The Overflow

I thought I was having a bad day on Tuesday.

I had a fever of 102 Monday night and woke up Tuesday morning feeling like Chuck Liddell had punched me in the temple.

“No, not right now! I can’t afford to be sick right now,” I thought to myself. “The CMU workshop is coming up early next week in Arkansas! I have to teach a class there and have several speaking appointments at other area churches, and I need this week to prepare! I’ve got to get some antibiotics so I can be well for all this stuff.”

I called the doctor’s office and scheduled an appointment for later that day.

A couple of hours later Airiel decided to take the kids and run a couple of quick errands. I heard the front door shut as she left, only to hear it open again five minutes later. I knew the errands would be quick, but not that quick.

“Maybe she forgot something,” I thought as I laid in bed upstairs.

But another few minutes went by and I didn’t hear her leave again. Curious, I got up to ask her what was going on only to learn that our Durango had a flat tire.

Well, I just had to get to my doctor’s appointment later in the day! The Fletchers hadn’t made it back in from being out of town, everyone else we knew was working, and I had no other ride. The Durango had to work.

After groaning a little bit, I set out to change a tire on our big ole’ SUV with a 102 fever.

That would have been bad enough even if everything had gone smoothly (if you’ve never changed a tire on an SUV, you’re missing one of the great joys in life … NOT), but things didn’t go smoothly. 

The jack that came with our vehicle proved to be too short to actually change the tire!

Let me explain. I could get the flat tire off, but putting the inflated spare on proved to be impossible. No sir. Not even close.

In order to get the inflated tire on, I needed to raise the Durango several more inches, but I’d gone as far as the threads on the jack would let me. Stupid …

I actually had to deflate the spare tire just to put it on, and do you think I had a tire pump laying around the house? Nope – I had to wait on someone to be home who could give Airiel a ride to the store to get one.

I came inside the house after the tire fiasco (about a two hour ordeal) feeling very drained and very irritated at the geniuses at GM who forgot to check the specs on the jack included with the Durango. I knew we wouldn’t be able to get a pump in time for me to make my doctor’s appointment, and that meant one more day with the crud and one less day of being productive.

Feeling quite sorry for myself, I settled into my chair upstairs to quickly check my email before laying down to take a long rest.

“Man, what a BAD day,” I thought. “Could this day have even gotten any worse?”

Then this popped up on my screen.

An email from my friend Jana Wright in Texas – an active member of the Austin Avenue Church of Christ:

I just received a phone call regarding our mission team in Bolivia.

The youth group was traveling together and the van went off of a cliff.

The Sandoval’s son and his wife were with the youth group. She is all
right, but their son was injured in multiple areas.

There may be some fatalities.

Please, pray for these Christians, their families and the church in Bolivia.

This is all I know at this time.

Please, share this prayer request with others.

 Then this one later:

Dear friends and family,

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the situation in Cochabamba
concerning the bus accident involving the youth group from the Iglesia de
Cristo.  First I would like to say thank you for all the prayers that you
have lifted on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Cochabamba.

I ask that you continue praying for Rebecca.  Rebecca is scheduled for
surgery tomorrow morning and my understanding is that the surgery will be
on her leg/legs.  She is listed as “delicada” or delicate in status.
Please pray for her father, Pedro, her mother, Beatrice, and her sister,
Veronica as they support her through her surgery and recovery.

Please continue praying for Miguel.  Miguel is a brother in Christ who went
as one of our adults on the trip.  We don’t have many details on how he is,
but know that the majority of his injuries are related to head injuries.
Our understanding is that he’s not very responsive right now, but that the
last update received by the family was hopeful.

Please continue praying for Josh Marcum who is in the same clinic as
Rebecca with fracture wounds.

Please continue praying for JD Sandoval.  JD is the son of Butch and Trish
Sandoval and had just arrived at the clinic when we last spoke with Julie
Marcum.  He will be having x-rays to rule out further injuries, but as of
now looks like the worst of his injuries may be hand fractures.  His wife
Rachel appears to be fine with no serious injuries.  Also, please pray for
Butch and Trish as they are traveling back into Cochabamba to be with JD
(as they had headed out to the accident scene upon hearing the news).

It breaks our hearts to tell you that three of our young girls on the trip
died.  At this time please pray fervently over their families who are
struggling to face the reality of having lost their loved ones.

Please continue to pray for the others that were on the trip.  As far as we
know all others are at home and recovering with minor injuries.  The worst
of their recovery will be in their spirits as they deal with the deaths of
their friends.

Thank you again for supporting your Bolivian brothers and sisters in prayer
and know that we will do all we can to keep you updated as we hear new
information.  God bless you all.

Gary and Laura Bull

Hearing this news put my “bad day” in perspective for me … suddenly I wasn’t feeling so sorry for myself anymore.

The Bolivia Mission Team is one of several teams around the world sponsored and overseen by the Austin Avenue Church of Christ in Brownwood, TX (they also sponsor and oversee mine and the Fletcher family’s work here in San Francisco). In addition to the Austin Avenue connection, I’ve known Gary Bull for a long time due to his work as operations manager at River City Ministry six or seven years ago (I’ve written about RCM often).

What’s happened in Bolivia is a terrible tragedy. Prayers are needed, as is financial support for the medical care of those injured. Many come from poor families and cannot afford hospital care on their own – help is needed.

The Bulls recently set up a blog to keep interested parties up to date on the progress of those injured, as well as up to date on prayer and financial needs.

Please add this blog link to your favorites list and check it often: http://cochabambayouthgroup.blogspot.com/

If you’d like to know immediately how you can help, please see the first post from Gary, or this story in The Christian Chronicle for pertinant info.

May we all keep our “bad” days in perspective, and may we stop feeling sorry for ourselves at the slightest hint of discomfort and instead focus on those who are truly in need.