The Last Chapter, with notes from Ginger

Jonathon helps labeling.

Ginger Kirk's last entry to her prayer team relayed how she and Bev completed the trip after deciding to stay an extra week:

• over 7600 books were catalogued
• with the help of many Santiago Christian Academy folk, each book was also labeled and shelved (in order, of course)
• Over 3000 books were culled and will be "recycled" however the school decides.
• The biographies and easy reader books will still have to be done by the SCA library volunteers 
• As Ginger states, "We give praise to the Lord for giving Bev, Tia and I the opportunity to do what could be done for the school and its' library, and most especially, for the kids who attend school there, who can can go to the library computer and actually find the books they want."

My last two books entered.

As for myself, this experience proved excellent and exhausting and absolutely enriching.  I loved the work--even though it's been a while since I've sat at a computer and just worked a straight 9- or 10-hour day of "manual" labor. I love books! I love books for kids and libraries, too!  I thank the Lord for this opportunity and I thank Bev and Ginger for sharing the experience with me--they were great roommates, by the way.

The "before" and the "after"

Chapter 10: Teams of Friendships

This trip to Santiago has been a special opportunity to minister to missionary kids (mks) and their families—albeit in a behind-the-scenes type of way. Libraries in Christian schools around the world are just one of many amenities these schools offer as they serve their population in so many academic, spiritual and emotional areas.

Dr. Beverly Monroe enjoys and shares her love of books by taking small teams to English-speaking Christian seminaries, schools and churches in non-English-speaking countries to help get their libraries organized and online. These endeavors increase the efficiency of and access to the myriad of adventures and resources available through the written word.

Dr. Bev Monroe retired from Cedarville University in the 1990's; however, neither she nor her husband, Dr. Allen Monroe, has truly retired. Both keep active, Dr. Allen teaches and preaches, and Dr. Beverly brings libraries into the 21st century by way of the computer; plus, they both conduct workshops, wherever needed around the world. According to Bev, they love it and pray that God gives them many more years of such service.

Each of Bev’s teams includes folks from all walks of life. Back in 2005, when she came to our school in Costa Rica, she brought her daughter, Deb Haas and another mutual friend from Cedarville, Ruth Ager. The last five trips have included Ginger Kirk, a friend from Brevard, NC (where the Monroes now reside). Ginger has come along with a drive to get the job done and a great sense of just-at-the-right-time humor. Ginger is a retired NCIS special agent—yep, the whole investigative thing, and she says it’s not totally unlike the television show, except that they don’t get a case done in an hour—ever—and they do not brandish guns to the degree shown at the hourly climax. She loved her job, and she is not done with round-the-world travel; however, now her investigations deal now mostly with Dewey Decimal numbers and authorship.

This trip to Santiago included Bev, Ginger, and me. One of the frequent questions posed by those we met was how we all knew each other. I have known Bev since 1982-83 when I had her as a professor for Children’s Literature at CU—and let me tell you, I was not calling her Bev at that point. :) Bev and Ginger know each other from their church, Cornerstone Presbyterian, in Brevard, NC.

This was the team. But also incredibly special on this trip were the many new friendships made, and for me, the old ones revisited. I cannot speak to every conversation, every hug, every game time, every dinner, every city tour, and every dessert—but we enjoyed getting to know so many fantastic people serving in Santiago. Not everyone was with ABWE, but the ABWE missionaries and the families at SCA (Santiago Christian Academy) were our hosts, and they provided everything we needed. Very thorough and very hospitable. Thank you all, so very much.

Chapters 8&9:More of what I've done and what I've learned in Chile

So many enriching experiences this past week, but first we must celebrate 4,424 books entered to date!

April 19, 2010 -- Went to take pictures of chapel and was asked if I wanted to teach the elementary kids a new song.  I couldn't resist: of course I picked one of my favorite kids songs "Levanta tu casa," only finding out later that in elementary EVERYTHING in elementary is to be done in English.  Oops.

