Back to Nyankunde Life Again

March 18, 2018

Waiting to cross the Semliki River from Uganda to DRC

Refugee camp in Bunia with >100,000 people

We are back in Eastern Congo from our three month home leave.  We had quite the eventful trip back to Congo from Switzerland, totally 5 days, 4missed flights, 4 countries, layovers, Turkish baths….finally arriving to the Semliki River where we crossed into DRC where we collapsed under a tree awaiting our final flight into our village.  Warren said this was a great adventure, whereas I might have said a major inconvenience.  Anytime we had to transfer flights we missed our connection due to bad weather in Europe.  All in all we were taken care of, beds to sleep in, and the means to travel.  It is good to be back and in some ways feels like we never left.

For those of you following the news there have been recent problems in our Ituri Province resulting in many refugees pouring into the city of Bunia and over the border into western Uganda.  Villages have been burned and populations have fled certain areas.  There is a lot of confusion about why this is happening, ethnic and otherwise.  I will refer you to some recent new articles from the New York Times showing these areas:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/insider/burned-villages-democratic-republic-congo.html

We visited a camp for internally displaced people in Bunia which contained >100,000 people, from these areas mentioned.  Food has been scarce and our MAF teammates have been helping with food provisions.  Have you ever cooked for thousands of people on charcoal?  We visited the camp briefly and were met with a lot of blank looks and people standing around, some with tarps about a tent-like structure others with only the skeleton of a structure.  It is not an easy situation and we pray that things stabilize soon without any further destruction.  We feel safe where we are currently and are staying informed about security of the area on a daily basis. 

Perhaps due to all of this our hospital census has been extremely low.  I think the pediatric service has about 10 patients!  I suppose this gives me time to do administrative and home-related things, Swahili learning.  This may be a first! 

Emmanuel has enjoyed being in his home again, sleeping in his bed, holding his parrot, going to school, being with his nanny Maziga who he affectionately calls “ My Ziga” and playing with his friends.Yesterday we had fun on the slip and slide with our friends from Isiro.  Emmanuel advanced in his English during our time in the US and is not speaking a lot of French, but this will come back in no time.  We struggled with routines and discipline with all our traveling and changes, but things seem to be settling down again. 

Emmanuel and Miriam

Slip and Slide time

Rainy season has started and everything is becoming green again!  This is my favorite season of the year…it is just so beautiful! 

Back to cooking from scratch, pasteurizing milk, roasting coffee and peanuts, walking to the hospital, sandals, lots of bugs, and hills to sweat going up.  I have started running again which is always very humbling.  Life is beautiful in its simplicity, but other things are more complicated like official documents, official mail, planting a garden by hand, etc…I am very thankful for all the everyday help we have with cooking/shopping/cleaning.  It makes it possible for us to work here and minister to others.

We just wanted to keep you posted on our whereabouts and let you know that we are doing fine.  Keep us and the people of Eastern Congo in your prayers.  Pray for security and that the current conflicts will stop.  Pray for our hospital to have a strong witness for Jesus in this needy place.

Blessings,

Lindsey for the Coopers

Our Travels in the United States

February 2018-Home in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Home, oh home, where art thou? I don't really know the answer to that question, as I feel I have many homes.  We are finishing up our three month home leave. We have done so much traveling. From Switzerland, an east coast/Midwest car marathon (over 3500 miles in three week), time at home in the Blue Ridge mountains, home renovations, Colorado and downhill skiing (!), a weekend on the Atlantic coast, and most recently a visit to Idaho, we have been traveling a lot. Time has really flown by and we prepare to return to Congo in just a few weeks.

Emmanuel has been able to spend time with both sets of grandparents (and a Greatgrandmother too) aunts/uncles and cousins which has been a real blessing. We spent the holidays in Wisconsin and endured the bitter cold. We enjoyed lots of home cooking and played indoors wherever possible. Christmas is such a magical time when time kind of stands still and memories are made. For example, making Christmas cookies with Grandma Nelson and decorating the Christmas tree.  We were so thankful for this time.  

Everything related to Christmas Emmanuel calls “Christmas trees!” I think this may be due to the fact that we arrived in Switzerland when all the tree decorations were out and we rode the trains spotting the most beautiful trees.

