A couple of new things in this email update. I know I've been promising a newsletter, but after the conference in Wyoming, my mentor, Craig, wanted to finish his project by last Friday because he would be leaving for vacation for two weeks. I've been unable to put out a newsletter and been behind on my emails. To those of you waiting for a personal email from me, I apologize, I will hopefully get those out by the end of this week. I don't have email except at the office, so I don't have much free time to finish them. The newsletter might be a far off dream =X We'll see what happens.
A friend of mine asked me for some tips on support raising. One of my main points was not to be afraid to ask EVERYONE. As I did so, I realized that I wasn't taking my own advice, so the result is that I have added a bunch of you to this email list. There are several purposes of this email.
1. For financial support (of course =P)
2. For prayer support
3. To encourage the body (you) with what is going on in my life
4. To encourage the body (you) with what this ministry (eMi) is doing in Christ's name.
Since there are many new readers, I'd first like to say if you don't want to receive these updates just let me know. The email updates will be weekly/bi-weekly. Also, many of you might not even know what I've been doing these past two months, so in the next couple of updates I'll be summarizing the major portions of my summer little by little as well as giving you and update on life in general. I'm also going to post my past updates on a blog so you can go over them if you wish. http://irwinkim.blogspot.com/ (Yes, I am trying to graduate from xanga.)
In this email, I'll start with an overview of what is eMi? and what are you doing at eMi? Then I'll talk about the Friday "Intern Development" time, last week's prayer & fasting retreat and finish up with some prayer requests.
Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, I am interning at eMi, engineering Ministries international, a non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, CO. This ministry is a support ministry that provides free design work of facilities for other front-line ministries in developing world countries (such as C&MA, AG, and HfH). There are three terms -- fall, spring, and summer -- during which project leaders (about 7 of them) are sent out to different areas of the world to visit ministry locations to conduct surveys, evaluate existing buildings and utilities, and to learn more about the ministry and their visions. Each of these project leaders must recruit his own volunteer team of engineers and architects and usually takes an intern or two. At the project site, a preliminary master plan is typically conceived and presented to the locals for feedback. Back in the US, the project leader and intern coordinate with the volunteers to produce a fundraising brochure and project report. The project report typically takes 4-9 months, so most interns are working on past projects that they didn't actually go on.
I got lucky with my project trip - or rather trips. I participated in two trips. One was to Amman, Jordan where we served Habitat for Humanity - Jordan as eMi's first construction management team. The purpose of that trip was to evaluate and improve the building methods that HfH-J employed in creating low cost housing for its customers. The poverty line in Jordan is under US$300/month and HfH-J only provided houses for families that made under US$250/month and provided "sweat equity" (basically, the family would have to participate in the construction of the house with some labor). The second trip was to Beirut, Lebanon, where we served the Armenian Evangelical Church through designing renovation and expansion plans for their summer camp, KCHAG, that was established in 1949. Because of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, the camp was occupied by 7 different militia groups until 2002 and much of it was destroyed. In a time of terrorism where all the Lebanese youth dream of evacuating and going over to America, KCHAG desires to send a message to Lebanon that they will stand firm amidst the chaos. I'll talk more in depth about these two trips in later emails.
Now that I am back in Colorado, I've been using a lot of AutoCAD to draw up building floor plans, elevations, and sections for a project in Burundi (a small country south of Rwanda), where eMi is helping to design a Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS) Training Center. Now that this is complete, I'll be working on a fundraising package for the Lebanon project and hopefully will be able to help design the HVAC (Heating/Ventilation/Air Conditioning) and plumbing systems for several of the existing buildings. I only have a few weeks left here, as I leave back for NY on August 10th.
On Fridays, the interns go to the Marion House, a local soup kitchen that serves lunch to the homeless and the needy of Colorado Springs everyday. As a fellow intern pointed out, it's amazing to see how your perspective changes when you interact with people inside the Marion House and out. What I mean is it is easier to "take a step of faith" by talking to these people in soup kitchens but it's much different when you're just walking along the street ignoring those people with their hands out asking for some change. I've been trying to build relationships with some of the people I met there, but it's difficult because you can't expect to meet the same people every week. However, I've been talking with Jim, who apparently used to be quite successful and used to live in Sydney, Australia. Something happened to him, he lost his job and money and now he's a construction worker in Colorado Springs with a bad back. I've seen him three times, and each time he seems a touch happier.
This past Monday & Tuesday, the interns went on a prayer and fasting retreat at Praise Mountain. It was a neat place (actually there were 4 llamas there too) and we got to spend some time alone with God. I spent some of the time rereading my journal entries from the beginning of the internship and I was reminded of the goals I had set for myself. On top was the desire to learn how to love these new brothers and sisters in all that I do. It's still really hard and I'm not sure really how to love them but I'm praying and reading the Word and keeping it on my heart. Another goal I thought about was being focused on God in prayer. My prayer life has been growing slowly throughout the summer and I'm excited to see the different ways God will move in this next year.
Here are some things you can pray for:
1. That I remember God and glorify Him in all the work that I do
2. That I would continue to build a relationship with Jim and that he would find his hope in God
3. That I would love my fellow interns with all that I do
4. That I would seek God through prayer and His word
5. That the ministries in Jordan and Lebanon would be strengthened and encouraged by eMi's efforts
Here are some other ways you can participate in my ministry here.
1. I am still short quite a large sum of money because an extra $500 was added to my project trip. If you would like to help me financially, you can email me back your mailing address and I can mail you a form OR you can donate online through < https://secure.emiusa.org/donate.html>.
2. RWC has it's own homeless ministry called AHAV. Check it out!
3. eMi is starting to recruit for fall projects. For you engineers and architects, check out < http://www.emiusa.org/cpn.html> to volunteer or for those still in school, check out
I'm coming home on August 10, but I'm considering keeping this email update list alive for a few weeks past that. I might even consider keeping it going for the entire year =P Who knows. If you want to send me mail, you can send it before August 10th to...
Irwin Kim
130 E Kiowa, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
in Christ,
-irwin
