A beautiful night

April 9, 2018

Any guesses on how this was taken?

It was a beautiful night.  The sky was clear and the colors vibrant, especially green.  The guinea fowl were running, and I was too.  Narrow footpaths, muddy from a morning’s rain shower.  I followed wet tracks from a recent vehicle.  Some days the scenery is enough to distract me from the pain and breathlessness of of running.  I bought eggs on my way back and thought better of continuing to run.  What happens to eggs in the shell when you run with them?  I wasn’t willing to find out. I did a double-take as I crossed the road for the final ascent.   A Congolese man dressed in a red suit jacked, bright turquoise pants, and a yellow tie raced by on a motorcycle. He was wearing ALL the emboldened colors of the Congolese flag, no shame.  I wondered where he was coming from and where was he going.  I greeted friends on my way up the hill, turning to view the sunset, and stumbled home.  I spoke Swahili naturally and didn’t wonder if they understood me.  It felt good.

I have developed different routines living in central Africa.   I really need to be outside when the sun is setting.  I am not sure why, but I gravitate outside at sunset.  Somehow it marks the passage of time.  Birds also mark the passage of time.  I know exactly what time it is because particular birds sing and our parrot starts imitating EVERYTHING he hears!  It is literally a cacophony of sound around 4pm.

After dinner tonight we sat outside to enjoy the stars.  I smiled as Warren was explaining to Emmanuel how God loves us so much and gives us things to enjoy like “chickens, parrots, cats, dudus (bugs)….”  Emmanuel piped in about spiders.  It is fun to hear his ideas and participation in conversations.

Malaria season is upon us as the rains begin.  It is always a wild ride as we enter into May-August!  I was enjoying the peace and calm of this past month and ease back into clinical work again.  I think we are crash landing again.

I would ask you to pray for a very special girl with advancing kidney disease.  I found her in the ICU this morning having seizures and struggling to breathe.  After about an hour of stabilizing her blood pressure and seizures with about 6 drugs, I was able to walk away from her bedside.  Then about two hours later she woke up and asked for her “muzungu doctor” white doctor.  She was concerned about evil spirits.  She was in a deep sleep when I came to her bedside, but she seemed to acknowledge my presence.  I am looking forward to talking with her again and pray that she can turn a corner and we can figure out where the seizures are coming from.

Our lives in the village are full and fulfilling.  We are thankful to be able to share this cross-cultural  life with a growing little boy. It is amazing to hear him speak French and even some Swahili and negotiate Congolese social norms!  The local preschool has been a great way to make friends and integrate. 

Continue to pray for the refugee situation in the Bunia area.  It appears to be slowing down and people are returning to their villages.  We have heard about the growing problems with malnutrition among children in the refugee camp.   It feels like a very fluid situation from a political and security standpoint in this part of the country.  Yet we feel safe and called to continue in our daily hospital work.

Pray for us as we continue to minister to needy people with the incarnate message of the Gospel.

Pray for us as we raise our little boy and teach him that God loves us.

Pray for necessary fundraising for our nutrition programs.  We would like to branch out into more agricultural programming as well.

For the Coopers,

Lindsey

Easter Sunday Missionary Kid Stealth Egg Hunt

Slip and Slide!

Making rice crispy egg nests

Sunrise service