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By Jim Coggins
THEY’VE GOT a huge vision. They’ve got a piece of land.
Now what?
That’s the dilemma that faces missions organizations around the world. Often,
facilities are built in an ad hoc manner, as funds trickle in.
But what if professional design services were available to ministries in
developing countries? What if a master plan could be in place, allowing
missions organizations to fundraise more effectively – and then use their funds more wisely, as they build their ministry step by step?
That’s where Engineering Ministries International comes in. For the past 27 years,
EMI has been mobilizing teams of volunteer engineers, architects, surveyors and
construction managers to undertake short-term trips to serve missions
organizations and indigenous ministries overseas.
These teams work together with the missionaries, to catch the vision of the
local ministry and to design culturally appropriate facilities and
infrastructure.
Since 1982, EMI has worked on more than 800 development and relief projects in over 80
countries. EMI Canada opened its doors in 2002, was registered as a Canadian non-profit in the spring
of 2007, and has so far been involved in 20 projects.
In the past year, EMI Canada has sent project teams to design orphanages,
ministry centres, medical centres and community development projects in Africa,
Southeast Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.
Based in Calgary, EMI Canada currently has three full-time staff members – two architects and an engineer – and leads six to nine project trips per year.
The in-house staff combine their efforts with volunteer professionals, who donate their time and travel costs.
A project team consists of eight to 10 professionals who spend just over a week
at a ministry site in a developing country.
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The team surveys the land, assesses needs and resources, and then provides a
master plan – including drawings that can be later used for construction and/or fundraising.
Projects are scheduled about every four months, working around university
schedules to allow architecture and engineering students to take part in EMI’s intern program.
The students spend a semester applying their faith and honing their professional
skills, mentored by EMI’s experienced professionals. Simon Ho, a civil engineering intern from the
University of Waterloo, said EMI “has given me the opportunity to see that God can use all of us in his ministry,
with the gifts, talents and education we have been blessed with – no matter our age, field of study or discipline. “
EMI Canada comes to Missions Fest Vancouver each year, to recruit volunteers – but also to find projects requiring its design services. Three of the projects
it undertook in 2009 were a direct result of connections made at Missions Fest.
Contact: 403.202.3642 or emicanada.org.
January 2010
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