We have officially been back in the US for about 6weeks now! We apologize for the lapse in blog postings. We are doing fine and nestled down in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for the wintertime. We are living in the mountain home we bought last year, a completely unexpected blessing. A friend recently said “I love that often when you come back from Congo you get to be in the snow.” It hasn’t been intentional and isn’t always so convenient, but it has been fun for Emmanuel to experience snow.
Our minds have been thinking a lot about what we left behind in Nyankunde. Just before Christmas there was a Ebola confirmed death in our village. A pregnant women from a village where there are active cases was admitted and promptly died. Many of our staff members were exposed and it was a scary time. Mass ring vaccination occurred within 48hours and since then there have been no other positive cases. It is a huge blessing that no one contracted the disease, and a reminder that medicine is a risky occupation. This women was tested and had a safe burial. Funerals are very public events and often when Ebola spreads to the community. This was completely avoided. We continue to pray for eastern DRC and our village. I have posted several articles about the situation in eastern DRC and the risk Ebola poses to central Africa. They are very sobering articles. Here is one of the links: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/15/ebola-has-gotten-so-bad-its-normal. This is the time for the international community to rally around this outbreak. This week Samaritan's Purse has officially opened an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETC) in the neighboring community of Komanda. Here is a video about the center: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/ebola-treatment-center-now-open-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/.
What can I say after this? My life right now nestled in the mountains is in stark contrast to my life in eastern Congo. I have a hard time reconciling the two. There is no real way to transition in words. Pray for me as I struggle with this from afar.
Now I will transition to the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a place where fog is prolific, ice falls off trees and accumulates like snow, and wind is amplified at higher elevations. Our son Emmanuel was literally blown over going up stairs to our house the other day! The climate can be extreme. In our first week home we geared up for our first major snowstorm. More than 2 feet of snow fell over about a day just plastering the trees with white powder. It was really beautiful! We learned several things during this storm: park at the end of the road (not in the garage), have an alternate mode of transportation (and even heat if power is lost), chainsaws are useful to clear downed trees, and generally don’t plan to travel. Up here they use a grater to clear roads of snow, as snowplows can’t make it up the hills.
Now I will transition to the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a place where fog is prolific, ice falls off trees and accumulates like snow, and wind is amplified at higher elevations. Our son Emmanuel was literally blown over going up stairs to our house the other day! The climate can be extreme. In our first week home we geared up for our first major snowstorm. More than 2 feet of snow fell over about a day just plastering the trees with white powder. It was really beautiful! We learned several things during this storm: park at the end of the road (not in the garage), have an alternate mode of transportation (and even heat if power is lost), chainsaws are useful to clear downed trees, and generally don’t plan to travel. Up here they use a grater to clear roads of snow, as snowplows can’t make it up the hills.
We have had the blessing of both of our families visiting these last few weeks over the holidays. We are thankful for this uninterrupted time together and realize what a rare occurrence it really is! There was lots of cookie baking, learning old recipes from my grandma, and play when my parents visited. We got my mom and dad in the side-by-side 4 wheeler once each! We rode a holiday train and Emmanuel received his very first train set for Christmas! Then Warren’s brother’s family and sister came for a visit. We did lots of hiking, movies, cooking, and catching up. In the evenings Warren has worked on the insulation and drywall of the upper room of our garage.
After a month’s work on the garage, the upper multi-purpose room is finally finished! Warren has done an amazing job with very little help. He is largely self taught and gifted with his hands. It will be nice to have a place to store our things when we are not here as well as having office space. I am more of the interior decorator who wants to change things around inside. I enjoy running most of the time, but I have learned that running in the hills is serious work and commitment! One feels like a superstar running down hills, that is until one turns around. Confession: sometimes I call for a ride home from the base! My uphills are improving slowly. No complaints...we love living on Buck Mountain! Today was a typical afternoon of exploring the trails around us on foot and 4-wheeled side-by-side cart, spotting deer and turkey.
Emmanuel has made some nice friends here, but his heart misses his friends in Congo. He loves looking at our photo book from DRC and showing friends and family his life over there. We are trying to still read and pray in French. It is fun to hear him say he is from Nyankunde. It has been a blessing to be more or less in one place this time, as last furlough we traveled so much and it was hard on him.
We are looking forward to a trip to Thailand in a few weeks! It will be lovely to reconnect with friends and fellow missionaries around the world.
We would love to connect with you during our time in the States. Send us a “hello,” we would love to hear from you!
-Pray for an effective response to the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, for the field hospital in Komanda.
-Pray for wisdom for us to know the timing of our return.
-Pray for our family as we adjust to living in the USA and our spiritual growth.
-Pray for an effective response to the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, for the field hospital in Komanda.
-Pray for wisdom for us to know the timing of our return.
-Pray for our family as we adjust to living in the USA and our spiritual growth.
Blessings
Lindsey for the Coopers
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