Dear Servant Opportunities:

     Serving with Wycliffe was an experience I will always treasure. I started out by going as a Guest Helper for only 2 months at a time, 3 years apart, to Colombia (twice) and Papua New Guinea, but my heart was hooked, so when my job evaporated I jumped at the chance to go full time.  I highly recommend going for a month or 2 or 3 or 6, just to get a look and see how you fit it in, without necessarily signing up for a "long" time, then not working out for whatever reasons, and coming home early (or on schedule) feeling like a dud. Encourage prospective seniors to go.

     While I was in Colombia, a family came for a month: he was a CPA, she was a bookkeeper, and they had 2 grade-school kids. He did the annual audit (which would have been paid for professionally if this family had not come), she helped in the finance office, and they all had a ball, sightseeing both in the Bogota area and out at Lomalinda. See, only one month, but what a valuable help and experience!! The lesson, to me, was what God spoke to Moses: "What is that in your hand?" "A rod." "Use it!" God will use what He has given you, if you let Him. As a senior, you don't have to "retrain" (necessarily) to be not only a blessing, but blessed.

[Servant Opportunities Network knows of 24 opportunities for CPAs.]

     When I first arrived at Lomalinda I was assigned to the print shop, having been a newspaper typesetter (glorified typist) for the previous 9 years. There had been no typist available for over 6 months, so the manuscripts accumulated in a dusty drawer. In the 2 months I was there I finished 5 manuscripts: Mark, Luke, Philippians, Genesis, and one other, all in different languages. What a shame that typists at home feel "I'm not missionary material, I'm only a typist" and that attitude delayed the printing of God's Word for these various language groups by that amount of time.

[Mission agencies have listed over 300 opportunities for secretaries, word processors/typists and general office workers.]

     Another time, a bookkeeper was needed at the main center, so a linguist (a bookkeeper in his former career) had to be called from his tribal location for 3 years until a bookkeeper became available! That language work was delayed for 3 years because some bookkeeper felt "I'm not missionary material," thinking that means preaching/translating.

[Our database contains over 100 opportunities for bookkeepers.]

     While I was at Lomalinda, the electrician came to the end of his term and left, leaving no one to keep the phones working. In 3 weeks barely half the phones were working about half the time (call out but not in, or vice versa). In the jungle it takes constant tweaking and maintenance, but someone has to be there to do it. Telephones save an incredible amount of time, over hoofing it from office to office, thus speeding the work on God's Word.

[If you are a telecommunications engineer or technician, we can help you find a spot among 50 opportunities; over 100 opportunities for electricians.]

     Please use these stories if they will help convince some folks to GO! By the way, I always felt that Wycliffe took very good care of me, a novice, in my comings and goings to faraway places. I had had no previous flights anywhere, but I was always met at the airport and taken care of, not abandoned, so even though I didn't speak the national language (Colombia, Peru, PNG) I was never afraid.

Blessings on all of you who are trying to persuade other seniors to get up and DO something!