a better word), there is usually nothing spectacular about them.  What strikes me about the missionaries I have come in contact with is the passion they have for their work, and the interdependence they have with fellow believers.  The experience has given me a more open mind about missions, and the different ways God allows us to serve Him.  Now I can see how even technical skills in engineering can be used directly to spread the Word.  It's something that creates a spark inside me, and I am excited about the possibilities that God has in store.

This has been an exciting time, I leave for Colorado in two days!  But it has also been a tough time of saying goodbye to family and friends.  Having to leave for a while makes me realize what a great support I have here: an amazing group of friends, supportive and encouraging family, and prayer warriors standing behind me.  As I travel out west, and to the far east, I will be thinking of you all and keeping you in my prayers.

Fully Supported!

I am excited to say that I have received all the financial support I will need for my time of service with eMi this Fall!  Seeing how it has all come together has been an amazing experience of learning to wait on God and not doubt Him.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried about raising support right from the beginning.  Not that I didn't think God could do it, there's just a sort of feeling of helplessness when you know you don't have any real control over a situation.  But of course God always provides, in this case through the generosity of family, friends, and fellow believers.  If there's one thing that I find difficult to learn it's that I don't need to always have everything planned out and under control.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:33-34 

 Summer has gone by quickly, as always, and I am nearing the end of my time with HCJB here in Elkhart.  This is my last week and I am trying to wrap things up while preparing for the next adventure.  The trip to Colorado Springs begins August 18.  I will be driving with a couple fellow interns from Chicago, stopping in Omaha to see family, and then arriving in time for orientation at eMi.  That first week will be a time to meet all the other interns and become spiritually prepared for our projects.  After that I'll be living in an apartment rented out by friends of eMi with two other interns.  It'll feel like going back to college again, having a roommate and all.

Since I've been asked frequently about all the dates coming up, here's a brief schedule:

• August 18           Leave for Colorado Springs
• September 17     Leave for Thailand (trip lasts 3 weeks)
• October 8           Return to Colorado Springs to finish design work
• December 15      End of my term

I'm excited and very thankful for all the ways God is blessing me.  Please continue to pray for this time of preparation leading up to starting in a new place.