Skip to main content

Jack of all trades

I sit here, during rest time, with a needle between my teeth, quickly sewing a little Christmas gift for one of my children - thankful that I learned to sew as a teenager.  It made me think of the many skills required of me on the mission field.

Sewing up the holes in the mosquito nets...

Baking from scratch... with foreign ingredients... in a gas oven without temperature markings...

Driving the ministry van - a 15-passenger stick-shift full of children not wearing seat-belts...

Managing our finances - for our family and for ministries...

Keeping track of donors, prayer partners, and interested people...

Creating publications...

Repairing toilets, chairs, wheelchairs, buckets... (the list goes on)

... and I'm grateful that my parents intentionally taught us life-skills.  I can sit back and observe.  I can hammer a nail straight.  I can sew.  I can cook.  I can drive a stick-shift.  I can use a computer.  I can carry a tune.  I can speak in public.  I can play with children.  I can teach.  I can take photographs.  I can power-wash a house.  I can ice-skate (not a tremendously useful skill here in Northern Uganda!).  I can swim.  (I'm not saying that I'm great at any of these things, but I can do them, thanks to my parents' hard work while we were growing up.)

I'm thankful that my parents encouraged me to get formal education (a key to many doors in the developing world) but also challenged me to know how to take care of a household and work hard.

So, if you're thinking about going into missions - learn to do as many things as you possibly can.  You might be an engineer, but you should know how to cook.  You might be a doctor, but you should know how to hammer a nail.  You might be a farmer, but you should know how to create an Excel spreadsheet.

My most popular skill-set here? Baking.  My cookies have broken down barriers in many a setting.  I take cookies to the villages when we visit.  Even though cookies aren't culturally the normal thing to take on a visit, the women are so interested to see that I'm a normal woman who cooks for her family and for others.  (Don't worry, we also take soap and sugar - the more culturally "normal" hostess gifts.)

Things I wish I knew more about:
- solar power
- solar ovens
- water collection
- plumbing and electricity
- agriculture and animal husbandry
- web design
- NGO everything (politics, finances, accountability, etc.)
- animal health
- self-defense
- Biblical counseling
- alternative orphan care
- snakes

The list could continue, but maybe it'll serve someone who is preparing for the mission field!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl
4 comments
Read more

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d
6 comments
Read more

Amazing girls!

Gracie and Ana have taken to walking around the church together - Ana pushes Gracie's gait trainer as Gracie walks along. Between the two of them, they make a pretty efficient team (except for the steering part!). They love it and could do it for hours! Gracie has made amazing strides (no pun intended) in standing up - we'll get some video up soon of her standing, supporting herself ONLY with her right hand (her otherwise useless hand) - it's amazing! We didn't dream that we'd see her looking this strong and steady. Plus, now she's smiling and her little heart isn't pounding out of her chest with stress at the thought of standing up without human contact - God is SO good! Gracie went to music camp this summer at the Y which was somewhat fun for her, but definitely good to have her around other kids.
4 comments
Read more