After learning about this amazing vision, it was finally time to get to work. It’s all well and good to have a big idea, but nobody likes to think about all of the hard work it takes to bring it to fruition! This day was challenging for me as I tried to find out what my place was in our work and how I could contribute and serve the efforts of the team. Our team split up into our various disciplines and began to tackle the areas of electricity, water, sanitation, and the architectural program. My role for the first few days can be summed up as number crunching. As a team it was important for us to really involve the CI team in our work because after we leave, it will be them who will have to carry the project through. We had the opportunity to work with two local engineers, Osee and Victor, who had just as much to teach us as we did them. They are the experts when it comes to implementing successful strategies using local means. It was a joy to work with them and get to know them a little bit.
Photo by Bob & Eileen Gresham
We also had a great opportunity to share a bit about the work we were doing with the student body by preparing a presentation for the school’s weekly ‘exposé’. We were asked to present on the subject of sustainability and stewardship, and so several members of our team presented on sustainable land development, sustainable architecture, and some alternate methods of water purification. After the presentation we took questions and it was great to see a string of students come up to the front. They all had very relevant and critical questions and expressed a large amount of appreciation and interest in the work we were doing.
That night when we were back at the guesthouse again we studied Philippians 2:1-11. I was hit by the challenge that the apostle Paul poses to being like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and purpose to that of Christ Jesus. How tough that can be when we can become so easily absorbed in the habits and little problems that come in daily life! It is so easy to have pride and put our focus in our own abilities and the work we do, rather than being full of pride in what God is doing through our work. God asks us to partner with him and with each other to accomplish His purpose.
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