Kilimanjaro

First Thoughts

I had an absolutely incredible experience trekking up Mt. Kilimanjaro! The journey to climb the highest point in Africa began early last fall when I learned that the ministry I’m working with, Engineering Ministries International, was creating a team to climb the mountain as a fundraiser toward an office building project. Since I love experiencing the majesty and wildness of God’s creation first hand, I was immediately drawn to the possibility of joining the team. Soon after joining the team, Jesus started to teach me about trusting Him, and joining Him on His mountain…I found that the greatest adventure came through prayer as Jesus illustrated His will for my life during the preparation for the climb! I can see the way He brought me to a huge turning point in my life!

Leaving the office

Arriving at Kilimanjaro Int’l Airport, Tanzania

Our team of 14 climbers arrived in Arusha, Tanzania a couple days before the climb officially began to gather ourselves and check gear. We had 7 climbers from the eMi East Africa office, 2 from the Colorado Springs office, and 5 others with varying affiliations to eMi. It was great to have time to meet each other and relax after running around crazy getting work done before the climb! We also had time to talk about what we felt God was doing in our lives related to the climb, and established that our first goal was bringing God glory in everything we did. We left the hotel on January 21 to begin an 8-day trek, on the Lemosho route, up Mt. Kilimanjaro (“Kili”)!

The view from our hotel. Mt. Meru is on the left and Kilimanjaro is on the horizon in the center

Day 1

We spent 3 hours riding in Toyota Land Cruisers (the “Workhorse of Africa”) through the country side and up the lower slopes of Kili until the roads were too rough to continue. At that point we got out and started to hike…”Pole, Pole (Slowly, Slowly),” which proved to be laughingly slow! We hiked through the Cultivation Zone, or farmland, and entered the Rainforest. When we stopped for our first break, we asked if we could pick up the pace, our guide said sure – little did we know that we were about to climb one of the steepest hills of the hike! We camped that first night in the rainforest and started to acquaint ourselves with the routine we would have for the rest of the hike…

Disclaimer: the details I’m about to share will make our trek sound rather plush… which it was, but I’ll also say that without the help of our guides and porters few of us would have finished the climb. Each morning we were awakened at 6:30am by our “waiter” who brought tea and coffee. Then at 7:00 we were given hot water for “washing” – I don’t know how much it really helped, but it felt nice! At 7:30 we had a breakfast of toast, porridge, and fruit. Then we hit the trail by 8:30ish. We always hiked for the morning, but around 12:00 we would round the corner and see a table with chairs set up and food waiting for us! When we arrived at camp sometime in the afternoon, we were given water for washing again, followed a few minutes later by tea and snack. For dinner each evening we started with soup, and had a carb rich main course. After dinner we would hang out in the dining tent where we would share about the day, have devotions, and more hot drinks. Also, for the first five evenings, I worked diligently on a pair of sheepskin mittens for the summit.

Photo by David R. Hoskinson

Day Two

We hiked through the Rainforest, and passed into the Heath Zone, which was covered with heather and other tall shrubs; then we passed in the Moorland Zone which often had similar vegetation to the Heath, just smaller – though there were some plants in the Moorland that are unique to Kilimanjaro! As I looked through the thousands of photos people took, I realized we all had a lot of energy still because we took a ton of pictures this day! We had a lot of uphill, but we’re still on the lower slopes of the mountain. The most spectacular sight came as we rounded a corner and saw the summit in full view! Camp that night was down at the beginning of a large plateau with an incredible view of the mountain! The sun was out when we arrived at camp, and many of us did laundry, but the sun went down sooner than we expected and most of our clothes froze that night!

Lunch Table. Photo by David R. Hoskinson

Sewing Mittens

Group Devotions

Day Three

I think that Day Three was one of my favorites, at least as far as the hike. We spent most of the morning hiking across the Shira Plateau straight toward the mountain. The hike itself was easy allowing for a lot of great conversation, and there’s something about that kind of scenery that I really love! About an hour into the hike we crossed a stream with a bit of a pool, so I jumped in! I think outside of summiting that was my only other “physical” goal on the climb – to swim in a mountain stream! Late morning we started hiking up the mountain which was just really beautiful…I might say that a lot in this post. When we were still about an hour from camp, we could already see it up the valley as we walked along the side of some really unique cliffs. That camp was really cool, and probably my favorite – it was at 13,500ft and reminded me of mountaineering camps in National Geographic! I remember having some really good conversations and enjoying the scenery. That was also the first time we really felt we were at the base of the mountain.

