Natural Giftings

One of our mission objectives here in Paraguay is the operation of Tape Mission Experience, which is a internship program for young adults interested in further pursuing a call into missions. Along with exposing these young folks to a whole new culture, introducing them to what living here entails, and studying current trends in missions, we want each intern to come away with a sense of their natural giftings and how God can use these for His glory as related to the Great Commission.

Hollie is the current Super Intern, having lived here more than two months now. She's been participating and aiding in various areas of the ministry. In an effort to hone in on her specific talents, we've been "chatting" and focusing on what she does best. It's easy to get into the frame of mind that every missionary is the same, and all of them are really talkative, overbearing, jump-out-there-and-make-a-new-friend-on-the-bus kinds of people like me. Well, bless her heart, Hollie is a sweet little Southern gal who just doesn't tend to holler a hello at every person she passes, like some of us.... So we're working on using the strengths and tendencies she does have, within a missions capacity.

This sounds all "serious-like," but it's really been fun, at least for us. See, Hollie prefers to be behind the scenes making kool-aid and baking cookies and helping with set-up and clean-up and things along these lines. Who doesn't need help like that on the mission field? She's started what we're affectionately calling the Muffin Ministry, where she shares her baking talents with someone who needs to sense God's love in a tangible way.

This past week we visited a lady whose father had just passed away, and Hollie took a fresh batch of muffins. Then we made some home visits and she whipped up a batch of potato salad. Some youth came by to visit another night, and Hollie jumped in there to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course, we feel an obligation to the people of Paraguay to test her preparations before releasing them to the unsuspecting ministry field, so we make sure everything is okay before she hands out her baked goods. Alright, I made that last part up, but I WANT to sample all her yummy kitchen creations! And now she's learning a whole new set of Spanish vocabulary, like "Rico!" (delicious) and "MAS!" (more)

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