Saturday, August 30, 2008

Orientation in Colorado Springs

Julie and I arrived last Sunday in Colorado Springs for our orientation with eMi. We really had no idea what to expect. On Sunday we got to meet eMi's group of interns for the fall quarter. There are 22 interns all together going to various places around the world. We'll be going to Costa Rica with Ryan. This week was so much fun as we got to know all the other interns, do stuff around colorado springs, and practice cultural training. We usually were in a talk or discussions for about 6 hours each day and spent the rest of the time in devotion, small groups, and daily activities designed to wear us out like ultimate frisbee at 8000ft, rock climbing at Garden of the God's, and this really cool hike to these punch bowls. I'm suprised that COS hasn't changed Garden of the God's to Garden of the God. The park was really cool with all these red rocks. Thats the picture with Julie and I and rocks in the distance.
The hike to the punch bowls was at the Navigators campus near Garden of the God's. The "trail" went up this narrow valley crossing over the stream as many times as possible. It was a great test for our Chacos. I went and stood under a waterfall but is was soo cold that I got an instant brain freeze. The punch bowls were like a mini wild waves with pools that you could slide between. Except that it was freezing cold. The cultural training was extremely informative and there were quite a few role playing games and sneaky rule swapping games that taugh us what it might be like to try and live in a different culture without knowing what the culture's rules were.
I think Julie and I's favorite time may have been when the whole group shared thier testimony's. It was really cool to see how God has worked in each and every person there. To see how God used events in thier life to teach them more about him and to see how God called each person to an internship at eMi. I believe the orientation week set a precidence for how much God is going to teach us and mold us on this trip. Our next post will be from Costa Rica, or the Houston airport.

Also my skype name is awkragt. Feel free to comment so that we know people are reading this.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Saying Goodbye



Julie and I spent last Friday and Saturday hanging out with family before we left for Colorado and the first stage of our journey. When we get back the two newest members of the family will be quite a bit bigger. Owen demonstrated his bouncy fun and his laugh as we spun a baby bottle lid like top. Claire enjoyed being outside in the sun. On Sunday morning we got up at 3:30 to go to SeaTac for our departure. We said our goodbyes at th airport to Julie's parents then we got on a plane to Salt Lake City then on to Colorado Springs where we'll be staying for the week.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Finished moving!

We finally moved out of our apartment today! We are officially homeless now. We leave for Colorado early Sunday morning for one week and then we're off to Costa Rica!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Last Day of Work


Today is my last day at work this summer. I've been working for a construction engineering company. This is me at a job I toured up in Canada the week before last. I got to climb a really tall stair tower and it was suprisingly solid!

Host Family at Language School!


Today Julie and I learned about the family we'll be staying with at language school. The family has two boys age 7 and 13. They live about 10 minutes from CISA. Here is a picture of the mom and the 13 year old. Julie and are moving out of our apartment tommorrow.

Update Letter we sent out 2 weeks ago

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