The end of the year 2021 and the beginning of the year 2022 brought in the old and the new… just in opposite fashion.
On Dec. 21 Lorie and Juan, along with the team, welcomed Noah Josué to the world. Because of this birth being so close after Caleb’s (their second child’s) birth. Lorie and Juan decided to go with a C-section. God provided a private clinic that they found and felt comfortable with the doctor and care and that was a huge blessing. Another blessing was that Lorie was allowed one person to go in with her during the C-section. That is not a normal practice here and in most public hospitals not allowed during C-sections nor natural births. Lorie (after talking with Juan) asked if I would be present with her. I have helped deliver several babies, including being the mid-wife for Lorie’s fist child Nichole and was honored and glad to be able to be with her for this child’s birth.
Having never seen a C-section this was quite the experience. Having experienced it for the first time in Bolivia… well it was a little traumatizing for me honestly. I think I need to watch some videos of c-sections in other places to know they are not all like the one I was present for. Noah and mom are doing well. Lorie is recuperating and Noah has been eating well and keeping his mom awake at night as he has his days and nights mixed up and we are all so glad that God answered that prayer and that there were no complications. For those of you who aske when hearing of a baby’s birth, he weighed 3.3 kilos (about 7.2lbs) and we have no idea about his length since it was not measured. (Pictures to the side: Pilar is so happy to have a new cousin. Me in the operation room holding Noah.)
So at the end of the year, we welcomed the new and also the old. Daniela and her 3 yr. old daughter Itzel have been with me since mid-Dec. She was part of the university group in Sucre and we have known her for years. She now teaches high school in a small pueblo. Since her family life is going through some struggles, she wanted to spend her summer vacation somewhere else and she also didn’t want to stay in the pueblo where she doesn’t have a church community. She decided to come to Tarija and I invited her to stay with Pilar and I. It’s been great having them and fun to have them here for Christmas. New Year’s Eve brought 3 more people from Sucre- two single ladies and one single guy. The ladies stayed with me and the guy stayed with the Torres. One of the ladies and the guy could only stay for the weekend, but Aylin was here for a week and another guy also came in for a couple of day and stayed with the Torres. On Wednesday of this week the Sacompi family arrived from Sucre. Gustavo and Eli and their two kids made 7 total that I had in the house this week. It’s been full and a 24 hour bug has been passed around the last couple of days but we all (the whole team) have enjoyed them being here.
God is good and these visitors brought a celebrational air to the holidays. We don’t have these kinds of connections with people here in Tarija, but God provides encouragement and I know He will provide the community here. Please be praying with us that God opens doors to getting to know people better and forming friendships. Pray also that Satan’s plans for distractions and lies do not work but rather the spiritual walls are broken down and that God be glorified and sought.