thoughts of india

i don't want to be an architect that just fills the earth with buildings. i want to know that what i am doing is increasing the quality of life. call me idealistic or naive. say i don't really know the real world or that my perspective will soon change. i don't think this desire is going away. i've been thinking a lot about india. there is a group called eMi [engineering ministries international] and their goal is to help the poorest of the poor in the world through the built environment. they have built over 500 projects in 75 developing countries. from clean water projects to orphanages to disaster relief, their projects provide direct aid to impoverished peoples around the globe while showing them God’s love in a practical way. most of the work they do is by professionals, architects and engineers, who use their two weeks of vacation to travel to one of the countries. as a team and with a full-time staff member, they spend their time in intense design and collaboration. when their short trip is over, the project is then handed over to the staff in the closes eMi office (they have 6 international offices) and the interns in the office. right now i want to be an intern in india.

so i was checking out the website and realized that i could still do a spring internship if i turned in my application by 15 september. "wow," i thought. "is this what's next for me? could i be leaving for india in january?" it's always easier for me to start over then to rebuild. sometimes i would rather go to a foreign place where nobody knows me than to drudge through baggage where i am known. but at the same time, i don't want to just run. i asked God if i am to stay, to give me something to be a part of here in wichita, something that i could invest myself in. the next day, i received three separate phone calls from three different people, all asking me to be a part of three separate ministries they thought i could be used. so i'm thinking there's a reason i need to be in wichita. india will have to wait.