Many blessings to you this Christmas season!

December 27, 2020

Wishing our friends, families, and colleagues a very Merry Christmas! We hope you are staying healthy this holiday season. Thanks for the many of you who have sent your holiday greetings, photos, and prayer intentions. That is something that we love about this time of the year, people re-connecting and sharing their lives more intentionally. There are several things that stand out this year from the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, the many promises that He fulfills from the Old Testament. Jesus came into a dark world, a world marred by injustice and Roman dominance. People longed for injustice to end and for a good leader, a leader they could follow. They must have wanted to find someone with authority to rule, not oppress, but truly look out for all people. There is a part in all of us too that longs for a true hero like this. We are told that a child would fulfill this prophesy, which means that Jesus would grow into this kind of leader. How fascinating it would have been to have known Jesus as a child, to see how he made friends, and to hear his make believe play. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 The characteristics of Jesus are those of a strong leader: a good counselor, strong, persevering Father, and peace-loving. He was all of those things and much more! May we all grow in our understanding of Jesus with every passing year.

Hospital Work We continue to go through a challenging season of hospital leadership, financial crisis due decreased hospital visits, a community struggling to turn away from ugly realities of tribalism, armed groups, and on-going insecurity and displacement here in eastern DRC. Some serious problems. Urgh….it has been really hard. We don’t have to look very far to see that there is not peace on earth. Still the last two months have been fairly calm and there is always reason for hope that better days are ahead. We have not had hundreds of displaced people on the hospital compound, or sleeping under trees by the river. We have found ourselves asking, “should we really put a new roof on that house? Is it worth it? What is going to happen in the next few months?” But in the end, we choose HOPE and INVESTMENT. We believe that God Is still God and can turn things for good. The hospital is still a refuge and place of healing for those going through hard times. These last months we have seen miracles-people who recovered despite great odds. Many very sick children come to mind who have recovered these last months. We provide a place for children to recover from malnutrition, a warm meal, and a safe and dry place to lay their heads. The children have a special outdoor playground and staff that care about them. We thank God that we have another Congolese doctor to help us out in this challenging season! Our staffing had decreased to essentially one Congolese doctor (!), 3 missionary doctors/1 nurse practitioner, and a training doctor. Our courageous Congolese doctor, Dr. Faustin, has been spending most nights in the hospital to be there for obstructed labor and emergencies. We hope and pray that staffing will improve and that will be able to continue to provide good medical care. We’re hanging in there! Rural Life

It has been a year of trying to grow new crops: soybeans, beans, and peanuts. I have learned how to start rose plants, vanilla, and other bushes from cuttings. There is no greenhouse to buy plants and it can be difficult to find seeds. However with a little tender care, and motivation, one can propagate aromatic forest flowers! It is satisfying to live in a place that you can grow your own food. But I have a ‘romantic’ view of agriculture because I do not solely depend on what we grow. Many people here in Congo grow the majority of what they eat. A bad harvest season (ie too much rain) is absolutely devastating, paralyzing even. Then imagine being displaced from your home and fields, or being unable to reach your fields due to security concerns. These are the challenging situations people find themselves faced with. Living in the forest makes it much harder to grow traditional “crops” and so bananas and roots are real staples. I can understand why people eat a fair amount of cassava and cassava leaves, as it is hearty and keeps producing over a longer period of time. If only cassava was richer in nutrients! I like to cook with what is locally available and in season. It is good to support the women who work so hard to grow their own food! Vaccines Save Lives We are hoping to be able to receive the Covid vaccine somehow out here in central Africa. We realize that we will not be the first to receive it, as funding will be slow in coming for much of Africa. But what a blessing to be able to travel out of Africa to visit our families! We hope that the Covid vaccine will be well received by the public and some level of herd immunity achieved quickly. mRNA vaccines (including coronavirus) are not exactly new. We received the Ebola mRNA vaccine when it was still experimental in 2018, and has since been FDA approved. We were a little nervous to receive the Ebola vaccine because little was known about it, but mostly just thankful. The Ebola vaccine is what allowed us to return to DRC and safely resume work. It prevented community and hospital transmission of this very deadly disease. This was not just theoretical, WE HAD EBOLA CASES HERE DOWN THE STREET FROM OUR HOUSE! The mortality rate of Ebola varies between 60-90%! If the vaccine had not been available our community would have been devastated and our lives at risk. We hope that you will have the opportunity to receive the Covid vaccine and protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Wishing you a very Happy & Healthy New Year! We enjoy hearing from you! With love, Lindsey for the Coopers