These words speak of one of our core values: Going to Underserved Areas. Our teams bring a variety of gifts and skills to meet needs that have been prioritized by our local partners. We aim to serve only where we are needed. We avoid duplication of services and competing with other organizations through a [...]
Not long after His crucifixion and resurrection followers of Jesus proclaimed that He was a man accredited by God, through miracles, signs, and wonders. These were acts of God that people bore witness to and benefited from. People marveled, overwhelmed with amazement, the impact was qualitative and quantitative: “He has done everything well”, they [...]
Guest Post by Melony Teague One of the core values of EMAS Canada is to make sure we provide more than just a quick fix in the areas in which we serve. The people we serve need local leadership to step up, and serve their communities. This is important because local leaders can lead [...]
Hospitals are complex. The image of patients on gurneys, swiftly pushed through corridors by doctors in scrubs and pulled by nurses, do not tell the full story. There is a backstage. Behind the drama of life-saving teams at work are critical resources hidden from the public eye. These are built and managed by workers [...]
Every New Year brings the hope of new beginnings, and it is when we renew our focus and energy for on-going pursuits. We set goals and plan. We pencil timelines into our calendars and fill them with colour-coded intentions. However, we arrived in 2022 during a prolonged pandemic with travel advisories we ignore at [...]
We are two years into the COVID-19 pandemic (official WHO declaration was March 11, 2020). This disease continues to pose challenges to our health systems. Its pathogen is disrupting our way of life by frequent and unpredictable mutations that threaten to scuttle our plans for a return to normality. How we practice our faith, [...]
Trust is indispensable to good relationships for individuals and organizations. Commerce depends on it and so many other things in life too. We look for reliability in so much of our day-to-day lives at work, at school, and at home. EMAS Canada has relied on trust to deliver healthcare, medical aid, and education by [...]
The foundation on which we build our future as an organization must withstand the next pandemic and whatever upheavals are yet to come. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many lives and caused organizations to rethink how they function. There is much talk about reengineering, rejigging, agility, resilience, and pivoting. How do we emerge from [...]
Vision is what we see through the eyes of faith as God’s big picture call to service for our lives. Mission is what we do about our vision. Mission produces results, and for that we must have a strategy that is operationally effective enough to propel our vision beyond our visible horizon. The apostle Paul [...]
When the movement led by Jesus’ first followers met with headwinds, some of its mobile teams were unable to journey across borders, so the pioneering leaders adapted quickly.1 Leaders met in faraway locations to draft letters addressing theological inquires from developing communities of faith.2 At least one letter was addressed to more than one [...]
“I was born at that hospital; I am from Gutu that is why I’m interested.” With these words, Prof. Feresu on last week’s video conference call linking Ontario, Gutu, and Harare, let me know she had a personal stake in Gutu Mission Hospital. She is now on the Gutu Mission Hospital Infrastructure team. She [...]
“Are you going to leave us after you finish building the clinic? Are you with us for the long run?” A village elder asked one of our team members at the early stages of our involvement in the community of Gambade. They had heard about NGOs that establish projects and programs then abandon them [...]
We waited patiently, there is no law against forbearance. However, there is a law against travel during the pandemic. But when we could no longer bear it, teams began to take steps to serve from a distance. We have been separated from our overseas friends and partners for far too long, but only in [...]
30 years ago, Tom Peters’ wrote the book “Thriving on Chaos”. It was even popular in Kenya where I read it in 1990. It was about flexibility as an essential for corporate survival in a world where customer preferences were so unpredictable that constant market volatility was the order of the day. The main [...]
There is an audacity that comes from certitude. This kind of conviction that drives action is deeply rooted and nothing can divert it. I am persuaded beyond all doubt that an ancient Jewish prophecy about God showing up and being available to everyone was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, I live and work with people [...]
In difficult times as has been with the pandemic-related restrictions, curfews, disease, deaths, income instability, and all the uncertainty we are still going through it is easy to become discouraged. God not only speaks tenderly to (re)assure us of His promises, but also plans prophylactically for our despondency by giving us work to do. Words [...]
It may have been an act of foolish pride or the custom of the day, but King Hezekiah exposed his royal treasures and military resources to a future enemy. It was part of a downward spiral of unfaithfulness to God accelerated by successive generations of poor leadership, which fractured the relationship between the kingdom [...]
The siege lasted seven years. It was brother against brother; the offspring of Abraham the Midianites through Keturah against the Israelites who were sons through Sarah. Israel went into total lockdown; everyone was confined to caves; such was the curfew that food preparation was a dangerous activity. The devastation felt like a swarm of [...]
Four labour-intensive projects in the Old Testament had similar ends: people connected with God; became worshipers or by the admission of their moral failure renewed their relationships with Him. These projects separated by decades and, at times centuries, were part of an overarching scheme to elevate Jerusalem into the spiritual Mecca for all humankind, [...]
Our teams have known the frustration of having willing hearts eager to serve held back by the restraints of international public health regulations and the laws that govern use of donor funds entrusted to us. Like everyone else, we long for freedom to travel and meet family and friends without masks. Yet, we face [...]