We then moved onto Providence, RI, where we got stuck in a “bomb cyclone!” This was seriously the most snow I have experienced in a short amount of time. We stayed with Warren’s brother and family and sister, enjoying amazing food and fellowship. We actually went sledding in the middle of the cyclone and could barely see due to all the snow in the air on the way home. It was pretty special to spend uninterrupted time together as happens so rarely.  We were able to stay with close friends on our travels. Thank you for opening your homes to us on our travels: Reichenbachs, O’Briens, and Weavers.   

Carousels are so much fun

Winter in Wisconsin at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Great-grandmother Nelson

He had absolutely no idea who this bearded man was!

With Aunt Laura

Providence, RI after the "bomb cyclone"

Thanks Mark and family

Decked out for sledding

Onto our home in the Blue Ridge mountains where we have been doing serious home renovations and improvements...laying new flooring, painting, general maintenance, buying furniture, etc. lots of late nights, but it looks great and will be worth it. We have treasured times with our friends and church family.  We even spent a weekend in Wilmington, NC, with our friends the Bartons and watched dolphins swimming on a beach walk.  How fun that was!

Boating on the Atlantic

Off to Denver to visit a supporting church, our first church as a married couple, and stay with our dear friends the Peterson’s. I (Lindsey) was able to go downhill skiing at Vail which was like a long lost dream come true. After six years without telemark skiing, it took me about a day to find my turns again. Oh the burn!!! What a full time of visiting old friends, swimming, and driving all over the place. We all felt the altitude for the first few days and after a night of Emmanuel’s continuous drinking...we were handling the altitude better.

Our Bethany church family

Dear friends Dick and Margaret Patty

Skiing at Vail

Then off to see our extended family the Jacobsson’s in Boise, Idaho. We have really experienced what the family of God is through our friendship with them as we live and serve side by side in Nyankunde. What a blessing to reconnect with them and see Dave’s stateside work maintaining airplanes. We went skiing this side of the Rocky Mountains and Emmanuel went snowshoeing for the first time. I love it that God knows what we take pleasure in and gave me the chance to go skiing again! It was great to see the MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, and for Emmanuel to be able to touch “little airplanes” again. He has missed

A fantastic Korean meal...how many dishes are there?

walking up to and seeing MAF airplanes on a daily basis.

Feeding and trying to catch a goose

Dave and Donna Jacobsson

That is an old tree

First time on snowshoes

Visiting MAF in Idaho, YEAH for airplanes!

Many of you have asked how Warren’s father is doing after his recent stroke at the end of November. He is happy to be back home again and is re-learning how to communicate, as language production is still difficult. We have discovered that his able to sing and enjoy music.  We will visit again at the end of February on our way back to Congo.

There have been a lot of funny (and sometimes frustrating) moments traveling with Emmanuel. Everywhere we go (restaurants, church, grocery stores) he greets people with, “I am going on the airplane.” This is usually followed by, “That’s great. Where are you going?” He usually says “I am going on a blue airplane” or “I am going to Kunda (Nyankunde).” Initially he took his socks and shoes off EVERYWHERE, buses, stores, grocery stores, planes...multiple times a day! I thought I was going crazy. He prefers to walk barefooted. He is talking in more and more complete sentences and his English is improving rather dramatically. He still has his preferred phrases in French and Swahili and likes the say “The crocodile va te manger (the crocodile will eat you).” He is talking more and more about his nanny Ziga and our Congolese friends. I think he misses Congo and knows he will go back soon.

Culture adjustment is a real phenomenon. I have experienced it more than ever before, some of it through being a mother of a little one. We drive so much more in America and at fast speeds ( at night and with snow). There are so many options at stores which can feel overwhelming. Cities like Denver are growing like crazy! Cars and homes are so large. People are quite busy and lives are highly scheduled. It has been cold and his has limited Emmanuel’s ability to play outdoors. I have LOVED not having to cook from scratch, the convenience of a dishwasher and ample freezer space, and the availability of particular foods like bacon. I love not having to think so much about security and not traveling alone. We have done so many fun things from boating on the Atlantic Ocean to skiing the Rocky Mountains. What a privilege it is to travel! What a blessing to see family and friends and have time off our hospital routine.

Thanks for your interest in our lives and your many prayers. We are off to Switzerland on February 24th.  We would ask prayer for a personal loss we have experienced in Congo while we are away.

