Back in the Saddle Again

July 17, 2024 Coming Back 

It is always a joy to be back home in Africa, to drink fresh passionfruit juice, to hear the robin chat “chat, chat, chattering” in the evening, and to re-connect with friends and colleagues.  I hear and see things with new eyes.  Africa is a sensory experience.  It is like plunging in a cold pool and immediately swimming a work-out.  It is all-engrossing and a shock to the senses.  I live in a place where children come to the hospital barely holding onto life.  This last week a now orphaned toddler died several months after being discharged from the outpatient nutrition program.  It is just heart-wrenching.  It is a place where life and death come to the forefront.  Our province runs out of essential medicines to treat perinatal HIV and tuberculosis.  We are currently in this situation.  Even among animals….life hangs in the balance.  Last Sunday we rescued our friends’ young kitten as a falcon repeatedly swooped down to try to kill it.  

 

There is no air conditioning, just the wind and setting of the sun.  We do not have a dishwasher and there is no grocery store to buy pre-pared food.  Beans get served in different forms until they are finished.  All food is fresh.  Everything takes a bit longer, especially cooking.  It is a different rhythm and it takes a good week or two to get re-acquainted with life.  On the equator the sunset is at 6:30pm, so most outdoor activities need to be completed by this time.  

 

Everyday life is more work, life and death are at the forefront, but somehow life is invigorating and there is joy in the simple things.  If you are tired you rest.  If it rains you plant.  

 

A New Solar System 

Currently Warren and Dr. Bob Spencer are preparing the installation of a new solar battery system for the hospital.  This has been about a 5-year project between all the challenges we have faced in recent years from lacking certain components, Ebola, and insecurity.  We are hopeful that this will bring us back to where the hospital needs to be from a power and oxygen perspective.  There really is a need for biomedical equipment expertise here.  We are preparing for a couple of electrical engineers who will come out next week to finish the work.

 

A Rabbit House  

   

We are officially (or unofficially) raising rabbits!  On last count we have 9 babies and 5 adults.  As it turns out rabbits need a very clean living environment and love all “root based” vegetables and accompanying greens.  Sweet potatoes and carrots are their favorites!  We are finishing our very first rabbit house with different rooms that is well aerated.  It seems a bit fancy!

 

Summer Break   

Emmanuel loves summer break!  He has been hard at work with his friends on a treehouse with accompanying moat (for protection from unwanted guests).  We have been reading, playing outside in water, riding bikes, and adventuring together.  He has a great imagination and is learning problem-solving skills.  Homeschool starts in about a month and we are looking forward to a great year!

 

Medical Challenges

 

Today I could not find an infant nasogastric tube anywhere!  I had 3 babies in the ICU that needed one.  This is not a new problem of course.  I found an old bag of feeding sets that we will never use and started to disassemble one to see what I could jerry-rig together.  After cutting a few tubes, re-shaping some rubber pieces, I had found a way to make two feeding tubes from each set.  Somehow this represents many things: lack of resources, on-going need, the need to look past the challenges and tendency to say “there simply aren’t any” and simply a desire to make things work.

 

One of my 1.5year-old kids has a cyanotic heart condition called coarctation of the aorta. His pulmonary artery and aorta are switched, bypassing the lungs to oxygenate the blood.  It is a very serious situation and he lives with an oxygen saturation between 30-50% all the time and is generally irritable.  He is simply not growing.  This condition is usually surgically corrected in the first weeks of life.  There is very little that we can offer in this environment other than managing his heart failure and giving them a diagnosis.  It is hard to know if there is more that we should do.  Is he a candidate for surgery?  If so where?  Families understand that surgery is not available in the country and have an easier time accepting this.  I usually have at least a couple of babies with various heart malformations that I am following in the community.

 

Ministry   

I am thankful that I can use my medical skills in the direct care of patients.  Everyday I have the opportunity to ask people how I can pray for them and share the hope that I have in Jesus Christ.  So many people are spiritually lost, looking for answers, making idols to worship.  It is my prayer that the Lord will give me spiritual insight to the situations we face.

 

There is a beautiful lady from the forest who was brutalized, injuring her and cutting her ear off.  It hits close to home to see people suffering in this way.  Our colleague Dr. Peter has been faithfully tending her wounds, doing a skin graft, and showing love in tangible ways.  Sometimes we hear afterwards about spiritual growth in peoples’ lives, but it is often through suffering that God reaches people.  

