Well... my work with eMi has come to a close (for full time work anyway). God is leading our family on to other things stateside. I'm sure I will still go on eMi project trips here and there and who knows what the future holds. For now this site will serve as a journal of sorts for the work I was able to do with eMi in Guatemala.
Future ministry work will probably be written about in a different blog. You can always hear the latest on teamhaddox.blogspot.com and find out where I am writing about our current ministry involvement.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Office work...
I haven't written about work in a while so I thought I would give it an update.
Nothing so exotic has happened with work lately. After the conference I have been in the office working on wrapping up the open projects for the office. Paying office bills and reviewing reports and plans is much less exciting to read about than the snake wrestling, jungle trodding work that have filled my days before. The ministry is just as powerful nonetheless. I may not be in the depths physically but the projects I am working on will be constructed there. True ministry is not found in the exciting but rather in obedience and service. I hope that I have been a helpful hand in the closing of current projects. I am glad to have the opportunity to be a part of so many truly meaningful ministries by working on designs for them.
Tomorrow I will visit Tabacal for the last time to schedule the construction of about 5 block homes for the most needy families there. Hopefully I will get around to posting about their progress.
Nothing so exotic has happened with work lately. After the conference I have been in the office working on wrapping up the open projects for the office. Paying office bills and reviewing reports and plans is much less exciting to read about than the snake wrestling, jungle trodding work that have filled my days before. The ministry is just as powerful nonetheless. I may not be in the depths physically but the projects I am working on will be constructed there. True ministry is not found in the exciting but rather in obedience and service. I hope that I have been a helpful hand in the closing of current projects. I am glad to have the opportunity to be a part of so many truly meaningful ministries by working on designs for them.
Tomorrow I will visit Tabacal for the last time to schedule the construction of about 5 block homes for the most needy families there. Hopefully I will get around to posting about their progress.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
eMi 25th Ann World Conference
I didn't know many of the people in eMi before the conference. This was my main reason for going to the conference. I was able to meet most everyone from every office around the world. I met all emi staff at the conference as well as everyone else attending the conference except 25 people.
My journey to the conference from Guatemala was a God lesson that can be read about here. The breakout sessions on Disaster Response were the highlight for me (aside from meeting all the wonderful people at the conference). Scott Powell of eMi did a great job of putting that together. We had head representatives from Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, YWAM and Food for the Hungry.
All of the members of the Guatemala eMi office have gone back to the states. I am the only one here as the office transitions to become the Latin America office and moves to Costa Rica. Tom and his family will return at the end of the month and I will help him pack up the office for the move in September. Anyway, it was great to see everyone there at the conference and be able to have a lot of social time with them. It was a grand farewell. Some of them will be moving down to Costa Rice but we will not. Our time in Guatemala is coming to a close as our sights move toward the possibilities of Jordan.
It was an encouraging and exciting time to be together and see all that eMi is doing and has done around the world. eMi is on the cutting edge, showing that everyone can use their skills to further the gospel and for engineers the Lord is actively using them through eMi in "designing a world of hope..."
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
broken plans = God's provision...
I am writing this post rom my hotel room in LA. My flight was delayed and I missed my connection to Guatemala. Heather is sick at home and I desperately want to be with her, yet I am calm, trusting the hand of God. This is because I just learned from my traveling TO this conference in Jackson Hole WY that I am never out of God's hands. It is only when my plans go wrong that I can really see God's provision.
This webTV application has erased my post 3 times so I will continue this story later. ...more to come...
This webTV application has erased my post 3 times so I will continue this story later. ...more to come...
Monday, June 11, 2007
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!
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!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
DENGE strikes again...
Jonathan is in the hospital with Denge fever (a tropical disease contracted from mosquitoes). He has been in the hospital for a few days without them knowing what was wrong. Yesterday the "infectious disease" specialist saw him and dignosed Denge. This is actually a good thing because now they know what they are dealing with and can treat it. The other good thing is that he is not contagious (good because my family visited him in the hospital a couple days ago :)) We will visit him again today on the way to the embassy to pick up Anzo's visa. Jonathan will be heading home in a few days instead of staying until the 23rd. I will be presenting our report to the leaders of Balcones regarding future improvements to the water system
Block home started...
Paul and I started the construction of our new block design home in San Pablo Atitlan for a widow and her two daughters who are Tzutujil Mayan and do not speak Spanish. The local pastor Tono was able to translate for us from Tzutujil into Spanish and she expressed her immense gratitude. She even helped where she could by carrying dirt in for fill using a 1 gallon pale. We carried in the sand and gravel using 1 Gal pales and potato sacks. We mixed the rock, sand and cement on the pad of the building using a couple shovels and hoes. (oh, to have a pumper truck).
With all prototype designs, it started slow. In our three days there we got the reinforcement placed and foundation laid. The Pastor Tono was previously a contractor and I was able to go over the plans and the construction process with him and he will finish the building with some other people from the church. Paul will return tomorrow to check on the process.
Her home will be the 4m x 6m home design. I anticipate that the final cost of the building will be less than $1500 with a water filter and high efficiency wood stove. All the materials are locally produced and/or sold so this will help bolster the economy as well.
With all prototype designs, it started slow. In our three days there we got the reinforcement placed and foundation laid. The Pastor Tono was previously a contractor and I was able to go over the plans and the construction process with him and he will finish the building with some other people from the church. Paul will return tomorrow to check on the process.
Her home will be the 4m x 6m home design. I anticipate that the final cost of the building will be less than $1500 with a water filter and high efficiency wood stove. All the materials are locally produced and/or sold so this will help bolster the economy as well.
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Team Haddox
- Eric
- "Bringing physical help to the poor to give them eternal hope in Christ"... A Family dedicated to seeking God and showing His enduring love to ALL, in a world that is passing away.
