First Week in the Office

Sorry this post is a little late. I am going to try to get at least one out per week on Monday or late Sunday night, but this week was pretty slow. The Colorado Springs interns spent this week in office orientation. Most of our time was spent in the conference room learning about design conventions and fun stuff like that. I have been learning how to use Google SketchUp, which is pretty handy for 3d modeling. I practiced by re-developing a model of a clinic in Gabon from a few years ago (pictures below).

More importantly, I learned a little more about the project I will be working on in Uganda. But first, I’ll give you a little background on how eMi works (or at least how I understand it). Typically, a pre-existing ministry reaches out to eMi to fulfill a design need that they have. They usually have a grand vision for where God is leading their ministry but need technical expertise to make it happen. That’s where eMi comes in. Through meetings with the ministry, we develop a master plan in the form of a report that delineates in broad terms how their grand vision will be executed and ultimately completed. The concept of a “master plan” is common to secular engineering firms as well except that eMi incorporates Christ into the actual writing of the report. Using data gathered onsite, the master plan prioritizes project goals and sub-projects, creates a tentative timeline for project completion, and highlights technical obstacles that must be overcome for a successful completion. Hopefully, the ministry then opts to continue to partner with eMi to carry out the specific design necessary to complete each portion of the project. This is essentially what is happening in Uganda.

Restoration Gateway (RG) was a ministry started in 2004 by a few men who met to pray underneath a tree. Their vision was to create a place that not only provided housing and food for orphans, but also gave them the skills they needed to be productive members of society. With the help of a few donors, these men bought the tree under which they used to pray as well as 500 acres of land. In 2012, eMi sent a team to Karuma, Uganda to meet with RG. The result of this visit was a master plan that outlined increased orphan housing, educational facilities, agricultural development and a hospital among other things. Now, eMi is returning to do the design work on the hospital portion of their vision. You can find out more about this ministry at (http://www.restorationgateway.org/about.php). If you need more evidence that this is a good ministry, their U.S. office is located in Texas!

There were a few other things that happened this week. The first project trip of the semester left on Saturday and I had the privilege of dropping them off at the airport at 4:00am. Work was delayed one day because of snow, but we went in early anyways for some reason. Trust me, your prayers for my safety were felt that morning and I hadn’t even left the country yet (who needs four wheel drive when you have prayer)! Speaking of cold weather, I have done something I told myself I would never do: wear a scarf. I don’t care if I look like a hipster or get made fun of by my family. Tell me you told me so. It is unbelievably cold here in the mornings and I am unashamed. Someone please explain to me how it can be cold enough to wear a scarf in the mornings and warm enough to play Frisbee in the afternoon.

Highlight of the week: We got a really good deal for lift tickets at Copper Mountain on Saturday so we went and spent the day on the mountain skiing and snowboarding. The mountains are an amazing testament to God’s power and creativity. Here is a picture from the top of the mountain. It doesn’t do the sight justice, but I hope that you get a little bit of an idea of the size of the God that we serve. 

Well, I leave for Uganda this coming Thursday. I am not entirely sure what to expect except for God to move and for me to be changed and grown in some way. Your prayers are very much appreciated; keep them coming! I am very excited to see what God has in store and to hopefully learn A LOT.

As always, thank you for those who have donated to make this possible. I have been incredibly blessed!

Blessings,

Ryan