the Lord of the harvest

my team spent last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday out in the field in Kilifi County, Kenya.  we visited the villages and met some the people who will benefit from the water projects we are working on.  it was three days of beautiful scenery, bumpy roads, and thirsty, hungry, grateful people. 

i had lots of time to think during the travel on these days, and during that time i thought of the verse where Jesus talked about having compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  i looked a few places in my Bible, couldn't find it, and didn't think about it much after that...
until this morning, when i read my devotion.  the scripture was Matthew 9:35-38.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
there are so many people here in Kenya who need Jesus!  i have been especially burdened to pray for the large population of Muslims, here in Mombasa, that i have contact with every day.
now i'm going to go a totally different direction with this...
when i heard about President Obama sending troops to help Ugandans find Joseph Kony, the leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, my first thought was....great! they need to find that guy, he has been wreaking havoc in east Africa for way too long.  then i thought....wait, why are we getting involved? yes, they need help finding him.  yes, he is terrible! but since coming to Africa i have learned first hand that U.S. involvement is not always best, for a number of reasons. (i could go on and on here, but i'll just leave it at that.)
then, when i read this scripture this morning, i thought....God can use anything to get more people to "pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest", why not this too!
so i started praying for the Lord to use this situation specifically to motivate others to prayer.  so next time you think of a political situation that you don't like or understand, pray! Pray that God will use it for His glory.  Pray for the afflicted people, pray for our leaders' decisions, pray for...yes...Joseph Kony.  he needs Jesus, too.

relief & development

i am in Nairobi, Kenya!  i am staying in a fabulous Mennonite guest house with an amazing garden.

on the first Sunday of the month, they hold a Hymn Sing.  everyone gathers in the little chapel.  people take turns calling out hymn numbers, the song leader plays the first note on the pitch pipe, and everyone sings. it was beautiful!  the Mennonites are known for their beautiful a cappella harmonies. and now i know why!

tomorrow i will travel to the Coast Region, to the city of Mombasa, where i will call home for the next 6 weeks.  i have been recruited to work with CRWRC (http://www.crwrc.org/pages/crwrc.cfm) to help them with drought relief projects in Kilifi and Taita Taveta.  there is a severe drought in east Africa right now affecting more than 10 million people.
here is a little from the project proposal about the partner ministry i will be working with and the drought situation in the Coast Region of Kenya ("pwani" is Swahili for "coast"):

"Pwani Christian Community Service (Anglican Church of Kenya) is a long-time partner of CRWRC in Kenya.  The partnership began in 1996 and has involved numerous development and disaster response interventions.  PCCS is the development arm of A.C.K Dioceses of Mombasa and Taita Taveta. Its corporate goal is to contribute towards holistic and sustainable livelihoods of communities in Coast Region. The organization’s strategic goal is to contribute towards equitable improved and dignified quality of life amongst communities in Coast Region.

The Coast Region is amongst the most affected by poverty, HIV/AIDS and enviromental degredation in Kenya which impacts on communities’ livelihoods, education levels and access to health services.

Located in the southeast and coastal marginal zones, Kilifi and Taita have experienced a very dry 2011 and, as a result, people are suffering heightened food insecurity. According to the latest report the near‐total failure of the short‐rains season caused extensive crop losses in the worst‐affected districts. Depleted household food stocks are combined with exceptionally high food prices, and reduced on‐farm labor opportunities has diminished the buying power of the average household.
The project seeks to fill critical short and long-term water gaps in the districts of Ganze and Mwatate while, at the same time, addressing food shortages for the moderately vulnerable households.  The project will undertake activities that meet immediate water needs in four schools and mitigate against future water shortages."

the project has three primary objectives:
1.  keep four primary schools open through the provision of emergency water supply.  we will be designing and implementing a program to truck water in to the schools.
2.  reduce hunger through cash for assets activities.  the local population will be hired to dig water pans, large reservoirs that collect rain water used for irrigated farming and livestock.
3.  mitigate against future water shortages through the expansion/rehabilitation of rain water harvesting systems and the drilling of a borehole.  we will design a gutter and water tank system for several schools to collect rainwater and drill one water well that will potentially help 11 communities.

over the last few days i have learned a lot about disaster relief and international development projects. i have seen a glimpse into the decision making process of who gets aid and how much, how projects are funded, and the way projects are implemented on the ground.  CRWRC is part of a much larger community of international aid organizations.  it has been an amazing experience and has opened my eyes to a whole world (literally!) of new information and the international aid machine.  and it's big business.

i have met people from everywhere, all with a common goal: improving the lives of other people. in this case, we will be doing that by getting water to people who need it very badly.

all of this is a very good thing.

but in all the planning, discussion, and decision making, it's easy for something to get lost: showing the love of Jesus. 

so this verse really jumped out at me when i read it yesterday morning, because i was starting to get really overwhelmed.  "...'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.'" Luke 8:33

God always has a way of putting things in perspective for me when i get overwhelmed. so i know that as long as i keep my eyes on the Lord, and have faith that He has put me in this place for this time to do this job, i will be pleasing to Him in my obedience.
and isn't that why i'm here?

