Claudio, Travis and Steve took a bus into Bahia Caraques for
his check-up. His platelet count was up, and since he has not broken out in a rash
they have dismissed the Dengue diagnosis. Instead they are calling it a viral
infection, probably from the plane ride down. He is taking pills to control
fever, and is now taking an antihistamine to slow his sinus drainage. He is
enjoying working with the rest of the team today.
Relationships with the village people are clearly warming as
we become better known and trusted. People who had not yet met the prerequisite
of digging their septic hole have gotten busy when they have seen their
neighbor’s latrines finished and they simultaneously find that the
prerequisites are really that. We were also planning to go to a mid-week
service in Salinas, the next village to the east, so we knocked off early to
shower and have supper.
A group of us were taken in the back of a small pickup truck
a bit over 2 miles to an evangelical church in Salinas for a service that started
a little after 7:30 pm. Our group was warmly greeted by individuals before the
service, and acknowledged with thanks to our churches for sending financial
support and physical labor. Claudio and Pablo both spoke briefly, and Pablo
showed a Bible overview film from Mars Hill that presented the gospel. There is
also significant earthquake damage in that village, including the church
building.
The church building has also been damaged by the earthquake
and has been designated as an unsafe building
Phew! No Dengue fever.
ReplyDeleteYes, a relief to all of us. We found out on Friday that Travis' wife had the exact same symptoms a day earlier than him, so he did not even pick up the bug in Ecuador. However, it was very clear that God was using Travis' illness to accomplish His purposes. It was touching to see our host family concern themselves for him in his illness, and we are all sure that experience drew us closer to them and each other, and drew them ever closer to a Savior. They talked about it on Friday before we left and I intend to write about that next.
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