Blessings

Lindsey for the Coopers

We love Chick Filet!

Missionary kids need all their toys at all times

Stroke

We arrived in Switzerland. Life has had its share of challenges and we were happy to leave Congo for a bit.  Leaving Nyankunde was stressful, bittersweet and full of last minute details.  It was a relief to step on a plane and say goodbye to it all.  After layovers and some tough times with tired toddler, we arrived in Switzerland.  International travel!  Such a bizarre experience!  You just leave one reality behind...and wake up in another.  We were ready to reconnect with family, eat cheese and chocolate, relax, enjoy life with no life-or-death decisions.  We were ready to have a great time!  

On Sunday morning I called my folks and Anita picked up the phone.  I knew instantly that something was wrong.  She told me that my father had woken up confused, had stumbled into the bathroom, fallen and was lying there unresponsive and unable to speak.  I ran over and found my father in the bathtub.  We were able to get him into a chair.  The paramedics arrived and took him away in the ambulance.

Without going into all the details, my father had a major stroke which has left him weak and unable to speak.  He is now stable from a medical point of view.  He has been in the hospital for nearly a week now and his mental status has improved.  He is able to walk and can move and care for himself, but he cannot speak. He can nod his head and communicates through body language.  We are not sure what’s next.  We have extended our stay for a week.  We are hoping that he will soon be transferred to a rehab hospital.  After that...???  Could he go back home?  What kind of improvement can be expected?  What’s the chance of another stroke or medical deterioration?  Only God knows.  

We grow up idolizing our fathers.  I did anyway.  He was the guy who always knew the answer, who could always figure it out, who could make it work.  When he was there, I knew everything would work out.  He was a consummate learner, a profound thinker, a great preacher, an eloquent and well-read person, a jokester, incredibly generous, a hard worker and a kind man.  He was not without his faults, but he was always the sort of person I aspired to become.  As I got older, you start to see the points of weakness, but there was never a time I did not admire him in a profound way. 

It’s a bit shocking to see him now.  He is pale and moves with uncertainty.  He can’t say anything, but in his eyes I know that he understands.  That brain is still there, but it took a huge hit.  It is stunned, slowed, trying to figure out how to get around the devastated areas.  It seems like such a tragic loss of that knowledge.  It feels like a major museum or university just burned down.  He had a stroke before and for years later, complained about the “brain fog”.  I can only imagine how it feels now.    

Still, there is profound grace in this difficult time.  Anita has been a pillar of strength.  It is a blessing that he can move, feed himself, etc.  I feel like if there is any brain that can find its way around the obstacles, it is his.  It feels like a blessing that we have been here, though it’s been hard to know what to do.  For now, what he has left is kindness and love.  He gives Emmanuel a hug.  He holds Anita’s hand.  He smiles and shrugs with helplessness.

Please pray for Jim that he will find ways to communicate.  Pray for strength for Anita.

As I was running from our hotel to their apartment, I wondered if this might be the last time I would see my father.  It turns out not to be the case, though no one can say what the next days will look like.  Still, I had an overwhelming sense of peace.  I knew that he had lived his life, run his race well. There were no regrets.  So, it looks like he might have more days. These days might be hard, but each one is a gift. 

We plan to return to the US on December. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family. We will celebrate the birth of our Lord with Lindsey’s family in Wisconsin.  If you’re reading this, we’d love to see you!

Warren

"Love, love, love that's what it's all about." Children's Hospital Ministry

October 2017

Walking again

Once again I am amazed to see children learn to stand and walk after debilitating illnesses!  It seems  Our hospital is gaining a reputation for being a place where children walk again, recovering from chronic illnesses such as TB, malnutrition, meningitis, etc.  I give thanks back to God for His faithfulness to us.  I give thanks to Him for all I have learned in the last five years caring for a vulnerable population.  This week I give thanks for Debra’s (name change) recovery from osteomyelitis caused by tuberculosis.  She was in so much pain only two months ago, such that I could barely examine her painful legs.  She required anesthesia for pain control.  Her hip is permanently dislocated, but she is able to stand.  She will likely form a false hip joint and walk soon.

Debra

like every month I have a story to tell, of how God heals.