RAMBIA Project Trip

my first project!  RAMBIA is a rural health clinic in western Uganda. (read more http://www.emascanada.org/uganda_rambia.htm)  the small clinic does not have a doctor; the medical staff includes a clinical officer, a nurse, and a midwife.  there is also a director and an administrator/accountant.  

RAMBIA has partnered with a Canadian ministry, EMAS, who will help them with the funding of a much needed expansion and overall upgrading of their clinic.  eMi was called in to design the master plan. since the scope of this project is small, we will be completing it in-house (as opposed to recruiting a large team to come from the US).  we needed to meet with the staff about the master plan for the site and their vision for the expansion.  we also needed to survey the site boundary, topography and all existing structures.   i was to complete a structural assessment of the existing buildings.  


we also coordinated our trip with a team arriving from EMAS:  2 doctors, a nurse, and 2 others, who will be in country for 2 weeks treating patients at the clinic.  we would meet with them to get their input on how much additional space is needed and the configuration of the interior of the buildings.

so on wednesday morning, John Sauder, office director and architect, (read his staff bio here http://emiea.org/staffbio_sauder.shtm); Pat Aylard, civil engineer (staff bio http://emiea.org/staffbio_aylard.shtm), intern Aaron Haazon, me, and all our equipment, took off for a 5 hour matatu (taxi) ride to the Rwenzori Mountans of Uganda. 

upon arriving at the site, we were greeted by the staff of Ugandans and a bunch of very curious village children who had seen the mzungus (white people) arrive.

the clinic has two main buildings.  the smaller one one is used for an out-patient clinic.  they sometimes see between 40 and 70 patients there on tuesdays and thursdays.  many are mothers who bring their children for routine vaccinations, but others of all ages come with a variety of ailments.  they also are able to dispense medications and do some patient education.

out-patient clinic building

the building is much too small for their needs, less than 600 square feet, and they envisioned constructing an addition to the building.  after some inspection, i determined that the building was not constructed adequately.   western Uganda is an area of high seismic activity and the building will be very dangerous in the event of an earthquake.  this is not the building you want to be in during an earthquake, especially if you are sick and could not get out!  John and i determined that an addition to the building would not be feasible and that a new more earthquake resistant building would need to be constructed and this building will be used for staff housing. obviously, the ideal scenario would be to demo the building and start over, but with limited funding, you do what you can.

fortunately, the newer, larger building, used for the maternity and in-patient wards, was constructed much better.

intern Aaron surveying the site in front of the maternity/in-patient ward building

so we gathered all the data at the site and went back to the hotel in Fort Portal, the town nearby.  after dinner, we started drawing up the site survey and existing building plans and met briefly with the team from EMAS.  

after breakfast the next morning we went back out to the clinic to present our findings and site plan to the staff and board members and get a better idea about their ideas for expansion and overall vision for RAMBIA. over the next few weeks, we will continue to work on the master plan and new clinic building designs and finalize a report, which they will implement as funding allows over the next few years.  their partnership with EMAS is vital to this plan.

overall the trip went smoothly and was successful.  and i even learned something unexpected about myself!  at breakfast thursday morning, i was chatting with the nurse from EMAS.  it was her first time in Africa and she was asking me about why i had decided to come serve with eMi for a year.  i explained how i came to Uganda on a short term project trip in January and just fell in love with it.  i felt God's call to return, and here i am.  but later that day, as i thought back on our conversation, it dawned on me...i am not back in Uganda because i fell in love with it.  don't get me wrong, i do love Uganda.  but i also love North Carolina....probably a lot more than i love Africa!  

i am here because i fell in love with doing God's will.  i fell in love with hearing His call and responding.  i fell in love with being obedient to God.  and if God calls me somewhere else, i will go there.  so....yes, i love Uganda, but that's not why i'm here.  i am here because i love God!

note:  i have posted a photo album on facebook with more pictures!