October 25th, 2023
Back in Africa after a 5-day journey! Travel simply takes a lot of patience and endurance. We flew to Uganda (a night), drove across the country to the western border of Lake Albert (another night), crossed the lake to Bunia (a night), and finally to our home. One of the big factors in travel is simply the fact that it is safest to travel by day. It is good to be back in our African home.
Our time in the US what full of blessings! We made new friends, connected with old friends, attended/spoke at a medical conference inn Florida, follow-up for Warren’s eyes, and took a trip to Disneyworld! We were able to stay with Warren’s cousin Joe and his family in Florida for several days. Emmanuel was able to attend his school at Grace Academy for 3 weeks, have a sleep-over with a friend, go tubing on the lake, and just be a kid in North Carolina in the fall. I enjoyed buying roasted chicken in the grocery to my heart’s content…broccoli and all of our favorites. Somehow we squeezed in work on the house, while I did swimming work-outs and spread mulch. We acquired/advised on medical equipment to bring back to Congo. Our bags and hearts were full at the end of the month. God has been abundantly good to us.
Sometimes it surprises me what is difficult coming back into this context. I have lived 25% of my life here…it is familiar and I feel at home. But you come back to happy but hungry pets, an empty pantry, and lots of sick kids. People wait for you to come back to resume programs. There are many needs…and I see suffering through new eyes. I think, “wow children really do live difficult lives here.” One needs to pull together reports on nutrition programs and make plans for the immediate future. One needs to start home-schooling right away. One needs to buy food, figure out what is in the garden, defrost the freezer. There is always the question of how do I get something from here to there. What is current price of corn of soy? How can we accomplish the milling of grain? There is a lot to do in the ‘slow-paced’ village. It feels like we are farming several things, always processing a crop and preparing another.
Then things settle down a bit and a routine resumes. We prioritize things and take care of things one by one. We are thankful that Emmanuel does well with these transitions. We are so thankful that he feels like he belongs in both places. What a rich childhood-understanding and speaking two foreign languages, and having friends across cultures.
Medical Work
We share Emmanuel’s schooling responsibilities which means we both work less. This seems to work out all right and concentrates our work days. Today Warren helped maternity deal with two ectopic pregnancies. He used a technique called “auto-transfusion” to drain blood that had accumulated in the abdomen and give it back to the patient. It can be life-saving in an environment like this where blood donors may not be immediately available. My morning was spent working with a new nutritionist on classification of malnutrition and how to evaluate progress. The pediatric wards are getting a little facelift and new coat of paint. I have a patient who desperately needs a mitral valve replacement and struggles with daily activities.
Visitors
We have had more visitors recently which is always a blessing. It hasn’t always been easy being the only full-time medical missionaries here, but we accept this. This is a place that we care about and feels worth investing in. We are hopeful that the security situation will continue to improve. All of our health centers are open and there is more movement of patients.
Prayer
Our hearts break for the suffering happening in the Middle East on all sides. Israel is at war with Hamas and many Israelis and Palestinians have died already. We pray for those who are suffering and we pray for control of this territory again. It seems like the world is so troubled these days. Maybe the world has always been troubled. Lord have mercy.
-Pray for us as we continue to adjust to life back in Congo. Pray that we would represent Jesus Christ in word and deed.
-Pray for upcoming visitors this next week who are coming to see our programs that support women and children.
Lindsey
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