Water

We had our first official day of work in the office today because yesterday was a bank holiday. Culture shock today: the computer KEYBOARD! Although it looks similar to what I'm used to.. it made for quite an interesting day. The @ symbol is on the opposite side... the enter and shift keys are a bit smaller-- so every time I went to hit enter I was pressing the pound key or when I went for the shift key, I hit the slash key instead. There was a lot of laughter this morning as we were all getting used to it.

All of the interns were given tasks to help prepare for the India project (we leave in less than a month!!). I spent most of the day reading a Lifewater handbook on surface water and groundwater and researching annual precipitation and rainwater data for the Vellore area in India. According to WaterAid.org over 170 million people living in India do not have access to safe and clean water. This is devastating.. so incredibly sad that water related diseases are killing millions. I do pray for change and that clean water can save lives but also that this country would thirst for the one who brings them eternal life.

Tonight, my roommates and I made our first meal together-- spagetthi and salad-- of course. It is so fun grocery shopping here. Lisa, (shoutout to my roommate back in San Luis Obispo) we bought Nutella :)

She loved much

At church today, we were (the interns) introduced to the congregation and prayed over. This is an old Baptist church that supports eMi and has provided a small office free of rent for us to use. It was really encouraging to be supported by a group of fellow believers who were excited to meet us and hear about the engineering work we will be doing in India.

The Reverend this morning preached from Luke 7 about a woman who loved much and was forgiven much. It is a story of God's amazing grace. Grace made her bold. Grace makes us bold. Oh how sweet is the grace of God!

ESFJ

One of the number one reasons people leave the mission field is because of interpersonal relationships. eMi-as a ministry serving the Lord- finds it very important for a group of people working together to know the abilities and gifts God has given them to better understand and serve each other well.

In training thus far, we have talked a lot about our strengths, personalities, spiritual gifts, etc as a team. We have taken many fun tests like the Myers-Briggs (for you Myers-Briggs fans out there I'm a ESFJ) to better understand how we work and make decisions. It is easy to assume that when taking personality tests like these, we are placing ourselves in a box without any room to grow or change. But I have found these tests to be really helpful and encouraging in a way that I desire to build off my strengths and apply the gifts God has given me.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119: 105

Beofre each work day every eMi office around the world starts of the morning in prayer and devotion. Today was our first full day in the office but before we began training, we read Psalm 119. The Psalmist is so passionate about God's word.. with a desire to know and live it out. There will be days that are more challenging than others or days I feel alone but I pray that I cling to His word no matter what and put my hope in His truth.

In training, we discussed cultural differences between the US and the UK (although there are a lot of similarities). A fun tid-bit of information:

Loo is not a person
A biscuit is a cookie and scone is a biscuit :)

We also talked about cultural differences in India (we leave in about a month for our project trip). So the staff spent some time prepping us and sharing previous project portfolios of work done in India to give us an idea of the kind of work we will be doing. Our project consists of a conceptual building design for an orphanage.. more details to come!

Hello Colchester

Today my roommates and I spent a few ours in the town of Colchester with our director Mike (who is from the area). I had the bizarre opportunity to ride shotgun on the LEFT side of a car. The driving here is so different.. absolutely incredible. It is definitely a good thing that we don't have to drive ourselves anywhere-- it wouldn't be pretty.

We are also all moved in to our apartment flat which is about a 15 minute walk to our small office (by this I mean-- a room smaller than most bedrooms) in an old Baptist church. We will start walking there tomorrow to begin office training.

Have a jolly good day! (one of the many phrases I'm picking up here)

Colrado Springs Training and Orientation

Hello all! I am finally in the UK after a week long training session in Colorado Springs. The week was packed with culture training, biblical teaching, intern testimonies, and technical preparation for our project trips. There were about 30+ interns and staff gathered together from all of eMi's offices: Colorado Springs, Canada, Costa Rica, Canada, India, Uganda, and of course the UK. It was an amazing week to say the least and such an incredible way to spiritually prepare for our internships ahead and to build relationship with other interns who have hearts to serve the physically and spiritually poor.

The picture to the left was taken in Colorado Springs at Garden of the Gods-- a beautiful park of ancient sedimentary beds--we all had the opportunity to hike around and rock climb. The two girls I am pictured with to the top left of my page are my roommates in the UK. On the left is Valerie- an architect from UC Berkley. On the right is Deb--a fellow civil engineer from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Today, my roommates and I were picked up at the London (Heathrow) airport by our director who helped us move into our flat in downtown Colchester. I have been up way too long now and can't wait to catch up on sleep. We have more training ahead and need to get started on preparation for our orphanage project in India! So until next time...

Thanks for the prayers and God bless!!