It is true that I have not written a blog post in a long time.  Lindsey has kept this going and I’ve allowed myself to go dark.  

Part of the reason is that is the lack of any good answer to the question “How is your eye?”  My vision really was not great.  I could see well enough to operate but it was a struggle to do very meticulous work.  There was debris floating in the back of the eye.  It would swirl around and just gave me the sensation that something wasn’t right.  I would get fatigued at the end of the day and driving was difficult.  It was kind of like seeing through a smudged windshield.  I could see, but it just bugged me, all the time.  I fixated on it and it gave me an excuse to be more irritable than I needed to be.  Lindsey can elaborate. 

Anyway, long story short, I underwent a vitrectomy.  This involves removing the jelly behind the eye (mine had turned to something more like jam) and replacing it with clear fluid.  I’m now two weeks out and I know it was the right decision.  My vision is clear!  I actually see great.  This has been a huge encouragement and an answer to prayer.  

Emmanuel and a friend. 

It is remarkable to think of the complexity of the parts which make up our bodies, and how much we forget about them, until they start to malfunction.  I’ve reached the age where I’ve begun to notice these little glitches. There’s an element of comedy in it, as we transition from the invincibility of youth to the stage where things start to fall apart.  It’s like driving a 2006 truck with 140,000 miles on it.  You’re just waiting to see what goes out next.   

For my part, the experience has filled me with a sense of gratitude that God has allowed me to continue to serve despite my frailty.  Surgery is one of those jobs which you can’t do forever.  Eventually the eyes don’t see well enough, the tremor gets too pronounced and the hands can’t be relied upon to tie a good knot.  Then I’ll do something else, I guess.  

We’ve been back in the US for a couple of weeks now.  It has been a time of refreshment as we’ve caught up with old friends.  We’ve enjoyed attending our church in Boone and attending our small group.  We’ve also enjoyed the chance to catch up on projects around the house.  These have included patching up a driveway, replacing boards on a deck, spreading mulch and such.  There is joy in doing these manual tasks, and also a relief in knowing that no one is going to call me with a life-threatening problem.  We’ve enjoyed
seeing Emmanuel interact with friends, play soccer and experience all that Boone has to offer in the springtime.  

We love the Blue Ridge parkway.

Despite being away from Congo, it is always on our minds and hearts.  I continue to receive consults from afar and there is always some pressing matter to attend to.  We continue to pray for the peace of the region.  Nyankunde has enjoyed a period of peace and tranquility, but there continues to be a darkness which is under the surface.  Recently we heard a distressing story involving several children who were suspected of sorcery and put in prison.  Through much prayer and discussion they were released.  It could have well taken a darker turn.  Anyway, I mention this just to explain that in the context in which we live, people are not surprised at the notion that a child-sorcerer might be a “thing”.  Such is the degree of superstition, fear and evil. On the surface, we live in a village that appears to have been “Christianized” but sometimes the veneer seems pretty thin.  In a way it’s discouraging, but in a way, it is confirmation that we are there for a reason, to speak out against the darkness.  

Our container has arrived in Nyankunde!

We will be around until the end of June.  Emmanuel will finish up the third grade and we have a few trips planned.  We are enjoying the springtime in Boone and giving thanks to God.   

Warren, for all of us

On the quest for hidden eggs and Easter truths

April 4, 2024

Wishing you a blessed Easter from North Carolina!  We left Congo three weeks ago and have made landfall in the USA.  At first it seemed like we were tropical birds that got on the wrong jet stream, as we were welcomed by flurries in the air.  So it goes during spring in the mountains!  This morning the flowering trees at Emmanuel’s school exploded with blossoms.  It was stunningly beautiful!  We are thankful to have a stateside home, friends and family, accessibility to health care, and a church home that receives us.  I am enjoying a pool to swim laps in again.

