Bern Talks

Bolivia Day 1 - Had A Bad Day

Hi Guys,

Well, we have finally arrived to our host home in Santa Cruz after leaving Miami 24hrs ago. While life on the road is never easy, this journey has been particularly brutal and has brought me to tears.

For starters, many of you know that our plane was scheduled to make a fast stopover in La Paz before going on to Santa Cruz. Knowing that La Paz is the highest airport in the world (13,000 ft.), Jeff and I prearranged for me to receive oxygen during this quick stop. Well friends, quick it wasn’t, how about fifteen hours?? Yep, you read that correctly, FIFTEEN HOURS of being the sickest I have ever been in my entire life!! FIFTEEN hours in pain, gasping for air and I even vomited eleven times! It was just awful. So awful that I thought I was going to see Jesus momentarily.

And if that wasn’t enough, when we arrived at the Santa Cruz airport my wheelchair would not work, not at all! I have no power in the chair and we have no idea why. It was raining on the ground in La Paz so that could have caused damage but who knows. For those of you that know me well, you know that there isn’t a moment that I spend motionless. I am always wheeling around on my own, so you can imagine the terrible loss I feel right now.

As we exited customs I can only imagine what my face must have looked like to the five Campus Crusade staff who greeted us with cheers and hugs. They were so happy to finally see us!! One of the staff members, Tony, who will be doing a video production of our time here, just kept saying “What a blessing it was to have you here to share with the Bolivian people.” I couldn’t even feel the moment as I was so exhausted and distraught. Yep, you guessed it; Tony captured my totally wiped-out expression on his camera! :(

As I sit here at the table I am reminded of God’s hand in all of this by a plaque directly across from me that says, “The Will of God will never lead you where the Grace of God cannot keep you.” So it is with this attitude that I press forward and continue on with my scheduled speaking engagements. In just a few hours I will be headed off to speak at the Missionary School here in town and then on to a Bolivian public school in a very poor neighborhood in the afternoon. Pray that the urge to move on my own will subside. “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

Bewildered in Bolivia,
Bernadette