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| Mail service in Congo |
Today I had a feeling of pure joy. Sometimes it feels like God is reaching down
and giving you a blessing, reminding you why you do what you do. I was reminded again that every day is a gift
from God and that regardless of the circumstances we are in…there is always
something to give thanks for. We have
felt discouraged lately (we have had reasons to feel this way), and yet today I
felt encouraged.
I recently wrote about a little girl with a severe nephrotic
syndrome in need of a specialty medication called tacrolimus. The good news is that this medication arrived
today after its’ long journey of almost 7 weeks! We sent it from Kinshasa two weeks ago and it
arrived via Goma today! Praise the Lord! She starts on this medication tomorrow. Pray with me that she will have a good
response to the medication.
Today a little boy named Manda, (age 4) walked by himself to
receive his therapeutic milk for the first time in a month. His little legs were trembling, but he has
the energy and motivation to do it. It
has taken over a month to regain his strength to walk again. I can barely recognize him now he has changed
so much. He is smiling and has friends. His mother says he began to get sick when his
father was killed about 6 months ago. He
had a close relationship with his father and it seems that after his passing he
slowly lost his appetite and desire to live.
Praise the Lord for this little boy and his slow but steady recovery!
We are the only hospital in our area with a feeding program
and we are proud of it! We use local
resources, local cows, and local ingredients.
Why aren’t there more programs like ours? Sometimes I wonder if other people think
malnutrition is really a disease, or if it is a curse, or simply what happens
when you are poor. It is my hope that we
can inspire other health providers from other health zones to use the resources
available to them to educate and treat malnutrition.
We recently treated a nurse’s child from another health zone
for malnutrition. This nursing director of another health center recognized that her son had a
problem. She was so discouraged and desperate
when she arrived. After a few weeks her
son is doing really well, gaining weight and energy. He needs to gain weight, but he is well on
his way. As is often the case this nurse
has come with her own burdens to bear.
She says that she was able to get pastoral support for her struggling
marriage during her time at our hospital.
She and her husband have reconciled and are working on their
relationship. She will spread the word
in her health zone about her child’s improvement and encourage others who need
help to get help. She has been so
impressed with the little boy Manda’s ability to walk again that she is
confident that God is at work at our hospital.
It is our hope at CME-Nyankunde to see lives transformed
spiritually, mentally, and physically.
Not just the individual, but the whole family. We want to see people restored to a right
relationship with God, to gain hope for a better future. Often we see patients arriving in tears,
lacking strength to walk. They leave
with a new found strength.
We have our daily struggles here, but we keep counting our blessings!
Lindsey (for the Coopers)
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| One of my favorite pictures of the Gety wilderness in our backyard |
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