About Dokimoi Ergatai

Who is DE?

We are an organization of students committed to learning through service and serving through what we learn. We focus on developing appropriate techology to meet the physical needs of people in other countries. We currently have projects in Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, and Guatemala.

Vision Statement

Service for today...servant leaders for tomorrow.

Mission Statement

Dokimoi Ergatai enables Messiah College students to apply their academic curriculum to service projects. Collaborating with faculty, staff, and our community, we initiate, nurture, and oversee the development of appropriate technologies for implementation in needy areas abroad.

Objectives

We seek to...

• Foster lifelong commitments to Christian vocation and service through peer and advisor mentoring and discipleship to Christ
• Integrate and enrich the academic and spiritual lives of students from all disciplines by making wise use of their skills to serve the underprivileged around the world
• Demonstrate God's love by creating appropriate technologies that meet physical needs, while valuing the local culture
• Develop long-term partnerships in the communities where we serve, while creating technologies that local people can use, maintain, and, when appropriate, replicate
• Share the gospel of Christ in word and deed so that others might come to know him

Guidelines

• To recruit advisors from the College and community who share their expertise while working alongside students
• To form and organize a body of information to reference past projects, inform new members, and facilitate future projects
• To administer finances, publications, documentation, logistics and communications for the various projects

How We Got Started

In 1996 the West Africa Project began as a way for engineering students to apply what they were learning in a service environment. After months of work, a team of students and faculty traveled to Burkina Faso, Africa and installed a photovoltaic power system.

The team returned with the vision to continue similar work but to expand the work locally as well as abroad. In addition, the team of engineers grew to include students of all majors, with each using his or her individual skills to meet the organization’s needs more completely.

In 2000, the name Dokimoi Ergatai, Greek for “Approved Workers,” was adopted. This comes from 2 Timothy 2:15, which says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." DE has been growing since then, with the Solar (now “Energy”) and Trike teams beginning in 2000, Pump (now “Irrigation”) in 2001, and Staff in 2002. In 2004, DE had its growth spurt. The Staff team about tripled in size (from 6 to about 20), becoming the Staff group, and the Publications, Information Management, Logistics, and Finance teams emerged. The Energy group also split into Burkina Faso, TCZ (Theological College of Zimbabwe), and Microenterprise. Also in 2004, Water for the World merged with DE, expanding the organization even further and giving us active projects on three continents. DE hopes to see this growth continue in the years to come.

Opportunities

Leadership Positions - Either in running a specific project or overseeing different administrative aspects of the organization, you can improve your leadership skills in a warm, caring environment.

Professional Experience - Get the chance to apply the knowledge that you are currently learning in the classroom into a real world scenario.

Team Dynamics - Working with your peers on different projects, you can increase your relational abilities.

Cross-Cultural Experience - You may have the possibility to join a team that is implementing a project anywhere around the world.

Mission Support - Interact with missionaries by correspondence and prayer, and come to experience their everyday struggles and desires.


What We're Doing

West Africa Pump Project (WAPP) - Implemented in August 2000, this two-part project supplies additional water to a clinic in Burkina Faso, Africa and improves the irrigation system in a handicap rehabilitation garden.

Tricycle Project - This project focuses on improving the design of a hand-powered tricycle that is used by polio victims in West Africa.

Luampa Project - Using a photovoltaic system, this project seeks to replace a desiel generator at a Zambia hospital for which fuel requires half of its yearly budget.

Mahadaga Solar Project - A second solar power system is in the works for the Handicap Project in Mahadaga, Burkina Faso. Planned for implementation in January of 2004, this system will provide power for a new trade school that will teach the handicapped participants job skills and minister Christ's love to them.

Real Impact

"The Association of Gourma Churches is holding a convention here at Mahadaga in a couple of weeks. Hundreds of people are expected and they have asked if water can be obtained from the mission station. This will be a good test for the pump....
There were over 1,000 people there today...About 400 people were camping and we didn't run out of water once! Praise the Lord..."
-- Jenny Fallon, Mahadaga, Burkina Faso

"In September, Boureima, whose legs are both affected by polio, received a tricycle (made at the center and adapted to this size as a child) in order that he can cover the distance between his home and the school more easily. He is a good student and is in CM2 (grade 6) the last grade taught at the elementary school."
-- Francoise Peadeau, Mahadaga, Burkina Faso