The Nice Thing about My Job is . . .

 

May, 2002

 

There are, in fact, so many nice things.  Ever since January, when I received this assignment to work on our french evangelistic website for the Campus Ministry, I have been wondering when the honeymoon would wear off.  Usually with any assignment or job description, there are pluses and minuses.  In my present assignment I am blessed to have so many good things that the down side is really not that noticeable.

 

++I am working with words, learning to be a web magazine editor.

 

My parents will tell you that from toddlerhood onward, Catherine loved books and words.  At university I studied literature.  I had no idea at the time how God could use all of the millions of words that I crammed into my head.

 

At one point in my life, because of heath problems, I could actually sustain only a very limited amount of reading and writing on a daily basis.  I remember thinking that if the Lord chose to heal me and give me back the capacity to read for more than a few minutes a day, I would like to serve Him with my abilities to read and write.  Website editing is one fulfilment of that desire.

 

++I am working in French.

 

Since I moved to Ottawa a decade ago, I have always managed to have some portion of my working life with Campus Crusade in French.  At times, only a small minority of my work was in French.  This was often a frustration for a couple of reasons.  I dearly wanted to use my energies to reach french-speaking people.  I also needed to improve the level of my French in order to work with university-educated Francophones.

 

In working as an editor for our new french website, I find lots of opportunities to use my French daily.  What is more, in monitoring the quality of the website, I finally have a way to improve the quality of my own french language skills.  I can see an improvement already in the four months that I have been on this assignment!

 

++I am working to reach the francophone world with the gospel.

 

Our website is a french copy of an already existing english website.  It is geared for post-secondary students who are connected to the Internet.  It is envisioned that the french website will be the first of multiple foreign language versions of the same website.  We anticipate that the site will attract french-speaking young people not only in Canada, but in Europe, Africa, and the Antilles (West Indies).  It is a project that truly has a global scope.

 

++I am working on the frontiers of the known world.

 

Website evangelism is a new field that is just developing.  The medium of the Internet as well as the younger generation who use the Internet each present challenges for the evangelist:  AHow do we best reach people through this medium?@ AWhat are the opportunities and the limitations of this form of evangelism?@ AWhat grabs the attention of a 17-21 year-old web surfer long enough for us to point him towards Jesus?@

 

My present assignment requires me to be on a big learning curve right now.  I am developing language and computer skills.  I am learning about editing and project management.  I am also learning more about the people group that we are trying to reach: french-speaking, post-modern minded students.  The challenge of all of this learning is exhilarating, even if it is a bit overwhelming.

 

-- Do pray for the minuses.

 

C           The sheer volume of work to be done and the amount of learning in order to be effective in the task gets overwhelming sometimes.  Pray for health, strength and a focused mind.

C           Pray for balance with my family responsibilities.

C           Pray for wisdom in investing in face-to-face ministry opportunities with real people through church and an Alpha course.  I don=t presently have a lot of time for these relationships.

 

Again, a big thank you to all of you who, through your prayers and support, enable me to be engaged in the Lord=s work.

 

 

                        Catherine