The excitement is upon us! From July 5-8, eMi is celebrating 25 years of ministry by holding conference in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Being the international office for eMi, we have been scurrying in preparation for this event. Packets are being put together, schedules worked out, and camping equipment is being packed. I’ve been putting binders together and working on AutoCad finishing a Costa Rica project for my project leader. The weekend consists of workshops on topics such as disaster relief, working in third work countries, and support raising. Staff from the Guatemala, Uganda, India, and Canada office will be there.
Us interns are actually leaving a week a head of time to go camping and hiking. We’re all really excited to see bears and wander around the Grand Tetons (supposedly the most beautiful place in the world).
I’ll be leaving early because the celebration for my grandpa is on the 8th. I can’t wait to see all the people that his life has touched and see the relatives once again. It will be a time of reflecting, sorrow yet celebration!
Now, I’m off to go bouldaring (rock climbing ‘around’ the rocks without rope) at Red Rock. Hopefully it doesn’t rain : )
The staff and other interns here have been an amazing support as I’m not with my family right now. God couldn’t have provided a better family away from family, thanks!
And yet the most comfort has come from the Comforter, Himself.
“You will cry out for help, and He will say
‘Here am I’ “
~Isaiah 58:9
Oh what a day this has been to live!
Love Always,
Lianne
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
These are the email updates that I have been sending over the past week. There are not enough words to express all my thanks to all of you!
Prayer
6/21/07
Those words are so hard to hear when things around us just don't make any sense at all. But yet at the same time, its all the comfort in the world. How wonderful to know that we don't have to make sense of things, we don't have to know it all, or have it all together.
And right now that person is me. There has not been another time when things just seemed really out of order. I mean even Phill's death (fellow intern) seemed to fit into the plan.
My grandfather, as many of you know, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a certain type of lung cancer last Febuary. He went through many sessions of chemotherapy and this past week he went in for a scan to see how the chemo was working.
It has progressed to his brain and liver and is shutting down his organs. His days are even more numbered by the doctors but only God knows.
Please be in prayer for my family as they are hurting deeply. We need to remember the peace found in Christ but its easier said than done.
I will be going home Friday and staying until, well I'm not sure.
I thank God for all of your blessed support not only throughout this summer but throughout my life as well. Thank you.
I love you all!
Lianne
Dancing
6/22/07
Seeing His face is my ultimate desire...we're suppose to dream big but that's about as big as it gets. I arrived home about noon on Friday. I had been forewarned about my grandfathers condition and only God could prepare my heart the way He did. I was the last one of the family to arrive and went upstairs in their house to talk to him. He responded with a hand squeeze and an eye flutter when I told him Shorty (my nickname) was finally home. About seven thirty that night, those around his bed noticed his breathing becoming more shallow. Everyone gathered around and we started to sing. We began with What a Friend We Have In Jesus. No one in church will conduct that song, he is the only one allowed to lead it. As we reached the second verse, he went to be with that Friend. For some reason I am not writing through tears. There is just too much hope...I just can't help smiling. I can just see him now, leading that choir of angels in Hymn #275. Sure there's a little stubbornness involved, but death is just too close now, making heaven just too real! Yes it does hurt, too much that I have not acknowledged it. It will come in its own time and so will tears of healing. But such a great love that he has shown me can only be passed on. Thank you for your prayers.
Love
Lianne
Wonderful
6/24/07
Before I even open anyone's email I need to ask forgiveness.
The hymn we sang for my grandfather as he took his last breaths was Wonderful Grace of Jesus. (I think gramps loved me enough he'll forgive me this time)
Love always
Lianne
ps It was hymn number 198 (in the new hymnals)
Proverbs 3:5
These are the email updates that I have been sending over the past week. There are not enough words to express all my thanks to all of you!
Prayer
6/21/07
Those words are so hard to hear when things around us just don't make any sense at all. But yet at the same time, its all the comfort in the world. How wonderful to know that we don't have to make sense of things, we don't have to know it all, or have it all together.
And right now that person is me. There has not been another time when things just seemed really out of order. I mean even Phill's death (fellow intern) seemed to fit into the plan.
My grandfather, as many of you know, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a certain type of lung cancer last Febuary. He went through many sessions of chemotherapy and this past week he went in for a scan to see how the chemo was working.
It has progressed to his brain and liver and is shutting down his organs. His days are even more numbered by the doctors but only God knows.
Please be in prayer for my family as they are hurting deeply. We need to remember the peace found in Christ but its easier said than done.
I will be going home Friday and staying until, well I'm not sure.
I thank God for all of your blessed support not only throughout this summer but throughout my life as well. Thank you.
I love you all!
Lianne
Dancing
6/22/07
Seeing His face is my ultimate desire...we're suppose to dream big but that's about as big as it gets. I arrived home about noon on Friday. I had been forewarned about my grandfathers condition and only God could prepare my heart the way He did. I was the last one of the family to arrive and went upstairs in their house to talk to him. He responded with a hand squeeze and an eye flutter when I told him Shorty (my nickname) was finally home. About seven thirty that night, those around his bed noticed his breathing becoming more shallow. Everyone gathered around and we started to sing. We began with What a Friend We Have In Jesus. No one in church will conduct that song, he is the only one allowed to lead it. As we reached the second verse, he went to be with that Friend. For some reason I am not writing through tears. There is just too much hope...I just can't help smiling. I can just see him now, leading that choir of angels in Hymn #275. Sure there's a little stubbornness involved, but death is just too close now, making heaven just too real! Yes it does hurt, too much that I have not acknowledged it. It will come in its own time and so will tears of healing. But such a great love that he has shown me can only be passed on. Thank you for your prayers.
