DEEP on the Logos Hope Part 2: A Day in the Book Fair

I would have loved a little
Jamaican flag on my badge

Part 2 of a 3 part series. (Find Part 1 here and Part 3 here)

I arrive to the ship between 8:30am and 8:45am and head to the security desk to hand in my yellow ‘volunteer pass’ in exchange for my volunteer badge, which must be worn at all times on board. I head up the crew’s entrance which places me on Deck 5’s lobby area. I head down D stairs to the partner lounge to put my things in Locker 15 then head back up the stairs then down C stairs to Deck 4 where the tiny Matilda room is tucked away, hidden in the middle of the book fair. I choose one of the well worn, but clean, burgundy polo shirts that the Angels had folded and put away the day before. I have to head back up two sets of stairs to Deck 6 to one of the few bathrooms that we volunteers have access to, to change into my uniform, then head back down those 2 flights of stairs and back to the partner lounge for devotions at 9am. (And can U believe I did not lose any weight going up and down all those stairs everyday!)

For devotions, Gabby or Ofa lead us in singing Hillsong-type choruses, with an acoustic guitar accompaniment and maybe a little drumming. It is a perfect middle ground for the combination of cultures. Everyone on the ship is required to speak English, so the lyrics are no problem. An invited crew member then shares, either their testimony or something from Scripture. I don’t have the time to write about each one, but they all challenged our ideas of what a fulfilled life looks like and pointed us to obedience to a Lord that may be asking us to put aside our own plans to follow Him. We heard from people from rich and poor backgrounds, of varied ages and stages in life, and even from a Muslim background believer who met Jesus in a vision. It was amazing that God was never in a box based on what I knew in my culture. He reached them all wherever they were. And His sheep heard His voice.

Devotions in the partner lounge, Ofasia playing guitar.

Devotions was a perfect start to a long day of work. You start with the right perspective about why you are doing what you are doing, and Who you are doing it for. It helps squeeze out all the good juices from the Fruit of the Spirit (especially when working lifeboat!). And it likely explains why other people we meet in customer service jobs look so gloomy.

The tiny schedule fits
in the palm of my hand

It’s 10am. I report to the Welcome Desk at the entrance of the Ship to receive my schedule for the day. I work from 10am - 3pm, changing posts every hour, with a 45min break for lunch at 12noon or 12:45pm depending on the schedule I get. The day ends with training from 3pm to 4pm.

My department is ‘Book Fair’, but the postings start at ‘White House’ (WH), where I collect the entrance fee, and smile! Even though I don’t directly evangelise here, I still know that I am representing Jesus and my attitude needs to show that. The ship represents Jesus and my uniform says I am a part of the ship. Would the visitors say ‘these people were unkind’ or would they say ‘they were pleasant and helpful’? I know these things don’t ‘save’ people...feeling happy or welcomed, but they do say a lot about Who we serve. Our good works should glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Next up is GWB (Gangway Bottom), the bottom of the ‘stairs’ leading up to the ship. We direct people, smile, and also keep a count of the number of people entering. I never got scheduled to work here.

GWT (Gangway Top) is more smiling and welcoming visitors at the top of the stairs. This is also where a few eager persons would ask for a specific book title, lol. I also help older persons in or control large groups of school children. The Welcome Desk Post is basically the same as GWT, just a few steps further inside, instead of being directly at the top of the stairs.

The Shift Leader, from the welcome desk, would keep in radio contact with White House, GWB and GWT for crowd control. If there were too many people in the book fair, for example, they would radio WH to stop collecting entrance fees, and GWB to hold the line entering the ship. (For safety reasons, people could not stand, waiting on the gangway itself). During these crowded hours, we could talk with the persons in line. The public were always curious about where the crew members were from, etc. Sometimes I’d say Jamaica, sometimes I’d say Barbados :)

I liked being at GWT to get big hugs from friends or family that were coming on board. It was also the only post where I got to have some conversations with the security guards from a local company. The security guards, just standing there, are so easily overlooked. But one of the guests at devotions reminded me that they too needed Jesus.

At life boat, doing my thing :)

Life boat is next, the post I enjoy the most. It is an actual big, orange, slightly modified life boat where visitors sit while we introduce the Book Fair System; pricing in units, where to get more information, etc. If I work the back end, it’s a little bit of welcoming and a lot of crowd control.
I really enjoyed the challenge of using just a few seconds to calm someone down (most people wanted books, not to sit down and listen to talking) and encourage them to wait just a few more minutes to get to the books.
I’ve been called bossy. It’s not a lie, so I have to own that. But bossyness is simply the negative way of looking at a person that has leadership qualities. Those qualities just need molding or the person needs maturing. I was able to use those qualities as a strength in lifeboat; to tell people what to do and why. But it was nice to see the Holy Spirit keep me gentle and smiling throughout, and keep me from being offensive. This was not just necessary when working with the public. Lifeboat was probably the one post where you had to really coordinate well with the person working the other end of the line. But everybody has their own style. Some people explain things more quickly than others. Some persons are more strict, others lenient. It was never about trying to get the other person to do it differently, but simply for me to be flexible and respect their style so that we can both get the job done well, together.
I’ve been a Christian for a long time and this ‘bossyness/leadership qualities’ is one area that has required large doses of Grace. I know I am saved indeed because of the growth I see in this area.