I want to give a few stories to illustrate how medicine looks different here in Congo compared to the USA.  I frequently have these kinds of conversations and today it hit me that others might be interested as well.

Sickle Cell, the “banana cell” disease

I sat down to counsel the family of a short 4-year old girl with the new diagnosis of sickle cell anemia.  The father came from home to give blood and talk with us about her medical problem.  I drew an orange and said, “This illustrates what a normal red blood cell looks like.”  Then I drew a banana and said, “This is what Furaha’s red blood cells look like.”  I proceeded to draw one orange and nine bananas to represent 90% sickled cells.  I said when the majority of her cells change to the shape of a banana she needs a transfusion

The family asked, “Will changing her diet improve her health?”  I said eating lots of green vegetables and beans will help her to make new red blood cells.  But I said food will not cure her.  She was born with “banana shaped cells” just as she was born with brown eyes and food won’t change that.

Then the family asked, “How do we prevent having another child with this disease?”  I told them that you can’t prevent it if both of you carry the possibility to give it to your children.  A nurse asked, “Should they use contraception?”  To this I said, that is up to them as there is a chance that they will have a child without sickle cell anemia.  There is also a 75% chance that they won’t have a child with the disease.

Then they asked, “Did her brother die of the same problem.”  I replied, “Probably, yes.”

Then we talked about the three things the family could do to prevent future hospitalizations.  First, there is eating three times a day, a diet rich in iron and taking daily iron supplements.  Second there is preventing infection (thus hospitalizations) with monthly antibiotic injections of benzylpenicillin and vaccines.  Lastly I advised her to prevent dehydration with lots of water everyday.  I advised them to come to the hospital at the first sign of fever and/or anemia, with a potential blood donor.

The family nodded understanding and motivation to care for their little girl.  I did not draw any genetic diagrams or give any complication teaching, but nonetheless the message seemed to translate well.

Recurrent fetal deaths

Next I saw a 20year old woman with her husband and father (!).  She had had three full-term babies that died shortly after delivery, after seemingly uncomplicated pregnancies.  I asked lots of questions from her prenatal care, size of the deceased babies, menstrual cycle, etc.  In the end I was left with the unsatisfying advice to do blood testing for common diseases like hepatitis, syphilis, HIV, blood type to see if we could identify a chronic medical problem.  If there is not a chronic problem we were left with the likelihood of a genetic problem linking these deaths.  I wondered about the presence of her father, but she really wanted his support and presence.  I am reminded on a daily basis to ask questions, not judge people/situations, and to ask how I can best support them.  I see some really challenging social situations (sometimes infuriating), but I have learned to step back and ask how can I communicate the love of God to this person. 

An All-Star Grandmother

The last story of the day happened on rounds.  I love this particular grandmother, all of 5 feet tall, ripped arms, bare feet, always with a big smile on her face and a word of “thanks.”  I knew she had a story.  Well today she told the whole room her life story.  She left a militia occupied area in the forest where she lost everything, moving with her grandchildren to live in the nearby community called Irumu.  It is a sad, yet hopeful story.  You can tell by looking at her that she is hard worker.  I asked what she was currently planting and she named every possible vegetable imaginable!!!  I told her that I needed to visit her home and fields to learn from her.  She replied that she needed to do this to feed and support her family (so encouraging!).  I told her that there was a special reward in heaven for grandmothers like her.  Then she told me how much the older girl struggled with losing her leg in a below the knee amputation.  During a recent hospitalization, her father came for a visit.  It seems that he has left the family and the girl asked him why he left.  He didn’t have an answer.  A tear welled up in her eyes as the story was being told.  My heart was moved.  I was reminded yet again that God is our Father, who looks out for us when our earthly fathers are not.  I told her how much God the Father loved and treasured her and saw her struggles. 

All-Star Grandmother front and center (green headscarf)

Children’s hospital ministry…it is about being the family of God to one another and loving unconditionally.  It is about encouraging the beautiful reflection of God in every person we touch.  It is about loving people into the Kingdom of God.

We had a wonderful visit from an older Swiss missionary Yvonne and her friend Mary this past week.

Over 30 years of faithful service to Congo!  She came to celebrate her 80th birthday.  It was truly an honor and inspiration to be together.

Blessings,

Lindsey 

Yvonne (center), Mary (right)