Friday, March 20, 2020. Beyond a doubt, one blessing of the coronavirus epidemic has been the outpouring of digital resources being made available free of charge to families staying home. For our family, one particular recommendation received early in this experience has been of special encouragement. Friends from our home church posted on Facebook about a nearby pastor in Michigan who would be teaching a Bible class for children each morning and teens each afternoon. Pastor David (we have yet to learn his last name) wears a sweatshirt, baseball cap and a bushy beard, and he presents Biblical truth in straightforward and challenging yet interesting fashion with a white board and a marker. Having tried out both the children's and teen's class earlier in the week, on Friday we gave each of our children a notebook and started back at lesson one for teenagers. I took notes right beside my kids! My heart rejoiced at this utterly unplanned opportunity to dig deeply into God's Word and disciple our children in Truth with the help of this previously-unknown-to-us pastor.
Once again on Friday, Jenn and I headed downtown to meet with the cabinet maker who this time assured us of a 10:30 meeting. I was so tired, having stayed up past 2:30 AM reading and recording several chapters of Elizabeth George's book, Proverbios para el corazon de la mujer, to share with our FLORECE volunteers and ladies from church. To our surprise as all schools are cancelled, the traffic around Cavancha beach was quite slow. As it turned out, a nice orange Jeep had crashed a heavy cement light pole and was causing a back up. Something so average as a fender bender felt incongruous for some reason. When we reached FLORECE, the cabinet maker's card was tucked in the door and he was nowhere to be seen. Frustrating was an understatement as call after call to his cell phone went unanswered. Later we learned he had left it behind in the company truck, and eventually we did connect and all turned out well. We had the chance to speak of deeper things as he queried us (especially Jenn) as to why we would leave our comfortable homes in North America to live in Chile. He told us how he once "adopted" a young Mormon missionary whose living situation in Iquique was so poor that he barely had enough to eat and practically slept on the floor, earning the gratitude of the young man's family who later sent him pictures of the "mansion" and land of plenty he called home.
It was on Friday that the announcement was given to close all restaurants, discotheques, bars, etc. at midnight to curb the coronavirus. Already many people were staying inside so this was not surprising, but we knew it would hit small businesses hard. One family-run fresh juice and sandwiches stand is a favorite for our missionary team. Jenn and I stopped for a quick lunch and then I ordered fresh juices for my entire family, which Pedro drove over to pick up with Ian and Alec. Sitting outdoors in the broad daylight as practically the only customers felt conspicuous when normally we'd be lucky to find seats, but we wanted to provide some income for the shop while we still could. From La Ecuatoriana, Jenn and I headed to the south side Agro fruit and vegetable market where we squeamishly admitted if we caught the virus anywhere it might be here. But at the same time, fresh produce was a must for good health so we just tried to shop quickly, use hand sanitizer and wash everything well when we got home. While we were out and about, Pedro delivered yesterday's groceries from Terri to our friend in need and he had also been busy trying to help a retired American doctor find a way home to the States sooner than later. On Friday afternoon, Pedro and I worked on a short video for a supporting church who had requested an update on the situation in Chile (with a few bloopers along the way!) We also played some board games with Owen and Alec - Dutch Blitz and Ticket to Ride New York. On Friday evening, Owen was invited to go for a walk and a sandwich with Pipe and we said yes, in my case fighting some nervousness about germs but recognizing our son's need for a positive friendship in the light of this week's disappointments.
Saturday, March 21, 2020. In an effort to avoid crowds, Terri and I visited the Lider supermarket a little after 9 AM only to find that many items (loaf bread, liquid soap, etc.) had still not been stocked. But thankfully, we found what we needed. And thankfully, in a land that loves fresh bread we found plenty of it even when the other shelves were empty! One significant change for Chilean culture, however, was that the fresh bread was already bagged, weighed and labeled rather than allowing self selection as was always the custom. I returned home to another family devotional time followed by the unwelcome announcement (to our children's ears) of an overdue house cleaning day. Living room closets, piles of papers on tables, all the inordinate amounts of "stuff" that needed to be sorted and in many cases, thrown away. To encourage some enthusiasm, I happily discovered a couple of Steven Curtis Chapman's earliest recordings on YouTube and found that 25+ years later, I could still remember most of the words! Thus my advice to my children was: Choose your music wisely. I am grateful for the ministry of a musician whose Biblical foundations make decades-old songs still relevant for today, and who has been faithful even having gone through the fire.
Pedro spent a good chunk of time on Saturday once again helping our friend Ron. They drove out to the Iquique airport, only to find that Ron's flight had been cancelled. Then it was rescheduled for early Sunday morning, but his international flight was not until Monday night and he was told no hotels were available in Santiago. Pedro learned that Ron's internet had been suspended due to his pending trip and his adult children back home were frantic for word from their father in light of the current crisis, so he was able to add a son-in-law to WhatsApp and be the go-between for communication which greatly alleviated the family's concern back in the States. As evening fell, we acquiesced to Isabel's request for driving practice and the three of us headed out to deliver a piano keyboard to Christopher and several Story of Hope books to individuals joining us Sunday evening for our Bible study online. Unfortunately, a miscalculation early in the drive resulted in a flat tire in front of Sra. Isabel's house! We went inside and it was so nice to see our friends but I was nervous the whole time and carefully kept my distance because of concerns for her health due to her cancer battle. We requested a ride home from Solange who lives across the street and took a different vehicle out to complete our errand, stopping again at Solange's to help her with a computer and printer problem before returning home around 11 PM. Our neighbor Juan was waiting when we arrived and only half-jokingly reminded us that we were supposed to be staying close to home. When we said we'd been helping a friend, his first question was: "Is she sick?" to which we reassured him it was only her printer that was ill!
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