Adventures in Jordan...

(See post in Team Haddox also here)I was able to join an eMi project team to Jordan to advise Habitat for Humanity (who "displays the love of Jesus through building homes for the poor") how they can streamline their construction process and look at the possibility of moving over there with my family to work in implementing the construction suggestions. This was the first eMi trip of its kind. Construction management is a new and developing department.

I would arrive a couple days before the rest of the team. The flight was long and torturous. I left on the 23rd and arrived on the 25th! and to top it all off, the airline misplaced my bag. When I arrived at the Habitat team home, where we all would be staying, I washed my one set of stinky travel clothes in the tub and set them out on the fence to dry. I later came back to find my shirt missing. I even lost the shirt off my back! I was able to borrow some clothes until my bag finally arrived 5 days later but when I received it, my phone and PDA were stolen out of it. First the laptop stolen at LAX and now my phone and PDA! Thanks be to God that he gave me the patience and detachment enough to not let it bother me and maintain a fun attitude. I know that stuff is only stuff but I find that dispite how I would LIKE to respond in certain circumstances, I rarely can accomplish it but in this case God gave me the grace.

After a day of rest the team arrived and the project began. We evaluated their construction by serving them as a work team in the construction of the roofing system on a current house project. We just followed their direction to see how they do it and note areas for improvement. We had 4 funfilled days of formwork, tieing rebar, mixing concrete, and best of all we poured the entire roof as a bucket brigate up the scaffolding. They were days of great conversations with the locals. The team was constantly joking around like highschool boys. One team member put it best when he said, "guys never mature past the age of 14".

Each lunch we had the privilage of eating at the home of the father of the woman for whome we were building the house. Authentic meals in a local's home really gave all of us a great connection with the land and the people.

By the end of the days of construction, everyone had a pretty good idea of ways to greatly increase the effectiveness of the construction process. We had seen a lot and God had used our expertise to reveal areas of improvement. We had a meeting with the Habitat staff to discuss some of thease measures. My main areas were in site preperation and grading, foundation, and different building technologies with the same building materials that would be safer and cheaper and possibly faster. It all was a lot for them to process. We will now work on a comprehensive report to be slowly implemented this year and the next. Overall I think we were an effective instrument in God's hand to provide excellent insight and advise as to how to improve their system and make them more effective in reaching their goals of displaying Jesus through building affordable housing for the poor.

After the trip we were able to tour a bit. My visit to Mt Nebo where Moses gave his final adress to the Israelites, where God showed him the promised land, and where he died and God secretly buried him. It was a deeply spiritual experience to be there in the actual place where Moses was and read his final exhortation to the people, "these are not just idle words, they are your life!"

Later we visited a crusader castle where Randy Craig and I found a secret escape staircase/cave. We used the LCD screens from our cameras as lights down the steep and slippery path. It was MUCH langer than we had figured but finally we reached the other side and trekked back up the mountain to find the rest of the team looking for us and waiting to leave (OOPS!).

We also visited the ever famous Petra. This place was extrordinary and beyond description. We rode horses into Petra from the hotel. Craig and I had fun riding donkeys up the mountain to the "monestary". Later Steve and Randy joined us for a camel ride that turned into a four way camel race back to the Siq (the 1/4 mi. narrow canyon that is the entrance to Petra).

After the team left I spent a couple more days in Jordan with teammember Brian. We visited another castle and an entire first century Roman city in Jeresh. When I went to the airport I stuffed all my luggage into one carry-on sized bag but the bag was too heavy. I explained to the ticketing agent that m y bag was previously lost and robbed of items. He insisted on it being checked and, of course, my bag was lost again and I still have yet to receive it! (hence no pictures in this post) The flight back was no better than the one going. I probably slept a total of 1 hour through the entire journey. The one motivation was meeting Heather and the kids in LA.

What a spectacular adventure. Whoever said following Christ is boring is just plain hanging out with the wrong crowd!