My least favourite post was Customer Service/Mixed Books because I felt like I wasn’t of much use. This post is in the book fair itself, so visitors would ask about where to find something, or I would be trying to keep the shelves tidy by replacing books that had been put in random spots when shoppers decided they no longer wanted to purchase it. I felt like I wasn’t of much use because I didn’t know where specific books were. I wasn’t there long enough to know the books that well, and sometimes, after large crowds came through, books would be sold out and the shelves stocked differently.
When it was crowded, it was impossible to maneuver between the sea of bodies anyways.

The ‘Information Desk’ Post is a welcome stop, because it has chairs. I can rest my back for that hour. I again enjoy interacting with the Bajans, where I could actually answer their questions using the database on the computer. And Bajans are just a really interesting bunch! I also get to make intercom announcements (fun!). Mostly, I enjoy getting to know the crew. Here at Information Desk (and also at White House) are great posts to have deeper conversations with whichever crew member is also working that post. The conversations usually start with finding out which country the person is from and what they were doing before they came onboard. Most of the people that I met were surprised to find that I was older than I looked. It was always fun to throw in the fact that I was married and had two children while their jaws were still on the ground on hearing that I was a decade older than they thought. Lol.

It just so happened that I was never scheduled to work Cash Desk. I would have been required to assist the cashier and bag the items bought.

Deal Back (Discount Area) was also a low stress post. All I really had to do was say ‘5 items for $20’ in different ways.

Last Stop for the visitors, is Free Books! There is a shelf right at the exit with three types of books: animated gospel booklet, a new testament and a book of John. There were sometimes other books from the fair available as well. I have to encourage persons to take a book before leaving. It there is a large school group, then I hand the books out myself. There’s also more smiling and thanking people for coming. In my downtime I re-stock the shelves.

Our day ended with a training session from 3pm-4pm. The evening shift arrived for 3pm, and this was the only time both shifts got to interact with each other. Our first session was a ‘Getting to know you’ session. The others focused on missions and evangelism and left us better equipped to serve.

During one of our training sessions in the Logos Lounge

Creative evangelism, starting with a single sheet of paper and ending with a Cross.
That is true LIFE :)

Here endeth my book fair chronicles, but I have to tell you about C-Day. In our schedule, we DEEP volunteers get one day off from our regular duties and are assigned to the seating area of the iCafe where we are to connect with the visitors with the intention of getting them one step closer to Jesus.

A special needs school visited the ship on the morning of my C-Day so things went a little differently to what I had expected. Our shift leader had us singing for the students and teachers. Praise the Lord I was able to sing, and quite loudly too (I had lost my voice the same day I started on the ship!) I was doing lower harmony parts than I could normally manage, but my voice worked!

We were singing about Jesus, but I don’t know how much they understood. Some students were singing along and some were dancing. I noticed one boy, who seemed to be nonverbal and in a wheelchair. He joined the group late, but when he was being wheeled out and passed close to us singers, his face just lit up!
One of the songs we did was ‘I’m trading my sorrows’. It was surreal to be saying to these people who had sorrows, pain and sickness that we were trading it for the joy of the Lord. What were the parents thinking? Did they feel comforted or mocked? I didn’t get to speak to them, so I’ll never know. I know disappointment, and I know the feeling of wanting answers, wanting things to be different. We have a hope in Jesus, that one day, sin, and it’s effects (like disabilities and illnesses) will be done away with for good.

I did get to talk to a few people, but they were all church goers. I don’t know if they were Christians though, and maybe that is something I should look into.  I know how to explain the Gospel, but how do I dig deeper when someone says they already know Jesus? Barbados is filled with churches, but I doubt we are filled with true believers.

One more thing to say

As volunteers, we receive discounts, both in the book fair and in the iCafe. We also got free lemonade or water. Since the boat was chilly, and we were doing quite a bit of talking, it was important to stay hydrated. I’d go to the iCafe not just to quench my thirst, but also to get a smile from my friend Lydia.
I’d also make stops at the OM desk to see Megan if she wasn’t working. The OM desk was where people could sign up if they were interested in joining the ship or going to another country to do Missions. I met Megan when she was working here in Barbados and I was working for Wycliffe and we teamed up for an expo, way back in 2012. So it is always nice to see her and catch up.

I also knew Emerson and Charles, who sometimes worked at the table for CLC (Christian Literature Crusade) at the exit, and there were also a few people that Mario knew, that I got to meet. (How is my husband internationally popular?)
I think those little ‘breaks’ in work, even if it was just a quick conversation with Dewayne, or a smile from Kitty, were a great comfort to know you were part of a team of people, working in different ways to get the same thing done.

Sharicka, me and Lydia at the Volunteer Farewell