5Crawfords

Enjoying the Summer so far...school is just around the corner! Every now and then, I like to update on our overall perspective of the work we do with EMI. This is one of those posts, and therefore be warned that it breaks from my preferred rule of being 'picture-heavy' and 'text-light'. Actually, there are no pictures...so grab a cup of coffee sometime and sit down for a good read, if you're interested ('good' meaning a lot of content, not necessarily 'quality' content!). Here goes... What is the goal of today's missions? In decades past, the mindset of the church was pretty much that the needs were so great in some places in the world that anyone who was willing and able should go there to help. Build a house for someone. Hold an orphan. Dig a well. Anything, really, would help in these places because the people were so desperate that any help (well-intentioned help, at least) would no doubt do some good. They need and we have, so we sho...

Keep your eyes on the road! Each weekday that we’ve been here, Alisha and the other wife Candy who’s on the trip, have joined in with the ‘One Egg Ministry’ at three of the local primary schools. Both Alisha and Candy have taken turns leading the devotion they present at each school before handing out an egg to each student as a snack. Andy’s wife Carmen has accompanied them, but since Carmen doesn’t drive Alisha has also had the chance to drive here – something she’s very much enjoyed doing as it’s brought back memories of Uganda. But I’ll let Alisha describe all of this for herself… Welcoming committee. This is my second project trip, and like the first, I came not really knowing what to expect.  The One Egg Ministry is a special way in which Andy and Carmen are able to help the community children in the San Francisco area.  Each morning this week I drove our group of ladies (it was fun to drive overseas again!) to three different schools. The school...

Glad to have Alisha with me on a trip again! I underestimated the impact on our project design efforts that the political elements of this project would have. A key reason Andy (the ministry leader) was able to get the land and his NGO status here in the country was because of the relationship he’s formed with the Mayor of Siguatepeque (a town of about 100,000 – up to 200,000 counting outlying areas). The city actually owned the land we’re working with, until what seems like a divinely inspired incident occurred involving the mayor’s infant son helped build a relationship between him and Andy. After that, the mayor found out about Andy’s vision for bringing medical care to the community of San Francisco (a neighborhood of around 4000 within the town of Siguatepeque) and he decided to essentially gift Andy’s ministry the land (they paid a nominal, ‘symbolic’ fee). Having dinner with the team and the Mayor. A few years ago, the mayor’s infant son was very ill. Andy happene...

On approach into San Pedro Sula, Honduras Well, this trip had a false start – due to thunderstorms in Houston our flight was cancelled. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was able to make it, meaning that a group of 6 volunteers arrived in Honduras (after overnighting in Houston) a day before Alisha, me and Justin (another EMI staff engineer joining the trip). I felt bad for the team, but since half of them were returning EMI volunteers, I wasn’t too concerned about them having to navigate things. Hanging out at the hotel in Houston with fellow EMI staffer Justin Rolfs while our team was already settling into Honduras. The first group arriving at the site, minus their project leader. You can clearly see how upset they are and worried that I am not there with them. When we finally made it to the town where our project is – Siguatepeque, a town of around 100,000 people – it was nearly dark on the following evening. We ate dinner and listened to the other tea...

Pictures from February 2016... For awhile there, it seemed like we did little else other than shovel snow! It was the biggest storm in 20 years in Colorado Springs - we got 24" at our house over a 2-day span. Thanks to fuel points, this was the lowest price I've paid for gas/petrol since high school. A far cry from the near $9/gallon we paid in the UK! With fellow EMI family the Kanes, watching the Super Bowl. They're from the East Coast and we're from the West Coast - so not much passion for the Broncos. Still, we passively applauded the victory. :) There's a 2nd teenager in the house now - Jonah Jones has joined the ranks. Graysen had an idea for a fundraiser at his school to purchase new sports balls. So, with a little help from a teacher and a couple other students, they raised nearly $500 for buying sports equipment by selling Power Aid drinks for the annual 'Links Laps' event where students have a set time to run the inner ...

At the desk of the Vice President's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Building, on the grounds of the White House Some recent highlights from the world of EMI and the Crawfords... * This Fall, we led project teams to help ministries in the following countries: Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, 4 trips to Uganda, Cameroon, Madagascar and India. Most of those trips went out in September, with the project work being completed now in time for the current project semester to end in about a month's time. * This morning during our Friday morning sharing time, EMI staffer Rex Barber shared about the trip he led to Tenwek Hospital in Western Kenya back in September. EMI has a long history with Tenwek Hospital, having sent many teams to their campus in rural Kenya to help with the various stages of that hospital's ongoing expansion. Franklin Graham once said of Tenwek, "Tenwek Hospital is one of the greatest evangelical outreaches I know of anywhere in the world today." Aft...