Post 24 A little Joaquiniana arrives

As the time came closer for the arrival of our baby, Jim did not travel too far from home. Indoor meetings were crowded to capacity with about 25 in attendance, including a number of soldiers from various areas of the Beni.  A few people of the town showed interest by buying Bibles and New Testaments, so we were seeing some sowing of the seed of the Word.  

Arrangements had been made with Mrs Vi Trotman to travel from Santa Ana to take the confinement due about 25th July.  

By mid June, Jim and I had made the baby's crib with wooden legs and canvas sides, plus a mosquito net hanging from four wooden posts and a calico roof.  At the time, we were finding the mosquitoes very nippy, and being a type without "buzz" they bit without warning. 

Mosquito lotion did not help much in keeping them away, so when I sat at the table to do work in the evenings, I tied up my legs in a calico flour bag to keep them off.  Nevertheless, they bit my back through my dress. The one consolation was that they were not the malarial type.  

With the arrival of a few short ‘surasos’, I had a little more energy and so tried to get things ready for the coming of the Trotman family.  We had received word that they would be travelling down the Mamore River from Santa Ana on the mission launch to Puerto Siles, and then expected to go by oxcart for the last 33 miles.  They had planned to be in San Joaquin on 11th July.

An early Arrival

Monday, 10th July, saw Jim and me busy getting the final things ready for the arrival of the Trotmans, due in San Joaquin the following evening.  A few days previously we had taken delivery of a lovely solid cedar lowboy, which was wonderful to have instead of the curtain corner-wardrobe which hosted plenty of cockroaches, and allowed everything in it to go green with mould. 

About 5 o'clock in the afternoon I realised that I was starting to go into labour, so all spring cleaning stopped and we had to make a rapid change of plans.  We got things ready for the baby's arrival, and our Austrian dentist friend who lived in rooms along the verandah, offered to go and get the army doctor from the barracks. 

Some time later, when the labour pains had really started in earnest, the doctor showed up, but he only stayed long enough to say that he knew nothing about maternity work!  However, he offered to go and find the woman who was the best midwife in the town. By the time he arrived back with her, I had told Jim how to proceed and he had delivered the baby's head.  

Local midwife helps

The midwife came into the room smoking a cigarette, and asked for some methylated spirits to rub on her hands before taking over, but Jim had a dish of Dettol solution ready and asked her to wash them properly in that! 

She complied, and proceeded with the delivery which was a normal one, and at 8 p.m. our baby girl was born.

Not long after the birth, I was surprised to see that the baby had already been bathed in a tub of water right in front of the open doorway through which a fresh south wind was blowing.  

The midwife then went off home, and we were left on our own with our sweet new baby.  By the time things were reasonably in order, we were both longing to get some sleep, but first I decided to check the cord.  

It was a tremendous shock to find her clothes soaked with blood. Apparently the cord had not been properly tied, and was haemorrhaging.  I applied another ligature, and kept a check on it from time to time throughout the night.  We thanked the Lord for His wonderful undertaking in our time of need, and for giving us our daughter, Lucille.

Trotman family arrives

While all this was happening, out on the pampas about 16 miles away, the Trotman family were bumping along at 2 mph in the oxcart that was bringing them from Puerto Siles.  

Most oxcart journeys were made in the cool of the night and the oxen rested during the heat of the day.  They finally arrived in San Joaquin the following evening when Jim was taking a meeting. So Mrs Trotman went straight through the meeting-room and along the verandah looking for me.

I was sitting up in bed under the mosquito net, with the baby in my arms! Her first reaction was one of stunned disbelief, that soon changed to thankfulness that all was O.K.

It was wonderful to have Mrs Trotman's care and companionship for two weeks. During that time Mr Trotman and Jim carried on a series of meetings every night.  The Lord gave much blessing and we saw souls saved and believers strengthened in the faith. The nightly meetings continued to be well-attended right through the two weeks. 

There was always a group who stayed behind for extra study as well.  

On the last Sunday night of the series of meetings, the meeting-room was packed with 35 people crowded inside and a good number around the doorway.  At this service Lucille was dedicated to the Lord with Mr. Trotman officiating. It was a fine testimony to the people as well as an opportunity to explain why we did not baptise children to save their souls, as Catholic doctrine taught.  

At the end of their stay with us, the Trotmans set off to make the two-day trip by bumpy oxcart back to Puerto Siles where they had left the Mission launch for their return journey along the Mamore River to Santa Ana.  We thanked the Lord for their loving ministry to us, and for their zeal in the Lord's work.

Editor’s comment:

It would be easy to assume from a 21st century perspective that Joy could have flown to a bigger centre to give birth to her baby but chose to stay in the town. 

Reading the story with an understanding of how tight the missionary income was, opens another slant. The travel overland by the Trotmans, when weekly flights from Trinidad to San Joaquin existed, helps to underscore this. 

This story is also significant in the light of the fact that Jim and Joy had lost their first child only sixteen months previously due to altitude and isolation in another part of Bolivia, during their first Mission posting.