5Crawfords

With Scott and Matt from the EMI office in Colorado. You can see the typical smokey/dusty African air. Arriving into Cairo and stepping off the plane onto steps leading down to the tarmac, the warm and musty air and smell of sweet smoke made me feel like I was in Uganda. Looking over to the side beyond the airport fence though, I could see a very fancy hotel with two black luxury cars out front – it was clear there were going to be differences from Uganda! Once inside the airport, it was a strange mix of a very nice building with subtle signs of a lack of proper care and cleaning. The white structure of the ceiling was shadowed with dirt – like I’ve seen in virtually every African country. Downtown Cairo, split by the Nile River And overall, I think my first impression was an accurate picture of my first, overall impression of Egypt – a mix of sights, sounds and culture that show both signs of extreme wealth (Middle East oil) and lack of development or proper management of r...

Heading out on our road trip out to the Southwest - in all, over 3000 miles traveled. GO WEST It had been nearly two years since we'd been through Southern California, so this Summer when we headed out West we went the Southern route. It was me and the boys' first time through New Mexico and Arizona, and the 4-hour detour to see the Grand Canyon for 45 minutes was a first too (Alisha had seen all of these on a trip as a kid). I was surprised at how beautiful New Mexico is - I had a very wrong impression. No offense to Nevadans, but I can now say with a fair amount of certainty that Nevada has the worst landscape in the country. Having never been to Arizona before, I was a little disappointed to not see any cartoon-looking cactus on the side of the road. However, I think Flagstaff is my new favorite place - I had no idea a city in the forest existed in Arizona. I didn't even know there was a forest! Very cool to finally see - it was a little embarrass...

Someone in our family had a 'milestone' 40th birthday this month, but we won't mention her name. We're driving to the West Coast in a couple of days to visit family and have a little vacation. Sadly, we won't be making it up north to Oregon this time as we wanted to see our SoCal friends/family since it's been two years since we've been down there. We've also never driven the southern route west so the boys are very excited to see New Mexico and Arizona for the first time (I've never been to NM or AZ either!). Before we head out, here's what's been going on with the Crawford's and EMI this past month: PROJECTS We sent 4 project teams out from the US office this semester to work in Haiti, Ghana, Estonia, and Ethiopia. So far, I've helped out on two of them - a new medical clinic in rural Ghana, and a foster home center for up to 80 children in Estonia (the first time EMI has ever done a project in this former Soviet state). For ...

May in Colorado - high 70's one weekend, 3" of snow in our backyard the next! We’re settling back into Colorado, slowly but surely. We do miss our friends and life back in the UK, but we're also enjoying being back in America as well. Overall, it's kind of a weird time. The boys got reconnected with soccer teams straightaway, and got into our neighborhood schools within a few weeks as well. That was great for them as it helped them feel much more connected with being back. Alisha went through the paperwork of getting her California teaching credential converted over to a Colorado license and just a couple of weeks ago finally received the license! That has kept her from being able to apply for a job to date, but she has also been torn about whether or not to teach. Having her teach would help us financially here in Colorado, but we both want her to do what God wants for this time of life regardless of finances, so that’s where we currently sit – waiting on Go...