Julie and I would like to take an opportunity to update everyone about our progress towards Costa Rica. It's been very exciting as are notified of the project details and we are making more arrangements for our time abroad.
First, we would like to inform you about the project that we will be working on during our time in Costa Rica. The project consists of designing and inspecting an orphanage, school, and agricultural complex in Chiapas, Mexico. The organization, Lost and Found International, runs a bible school and an orphanage but has reached its capacity and can no longer accept any more children. There is significant need as many children are abandoned by their parents as they are traveling to the US. The organization has purchased 106 acres of land and will use EMI's talents to put together a master plan for the land. This will include an architectural/agricultural master plan for the ranch/farm/village, a design of the necessary infrastructure, review and comment on existing home designs, and a design of a school. More information on the project can be found at http://emiworld.org/projectprofile_7055.html.
Julie and I have also been given more details about our time spent in Costa Rica. We will be first heading to Colorado Springs, CO for a week of training at EMI's headquarters. Then on August 30th we fly to Atenas, Costa Rica, where EMI's Latin America office is located. This is where we will be spending the most of our time. Julie and I will then spend two weeks at Christian Immersion Spanish Academy in Tuis de Turrialba in the province of Cartago, Costa Rica. This is a homestay immersion school where we will be living with a Costa Rican family. Following language school, our team will go to Chiapas, Mexico for the project trip. This is an intense week of surveying and planning as this is the only time the regular volunteers will be with us. The volunteers will return home while my team and I will spend the next ten weeks back in Costa Rica coordinating the design work with the volunteers. Julie will be working part time in the office doing administrative work and part time at an orphanage in Atenas. EMI has a partnership with this orphanage and many interns in the past have volunteered there. Julie is excited to help where there is need and become a part of these children's lives. We will be staying with a single Costa Rican woman who lives close to EMI's office in Atenas. She is a Christian that goes to a nearby church and we are blessed that she has opened her home and life to us during our stay.
So far Julie and I have been blessed by the amount of prayers and support we've received. We've received $9375 so far not including $2200 in future monthly donations. This means we have about $1000 to go assuming the cost of the trip is about $12500. If you would like to donate to our project, the easiest way would be online at https://emisecure.org/donate.html. Make sure to designate it to Andy and Julie Kragt.
Please continue to pray for us as there are still many things that have to go smoothly. We have many plane flights to catch and foreign cities to navigate. Please pray for the other intern in the office, Ryan, as well as the Latin American office director Tom Bastian. We are especially in need of prayer as we attempt to learn Spanish. Julie and I appreciate the time you've taken to read this letter. Feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.
Blessings,
Andy and Julie Kragt
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