Arriving at camp. Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Sewing Mittens

Day Four

We spent the morning hiking to 15,000ft! That was the highest all but one of us had ever been. We left the Moorland Zone pretty early, and entered the Alpine Desert Zone (think sparse with jagged rocks strewn across gravel). We had lunch at a landmark called Lava Tower, which rises about 150 feet vertically from where we ate. We stayed there for about 1 ½ hours to acclimatize and to see how we reacted to the altitude…I had a bit of a headache that stuck with me until the last day. Then we descended through the Alpine Desert and into an area of the Moorland Zone which we describe as “Mario Land!” It had a lot of low vegetation with tall strange trees that are unique to Kilimanjaro. We camped that night around 13,000ft at the base of the imposing Barranco Wall.

Lava Tower

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Still sewing mitts! Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Day Five

We climbed up Barranco Wall! As a whole, it was a pretty easy climb, partly because we had to stop many times to let groups of porters pass (we gained a whole new appreciation for our porters that day!), but also, it was mainly hiking with a few places we had the scramble. At the top of the wall we stopped for a few minutes with a great view of the savannah on one side, and of the mountain on the other… we got some great group pictures using the mountain as the backdrop! We hiked down then up…then way down, and way up! I think that was the steepest trail we hiked! We camped that night at Karanga Camp (13,200ft), and if I remember right, we were in the clouds for most of the afternoon, but then had a great view of the mountain….we just had a ton of great views!

 Here’s a little more on the mittens: I bought a sheepskin when I was on my project trip in Kenya last year with the intent of sewing warm mittens for the climb. Well, I put it off for too long, so I only had pieces cut out at the beginning of the climb. As I mentioned before, I worked every night on those mitts, and finally completed them at Karanga Camp!

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Day Six

This day we had our shortest hike – to the last camp before summiting! I think we all felt like we were marching to the front lines! Barafu Camp is at 15,300ft and sits on a pretty exposed ridge – to give some perspective, the highest point in the continental U.S. is Mt. Whitney at 14,500ft! One of my clearest memories from that camp is looking out, as we talked, and realizing the clouds were several thousand feet below us! After lunch we were told to sleep as much as we could before dinner, come to dinner, and then to sleep some more, because we would wake up at 10pm and start hiking to the summit at 11pm! I slept for about an hour before leaving the tent to have a quiet time. I was actually able to call my parents and talk with them for about 10 minutes. In hindsight I think that conversation, and the prayers that were prayed during that call, were key in helping me summit. Unsure of when the connection would be lost, we prayed together, in which my dad prayed Proverbs 3:5-6 over me. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.” Immediately after praying this verse, the connection was lost. This is one of my life-verses, that somehow I forgot momentarily – when I was reminded of it, I knew that everything would be alright, that I could trust my Father, and that He would direct my path that night!

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Day 6½-7 – Summit Day!

We woke up at 10pm and ate “breakfast” in enthusiastic anticipation – we all said millet porridge never tasted as good as it did then! We then did our best to choose the right layers to wear for the beginning of the climb, so we wouldn’t get cold, but also wouldn’t sweat. Then we packed our daypacks with only the necessary water, snacks, and additional layers we thought we would need. And off we went – the “Final Accent” was underway! It’s hard to describe the excitement we all had as we started out, mixed with a little anxiety, but both were regulated with “Pole, pole.” We were told when we left to not focus on the trail ahead…to mainly keep our gaze down and just focus on hiking. After the first ½ mile, the trail was almost entirely switchbacks, which meant a lot of back and forth. We knew that the hike would be 6-7 hours to the summit, and that it would become steadily more difficult, so we did our best to listen to all the advice our guides gave us. I did pretty well until we reached about 17,000ft, then I started to have a hard time getting enough oxygen and was becoming really light-headed. I was able to give my pack to one of the “summit porters” who accompanied us for that very reason, which helped a lot! Even then, the next 2,000ft became one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and was probably the worst I’ve ever felt. All I remember is trying to plod along, feeling like I might pass out with only a seconds notice. But throughout the hike I listened to worship music, and there were several Bible verses, including Proverbs 3:6-7, that I repeated over and over…in that sense it was actually a really cool and intimate time trusting and relying on the Lord! The whole team was also really intentional about encouraging one another! When we finally reached the rim of the crater, a wave of emotions overwhelmed me as I saw the culmination of things the Lord was working in me, overcame one of the most difficult things I have ever attempted, and heard the Lord minister to me through the song that was playing. I just sat down and started crying!

