So. This is the first post (obviously). I've never blogged before, so please excuse anything I may do to annoy you as I figure this whole thing out. Thanks :)


Many of you probably received my emails telling you all about this trip. It turns out, that in the past several weeks, something developed on the ground in Nagongera, Uganda (where I was originally going) which prevents my team from going there now. I don't know any further details. Instead of Nagongera, we are going to Kiburara, the western side of Uganda! There are only about 150 Covenant Mercies sponsored orphans in Kiburara as opposed to the 300 or so in Nagongera. We will still be doing some construction, albeit not as intensive as what was planned for Nagongera. We certainly aren't raising an entirely new building.


Oh, but excuse me. Let me explain what exactly is going on here for all of you who may not have heard anything from me prior to this blog and for those of you who have, this should be a refresher...


For a long time now (by my standard...since my freshman year of college), I've experienced within me a growing urge to explore other cultures and opportunities to use my education and experience as a civil engineer to advance God's kingdom through serving people. As of this past February, I felt a very distinct leading to apply for and pursue going on a trip to Uganda that my church had put together. The trip would be to Nagongera, Uganda where we would partner with Covenant Mercies (an organization dedicated to the care of the poor and orphaned in Africa by supplying education, medical care, shelter, and physical provision) in building a new science lab building for the New Life School complex. The building would help serve the education of some 300 orphans that Covenant Mercies sponsors in and around that area. Recently, issues have developed in Nagongera that prevent our team of 20 people from going there to fulfill our original intent. I don't know any details as to why we cannot go to Nagongera other than it is serious and confidential. Instead, our team will be traveling to Kiburara, Uganda (in the western half) to help with construction and ministry on and around Kiburara Gospel Center. There are some 150 sponsored orphans in and around Kiburara, and Covenant Mercies was the organization that originally sent a team to construct the Kiburara Gospel Center a couple of years ago. Although we will not be constructing a brand new building, we will be doing miscellaneous construction projects in the area.


Since February, God has provided abundantly through the generosity of many people. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has given financially to help me participate in this endeavor and to everyone who has been praying for me (because we all know that it's really God who is providing for my every physical and spiritual need since He is sovereign over all things).


I want to thank the Honors Program at the University of Delaware in particular for generously granting me an Honors Enrichment Award in excess of $2800 (nearly the entire amount necessary ) to go on this trip. They have granted me this award so that I can have the opportunity to expand my knowledge of and experience in the field of civil engineering, which brings me to the exciting part...


As a civil engineer, this will be my first real field experience with a construction project, so I'm hoping to learn as much as I can just from observing and asking lots of questions. More significantly, this trip will help me begin to explore how I feel about using my career to serve God in the future. I'm very interested in the idea of vocational service, using my engineering knowledge to serve in areas that need it. Thus, I will do my best to be diligent in observing and learning everything I can that relates to civil engineering on this trip. People do things differently in Uganda...very differently. Structures will be different; transportation will be different; design will be different. I look forward to the chance to understand the way people do construction in poorer countries. An aside: Kiburara is in a seismic zone, so that adds an interesting dimension to any building designs :) Who knows, maybe I'll have the opportunity to consult the local pastor on any expansions they may be thinking about ?? :)


Alright. That's enough for the first post. Check in later for more...and pictures!!