Love
Lianne
Wonderful
6/24/07
Before I even open anyone's email I need to ask forgiveness.
The hymn we sang for my grandfather as he took his last breaths was Wonderful Grace of Jesus. (I think gramps loved me enough he'll forgive me this time)
Love always
Lianne
ps It was hymn number 198 (in the new hymnals)
Monday, June 18, 2007
A place of wonder
Did you know that dog tastes pretty good if you just eat it like chicken and don’t think about it? (I’m sorry Toby, I love you and would never eat you.)
Phase II Project Greenhouse
The assignment: A self sustaining greenhouse that can function through a harsh winter with no external heat.
Time: One Week on site, two months in home work
Team: Civil/Structural Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Agricultural Engineers, Architects, and Documentarist in the making.
Ages: 17 to the wonderful age of wisdom…
Place: On a farm in Northern C*hina, in the beautiful middle of everywhere
Phase I of this project began last fall with a preliminary work project trip. The team’s week was spent scoping out local materials, building practices, and greenhouse methods. Research was done on thermal mass and other ways to store heat from the sun. Back in the US, a rough idea of a greenhouse kit was put together and pieces were ordered for two greenhouses. The farmer then built and used them over the winter.
Phase II of the greenhouse project was to collect data, layout the as-built, and make changes. This included installing a sweet solar fan (which I lugged from the States and got a few raised eyebrows), collecting temperature readings, and installing ground insulation. As part of the structural team, I drew up the greenhouse layout on AutoCad, plan and elevation. Then the professional engineer and I took apart the design and are still in the process of making it better. The back wall will now be made using adobe, the truss structure is under construction, and the plastic cover is to be changed.
On the farm, we took measurements and pictures, lots of them. The awesome godly family we stayed with is from the states. They produce a lot of their own products, including milk and eggs, so if we weren’t working we were eating. :)
I learned many lessons and my eyes and heart were opened in many ways. The best was seeing engineering, Dad, and a culture that’s so much a part of me come together. It was real and tangible, I have the drawings to prove it! Never would I have thought Dad would put that dream together, but then again, in eternity perspective, I seem to dream too little. This is big and I finally understand what is meant to call upon Him for a country, wow what a job! But Dad is infinite, how dare I doubt him!
I shall forever have a picture of our last night together as a team in that place of wonder. On the wood floor was an outline in string of the country where the greenhouses will go someday. The lights were dimmed and we sang as we lit the candles and placed them in key cities around the country. The farmer’s little girls tried to sit as still as possible, understanding the solemnity of the night. Then, as a team, we stepped inside the string marked boundaries and lifted the people up to Him.
I don’t believe doing such things makes change but heart felt love does. And as we stood there together, I knew Dad’s power and learned to dream……big.
Phase II Project Greenhouse
The assignment: A self sustaining greenhouse that can function through a harsh winter with no external heat.
Time: One Week on site, two months in home work
Team: Civil/Structural Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Agricultural Engineers, Architects, and Documentarist in the making.
Ages: 17 to the wonderful age of wisdom…
Place: On a farm in Northern C*hina, in the beautiful middle of everywhere
Phase I of this project began last fall with a preliminary work project trip. The team’s week was spent scoping out local materials, building practices, and greenhouse methods. Research was done on thermal mass and other ways to store heat from the sun. Back in the US, a rough idea of a greenhouse kit was put together and pieces were ordered for two greenhouses. The farmer then built and used them over the winter.
Phase II of the greenhouse project was to collect data, layout the as-built, and make changes. This included installing a sweet solar fan (which I lugged from the States and got a few raised eyebrows), collecting temperature readings, and installing ground insulation. As part of the structural team, I drew up the greenhouse layout on AutoCad, plan and elevation. Then the professional engineer and I took apart the design and are still in the process of making it better. The back wall will now be made using adobe, the truss structure is under construction, and the plastic cover is to be changed.
On the farm, we took measurements and pictures, lots of them. The awesome godly family we stayed with is from the states. They produce a lot of their own products, including milk and eggs, so if we weren’t working we were eating. :)
I learned many lessons and my eyes and heart were opened in many ways. The best was seeing engineering, Dad, and a culture that’s so much a part of me come together. It was real and tangible, I have the drawings to prove it! Never would I have thought Dad would put that dream together, but then again, in eternity perspective, I seem to dream too little. This is big and I finally understand what is meant to call upon Him for a country, wow what a job! But Dad is infinite, how dare I doubt him!
I shall forever have a picture of our last night together as a team in that place of wonder. On the wood floor was an outline in string of the country where the greenhouses will go someday. The lights were dimmed and we sang as we lit the candles and placed them in key cities around the country. The farmer’s little girls tried to sit as still as possible, understanding the solemnity of the night. Then, as a team, we stepped inside the string marked boundaries and lifted the people up to Him.
I don’t believe doing such things makes change but heart felt love does. And as we stood there together, I knew Dad’s power and learned to dream……big.
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