The town is called “Campo Gallo” which translates “Rooster Camp.” It’s located about 150 miles from nowhere in the northern part of the province of Santiago del Estero. I enjoyed a great service there last night! Packed church! Many youth. Lots of little kids. Good people, loving people, hugs and kisses on the cheek from big men, elderly ladies and little children.
I am reminded of Jesus’ words when told that his mother and brothers were outside wanting to see him. He looked around at his crowd of followers and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.” Some of my close family members live in “Rooster Camp.” (Spiritual family, of course.)
But the 150 miles of road to get there took me over 4 hours and then more than 5 hours to return in the dark. I have seen many roads of all kinds in my lifetime, but this one was without doubt the most difficult of any. It had been paved at one time and here and there would have 100 yards of pavement… or a half mile… but with huge potholes…
most of them about 8 inches deep and some so huge that they covered most of the road and 18 inches to almost 2 feet deep! Then the damaged pavement would come to an abrupt end and a drop off of about 8 to 10 inches onto a gravel road. Unfortunately parts of the former pavement were sticking up out of the gravel to grab the underside of the car. I had to slowly lower the car into deep holes and climb out on the other side… hundreds of them. Progress was slow going, but much slower in reduced visibility after midnight as I returned. There were cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs loose and grazing beside the road.
Most of the time mine was the only vehicle around. Sometime in the middle of the night on this lonely road I got sleepy and pulled off on a little spot I found by the road and slept soundly for maybe 30 minutes before going on. There were a few stretches of good pavement. I would get up to 40 mph or so and suddenly have to slam on the brakes again and lower the vehicle into a pit. Several times I was surprised by a huge pit and fell into it headlong. The poor car took a terrible beating, but kept on going even when I went through deep water… I don’t know how deep. I just know it sounded pretty deep as it made waves and then I came out on the other side. There were several stretches of miles of good road, but even then I dared not speed since a huge crater could appear at any moment and often did.
It was a challenge, but well worth it for the blessed fellowship we enjoyed as we worshipped as a family. After church the pastor begged me for a date to come back. The Wednesday previous they had gotten mixed up in the dates and had announced me for last week… and had a great crowd… only to find out they were a week early. So I could not consider leaving them out only because of a badly damaged road. I was safely back in my hotel at 5 AM.
Thank you Jesus! All is well. It’s now 3:30 PM Thursday and I think I’ll take a much needed siesta. Service starts here in the big city of Santiago del Estero is at 8:30 tonight. I continue preaching every day at least once. Recently I have had only about 4 or 5 hours sleep at night, but I’m doing fine, although I confess I would prefer 8 hours.
Ralph
