by Emily Hinebauch

Frequently I am asked the question what do you do over there?  When they say over there, they of course, are referring the fact that I live on the other side of the ocean.  I’ll have to admit that question is hard to answer some times, because my variety of tasks or problems to solve through out the day never seems to be the same.  I have tried on a few different hats here on our team to help out in whatever way I can to keep moving forward over a few speed bumps on our journey.

Take the month of December for example; my first week was spent teaching two national translators basic computer and typing skills in a village called Igoi.  While I was there I was able to teach some of the children in the village what noise a sheep makes while making a drama of when the shepherds went and saw Jesus in Bethlehem.

Upon my return on December 8, I was able to jump back into the routine of serving my team in the role of logistics.  This is a role I love, because it enables me to serve not only my team mates from the U.S. but our national translators that come and go from town as well as any visitors we have come.  Logistics covers a very broad base of “things” so it is not like it is the same every day, which brings adventure, early mornings and problem solving moments.

The most recent hat I have borrowed for a few weeks is the hat of finance.  Not the finance as far as making budgets reconciling accounts or handing out large sums of money, but the part where I get to enter data, prepare salaries and stuff envelopes.  Right up my alley as far as tasks that I also enjoy.  What a great opportunity to serve.

So my answer to the frequently ask question of what do I do over here is fairly simple:  I serve where needed on a daily basis.  I multi task; I stretch a bit to remember that flexibility in a team is very needed. I ask God everyday to give me the attitude of a servant. I ask God to give me ears to hear what His desires for my day are.  By no means to I claim to be an expert at any of these tasks or attitudes, but I rest freely in the arms of God knowing that is His a gentle teacher, all forgiving Father, and confrontational Friend when I need an attitude readjustment.