 

We had our beloved friends the Hoiland family stay with us for Easter this year.  It was a lovely time in the mountains.  We have to soak in the opportunities that our children have to know each other over the years.  We were blessed by Pastor Scott’s Easter message.  Every year something strikes a different chord in our hearts.  God demonstrated His unconditional love for us while we were helpless, ungodly, sinners, and even his enemies.  Enemies.  We were enemies of a holy God because of our sins…but HE CHOSE US despite all of this.  We are justified by his blood, his sacrifice and saved from wrath.  We are loved in spite of our ourselves, the ungodly.  “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life”. Romans 5:10.  The argument is that a good man is willing to give his life for his friends, but in this case the perfect man gave his life for his enemies.  Would a man in his right mind give his life for his enemies, those who seek to do his harm?  The sacrifice that Jesus made of His life shows how perfect His love really is.  The depth of the love of God is unfathomable and powerful, as Frederick Lehmann says so eloquently.  

 

The Love of God by Frederick Lehmann 1917

The love of God is greater far

than tongue or pen can ever tell;

it goes beyond the highest star,

and reaches to the lowest hell;

the guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

and pardoned from his sin.

 

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure

the saints’ and angels’ song.

 

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

and were the skies of parchment made,

were every stalk on earth a quill,

and every man a scribe by trade,

to write the love of God above,

Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

though stretched from sky to sky.

 

 

Modern Society & a Stop-over in Switzerland

We were able to visit family in Switzerland in transit back to the USA.  It had been over two years for Emmanuel and me since we had seen Grandma Anita.  How lovely to see her new home and community and how she has maintained her mobility getting to and from the store/therapy.  We overlapped with Warren’s brother Keith and stayed at an Airbnb in France.  We went from Switzerland to the USA and Emmanuel was in school two days later.  It always strikes me how society “works”-sidewalks, public services, shipping, rental cars, good roads, etc…We don’t take these things for granted.  For example we love public libraries!  In Africa public services exist but they are quite limited.  Many things have to be arranged through personal contacts.  We live in a part of the world where it is not advisable to spend time in an area without greeting the traditional chief for our personal security.  There most certainly are NOT Airbnbs in our area of Congo.  

 

Egg Hunts

We have clocked in 3 Easter egg hunts in the last week.  Emmanuel loved every minute of it!  These egg hunts are contrasted with the usual egg hunts our free-range African chickens lead us on!  Although one can carefully design a chicken coop, chickens have a mind of their own.  In Africa our chickens like to roost in trees and lay eggs at the base of tree trunks.  Every time we wish to cook with eggs, we embark on an egg hunt. Jokes about real eggs aside, we do an intentional plastic egg hunt every year overseas that the Congolese kids just LOVE.  Candy and toys are treasures to be cherished as evidenced by Emmanuel’s carefully storing his candy and toys in a massive box labeled “Emmanuel’s candy.”  Needless to say, we saved every plastic egg from this year’s egg hunts to be used in Africa.  

 

News from DRC

Almost on a daily basis we hear from our missionary friends the Staffords who continue to work in the village while we are gone.  The challenges in that environment are many and the breadth of medical practice very broad.  It sounds like they are doing well and taking the challenges in stride.  We continue to hear news of our friends, animals and tropical birds back in Congo.  Yesterday Emmanuel’s little green parrot reportedly went searching around the house for him.  It always feels like a world away when we are here and our hearts are in two places…but what a blessing to be able to go back and forth.

 

Grasslands Overflowing with Abundance

I love the contrasts of this Psalm as this describe different aspects of God as our Creator.  He is all powerful in His creating power, yet fully in control when nature is destructive.  He is able to still the waves and even the turmoil of nations.  He also cares for the land and its’ animals and brings forth abundance to meet our needs, carts overflowing.  Even the beauty of the meadow and the valley shout for joy.  What a loving God we serve that He would notice all of these things and want to bless us.  Isn’t it true that only God can still the “turmoil of the nations?”  

 

Psalm 65: 5-14

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.^[d]
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

 

 

We would love to connect with you during our time in the USA and Europe this summer.  We appreciate your prayers and support.

 

-Pray for Emmanuel’s studies at Grace Academy as he finishes out third grade.  Pray also that he would be blessed in playing soccer on a local team and gain skills to give him confidence.

-Pray for Warren’s eye surgery next week and improvement in his visual clarity.

-Pray for us as we re-connect with friends, family, and supporters.

-Pray that we will be a blessing to others and represent Christ to others during our time in the US

 

 

Many blessings to you!

Lindsey for us