Bolivia #12 – A Long 48 Hours
Sunday night was a long night, went to bed early, and then woke up about midnight feeling really bad. It’s now Tuesday night, and it’s the first time I’ve felt well enough to do much of anything. Basically had the 48 hour version of the 24 hour flu. And yes, it is what Carol had. The last two days have been a blur, sleeping most of the time (in between trips downstairs), but I can tell you some of what the team has been doing, anyway.
Monday was painting day, and the team was able to prime the whole interior of the church, and get the outside painted entirely. Pastor David hired a couple of painters to come finish up the inside – they were here until about 11 pm. The sanctuary and outside are now a very nice, warm, sandy-yellow color. It’s light and inviting. Pastor David is ecstatic. It really looks nice from the street, too. Painting is quite different here than in the states. First, you have to tint your own paint. You buy the base, and the tubes of tint, and then bring it home and stir it up. Then, for some reason, they like to thin it out with a lot of water. I could understand that if I were spraying the paint, but they get it really watery and roll or brush it on. Takes more coats that way. It was driving Carol crazy – she had the consistency just where she wanted it, and the painters came in and started adding more water! I think we kind of got to do it our way on the exterior. But, either way, it looks very nice, much better than the raw, grey concrete it was before.
Rachel, however, didn’t have such a good day. While priming an area over her head, some of the primer dropped into her eye, partially dissolving her contact lens and causing a lot of pain. It took some doing for Carol to get the lens out, but she was able to do so. Rachel was in a lot of pain, and felt bad besides because it knocked her out of the work crew. Carol lubricated the eye with drops and patched it after looking on the internet to see what to do. Today, Rachel still couldn’t see much out of the eye, so they took her to an eye doctor here who said everything looked pretty good, and that the biggest issue was an infection in the eyelid. He gave her some anti-biotic and anesthetic drops, which have really helped the pain. Praise God she is seeing better this evening and a lot more comfortable.
I understand the evening Bible study at the Ramirez’ home was terrific, with the house packed with about 30 people, and plenty of food (not that I was interested in that). Sorry I had to stay behind. The Ramirez family are good friends. I just slept. Tried to eat a few crackers and a little soup, but that was about it until this morning. Still going slow, very drained. Tonight, though, is the best I’ve felt, so I’m hoping for a good night of rest and a normal day tomorrow.
Tonight everyone has taken off again for the home Bible study at the Huanca home. The Huancas are also very good friends, and I’m sorry to miss it. But I’m worried about pushing it too fast. Today was a good day for the team: Rachel is better, Liz has a cold, but is plugging along, Carol headed up a women’s Bible study that went very well from what I am told, with a lot of ladies in attendance. This afternoon the team gathered with a group of young people for a couple of hours of sports at a local Wallyball complex, and Roldan brought a devotional. I guess there were about 20 young people there besides the team. Ed came back breathing hard, remembering that the altitude hasn’t lessened! But they had a great time. And yes, I slept through it!
Had a light dinner tonight, and am trying to regain equilibrium. For those of you that knew about this and were praying, thanks. I’m sure I’m out of the woods now. Have to preach tomorrow night, and we’re supposed to go out and distribute tracts in the morning. Also, we scheduled some time for shopping in the afternoon tomorrow, and the team is anxious to find gifts for folks back home. I hope to go with them to help them find what they need and help them barter for the best deals. It’s more fun than actually buying stuff for yourself!
I found out that my blog host is having issues with their service that they use to post pictures. I tried to upload some yesterday in a coherent moment, and the deal is that nothing that I post will show up for the moment. So, when they get it straightened out, I’ll be putting pictures up for Peru and Bolivia. Until then, thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers.
