Hey everyone,
This post is a bit late in the writing. I am composing this post while sitting at the Washington Dalles airport waiting for my flight with Ethiopian airlines to Addis Abba with two more stop overs yet until I reach my final destination of Lusaka Zambia.
I am about to embark on another mission design trip. As many of you know, at around this time last year, I was in the middle of a four month internship in Uganda with Engineering Ministries International (eMi), a Christian non-profit engineering development organization. I worked mainly on the development of a master plan for a Christian University in the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and was blessed to be able to use my skills in the field of architecture to help the school in very tangible ways to work towards their God-given vision of raising educated Christian leaders and impacting communities. I believe that God has nurtured in me a passion for work in developing countries, and I have a particular desire to see positive change in the DRC after hearing the testimonies of people I met there and learning much of the country’s history.
Now a year later, I am volunteering to fill an urgent need for a drafter and architectural assistant for a two week project trip to a different region of the DRC, to work on the development of a master plan for a Christian elementary school in the city of Lubumbashi. At the beginning of March I will go there with a team of architects and engineers, to partner with the ministry to discover their needs and vision and work on an initial architectural master plan and corresponding plans for water, waste water, storm water runoff, and mechanical systems. Upon my return home, I will continue to work with the team outside of my regular employment, to prepare a detailed set of presentation images, drawings, and specifications that will be provided to the ministry several months after our visit.
I’m flying first to Zambia because I decided to visit a friend in the country who has begun a business and a ministry there, and I will cross the border into the DRC by land to meet the rest of the eMi team in a few days.
Please pray for safety for the entire trip, that the eMi team accomplish the best work that we can for the ministry, and for the work of the United Methodist Church (the ministry we are serving) to bring Christian education to children in Lubumbashi.
If you are interested in this project and wish to contribute financially, you can donate on the eMi Canada website. Please be sure to include my name and the project number 5585 in the subject line. So that we are able to offer free architectural and engineering services, I must cover the airfare and visa costs for the trip. For more information on the project you can check out the project profile: , and go to the eMi tag to discover more about my past involvement with this organization and my previous design trip to the DRC.
Thanks to those of you who follow my posts and continue to support me through prayer and encouragement. I will see a few of you in 16 hours, a few more of you in one week, and most when I return in 16 days.
Blessings,
Lise
Life Section 