The team and our plan

The team (in order): Jason, Adam, Steve, me (Erin), Rachel, Larry, Jon, Andy (Bill is out of town and Steve's son is still in Arkansas)
You might think the sign is strange: RISKS is the name of the class you must attend at Christ Community in order to become a member.  It stands for: Relies on God, Initiates interest in the Gospel, Serves people, Kingdom investor, Shaped into Christ likeness

Today we had our final team meeting before the trip.  A family came to the meeting and gave us blankets to give to Koutiala Women and Children's Hospital for the babies.  A young girl decided after church one day that she wanted to start making rag quilts for the babies in Mali.  Each blanket is prayed over, comes with a blessing, and a picture of the person who made the blanket is also sent.  When this blanket ministry started, it was just this young girl (Malia) and her mother making the blankets.  Neither had any experience sewing and didn’t even own a sewing machine. 

This is a great idea for other people to make a difference as well!  Check out their blog at http://malianblanketministry.blogspot.com

Our team consists of 10 members:

Steve: Steve has been on mission trips to Mali in the past (3 times I think), and he is our team leader.  Steve works at Union Pacific and is attending seminary school as well.

Chris: This is Steve’s son.  He’s lives/attends college in Arkansas, so he hasn’t been to any of our team meetings.  I believe he is getting his degree in landscape architecture. 

Jon: Jon works for Habitat for Humanity and this is his first trip to Mali.

Adam: Adam went to Mali one other time for a mission trip (with Steve).  I think he’s excited that this trip won’t involve as much roofing work as the last trip.

Bill: Bill used to own a printing business.  He sold the business, but I believe the new owner still lets him use the equipment, and he does printing for nonprofits/charity groups.   This is Bill’s first trip to Mali too.

Larry: Larry has also been to Mali one other time (also with Adam and Steve).  Larry works for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Jason: Jason is an engineer, and he actually helped grade Andy’s grad project. :)  This is his first trip to Mali.

Rachel: I met Rachel when I worked at UNMC and we became friends.  It was actually Rachel’s idea to attend Christ Community Church.  We visited Christ Community a couple a years ago and Rachel continued to attend.  I believe we sat in the first row during our initial visit, which was a little overwhelming for me.  I didn’t return until this past January, and I love the church. Rachel and I have now attended several classes at Christ Community, we became members in June, and we were also baptized in June.  Steve actually baptized us at a baptism event at the church.  Adam and Jon (and their spouses) were also baptized by Steve the same evening.

Andy: Andy just finished his Master's in Architectural Engineering at UNO and works for his dad's company, Associated Fire Protection.  He spent 3 years playing hockey (Junior A level) after high school before he started college.  This is his first trip to Africa as well.

Me (Erin): I'm originally from Missouri.  I went to UNO for my Master's in Public Administration and am currently a clinic manager in Omaha, but I have also gotten involved in a lot of nonprofit work recently.  I'm a board member for Restored Hope. This is my first trip to Africa.

Steve's other son was supposed to go on this trip as well (instead of Adam).  However, he decided to not go on the trip, which led to Adam joining the team in the 11th hour.  In hindsight, we see that God was at work in forming our team because we needed a welder on this trip, which we had no idea we would need initially. 

Plan for the trip:

We are planning to build a water tower in Mali (actually improve upon an existing one that is insufficient).  It sounds like this will involve work with concrete and also some welding. Adam got a lot of experience welding when he went to Mali previously, so he will probably get to use his welding skills again! We will also be doing some maintenance/repair work at Bethel Bible College, which might include roof repairs, painting, etc.  I think we might get to spend some time at the hospital. 

Every day we are there is considered a “work day” except for days when we travel (long van ride), and we won’t work on Sunday (we will attend church Sunday).  There are a couple days where we take a break in the work day to go to the market, go to the hospital (we are taking several supplies/donations with us to give to the hospital, and we will be asked to donate blood), and we may find time to visit the Sababu Clothing company, which I’ll talk about in another post.  For the most part, we will spend our time doing construction-type work.  I’m glad we will be working hard, and I hope we are able to accomplish a lot.  One time Andy made the comment that he would have never signed up for this if it was going to end up being a vacation-type of trip.  I think everyone on our team has this same mentality, so we should be productive.  Plus, people in Koutiala will see what a group of Christians are doing for them without asking anything in return. 

I packed our suitcases this weekend and cleaned house for the girl who will be staying here while we are gone.  Packing was a  bit of a challenge since I like to over pack.  We are allowed to check 2 bags; however, we are only supposed to use 1 of those bags so that we can take donations in the other bag.  If you’d like to donate anything, please let me know.  We are taking some computers and computer equipment, lots of popcorn, parmesan cheese (it was requested!), and we found out that the people who live in Koutiala love baseball caps, so I picked up several at Walmart today to donate, and I think Andy is going to get a few from work to donate.