Haiti Trip 2007
EMI – God’s Littlest Angels – Haiti 2007
Haiti has a pressing need for more facilities and ministries to care for its growing numbers of orphans. Due to the economic challenges of the country in recent years, the number of orphans is increasing rapidly. A small ministry called God’s Littlest Angels cares for approximately 165 of these children and coordinates adoptions to foreign parents. In recent years, they have outgrown their facilities and have a vision to expand. They have purchased 4 acres and would like to build a new orphanage complex on it. They contacted EMI to help them with the site planning and building design.
In May 2007, Kevin led an EMI team of 10 architects and engineers to Haiti to design the new orphanage. The week was spent catching the vision of the ministry staff, surveying the land, investigating the site conditions, drawing a site plan and concepts for the buildings. One of the significant issues in the area is lack of piped water and the extreme expense for wells. The team provided recommendations on where to drill a well and on how deep it might be. After considerable consultation with the local staff and Haitian engineers, they presented the concept to the ministry at the end of the week. The ministry enthusiastically reviewed and accepted the concept. Sketches and cost estimates were given to the staff to assist the ministry in fund raising for the project. The team then will spend the next weeks and months refining the drawings and preparing the details so that construction crews can use them.
The details vary, but this scenario plays itself out again and again for Engineering Ministries International. eMi sends engineering and architectural design teams on one to two week trips to local ministries in developing nations at no charge to the local mission. Often, the staff at these ministries have big visions, but lack the time and expertise to build buildings, design water systems, and create master plans.
In Brazil, we were able to hand our construction design details to another short-term team that arrived the day we left. The vision that so recently seemed unattainable was taking shape. The design skills that we brought to the orphanages in Haiti and Brazil . . . the Christian school in Guatemala . . . the women’s shelter in Cambodia . . . were desperately needed to set direction so that the vision could be efficiently accomplished.
eMi meets a very relevant and pressing need in third world missions. With 3 offices in developing nations and 2 more on the way, eMi is responding to the growing demand for its services. We see God leading us to be part of this growth and have stepped out in faith into full-time ministry with eMi.
Our first step was moving to the Canadian office in Calgary. Our vision is to eventually be placed overseas. In Calgary, I coordinate and lead short term trips, liaise with missions organizations who need our services, and provide expertise as a water systems engineer.