That evening we went to a delicious Korean restaurant with the Chois and we ate delicious pork wrapped in sesame leaves... and many other delicacies I had never had.  We pray that to all these wonderful people who have been so gracious and giving to us, we have been a blessing to them as well--a reflection of Christ's love and service.

April 20, 2010 -- More library work, of course, and for supper another Korean family brought us such a beautiful detailed meal -- miso soup, vegetable wraps with shrimp and pork and other things we did not recognize, --she even included chopsticks, beautiful napkins, and tea.

April 21, 2010 -- More data entry in the library. For supper we went to a family birthday at the Davilas--celebrating Christopher's 14th birthday with stir fry and decadent apple crisp cake. We played Catch Phrase and laughed a lot.  We also enjoy God's small world when we walked in and found out that the husband Rodney is Costa Rican and that the family works with the mission that Ginger and Bev's church works with--Mission to the World.

What I have learned this week:

• Police are nick-named "pacos" and are required to drive with their emergency lights on all the time (it's just when the sirens wailing that you have to worry).
• Traffic jams are called "tacos," so that means if you have a transit policeman, you have a "taco paco"?
• I'm very impressed with the taxi drivers downtown:  they wear casual dress slacks, light (alpaca?) sweater vest, with a bright red tie.
• Santiago has a lot of American restaurant chains, but I especially like that they have DUNKIN DONUTS (for the coffee, not the donuts)!
• And as we enter autumn here, we are getting colder and colder. During the day the temps get into the mid to high 60s, but it seems like for only about an hour. And at night, the temperature drops to the mid-thirties, and these buildings do not have heat nor insulation. It is in fact, chilly in Chile.

Chapter 7: Catching Up

We have been so busy this week I have barely had any time to write.  I was able to post a few status statements on Facebook, and that was about all:

• Monday--2200 books catalogued! A school family -- the Chois -- took us out to Korean restaurant -- great food. Then they took us up the mountainside where we saw the bright lights of Chile at night -- all I can say is, "wow!"
• Wednesday--Our total to the minute -- 3239 books catalogued -- and I just did 159 Hardy Boy mystery books at a rate of about 2 books per minute... (if I'm doing the math right) -- To which a few people offered to come down here and help, thank you, Lyndell and Peggy.
• Thursday--Today is a day for Chitty-chitty-bang-bang, Harriet the Spy, all the Black Stallion books, and Elsie Dinsmore!

So to catch up...

Last Sunday we went with Becky Patten (Bob was sick) to their church. The whole event reminded me of our church in Lambaré, Paraguay, so I had a great time. After the worship and message, we had snack time outside. Then a group of very gifted youth sang for us in Spanish a worship song (Steve Green's "Lamb of God," I believe) and then a medley of Chilean folk songs. Exceptional harmony!

Then, on the way out the door, someone was drinking mate, which is a very favorite memory from Paraguay and I got all excited. So the hermana was very happy (it seemed) to share with me, and oh, what excellent pleasure (and of course, I burnt my tongue on the bombilla, but it was worth it).  Ginger took a picture of all this, but I don't have it yet.... to come.

Then we had a rotisserie chicken for lunch --another great memory as that is what we always had after lunch on Sundays in Paraguay.  My soul was so full of good memories!

But then, we switched gears in a big way. Becky took us downtown to Santa Lucia, which we only got a glimpse of at dusk, and I believe we are revisiting this coming Saturday, so more about that then... 

How we got there was the Metro -- the train that goes through/around Santiago. Wow, what an impressive means of transportation (this is only my third trip on a subway, so I was quite out of my element--no more Paraguay.  And have I mentioned that the population of Santiago is about the same as all of Paraguay?).  We just zipped through those dark tunnels and arrived to a smooth stop somewhere else underground. And it was all so clean.

Anyway, we did some good souvenir shopping, and then we zipped back to the metro stop near the school. Very convenient, and not very expensive at all.  Just about 30 cents one way, I believe.

