21days are over!

October 2019

 21days are over!

We have officially made it through the 21days post-Ebola exposure here at Nyankunde Hospital.  There were no further Ebola cases that appeared. We are so thankful!  And it looks like Ebola is officially being squeezed “into a corner of DR Congo,” a more rural area in the vicinity of where it originated.  Ebola is now officially “on the run” according to the UN.  The areas still affected have not yet managed to eradicate their cases for the past year, so I am still reserved.  Yet, it is good news.  

Having Ebola cases in our community recently has given me pause for much introspection.  When we returned to Congo in August I was uncertain as to what it would be like to live here.  I had a lot of reservations, but I knew it was time to return.   I liken living in an Ebola affected country to walking in a serious rainstorm,  wearing a raincoat and rainboots.  You can’t stop the rain, but you can still choose to function in it.  Although more difficult, you can still do farming and activities essential to daily living in the rain.  But just like when it rains here, travel decreases.  Roads may become impassable and rivers overflow.  There are places you should not go.  Life slows down a bit as it should, as mud makes it more difficult to get from place to place.  Living in an Ebola affected country is a bit like that.

Our whole family has been vaccinated, as has the hospital community, even Emmanuel’s preschool.  It is reassuring to live in a health conscious community that acknowledges the existence of Ebola.  There has been a long-standing history of health care delivery here and that is so helpful.  It is a poor community with many needs, but people value health care.  It seems like there is less conspiracy theory here and more community engagement

I realize that not everyone should live in an outbreak zone.  

We have had to make some

significant life changes and be very flexible.  We accept a higher level of risk.  We have contingency plans and bags packed if we need to travel. We are supporting other missionaries that are experiencing similar things and need temporary housing.  I am not able to practice clinical care, but rather focus on teaching and support of existing health programs.  We lost our planned teacher for the year, as she has not been allowed to stay here with the recent Ebola case.  Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) was told to evacuate due to the recent cases and so we have lost many of our missionary colleagues.  It is a sad change.  Now I am homeschooling Emmanuel in pre-K/kindergarten.  It is not forever, but it is necessary now.  We are not living in “survival mode,” but we have had to make significant life changes.  It hasn’t always been easy, but there is still joy.

We have started a Bible study looking at the book of Joshua with hospital staff.  It has been

a blessing to see everyone’s interest and desire to meet together.  I can sense spiritual hunger.

We have realized that Congolese rarely have an opportunity to discuss the Bible together, ask difficult questions, and ponder what it means in our lives.  We are learning about obedience to God from Joshua’s leadership style, the importance of remembrance and consecration in crossing the Jordan, intolerance of idolatry, and even how to persevere in God’s promises in difficult times.  We have talked about how Rahab is credited with faith in the God of Israel, which she shows in her actions.

Our lovely participants

Discussing the battle of Jericho

Even in the Old Testament there was the idea that people are justified by their faith, by grace.  This is the basis for our faith.  We are encouraged to hear their questions and even to have a hospital patient participate in our discussions together.  He is hearing the Gospel and God promises, even in the Old Testament.

News on our small farm-Our momma goat had two babies a week ago.  Baby goats are adorable and allow you to pick them up and carry them around. It has been fun for Emmanuel to learn a bit about goats.  We now have 2 parrots and an outdoor aviary where they can recreate.  We have something like a bird door from the living room into the outdoor aviary.  I am learning a bit about animal husbandry and giving antibiotic injections to our chickens and goats.

Just minutes after birth

Goat care involves checking for ticks and insects

Jon and Cher Cadd passed on their beloved bird Bob to us.
They return to the USA for life's next chapter.

Bob and Smeagol in their outdoor aviary

We need your prayers and support.  We enjoy hearing from friends and family and supporting churches.  It is good for us to feel connected to others as we “weather the storm.”  We will be taking a few days off later this month with a necessary trip to Uganda.

I leave you with a few African proverbs that spoke to me recently.  I find them to communicate a cultural twist/nuance here that life is dynamic and can change unpredictability.  Let us consider that our actions always have consequences, intended and unintended.  We need to be thoughtful.

1) Do not look down or hurt anyone in your life.  You may be more powerful today, but remember that time is more powerful than you are.

2) When a bird is alive, he eats ants, but when a bird dies ants eat him.  Circumstances can change at any moment.

3) Everything like a tree can make a million matches, but given the opportunity, a single match can burn a million trees.

Blessings,

Lindsey (for the Coopers)

"Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Birthday celebrations

We had 4 cakes (2 not pictured) between the 9 of us!

 Not everyone cares to hear about medical cases. I get that. I’ve had a bunch of difficult cases recently, including a lot of deaths.  There has also been a lot of advanced cancers, several in children. It is hard when you know that many things could have had a better outcome had they come earlier or been managed more appropriately. It’s just part of the deal when you work in a place like this. Anyway, you learn to appreciate the occasional case when things turn out well and everyone is happy.

I was not happy when they called me to see a kid who had a foreign body in his airway. He has been seen in Bunia, intubated and they had been ventilating him the whole way to Nyankunde. These cases take years off my life. I never have the right materials to deal with them and they are very, very difficult. It was a boy of a year and a half who had aspirated a kernel of popcorn. Popcorn is bad. Not as bad as a peanut, but still bad. Peanuts tend to fragment. Popcorn is very hard to grab.  

Don’t worry, I won’t go into all the details. It involved a number of scopes, a few different graspers, a tracheostomy, pediatric urinary catheters, hemostats, sweat, prayers and anxious moments.  At one point the child was so hypoxic that I feared he might have permanent brain damage. In the end I got it out. At this point, holding a kernel of unpopped popcorn, one feels great relief, as well as the thought that it was a lot of work for such a small, ridiculous thing. Still, small things make a big difference, and a kernel lodged in the right mainstream bronchus is a big deal. 

Here is a picture of the family, truly blessed and thanking God to be leaving the hospital with their child alive and well, and a surgeon grateful that the story had a happy ending. 

Warren