Moments with Jim

If there is something that I appreciate in this world, it is someone God has blessed with a mountain of wisdom. I love questioning these people about their own experiences and ask their opinions on what I should be doing differently, or what I could be doing differently. One of these people that I appreciate so much is Jim Panaggio – ReachGlobal missionary of 10 years here in Peru. Jim has been helping our team through the process of getting to Tarma, casting vision, problem solving and simply doing ministry here in the provinces of Peru. He is a man of many years of ministry experience and cultural understanding, he is a husband and a father, and his years as a pastor have given him a very interesting and unique perspective of what we are trying to do here. He has been very helpful. Jim arrived in Tarma with me Monday, and has spent the last couple of days observing, counseling and encouraging us in our work here. One thing I appreciate about Jim is his desire that everyone is working within their own strengths, and emphasizing that everyone in our team has different strengths, so it doesn’t make sense for us all to be doing the same thing.
One of the things that I have been praying over this past month is my involvement at the English Institute. As much as I have enjoyed teaching classes there, the outcome has not been what I had hoped, nor does it seem to be lining up with our overall vision. I will be spending the rest of this month evaluating, but one thing that Jim suggested was taking my “strength” of knowing English to the streets. Instead of teaching in a classroom, I could use my ability to teach English as an “in” of sorts, with individuals. There are many girls at Chichos who have a desire to learn English, and I could use English to motivate them to spend time with me, and thus be able to grow relationships and talk more with them about Spiritual matters.
Not yet sure how I would go about doing this, but it something that I will definitely be praying about. Jim’s visit has definitely been encouraging, and it has helped me get back into the swing of things a little easier after having been out-of-the-loop for a week. I confess I’m a little anxious to finish this round of Bible studies, to get through Christmas and start afresh in 2010. I’m ready to see what God has in store for my second year on the field. So let’s get started with it already!