Chapter 6: What I've learned in Chile this past week

1) While eating, you are supposed to keep your hands on or above table level (the lap is a dirty place)

2) When paying for something, you are to give the money directly to the attendant, don’t put the money on the counter

3) An after-shock feels much more ominous when the country has recently had an earthquake (6:15 this am)

4) Santiago is HUGE! (I’m used to “small-town” capitals like Asuncion and San Jose). Santiago has more people than all of the country of Paraguay.

5) The Santiago Christian Academy (SCA) library has probably over 6000 books, and we have catalogued 1986 so far.

6) Short-termers are GREAT assets—especially Stephanie and Lizzie.

7) The people at SCA show and tell their country very well; they’re also very generous with flowers, cakes, suppers, restaurants, etc.

8) Being in Chile, although it’s very different from Paraguay, gives me that same South America feel… I wish I could describe it in words.

Chapter 5: Heavy Duty Library Days

We've been here a week -- not always working, but working a lot! So far over 1300 books have been catalogued, and almost all of those are labeled and back on the shelves in precise order. Besides our busy fingers, we have been joined by three helpers so far-- two short termers, Lizzie and Stephanie, and then the kindergarten teacher, Lori Brock, has given us her break time while her wee ones were in Spanish class.

We are grateful for every moment of help! The Santiago Christian Academy (SCA) staff have been super helpful in so many ways--taking us to the grocery store (thank you, Lori and Kelly), exchanging our money and fixing our toilet (thank you, Doug A.), answering all of our questions and bringing us electric adapters (thank you, Crystal), loaning us a surge protector (thank you, Doug K.), helping us get connected by phone (thank you, Kathy), fixing us supper (thank you, Jean, and thank you, Jen), and on and on. And I know I'll have more to come. Everyone is so welcoming.

Chapter 4: Sunday with the Deaf Ministry

Each Sunday during our stay we will visit the ministry of one of the ABWE missionaries here in Santiago. This Sunday took a little longer to get to our destination due to a marathon being run by 10,000 people. On the way we passed blocks and blocks of artistic graffitti, and while driving through a market, we passed a few Chilean "huasos" (cowboy).

So we ended up at a school in the city that is borrowed on Sundays by a pastor and his helpers who minister to the deaf. They have a family fun time on Saturday evenings and then Sunday they meet for prayer, for lessons in Castellano/sign language, and for a worship service.

The deaf in Chile have not been well educated up to now, and these folk are unable to read and write for the most part. Part of Sunday morning's time is taken up with a session when Lori Brock and Veronica teach words in Castellano and in sign language (which, in case you did not know, is not the same as American sign language).

This whole experience opened our eyes up to things we had never thought of before. For one, during prayer time, you all have to keep your eyes open so that you can "hear" each other. And yes, they do still sing a lot of worship songs, with signs and with sounds if they can make them. Some of the songs they change the words for so that they are applicable to their congregation. For instance, instead of "raising our voice to heaven," the song reads "raising our hands to heaven." Instead of God "hearing our prayers," He "sees our prayers."

We thoroughly enjoyed the time with these new friends. While naturally we could not communicate with them much at all, we were able to see and share their joy. We also will be remembering them in prayer for a long time to come.

I had the personal pleasure, too, of being able to translate for my cohorts, which was a great challenge and satisfaction. Chilean Spanish is different in vocabulary and sound to that of Costa Rica, but the pastor Mauricio spoke clearly and with emotion--which I tried to duplicate to some degree. OH, and the neat thing about translating this day--usually when you translate during a service, you feel bad about talking while someone else is talking and it can be quite distracting. However, in this case, the congregation was not bothered in the least. I could be as loud and as excited as I wanted to be.

Afterwards, the pastor had me say a few words, which he translated, and I had the honor of closing in prayer.

For lunch we went to a Chinese restaurant with Lori, the pastor, and the assistant Christian.

Oh, and btw, in the marathon that morning, one of the ABWE missionaries Doug Admundsen ran, and he achieved his best time to date; I believe it was 4:45.

