February

I cannot believe how fast the past two months have passed. It seems like we have been doing so much. The house continues to feel more and more like home. Josh returned from Haiti on January 31st. Although it took a few days to get rested and have a normal level of energy, we praise the Lord for his protection of Josh's mind and heart during his time there. Since their return, there have been 5 more teams go to Haiti to continue EMI's response to the devastating earthquake, and there will be many more to come. Josh and the team were not only able to assist in designing Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, but also train locals to perform simple structural assessments. Micah, a structural engineer who was also on the team to Haiti, and Josh worked hard in the weeks after their return to design a tool to be used for many years into the future to teach locals how to perform these assessments. Therefore, giving them power to help themselves and their community return to their homes whenever possible. Josh was actually interviewed for an article in World Magazine about the work he they had done. He also wrote an article on the IDP camp design for a quarterly newsletter that the Association of Christian Design Professionals distributes to its members. Needless to say, there has been alot of work for Josh to accomplish including the 4-5 projects that he is now project managing throughout Central America. It has been a very exciting time for us as we feel purpose in what we are doing each day and having opportunities to serve the Lord with our lives on a daily basis. We ask that you pray for us, especially over the next few weeks, as Josh is leaving this Thursday for two weeks in Chile. He is part of a disaster response team that will be working in the areas between Santiago and Concepcion, Chile performing structural assessments and setting up water filtration systems, partnering with several different ministries including Samaritan's Purse, Christian and Missionary Alliance and Campus Crusade. Pray that the Lord will give him strength, endurance and wisdom to know how best to use the skills of the team for His glory as well as for Allison while he is away.