EMI Orientation I

I arrived in Colorado Springs (CS) on Sunday, January 11, 2009 to attend the EMI Orientation for interns, long-term volunteers (of which I am one), and new staff for overseas offices. At the airport I met four of the interns; Andrew from Houston, Texas who will join me in Uganda, Edmond from Edmonton, AB who will join the Calgary office, Edwin from Irvine, CA who will go to India, and Vicky from Virginia who will join the CS office.

A quick drive from the airport and we were soon at the Hideaway, a family-owned guest home secluded in the woods on the outskirts of CS. There we met the orientation leaders and the rest of the folks from across the US, Canada, and even Australia who will be joining EMI offices around the world for anywhere from four months to indefinite periods of time to do what God has called them to do; design a world of hope for the spiritually and physically poor (EMI's mission statement).

It was refreshing to be around young folks, either still in school or at the start of their careers with such an appetite to serve. It was equally a blessing to be around seasoned engineers and architects who have decided to set aside the comfort of their present lives to invest in the lives of others. All from a myriad of backgrounds; rich, poor, growing up in godly homes and not, of how they came to know Christ and how He called them to this vocation, each in very personal ways. I wish I could tell all of their stories in detail. Here are some of their stories in brief.

Phil and Emily Greene are former missionary kids (MKs) now living in San Luis Obispo, CA. Phil grew up in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Emily grew up in Chad. They met at Rift Valley Academy (RVA) in Nairobi, Kenya where they attended high school. They will be taking their two young children first to southern Sudan to bring building materials and oversee the construction of a bridge that will connect two sides of an existing village. The bridge will make it easier to transfer people and goods that are currently being transported by a small, man-powered barge. Afterwards, they will move to Jinja, Uganda for the remainder of the year to oversee the construction of the Mto Moyoni retreat centre expansion that I helped to design back in 2006.

Each person has similar stories and I wish I could relay them all. However, I promised I would keep these blogs short and sweet, present example not withstanding.

IHMS,

denis

"Build, serve, and defend my community in love and in truth."