5Crawfords

Our 2016 design project trip to Honduras has been built! This community center is operational and serving the nearby people in a variety of ways - church services, occupational training, food programs, and more. The first quarter of 2018 has been one of the busiest times of our 10 years at EMI. While my work lately has been centered around establishing EMI as a Global organization, here are some project highlights: EMI led 14 projects in January and February, with project teams going out to Guatemala, Uganda, Liberia, Gabon, Vietnam, Kenya, Angola, Dom. Republic, India, and Haiti. Here in Colorado, EMI's US Office sent teams to help design a Kenyan hospital, a conference center in Ghana, two hospitals in Angola, another hospital in Gabon, an electrical design project at a ministry center in Tanzania, and an irrigation system rehabilitation in the Dom. Republic. We’re also mobilizing a new staff member to Myanmar, where he’ll oversee the construction of a new runway proje...

Summer kicked into gear with our niece Holli's wedding to new nephew James in Southern California. So if you haven’t been tracking very closely, we generally try to post an update every 2-3 months. Sometimes, given the normal rhythms of how EMI works with its project cycles and so forth, on top of the bigger picture things we’re undertaking (like starting new offices, etc.), two months seems like a tad too close together since I’m acutely aware of the potential for those of us working in missions to be overly focused on and excited about every last detail of our work! Don’t get me wrong – we feel so loved and supported by our team of prayer and financial supporters who are every bit as much a part of our work with EMI as we are and we have never been given the ‘vibe’ that we’re annoying anyone (well done on hiding it if that’s ever been the case!). But nonetheless, I am always thinking about what to communicate and strive to do that in as concise a manner as possible! ...

Brodie and I earlier this month, setting out for France. Personal Update (Don't miss the ministry update at the bottom, below all the pictures!) This has been my heaviest travel year yet since I joined EMI, with 3 international trips in the first 5 ½ months of 2017. Looking ahead, I have 2-3 more before the end of the year – possibly a trip somewhere in August, then Nicaragua in September, and a multi-office stop (likely in Africa) in November. The bride and groom - John & Celine The day we arrived, John spent the day with us getting us oriented since he lived in Paris for 18 months when he attended language school. If you know me well, then you know that the travel is both the best and worst part about our ministry work with EMI. It’s the best part because it allows me to be directly involved with our ‘front lines’ work around the world and because I get to interact with people from any and every culture. But it’s the ‘worst’ part too because I am w...