Sunrise at summit

At Stella Point with Jeff. Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

That point is called Stella Point, which is about 500 vertical feet from the summit, but was still a 45 minute hike. I was really glad that someone just picked me up and never asked if I thought I could make it. Off we went; still all 14 of us! That 45 minutes just as hard as the last 2,000ft, but was so rewarding! And that being said, when we reached Uhuru Peak (19,341ft!), I started crying all over again – and it really started flow when, Jeff, my supervisor at eMi, came over and gave me a hug. Surrounded by the rugged beauty of bare rock and majestic glaciers, and the stillness of the morning hours, my heart rejoiced being up there! … though my body was frozen, hurting, and oxygen deprived! As we walked back down to Stella Point, we watched as the sun rose over the African plain – it was absolutely beautiful! After taking more pictures at Stella Point, and soaking the experience in, we started the hike down. It was only then that I realized how far we hiked during the night. We could see the camp far below, and hiking/sliding down the screed (loose gravel), which was frozen solid during the ascent, still took nearly 3hrs!

After we finally reached the camp, we had about two hours to rest, eat, and pack. Then we continued hiking down to about 10,000ft – that’s a total of 4,000ft up and 9,000ft down in one day! All in all it took about 13hrs of hiking! But it was great to get to that last camp around noon and to just relax…for hours!

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Day Eight

We woke up to the same breakfast, but as we exited the breakfast tent, all the guides and porters were lined up to sing! They sang several traditional Swahili songs and songs of congratulations…including a bit of a dance-off. Then they came and pulled all of us in to dance with them! It was so much fun to let loose and dance – even though we were exhausted! The hike down through the Rainforest was really relaxed – all of us really satisfied with the accomplishment behind us!

Last 100 meters! Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Photo by David R. Hoskinson.

Final Thoughts

I’ve had nearly a month to reflect on the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro. In fact, tomorrow is one month to the day that we began the climb! While I am still awestruck by the beauty on the mountain and the joy of the adventure, two things rise far higher in my heart. The first is that we became part of one another’s lives for over a week, eating together, sharing tents, encouraging one another as we hiked, and building up one another in our love for Jesus – that was incredible! The most significant however, was the way Jesus invited me from the very beginning to come up on “the mountain” with Him, and to give Him control in our relationship – to trust Him with my joys and fears, and to let Him take me on His adventures – where He both weeps and finds joy!

first update!!!

I’ve been in Uganda for two weeks now, which is crazy to think about, so much has happened since I left Kentucky a month ago. The Lord has been so faithful through the journey to get here; He has stretched me a bit and has taught me so much about Himself. I’m also fully funded which is a huge praise! Here’s a brief overview of the last month and then I’ll give some highlights. I flew out to Colorado in early August, where I spent about a week and a half with friends and family, before attending a week long orientation at the main EMI office in Colorado Springs. From orientation we (five other interns and myself) flew to Uganda, where we met up with three other interns, and have spent most of the last two weeks getting to know the culture, city (including how to get around), and the EMI office – we did start working toward the end of last week, which took a bit to get used to after having a month long break!

