Post 26 Cochabamba vacation, Don Tomas leaves, and an interrupted flight.

A rest in Cochabamba

In mid-September, with the temperature a constant 100°F. day and night, Lucille was not progressing very well and we were feeling the effects of more than a year in the Beni climate, so we decided to go to Cochabamba for a few weeks.  

To secure our goods as much as possible, Jim nailed boards behind the two doors onto the back verandah and the wooden window shutters, fastening the front door that opened onto the footpath with a couple of heavy padlocks. One of the believers said he would keep an eye on the house. 

It was a very hot and bumpy plane trip to Trinidad where we were transferred to a cargo plane carrying tins of liquid rubber and bales of smelly dried meat. As the plane climbed up to about 15,000 ft. altitude to go through the pass in the Andes, the sheer mountainside appeared to be only about 50 yards from the wing. 

We were watching Lucille closely to check on her reaction to the altitude, but the Lord answered our prayer for her and she was all right. It was not long before we began to descend into the beautiful Cochabamba valley with its delightfully cool climate at 8,5000 ft. altitude.

We took Lucille to a German specialist in child welfare and, following his suggestions on her feeding, together with the benefit of the cool climate, she responded well and looked like a different baby. 

Jim and I also enjoyed the cool temperature and the wonderful food and vegetables. We were encouraged to see progress in the Bolivian Indian Mission work of the city and surrounding areas, as well as the Indian Bible Institute at Carachipampa with 29 resident students. We appreciated having Christian fellowship with our missionary family, including Arturo and Hilda Arana.

For some time we had been praying for a motor in order to travel the Beni rivers with the Gospel, as river transport is the only means of travel for a good part of the year.  No one knew of this prayer request, so when a gift of 52 pounds from an unknown supporter in Melbourne came to the Mission marked for "Hadfield's Beni Work", we knew that this was the Lord's provision.  

While in Cochabamba, Jim was able to buy at a very cheap price a J.A.P. stationary 2 1/4 h.p. motor, fitted it up with a propeller shaft, and planned to look for a canoe on our return to the Beni.

While in Cochabamba, I had a few severe attacks of vomiting and acute headaches. The diagnosis by a stomach specialist was a malfunction of the liver.  Consequently I had a series of injections that included vitamin supplements.  This treatment meant that it was necessary for me to remain in the city longer than we had anticipated. 

After some busy days buying up supplies and dispatching them by cargo plane, Jim left on his own for San Joaquin towards the end of October.

The priest was at the San Joaquin airport to meet the plane, but on seeing Jim alighting, he gave a disgusted look and left immediately. Ambrosio the carpenter and two of the Sunday School boys accompanied Jim to the house where he was greeted very affectionately by our dog Chum. 

Then came the task of opening up the place, taking the planks off the doors and windows. After being shut up for some weeks, it smelt terribly musty and mouldy, and two bushes were growing in the earth floor, struggling to reach the crack of light in the Don Tomas the priest door. 

There were plenty of spider webs but no cockroaches about, possibly because of the arsenic powder Jim had sprinkled around before we left.

The month of October was always a difficult time of adjustment to the intense heat and humidity that accompanied the approach of the rains. That year, at the end of the dry season, the river was reported to be choked, in places, with millions of dead fish, including dead alligators.  

In a letter to me, Jim wrote that on his arrival the heat was terrific, about 96°F. with high humidity. A storm broke that night and lasted all the next day with heavy rain. He took off his coat, then his vest, then changed into light trousers, then could not bear even a shirt so got around in a singlet, then could not stand that, so had a bath! The water stank, as a big frog had died in the well, which only had 18" of water in it. 

The table garden had collapsed; his first efforts at soup-making tasted nearer to dishwater than anything previously attempted, while the meat was just as tasteless as ever.

Some of the believers came for a meeting that evening, but on their own they had not maintained more than two meetings. They were glad to have Jim back again and had shown real kindness in clearing the yard of unwanted growth. 

As he started into the work again, there were some good open-air meetings during the evenings around the town, but the indoor meetings were difficult with only a few attending. 

A priest leaves town

However, we had real cause for rejoicing in that the Lord had answered prayer concerning Don Tomas, the priest who so fanatically opposed the Gospel. Shortly after Jim's return, he heard that Don Tomas was going away for a year to visit Rome and to see his people in Spain and had sold up a lot of his possessions. The rumour around the town was that he would be back, because he was fond of the ex-postmistress!!  

Early November he set off, walking down the middle of the road to the airport with a shiny new bowler hat on his head. A big part of the townspeople marched in procession with him, while the young native women danced in front, and the men in their feather headdresses led the way with their drums and dancers.  

Apparently the priest had said he was not returning, and although we knew that another priest would undoubtedly be sent to replace him, the Lord had answered our prayer in removing this man who had exerted such power over the people of San Joaquin for so long.  

A few years later, Don Tomas wrote to a Spaniard who was a resident trader in the town, saying that he would very much like to return, and could not understand why he had ever left. We believed that we knew the reason, and looked to the Lord to fulfil His will for the salvation of souls in San Joaquin. Don Tomas never returned.

An interrupted flight.

About mid-November I was ready to return to the Beni, feeling like a new person and looking forward to joining Jim in the work. Lucille was growing well, looking rosy-cheeked and healthy in the lovely climate of Cochabamba. We had not been able to get a reservation on the plane, and so had to wait an extra week for a flight, but eventually went out to the airport at 5 a.m. expecting to be in San Joaquin by 9.30 a.m. 

However, the flight was in a cargo plane which finally took off late in the afternoon because of a breakdown. Arriving at Trinidad, the passengers were taken to the hotel for the night, and accommodation there was limited. 

The female manager, with a condescending attitude, showed five adults and 3 children to five beds in one room, suggesting that we were most fortunate to have somewhere to stay for the night. The room was divided by a slight partition with a wide doorway, but no door. The passengers were an Arab with a French wife, a Bolivian army captain with his wife and two babies, Lucille and myself.

We looked at one another, smiled and wondered what to do next! The Arab suggested to me that I sleep in the small room with his wife, and he would look for somewhere else, leaving the army captain and his wife with their babies to the other section.  

However, finally the bright idea struck someone that the two men take the smaller section plus one baby, and the three ladies the larger section plus two babies. 

It was anybody's guess as to whether the sheets had been washed since the bed's previous occupant, but I spread out something for Lucille to lie on and something to keep my face from direct contact with the pillow!  So I passed the night with Lucille in a single bed under a mosquito net, in the company of complete strangers.  

The sudden change from altitude to tropical heat did not worry Lucille, she just stretched out her arms and legs sideways, took up most of the bed and fell fast asleep to wake up with a smile at 4.30 a.m. when we had to be up and off to the airport.  

There was not much sleep for the adults, but it was possible to endure the heat for a few hours while at least stretching out our bodies! It was a good flight in the early morning, and at 7.30 a.m. we stepped off the plane at San Joaquin to meet Jim. 

Although the first few days back in the humidity were very trying, Lucille adjusted quickly to the conditions, despite the perspiration trickling off her head as she drank her bottle of milk