The Traveling Tome Returns to Home

Now back in the states, I quickly acclimate to piles of laundry and desk work.  The regular routine rapidly returns, and the Chile trip soon will be a great collection of ministry, memories and photographs.  What a blessing.

Even on the last morning, we fine-tuned items in the library and turned over passwords, instructions, and flash drives to Sharon, Kathy, Linda, Leslie, and Bob.  The Rubins provided a delicious last-lunch-in-Chile, one of the traditional dishes--cazuela, and we all had a good meal together there at the school.

Our trip home, thanks to prayers and pilots, went smoothly and was slightly ahead of schedule on both legs. Getting through the Atlanta customs and immigration was long and seamless--although at immigration, the agent did grill me more than usual (Where do you live in the US? How long were you in Chile? What were you doing in Chile? What type of volunteer work? etc.) The other two ladies got "Have a nice day." Hmm.

Anyway, apparently I seemed harmless and they let me through to the good-ol-USA.  All our luggage arrived, and our rides picked us up on the other side.  Colleen picked me up and we drove straight to the Dayton VA medical center so I could give hubby a hug.

On the way home, Colleen asked me, "So, what was the highlight of the trip?" That came quickly to my mind -- absolutely the people.  Even though I love the work of organizing and cataloging all those great books, what makes these trips special is the people -- three groups specifically.

First of all, the kids for whom we do the service.  I have a special place in my heart for missionary and third-culture kids.  Mostly from having worked with and loved so many of them (four of them being my own, of course). MKs and TCKs go through a lot of different journeys than many do, and through any service the Lord has me share with them, I am blessed.

The second group of people--the ABWE Chile team.  This bunch of people offers so much to so many. They sacrifice on the field and pull together to get every job done even if they were not originally the ones planning on doing that "every job."  Plus, they offer so much hospitality and care to those who come to minister with them.  Huge blessing.

Lastly, the people that make this ministry SO great are the members of the team.  Last year with Ginger working with us, and this year with Debbie--how I appreciated getting to know both of them.  Along with Dr. Beverly Monroe--all of them work diligently and with shared responsibilities and with vision of a ministry completed for the kingdom and its people.

I love getting to know these women better, and what a privilege to work together. THANK YOU, each of you!

Please pray for us as we travel back to the US on Wednesday, July 13.  We have finished up in the library, and my numbers yesterday may have been a little high.  I am certain that we handled that many books (over 4000), but the actual count of entries is lower than 4000.  And we definitely reached that glorious 10,600 mark. The shelves are neat, and I guess I better take one more photo tomorrow, but here's a recent one...

Phew, the time comes quickly to a close, and the Lord has blessed our time with great progress.

Today, after processing around 3600 books in these few weeks (it's hard to count because some we take out, then we add others, then we fine-tune others and reprint labels--so that's an estimate), we reached the count of 10,600 books in the SCA school library.  We did work 15 work days, usually between 8am and 5 or 6 pm.

On Wednesday (July 13), we return to the states (we'll be there by the 14th, early).  Pray for safe travels.

BLAST FROM THE PAST:  Over the weekend, we visited an area some 60km southeast of here with Becky Patten.  On the way we stopped  see James and Coletta Morsey.  Back in 1996, both the Pattens and the Morseys were in language school with us in Texas.  Well, actually the Pattens were ahead of us a term, and of course, many others were studying, too, but its neat to be back all together for an "instant."

After spending several hours of snacking and catching up on memories and ministry, we got back in Becky's little red car and continued southward.  Another stop was at the Chile's military club and also at Casa del Bosque (house of the forest)... which reminded me of something from Tolkien's Shire (or upon seeing pictures, Colleen decided it looked like something from Dr. Seuss).

We went on to visit another favorite (with good reason) spot of Becky's, that of Cascada de Animas (Cascade of Spirits).  We enjoyed some good walking through forest paths with mountain views and a great restaurant at the end.  Beautiful sights and delicious dishes.

On Sunday, Doug and Sharon Kreeger took us to their church -- Living Hope BaptistChurch -- where the Rubins also minister.  We enjoyed listening to Mark Rubin teach adult Sunday School, and then Pastor Christian interrogate all the Sunday School classes over what they had just learned. We heard the littlest ones recite a memory verse in strong unison, the youth sing a chorus, and finally we heard Pastor Doug share a message regarding the importance of following the Bible as the map for our lives.

Our last two really sweet times of fellowship included dining with Sharon and Doug Kreeger at a churrasqueria on Sunday, and having rotisserie chickens with the Amundsens on Monday evening -- in spite of the fact that the latter are in the middle of moving between houses. But we were eager to spend time with these friends from our time at Sojourn and to meet their adopted toddler girls.

From 8:00-5:00:  And so you are asking, "with all this great visiting, when do you do any work?"  Well, of course we do work, but I'm not sure you really want to read about me entering data into the computer, finding new books to exchange with old ones, printing off labels, loading and unloading computer programs, labeling books (which is actually a two-step process, and maybe a four-step process if you have to prepare pockets and cards, too), and then the part that I personally dislike the most--shelving the books--all in perfect order (which actually I do like the order).  Today we worked on reading shelves, which means finding mistakes and putting things in final perfect order.  Plus, I made labels for the shelves so that the elementary kids can find their books on rocks, on David's flocks, and Seuss's Sox.

