It was a whirl-wind summer. We have officially said good-bye to the summer interns, and welcomed in the fall. It was hard to bid farewell but I am looking forward to the fall. The most exciting news for the end of this summer is the opportunity I had to be a part of a Term 3 project trip. I had not been planning on traveling with EMI again this year, but it has been clear that God had other plans.
Somewhere near the end of July my supervisor asked me if I would be willing to to join a fall project trip to Nigeria as an assistant leader. There were a number of reasons that made me a good fit for this project, but what excited me most was the opportunity to step into an outreach leadership role again and to help our volunteers have a successful time crossing cultures into a developing world setting and using their gifts for God.
I just returned home two days ago, and I can say that the trip and project was a big success. During our final debrief time with the team we went around the room and gave everyone the chance to share about their highlights and struggles during the trip. Over and over our volunteers had the same story, they were thrilled by integration of local design professionals on our team.
We had
- 3 American architects
- 1 Canadian architect
- 7 American engineers
- 1 Ghanan engineer
- 1 Nigerian engineer
- 3 Nigerian Architects
- 1 American Graphic Designer
Both our West-African’s and our North-American’s expressed their excitement to be able to use their professional skills with believers from the other side of the world. And to be able to work with the same goals and objectives, to increase the capacity and impact of the Faith MediPlex mission hospital to the poor and unreached of Nigeria. Our multinational team worshiped together, prayed together, studied the Bible together, ate together, and worked together. I know for me and for the rest of the team, these people and this trip is something I will never forget. I can’t wait to see where God sends me next.
Front row: Amber, Hanna, Roberta, Abby, Alyssa, Katie, Elaine, Shay, Me.
Highlights of the summer included getting to share the beauty of Colorado with all of my grandparents when they came to visit in August, and taking pictures at the annual EMI fundraiser, the Golf Marathon.