Chapter 3: Market Day

Saturday brought to us a quiet, chilly morning -- we stay in apartments on the school campus and naturally on Saturdays, only those who live in the apartments take up all the space -- Doug Kreeger (waiting for his wife to join him post-furlough), ourselves, Jean Armstrong next door (retired teacher from NJ/OH, and a member of my church in Cedarville right now), two short-termers, Stephanie and Lizzy, and then the young high school teacher Kelly (who returns this year to the states after a 3-year venture).

Lizzy and Stephanie walked us through the winding neighborhood about 3/4 of a mile to a market that went on and on and on.  The first few blocks was "pulga"--flea market style (see bathtub in picture), the rest went on and on with fresh fruits, vegetables, some cheeses, eggs, and here and there bunches of dried intestines (I'm assuming pig or cow).

After warming up to the bustle of busy shoppers and calling venders and frequent stares (four gringas meandering about certainly sticks out), I felt very comfortable and even priced and purchased a few items myself. Dealing with money (pesos) here has been a smooth transition because the exchange is almost exactly what it was in Costa Rica, so my mental calculations are quicker than they might have been.

So after trying some new fruits and vegetables (venders are quick to offer samples) and purchasing more the traditional (watermelon, strawberry, lettuce, tomato, etc.), we made our way back home to rest and snack.  Then once again we headed back to the library, where we concentrated on working out the bugs of the system and planned out the style of spine labels and such like that. 

Then I started in on the encyclopedias for a few hours.

In the evening, we had a lovely time of supper and fellowship with Jean Armstrong, the retired NJ teacher and previous-to-that, ABWE missionary in South America. Baked macaroni and cheese with a variety of meats, apple sauce and avocado.  We really rested.

Chapter 2: La Biblioteca gets its first review

After a half-hour drive from the airport, we arrived at the gate of Santiago Christian Academy. After being let in by the guard and parking, we were greeted by Doug Kreeger and Doug Amundsen, Crystal Salsman, and all these people (maybe others?) helped us get our luggage up to the efficiency apartment that we three would share. We have two bedrooms (Bev Monroe and I share one bedroom, Ginger Kirk has the other), one kitchenette with microwave, coffeemaker, toaster and electric teakettle. We have hot water in the shower and the kitchen--so that's a blessing. We need to be careful about the timing of showers (versus other apartment dwellers and when laundry is done down below), but all very manageable.

Only local tv channels, but that's okay--none of us are big tv fiends, and at least I caught a couple seconds of "El Chavo" this afternoon.

Ann Garcia and Crystal Salsman

Early Readers' section at SCA, Chile

So after unpacking and snacking and chatting (with Heather Admundsen and others), we three librarians jaunted over to see the library at Santiago Christian Academy (located on the same campus that we are staying). Kids scurried busily around us, but we headed straight for the library where we met with the current care-takers of the sacred site: Ann Garcia and Crystal Salsman. We took a lot of time with them and with Bob Patten deciding on how we would set up the computers and what books needed what action--culling, cataloging, organizing, alphabetizing, boxing, fixing, rearranging, and so forth.

And remember, that this library recently was shaken up by an earthquake. All the books were all over the floor, and everyone pitched in to get it all back on the shelves. The tomes are actually in very good shape (for having gone through an 8.something shuffle plus being quite old some of them), so that's a good thing. But one wall-long shelf was broken, and so a new shelf has been built and freshly painted.

So the first steps of our project included:

• Deciding on a program
• Installing it on the necessary computers
• Discussing with the care-takers where the book sections should be placed (early readers, Junior Fiction, non-fiction, reference, etc.)
• Dusting some shelves
• Moving some books to have space where we need to move other books to
• Sorting out donations between sections (fiction, non-fiction, etc.)
• Planning spine label formats
• Getting bugs out of the program 

Sojourn Academy Library, Costa Rica

Once that kind of planning is done, we are on to data entry, and a LOT of it. So that means a lot of exploring and discovering through the Library of Congress where each book should sit on the shelf.

I know that may not sound exciting to you, but we three library magi love this business. 

Behind our work will follow young readers and researchers able to delve into the words and worlds meant just for them!

