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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!

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