Tacna, baptisms... & this time paratyphoid!

Hi, I have spent the weekend (Thursday-Tuesday) in Tacna with the Misión Rescate team. We had a great time. The team was working with 'Manantial de Vida' Church who were celebrating their 7th anniversary this week. The team did visitation and door to door work handing out leaflets about the church activities and inviting the people to attend the anniversary services.
On Saturday there was the church outing to a country club/restaurant. They hired a room for the day and the pool for an hour. The purpose was to undertake a baptismal service, which apparently has become a tradition over the past few years. We had a short service in the room and then everyone gathered around the pool where 5 people were then baptised.

After this we spent time playing games the team had organised and then had lunch which we had arranged ourselves as the restaurant would have been too expensive. I have never attended a baptismal service quite like this, but I was glad of the opportunity.
Sunday was spent at Church with a special service in the morning where the newly baptised believers were accepted into membership and then the Lord's Supper was celebrated. In the afternoon there was another service where the other churches in Cono Sur who work directly with the mission were invited. The four 'De Vida' churches as they are known (Pan de Vida, Luz de Vida, Palabra de Vida and Manantial de Vida) customarily cancel their own evening services to attend each others anniversaries. This helps promote fellowship and support between the churches. (Below are are some team members with a few of the young people from the church).
On Monday the team returned to Ite while I stayed on until Tuesday to complete the tests at the laboratory. Sadly the result is that although the antibiotics cleared the typhoid bacteria, they didn't successfully eliminate the paratyphoid (trust me to get both at once). Presently I am awaiting an e-mail from the laboratory to tell me what antibiotic the bacteria is sensitive to and then I have to phone the doctor who treated me in Arequipa to get an antibiotic prescribed. This also throws into doubt whether I will be able to accompany the team to Puno. I'll keep you posted on this.

I would ask you to pray for the following things. Firstly for the team and myself as we prepare to go to Arequipa this Sunday and then on to Puno (presuming I get to go). Chris, one of the team members, and I visited a Cardiologist while we were here in Tacna. He has a history of heart problems as a teenager and was not able to join the team when they last visited Puno in December. The doctor has decided that it would be fine for him to travel this time but has recommended that we keep a careful eye on things. The other thing the doctor pointed out is that altitude sickness can affect anyone therefore we all need to be careful to take it easy the first few days in Puno. Hopefully the couple of days in Arequipa will help minimise the effect on our bodies and allow us to acclimatise more gradually. Pray for safety in travel and also for good health as we adjust to the altitude.

I also want to ask you to pray for Pastor Ruben Mendoza. He works in the radio in Tacna and also pastors the Pan de Vida church. He has had pain and other difficulties over the past week or so and was finally diagnosed on Monday as having renal stones in both kidneys and also some other problems. However, the hospital are presently saying he may have to wait until May/June to see a Urologist and later in June to get surgery. At present he has been sent home to await an appointment. His wife nevertheless, is trying to get him seen sooner as he is in a lot of pain and his own doctor says he needs surgery urgently. Please pray for him and his family at this time and I'll keep you posted as I hear how things are going. Also pray for Christine Morrow as she continues to recover.

Sorry that health matters seem to dominate this post but they are genuine needs for prayer. Thank you again for your faithfulness in prayer and also for your encouraging comments and e-mails. They are a real blessing.

God Bless,
Alistair.