Paraguay: -MISSIONS INTERNSHIP-

Asunción

Q & A with ACTION missionary Anja Goertzen:

1. What are some ministry tasks that you want the intern to accomplish while serving with you?

• Serve the local church and/or ministry in their daily routine (for example: cooking, cleaning and maintenance in nutrition centers, interacting with children and youth from the community, and organizing recreational activities in the different ministries).
• Facilitate special activities to be implemented in the local church and/or ministry, enriching the existing program (for example: Kids Day Camp, special evangelism and celebration events, community projects, and missions trips together with the local church towards more unreached areas in the interior of Paraguay.
• Give testimony of God's work in their personal life, both sharing publicly and by actions of love (speaking in Church service, with ministry workers, or with children, youth and families, followed up with actions that confirm God's work).

2. What are some key lessons from your ministry and walk with the Lord that you want to impart to the interns to help them as they consider their own individual call to missions or vocational ministry?

• Learn to hear God's Voice, to look outside "the box" that we assume exists, and be prepared to do WHATEVER He asks.
• God calls us to plant the seed of the Gospel. He’s in charge of the rest; He may/may not use us in the growing process.
• Loving God is loving others, and that requires ACTION: spending time to listen and getting to know them, serving them and going the extra mile, speaking to them what God gives us to say.

3. What criteria do you use to measure the effectiveness of an intern serving with you?

• Attitude of servanthood: how much is he/she willing to come alongside wherever needed, with a happy heart.
• Willingness to learn: as a short-termer, it's most often he/she who will need more time to learn about the ministry and culture/country, in order to help.
• Holistic testimony: he/she lives a life (way of communicating, fruits of the Spirit, and life choices) in tune with profession of faith.

Specific skills an intern may expect to develop by the time the internship is completed:

• Ability to communicate in any way possible, and to interact with people of different ages and cultures: ministry work can vary from very small children, to youth, adults and even elderly; some speak Spanish fluently, others only Guaraní (indigenous) language.
• Openness to share the Gospel and personal testimony: being placed in constant practice and improving in this skill.
• Insight gained into third-world culture, seeing the (sometimes extreme) needs of people, and different ways that the local church works to minister to these needs.

For more information including pricing visit: actiontrips.org · actioninternational.org/missionaries/goertzen