October 11, 2016
True Religion
I was so encouraged by one of my Congolese brothers last
week who works in partnership with the health center. I shared previously about a young
girl named Neema, age 3, with tuberculosis who is walking for the first
time. She was discharged from the
hospital 2 weeks ago and has been followed by a community health worker on a
regular basis. We have been ensuring
that the family has food to eat, a dry place to lay their heads, and are taking
their medications. This is truly a
vulnerable family, a widow and her daughter who is severely visually impaired
with her children. They have essentially little to no resources.
My Congolese brother has offered to share one of his fields
for this family to cultivate, as well as room to build a modest dwelling. It is so encouraging to see a national make
this sacrifice for someone who can’t do anything to repay them. It is the Lord who sees such actions and will
bring blessings a 100-fold for our modest investments. This is true religion, to share with those in
need and to help widows in their distress.
This is quite possibly one of the greatest highlights of my time here at
Nyankunde…to see a family get back on their feet and to see people love each
other so deeply from the heart and in doing so, love Jesus. If the world would really take this
commandment seriously, so many problems would be solved.
James 1:27 says, “Religion that
God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and
widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the
world.”
Celebrating Birthdays
Just in time for our birthdays (yes, we share the same day) my husband has completed an amazing tree house in a nearby mango tree. It is essentially a big deck up
in a tree with shade underneath. He even installed a table and light up in the tree for hosting treehouse meals. There will be a railing all the way around it to keep kids
safe. He is a bit of an engineer/architect and is able to see design in the world around him. I am so grateful for his gifts and
industrious spirit to make everything just a little nicer around him. We hosted a birthday party in our treehouse
for six Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) missionaries who have birthdays
within a week of one another. It was a
good excuse to celebrate fall as well with mango pie, pumpkin cake, and spicy
chili! I am finding that I do miss the
seasons, especially the colors and cool nights of fall. I received two guinea fowl for my birthday from
Warren, now added to our collection of outdoor chickens. It remains to be seen whether they will “fly
the coop.” This was truly a unique
birthday gift!
Our family is headed to Uganda with one of the other
doctors, for a few days of rest, enjoying nature, and to make some necessary
purchases for the hospital. It has been
a busy season and the best way to get a break is to leave Nyankunde. Stay tuned for the fun and exciting
adventures, maybe some zebras and giraffes!
-Pray for our short vacation in Uganda, that it would be restful and an encouraging time as a family.
-Please pray for peace in the Congo, as we are supposed to
have an election for President on December 19th. There has been a lot of violence in Kinshasa,
as the election proceedings have been far from planned.
-Pray for our son Emmanuel to make great progress in his language acquisition (English, Swahili, and French).
-Pray that we would meet the spiritual needs of our patients.
-Pray that we would meet the spiritual needs of our patients.
If you would like to be on our postal mailing list or receive a
prayer card, please send us an email and we will be happy to be in touch: warrenandlindsey@gmail.com.
Blessings,
Lindsey for the Coopers
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