Chapter 1: Dayton Dash to Santiago

Flights to South America generally take the traveler overnight--where you soon discover how many different ways one can arrange himself in an airplane seat for nine hours. We also discovered yesterday that a flight can arrive in an airport and sit for an hour before finding a "parking space" in front of a gate--such was Ginger and Bev's experience after their first flight from Asheville was cancelled and their second finally took off with no time to spare.

I, too, coming from Dayton, had expected a three hour lay-over and ended up dashing for the gate once arriving in Atlanta. The reason for all this chaos: lightning all day in Atlanta.

After being parked on the tarmac for an hour after landing in Atlanta, Ginger and Bev finally had their opportunity to race through the concourses and arrive safe and sound just before take-off to South America.

Oh, interesting note--on my ride from DAY to ATL, I sat next to a man who held a six-week-old baby in a front-carrier pack the whole trip. His wife and four year old daughter sat a few rows in front of him. Just when I was mentally appreciating the sacrificial role he was playing as a father, I realized that the mother, too, had a six-week-old baby in a front-carrier pack--TWINS. Not only that, they were from Dubai, and their next flight would be 16 hours long!

Arriving in Santiago had beautiful views--IF you were sitting on the other side of the plane where Bev and Ginger were; they tell me that they will share their photos, but I don't have them yet.  Lots of great mountain shots. Going through customs and all went smooth as silk--some lines, but nothing terribly long.

The weather on arrival was gloomy--foggy and gray. In Chile, we are entering the rainy, winter season, and thus the fog and mist. But as we drove the half hour or so to the school--Santiago Christian Academy--slowly the sun began to filter through the fog.

As we neared the school campus and entered neighborhoods, I began to sense the feel of South America--I don't know how to describe it, but there is a difference in the atmosphere between Central and South America, and I could feel it.  Strange....

Pictures here show the little bit of campus I have seen so far... and the ride.

I saw several friends right away -- people I had not seen since 1996 (from RBGI language school), the early 2000s (from working in Paraguay), the late 2000s (from Sojourn), and even a month ago (from Grace Baptist). Much fun and some good solid hugs. The Pattens, the Salsmans, the Admundsens, Jean Armstrong, and others. And what a surprise when the Swierengas rounded the corner of a bookshelf in the library. My mouth fell open--I didn't even know they were here. Abby (who was in sixth grade when I last saw her in mid 2006 at Sojourn) had seen me and when she saw her parents, she told them, "I think I saw Mrs. Reilly in the library."

Bev, Ginger, and Tia

And many of these good "old" friends and new ones took us out for a good Chilean supper--ah, South American parillada (asado). ¡Que rico!

Tomorrow I'll get to my notes on the first day of work--which we did start today (Friday) in full gear. I alphabetized probably 300 books between S and Y (no Z authors in that batch).

My first missions trip

Have you read Psalm 66 lately? A lot of healthy hope in that chapter. Check it out. To end it all, the psalmist rests, measures and reflects: “Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

And as you reflect with me on the powerful peace of prayer to and love from our Creator, please remember me this week when you share time with Him.

I’ll be embarking on my first missions trip. :) Really.

In case you have not been following our newsletters (or read down to the ends of them—I know you’re busy), I will be traveling this Thursday to Santiago, Chile, with two other women to help organize the library of a missionary kid school there. To add to the original plan of culling, organizing, and cataloging, the recent earthquake shook things up quite a bit more. For photos taken by one of the teachers, Jean Armstrong, check out this album.

One of the women in the group, Dr. Bev Monroe, was my professor of Children’s Literature years ago during my undergraduate work at Cedarville. I will also get to meet one of her ministry side-kicks, Ginger Kirk.

All of this adventure I plan to share with you as I blog along the trip. It would be a huge help to me, too, if those of you who are able to subscribe to blogs (via RSS feed or other means) would do so in order that I do not have to send out an email every time I update the blog—my goal is to do so far more often than I currently do. I would love to have you come along with me—for company’s sake and for prayer as well.

Thank you so much. Tia