COLORADO

The time in Colorado was great! It was so good to catch up with friends and family that I had not seen in while, and to relax after the rush to get everything together at home before leaving. During that time, I had multiple “random” conversations (let’s call them divine appointments!) with people about the trip, or who knew people at EMI, or who had gone to Uganda themselves! Orientation in Colorado Springs was an incredible time for me personally. There were about 35 other interns heading to the seven global offices, and we all hit it off right away – after two days it felt like we had been there a week! We had several sessions a day about topics ranging from EMI’s history and vision, to culture, to our personalities and spiritual gifts. I just share one highlight from the week, though there were many! Typically I really dislike personality assessments because I feel like I’m being categorized and placed in a man-made box – and we took three (personality, strengths, and spiritual gifts). However, this time the Lord really used them to teach me about His love and plans for me. After taking the personality assessment everything seemed to match my expectation: stable and conscientious, with “peacemaker” as a description. I was thrown off though, because it said I’m similar to Moses (while Moses was steadfast and faithful to God, he asked a lot of questions first to try to understand how things would play out), so I decided to pray about it. While I was praying, the Lord said to me, “I called Moses friend, and I call you friend too. I know how I have made you, and there is nothing lacking in your personality. I made you how I want you.” That was really important for me to hear from Him, because for a long time I’ve thought something was lacking in my personality (that I need to be more outgoing for example) and that He wanted more from me, which made it hard for me to receive His love. Leading up to the trip, the most consistent things that people spoke when they’ve prayed for me were to rest in God and to be myself, and they prayed that the people of Uganda will receive “Paul Smith” – so it was fitting in that light too. God knows what He is doing!!!

UGANDA

So I’m living in Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda, and is about 50 miles north of the equator. Right now we’re in the rainy season, which isn’t as bad as I expected, but means rain at some point every day and most fruits are in season (aka, the best pineapple I’ve ever had…everyday)! The temperature is in the 80s during the day and 60s at night. Kampala is really hilly, so most views are about a mile, but in some places it opens up and you can see Lake Victoria. To get around we usually ride “Mutatus” (15-passenger taxis, though we’ve had 19 in one), sometimes we catch rides with the staff, or the backup option is “Boda-Bodas” (motorcycles that are everywhere and can carry one person – or 5 people…we’ve also seen bedframes, coffins, huge boxes, a 4ft fish, etc.)! I would guess that 20% of the roads are paved and the largest I’ve seen are 4-lanes but most are 2-lanes with about 4-5 lanes of traffic! Needless to say, we’re not allowed to drive while we’re here. People here are very hospitable and kind, though somewhat reserved until you get to know them. Yesterday, while I was walking with another intern, several kids came and walked with us and started talking to us in Luganda (the local language, though everyone I’ve talked to knows English) and had a lot of fun teaching us new words and laughing when we had trouble pronouncing them correctly!

As far as EMI goes, it has been great getting to know the staff! There are 11 full-time missionary staff, about 12 local staff, and the 9 interns (of the interns 6 are from the States, 2 from Australia, and 1 from Kenya). We have office devotions/ prayer each morning with worship on Friday mornings, and every day we eat lunch together, which is prepared by our cook, Janet (who is an amazing cook!). During the first week everyone shared their testimony – it was awesome to hear how Jesus has revealed himself and called each of us to himself! He is worthy of all praise and glory, and still he reaches down to call each person to come to him!

This week work is getting into full swing! Five of the interns and most of the staff are out on their project trips and the rest of us are working on several smaller projects for the time being. You can actually be praying about my project trip. The plan is to go to Livingstone International University for a rather substantial design; however, things may get pushed back to next semester. So pray that logistics will get worked out, but if the trip doesn’t happen I have plenty to work on here. Currently, I’m working on a design for an aircraft hangar, which is similar to some of the work I was doing at my previous job!

Aside from work, I’m praying about where to go to church and where to volunteer outside of work. We are actually allotted volunteer time during the workweek to work with other ministries around Kampala. I think at this point I’ll share another highlight! There’s a group of six girls from the States that recently graduated university and are working with people in the slums of Kampala, through a ministry they founded called “Doors.” Currently they have five boys living with them and sponsor five more at boarding schools (they also have a house mom and her kids, two “uncles” – older guys to take care of the boys, and a guard at the house). They got to know the past interns and came over for a cookout the other night. On Saturday nights they have worship at their house and we went this past weekend…it was great! I felt a lot of freedom to really pour out my heart to the Lord and worship him, and I know it was the same for everyone else! I got to talk with a guy name Henry while I was there that I had actually met earlier that day while working with some kids from the slums. He used to live in the slums, but came to know the Lord through the ministry of a local church and now wants to go to Bible school to become a missionary! When working with the kids that morning it seemed a little fruitless, but after talking to Henry I realized that each of these boys has a story like that waiting to unfold, they just need the love of Jesus to be shown to them! The girls invited us to help with evening bible studies at the house (they want male influence for the boys), and to help them in the slums during our volunteer time. Please pray for sensitivity to the Lord as I seek His direction about what level to get involved with this ministry.

Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers! God has been so faithful calling me here, and orchestrating everything surrounding this trip, including your partnership. I am so thankful for the Body of Christ and that God has not sent me here unsupported, but has called us to walk together in the ministry of his good news to the world, and specifically Uganda. All praise and glory belong to our Lord and King, Jesus! Amen.

PRAYER POINTS
– Praise the Lord for safe travels and all the great things that have happened so far!
– Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in day-to-day interactions and longer term relationships (including church and other ministries)
– Confidence (ministering, getting out into the city, talking to people, design/drafting, etc.)
– The projects trips out right now…pray for unity, opportunity to minister to the people they encounter, and health (a few of the interns got sick)
– Logistics for the Livingstone International University project to work out
– For team unity and purpose…sometimes things seem a little shallow among the interns and I know this is a time that we can go really deep if we set ourselves apart!
– Please pray for intimacy with the Lord, especially in Bible study and prayer

In Christ Jesus our Lord,

Paul Smith

PAULinUGANDA2012@gmail.com

a dream, a journey, a reality

About three and a half years ago, while I was in my intro to Civil Engineering class at the University of Kentucky, I heard about an organization called Engineering Ministries International (eMi). It was then that a dream of mine started to take substance…

When I began university, I knew that engineering fit my natural giftings well, but what really excited me is that engineering opens a lot of doors to serve the Lord by providing basic needs for others – especially in the developing world. So I started developing an idea of what that would look like, and how to make it happen. That’s when I found out about eMi! After my professor mentioned eMi in class, I looked it up and found that my idea already existed…so then it was just a matter of applying!

eMi is a “Christian ministry that designs facilities that serve the poor in developing countries. These facilities (including hospitals, orphanages, schools, clean water projects and more) directly impact communities by meeting physical needs and communicating God’s love in a practical way. We partner with Christian workers, pastors, and other non-profits who have a vision to help the poor and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I asked how eMi directly impacts the Kingdom of God, I was told that their goal is to “equip, empower, and enable existing ministries to do what they are already doing better [rather than doing the same thing].” When I heard that, I knew I had caught the vision!

So, in the fall of 2009, I began praying about joining eMi as an intern, both to walk out the dream that was forming, and also to learn how I can use engineering to serve the Kingdom of God. As a side note, earlier in my university career, I took a semester worth of social work classes because I was having a hard time understanding how I could really serve and interact with people through engineering. Through that I discovered I’m not made for social work, and that engineering really is a good fit! That being said, eMi sounded great, it fit exactly what I was imaging and helped me understand how the Lord can use engineering for His purposes! My heart has always been to seek and serve the Lord with my whole being, so I didn’t want to step into it just because it sounded right, I decided to wait until Jesus led the way. After 3 years of praying – and honestly, I prayed a little less as time went on – I was hanging on to just a thread of hope that I would ever join eMi.

This past January, after a time of prayer and fasting, I heard from the Lord to apply! By that point in time, I felt a little unsure about it – but I decided to obey. Over the next few months I was a little apprehensive because “this is actually happening,” up until I was accepted to serve in Uganda this Fall! When I sat down to write support letters, I began to see how God was bringing everything from the last 3 years together; how I had all but given up hope on this dream and now He placed it in my hands! I would just sit there and say, “God, you are awesome!”

To bring it full circle (at least so far), I am writing this blog from my desk at eMi’s East Africa office in Uganda! The time from my acceptance until now has been full of learning to trust God and to understand that He really knows me, He loves me, and made me how I am on purpose. Now I know that He has called me here and is leading me in the plans He has for me in His kingdom. God is so good, and I love Him so much! His desire is for each one of us to know Him as He knows us, and to walk with Him as a child walks with his/her father. Your Father loves you so much and wants you to know that you are very special to Him, and He wants you to go on walks with Him – He knows the right way J !!!

For His glory and the glory of His Son, Jesus!