"When God created the world he had a handful of everything left: mountains, rainforests, deserts, oceans, cactus, lakes, glaciers, volcanoes-and he put it all in his pocket. But there was a hole in this pocket, and as God walked across heaven it all trickled out, and the long trail it made on the earth was Chile."  -- anonymous

The Traveling Tome: Thursday Night Bible Study

A summary of the Bible study given @San Nicolas Tabernacle Bible Baptist Church (Iglesia Biblica Bautista - El Tabernaculo de San Nicolas).

Dios quiere que vivimosen Él, una vida abundante – no de la abundancia de las riquezas del mundo, pero una abundancia que es delas riquezas de gozo y paz y los frutos del Espíritu. Y parte de esta abundancia es el regalo del trabajo, el labor.

God wants for His children whodwell with Him an abundant life (John 15; John 10:9-11).  Not an abundant life based upon the riches of this world, but rather one based on the riches of joy and peace and allthe fruits of the Spirit.  

And part of that abundance is His gift of work,of labor.  The labor He gave us – rightfrom the start in the Garden of Eden – provides care for the earth and care forothers; it provides purposefulness and progress. 

Then Godsaid, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds ofthe heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over everycreeping thing that creeps on the earth...And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ...The LORDGod took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keepit.                         Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15 

The gift of labor came to mankind beforeour fall into sin. Work is not part of the curse, it is not a sentence resulting from our disobedience to God.

Yet many of our culture andtime consider it just that – a curse.  Youth avoid it like theplague and come to hate anything that resembles hard work.  As adults we complain about our jobs and work only toward some future vacation and/or retirement--some period when we hope to enjoy life instead of having to work. And at all ages, we look down at so many jobs as below our standards and abilities.

These lies of Satan keep usfrom finding purposefulness and satisfaction in the jobs we have before usdaily.  We are not to look forward to some day when we can enjoy life instead of having to work--we are to look forward to the day ahead of us and the opportunities each day provides.  Even the routine and "base" jobs are important for our earth and community tofunction.  Yet our society looks down on those who have to “settle.”

Why is work so important to God? I do not dare to understand the mind of God and venture to speak for Him, but part of the importance of work comes from that very way He created us in His image. Remember in Genesis 1:26, where God states "let us create man in our image." This plural pronoun refers to the Trinity. God Himself is a relationship-oriented being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person completes one another within their Being--in ways that we only have glimpses of. Passages such as John 8:54 speak of Jesus glorifying the Father; in John 17:5, Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him. Other passages speak to the Persons of the Trinity working together in unity (I Peter 1:2; Acts 2:33-38; John 15:26; Luke 3:22). 

Just as the Three-in-One work in harmony and complete each other in purpose, God has created us to be relational beings and to complete each other in purpose. He wants us to bring each other into His kingdom and enable us to grow closer to the Godhead and more like Christ. That is our purpose through the work we do – to enrich others in the kingdom, even while on this earthly ground.

How can we do this? Well, have you ever seen one of those “one another” lists. These are reminders on how to increase and enrich one another through work and relationships in our earthly and eternal communities. Each one of these could be a sermon in itself on how to glorify God through glorifying others, but for now, use this list as a reminder of how God wants you to live out your job today.

·        “…Loveone another…” (John 13:34-35; John 15:12, 17)
·        “…Bepatient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2)
·        “Carryeach other’s burdens…” (Galatians 6:2)
·        “Speakto one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19)
·        “…Instructone another” (Romans 15:4)
·        “Livein harmony with one another…” (Romans 12:16)
·        “…Stoppassing judgment on one another” (Romans 14:13)
·        “Acceptone another, then, just as Christ accepted you…” (Romans 15:7)
·        “Encourageone another” (I Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11; Hebrews 10:25)
·        “Throughlove serve one another.”  (Galatians 5:13)
·        “…makeyour love increase and overflow for each other” (I Thessalonians 3:12)
·        “Encourageone another” (I Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11; Hebrews 10:25)
·        “…Buildeach other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11)
·        “Encourageone another daily…” (Hebrews 3:13)
·        “Spurone another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24)
·        “…Prayfor each other” (James 5:16)
·        “Offerhospitality to one another without grumbling” (I Peter 4:9)
·        “Eachone should use whatever gift he has received to serve others…” (I Peter 4:10)

That last one especially touches on the theme of using our work to help one another…. Remember, too, the parable of the good servant who invested his money/talents for the master and was rewarded for the bounty he presented (Matthew 25:21). With what was he rewarded? With greater responsibility. With more work! The Lord God values work and considers it worthy of being a reward for those who are faithful.

We need to match our view of labor and work to His. Moreover, we need to teach our children and grandchildren the Kingdom Joy of work.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. II Peter 1:3-4

future discussion

, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,⁷and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Another time we should talk about how God has for us in work both the maintenance of the world and the creation of new art and invention. We have souls and abilities so blessed –let us not take them for granted.  

And when we create, it’s interesting how we mix purposefulness/progress with beauty/art….Just as He did in creation.