The President of Peru addresses the country tomorrow with regards to rising cases of the virus. Things have been gradually opening up this month, but cases have been rising along with that. They say all hospital beds are full in Lima and Cusco.
The Cusco region had been avoiding high case counts. This was attributed to our high elevation here, but now things seem to be hitting the higher elevations, too. Several regions have gone back into quarantine already. People in Izcuchaca are expecting the Cusco region to go back into lockdown along with the rest of the country. We will see.
Last night Rafael began a fever and cough. He does not seem gravely ill, but he is clearly sick with a cold or flu or… He says it is a 2019 sickness, nada más. He’s fighting a higher fever tonight.
Elisabet is terribly fearful. She was fearful enough before Rafael got sick, but now she’s worse. Pray that God can speak to them both. Whether it’s just a cold or not, we are not promised tomorrow.
I was talking quite a lot today with another friend, Emilio. His girlfriend has been sick with high fever and coughing and terrible headaches for awhile now. Her cough is getting worse, and she hasn’t eaten in days. Today she didn’t have the energy to walk anymore.
I was encouraging him to get her to the doctor, but they don’t trust the Peruvian doctors, and they are terrified to be diagnosed with the virus. They wanted to try to nurse her back to health at home.
Tonight, she has no strength left, so Emilio wants to take her to the emergency room. But they are driving nearly three hours to Curahuasi to the German missionary hospital.
Emilio used to be a believer, but he turned away from God some years back. Pray that he would consider the truth again in these dark times. And pray for his girlfriend Lili. She is in grave condition.
Because of rising cases in Izcuchaca, Alicia’s son Walter is trying to convince her to move to Curahuasi with them where there have been very few cases. He drove over tonight and is staying with her to try to work through details.
Alicia doesn’t want to leave her home, but she wants to try to please Walter and help him not to worry. I think she may go. I’m supposed to go talk with them in the morning. They both want me to convince the other that they’re right. That ought to be fun.
So you can pray for me, too. I’m trying to be an encouragement to these folks as I can, but I’m not always sure how. But God knows, and He helps us.
Juan David 