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As the saying goes, "the Lord works in mysterious ways." And even though we don't always understand his ways (For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. Isa. 55:8), the Lord is definitely always working.

Dayton airport, 5am on 7/5/2012

As the plans for our trip to Costa Rica developed, we found out that if we were going to take an excursion as part of our trip, it would have to be right at the beginning. I wasn't crazy about this idea... I believe in "work first, play later" (ask my kids). But the best logistics called for a pickup at the airport and then going straight out to the coast for two days of relaxing and enjoying the nature of Costa Rica.  As I mentioned to the ladies, "This is not the way I usually like to do things, but apparently God knows that one of us needs a vacation before we get to 8-5 library work." We're still not sure which one of that it is, but we're all reaping the benefits.

We arrived at the Dayton airport at 5am, and about 8-1/2 hours later, we arrived in Costa Rica after two flights and one layover and not a single glitch. Praise the Lord (and thank you USAirways). Right there waiting for us, the business dean of the seminary, Bob Nesbitt, picked us up, and we headed off for a "almuerzo tipico" (typical lunch). We had gone a long time without a full meal (neither flight offered a meal), and this banquet of pork, chicken, steak, refried beans, corn tortillas and more was a very satisfying way to start our visit.

crocodiles in Río Taracoles 

The other sweet beginning to this trip included meeting Alex, an accompanying college intern, and our transportista (driver), Juan.  


So we traveled out to a house at Playa Esterillos where we have been enjoying fellowship with Bob and his wife Barb and another Costa Rican missionary Stephanie. We took time to start our work plan  with a briefing from Bob and discussion of library start-up strategy and housing logistics and etiquette. Our group will be split up and living with three Costa Rican families, to whom we are very grateful, and to whom we want to be a blessing.


I have already seen how this time at the beginning benefits our well-being as a team. If I dare simplify it into a list, this is it:

1. We have had an excellent time to get to know each other better (living with another person certainly brings bonding up to another level).
2. We have had opportunities to see and get to know the culture a little better, which helps put the work that starts Monday into a more human perspective.
3. Throughout the daytime, we have enjoyed the beauties of such an intense and detailed creation. Thank you the Lord for all we enjoy. 

Last night, we shared around a bonfire on the beach a time of worship and praise, with Alex and Stephanie leading us. With the simplicity of guitar chords and with the backup of crashing waves, how much clearer and precise the words of these songs can touch my heart. And then again, here in the morning, our devotions and fellowship have that same background music,  punctuated with all sorts of bird song and chirps and squawks. (Those little green parrots make a ruckus!)

Bob and Alex 

One of the many creatures
with whom we share home. 

Psalm 93:4


Mightier 
than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the LORD on high is mighty!

Happy July 5th!

As you get ready this week for your July 4 activities, please keep the Library Ladies in mind and prayer for our July 5 activities. This Thursday, July 5, we depart from Dayton International Airport and head for San Jose, Costa Rica.

For almost three weeks we will work with Tattiana, Bob, Sadrac, Mark, Gary, and others to help get the ESEPA seminary library back in shape. We love this opportunity to minister to (and with) those who train others in Biblical education and church leadership. We will undertake a lot of cleaning, sorting, data entry, catalog research, and probably many tasks we aren't even expecting.

Please pray for safety, unity, strength, health, and everything else that the Lord lays on your hearts.

Crunch-time-Lunch-time

Since my last note, a lot has happened.  We have rounded out our team--a total of five enthusiastic women ready to work.  And just as we were finalizing the team—a process which was very much led by the Lord--we grabbed a decent price on tickets (that's a tough one heading for Costa Rica during the US summertime).

Let me introduce you:

• Madison--Cedarville University freshman
• Camille--Xenia Christian HS Spanish teacher
• Stephanie--Xenia Christian Intervention Specialist
• Barb--Cedarville Unviersity Spanish professor
• Tia--Xenia Christian HS Educational Assistance/language arts

Tara Reilly (second from left) and Madison Hart
(far right) honored with others at XCHS graduation.

And now that the activities of graduation are over (our baby Tara is now on to the next big educational adventure), we are focused on the Costa Rica seminary library trip (and yes, for those of you who are asking, the research thesis still).  We have three weeks till departure, so we are focused on getting prepared and practiced.


These last twenty-one days will include meetings each week to review preparations for travel and library work, share practical ideas and spiritual motivations, and por supuesto, practice our Spanish.  


Today's meeting--at lunch-time--we took time to introduce ourselves (in Spanish) and share how our previous mission trip experiences have changed our lives and shaped our views of life.  We exchanged ideas on studying Spanish and getting ready for library work; the Spanish teachers provided a variety of study tools, and as a preparatory challenge, we're switching our computers over to Spanish keyboard mode.


So please keep praying for the plans... we still have many details to fine tune, and we want to keep our focus on the Lord's best for not only our team, but also and especially for those we serve.

New Adventures! New Challenges!

¡Qué emoción!  How exciting—our first foreign library ministry opportunity.  Well, yes, the other library trips have certainly been in foreign countries, cultures, and languages, but this year’s library project branches our ministry into our first Spanish-speaking seminary library.

To date, retired Cedarville University professor Dr. Beverly Monroe has taken over twenty trips to English-speaking, Bible-teaching seminaries and schools around the world to assist in cleaning, organizing, and cataloging online campus libraries.  I have had the privilege to work on three of those projects with her and her colleagues—first in Costa Rica, where we worked at Sojourn Academy (elementary and high school), and then two trips to Santiago Christian Academy in Chile.

This new chance to minister to evangelical seminary professors and students is the first time our team has ventured into a second-language library.  As the team-leader this time, my responsibilities include putting together a team and budget, investigating the library’s inventory and needs ahead of time, arranging room and board, transport, budget, and project supply preparation. 

I am excited to see how the Lord is leading this project.  Already since starting communications with the library, I have seen the following blessings:

• The seminary business manager is someone with whom I worked closely during our ministry years in the country
• The team has come together almost automatically from the very beginning: two long-time, fellow-Spanish-speaking friends have been wanting to help with the library ministry
• I was able to chaperone a high school missions trip to this same area and had the opportunity to see the library and its needs first-hand
• …which meant that two of us were able to meet with the administration and already have set processes in motion so that the project this summer will be further along and ready for us to get more deeply into the project.
• The seminary has offered to provide food and housing for us so that we can concentrate on transportation (flight, etc.) and material costs. 

With the goal of updating and providing better student and professor access to materials, the teams bring along and render days and weeks of work to help these schools and seminaries better operate for God’s glory and in His kingdom. 

We also have opportunities to visit churches, encourage missionaries and students who attend the school.  All of the team, too, looks forward to using abilities in both library services and in the Spanish language.