 

There is no place that we can go to escape the presence of God, “If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night all around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”  Psalm 139 11-13.

 

As physicians we can appreciate how we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  It is an honor to care for people, and see how God made them.  As a surgeon Warren often says that he can modify and remove things from the body, but he can not add anything back.  How simple and yet how profound!

 

We appreciate your prayers as we continue to adjust and adapt to being back in eastern Congo!  -Pray for a hospital staff member who is struggling with a serious health problem.

-Pray that we would be able to finish the work on the new solar system and that this will help many people.

-Pray that we would see the spiritual needs around us and encourage staff members to pursue a deeper walk with the Lord.

 

 

Lindsey (for us)

 

Finishing up our time in the US

June 10th, 2024 

Signing in from North Carolina…we are finishing up our time in the US and preparing to return to Congo.  It has been a full 3months’ time and a blessing to reconnect with friends and family and for Emmanuel, his classmates at Grace Academy.

 

It really is amazing to live overseas and be able to travel back as we need to.  Emmanuel completed third grade and was able to participating in many end of the year activities.  Warren and I even jumped into helping host the parachute game for Field Day and go on a field trip or two.  Emmanuel received an award for his expressive reading and we are proud of him!  He also graduated from U10 spring soccer season! 

 

We squeezed a long weekend trip to Colorado to visit Bethany Church and visit with our dear friends there.  This is where Warren and my marriage began so it will always have a special place in our hearts.  Bethany has many faithful saints who have supported us over the years and become like family.  One day we crossed the majestic western continental divide with our friends the Petersons and the next day we drove over the verdant Appalachian eastern continental divide.  It is amazing how air travel really is and how varied the landscape is in the US! 

We spent a fun weekend with our friends Andrew and Sandy Barton in the coastal city of Wilmington.  Andrew asked us what we wanted to do, to which we responded “Whatever you want to do, we are up for it.  We don’t get to do this very often.”  The first day we got up before sunrise to fish for mackerel…it turned out to be a good day for fishing as we reeled in about 3 dozen fish!  Emmanuel loved wave jumping on the beach and collecting shells.  Then Andrew took us sailing on his racing lightning boat which was really fun!  It became clear immediately that he had advanced sailing skills which made it fun for us.  It was all a wonderful, stretching experience for Emmanuel!  Andrew asked if we were up for more adventure, to which we have an enthusiastic “YES!!!”  This led to a fishing trip on the middle of the night (2am) out to an island where we anchored at low tide and walked to shore and hiked a mile on the dunes to a shoal where we set lines for red drum.  Red drum is a very large fish that likes to feed at low tide during full moon…but the wind needs to be about 10mph to move the shrimp onto the shoal (something like that).  Well, we went and learned the ropes, but the fish were not biting as the wind was not strong enough.  It was still very interesting.  The good news is that this operation was repeated a week later (without us) and red drum were biting!  I feel that this gives one a healthy appreciation for God’s creation and the mysteries therein, things we can’t control.  Sandy fried up the fish many ways for fish tacos and other tasty things and accompanied us on beach adventures.  A couple of long nights of sleep concluded our adventures with the Bartons! 

  

Sometimes I feel like we have adopted certain behaviors from living in central Africa….one must stop in to see people along the way (or at least call to say you are in the area).  We were able to see more friends in the Raleigh area-the Miranda family, Joy, and Camille our way back to our NC home.    

We just returned from a week in Wisconsin visiting family and friends.  It has been about 3 years since we have been all together with my parents and sister in Wisconsin.  What a blessing it is to sit down to meal made by my mom.  The farming fields, prairies, and wetlands are still a solace to my soul and remind me of my childhood.  We stayed in a river cottage and enjoyed paddling in kayaks everyday!  I am so thankful for friends like Erin and Kate that I can just call up like little time had passed. I was able to reconnect with a couple of old roommates, Marie and Nina and reminisce on our UW Madison days over Babcock ice cream!  How is it possible that over 20 years has gone by? I am thankful for these formative years that preceded medicine and living overseas.  I wonder what it is like to be an undergraduate these days?!   

 

 

Now we shift gears and re-organize our lives for travel once again.  It forces us to give things away and think about what we need for the next season of time.  Yes, this means school materials and Christmas gifts in June, and adopting a different kind of mindset.  

 

We appreciate your prayers for us as we prepare to return-emotionally, physically, spiritually.  There are always some details to wrap up.  Pray that we can be an encouragement to our family and friends, and for our church visits.

 

Many blessings

Lindsey

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