Peanut Harvest

November 17, 2023

 

This week we are harvesting peanuts and rebuilding a chicken coop.  I am starting to think about what I will cook for Thanksgiving next week, to include peanuts...I want to cook plants that are harvested locally.  For those of you who have never harvested peanuts, it is a lot of work!  Peanuts are also known as “groundnuts” so they grow underground.  To harvest this crop one needs to pull up every plant in the garden (weed and crop alike) to isolate the peanuts.  Then you have to remove every peanut from the underground vine.  This is where children in this area get involved…eating and separating the nuts from the mother plant.  People sit under trees for hours, laughing and singing as they separate the peanuts from the mother plants.  An abundance of rain results in the peanut pods sprouting and developing root systems.  It is important to harvest peanuts at the right time before this happens.

 

Peanuts are an essential crop in central Africa.  They can be ground into a protein-rich paste/oil which is added to many vegetables like cooked spinach and squash leaves.  Peanuts can be preserved for several months between harvests.  They preserve just about the length of time (3-6months) before the next harvest is available.  I love how God created this plant to be preserved for just the right amount of time.

 

There is a beautiful older woman who brings me vegetables every few days who I affectionately call Tate, which means Grandmother.  She noticed that we were starting our peanut harvest and asked for a handful of fresh peanuts as she was leaving.  I brought her a handful of g-nuts in their shell which she received with a huge grin on her face, saying she would grill them with salt with her dinner that evening.  

 

I love that we can live close to the land and appreciate how God provides for us.  I love how Emmanuel can learn about plants in his studies and then go outside and practice what he has learned.  Our very lives depend on plants and their production.  I feel a thankfulness to my Creator as I participate in the harvest and processing of grain.  

 

Ecclesiastes 11: 4-6 speaks to the necessity of being diligent to work, to plant, whatever the weather and to leave the harvest up to God.  I can relate to this here in Congo where people plant fields in several places to increase their chances of success.  Then they work diligently and pray for rain.

“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you can not understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.  Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

Blessings from Nyankunde and Happy Thanksgiving!

Lindsey for the Coopers

Miracles and Faithfulness in the Small Things

November 5, 2023. 

Multiplication of Black Soybeans

November 5, 2023

God can take what little we have and make much of it for His glory.  He wants us to offer our limited resources…like the widowed woman who poured a small amount of oil into many borrowed containers in 2 Kings 4.  She needed to pay her debts after her husband’s death in order to keep her children.  The miracle happened when she responded in faith to Elisha’s challenge and asked for help from her neighbors.  "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." Everyone became a witness to the miracle that Elisha declared for her.  The feeding of the 4000 and 5000 is very similar in that Jesus asks for their contribution and participation before He performs the miracle.  He wants us to notice the change and be part of the multiplication of the resource.

Even in our own lives (and garden) we see how God can take a small and seemingly insignificant thing and multiply it.  A recent example is our farming of black soybeans.  We had a bumper crop a few years back that we had to abandon due to insecurity.  It was very sad.  We were left with two small shoots and a few beans.  After several harvests, in an attempt to produce enough seeds, we now have enough to plant a plot of land again!  This is kind of what the Lord does when we give Him what we have.  He makes much more of it which results in fruitfulness. 

Why do I share this?  God is ready to work miracles in our lives, in the small, ordinary things.  He wants us to bring our needs to Him, use what we have, and do more than we could imagine.  What area of your lives do you need to see God work?  Take the first step by letting Him know your needs, ask for help, and the use whatever resources you have.

We appreciate your prayers for us as we get settled into life and ministry in Eastern DRC.

-Join us in giving thanks for a recent visit by a partner who supports our malnutrition programs. We have seen God multiply blessings through these programs to support the vulnerable in our community.

-Thank Him for the survival of a woman and child who survived a birth complication last weekend.

-Pray for on-going discipleship of the medical staff here in Nyankunde.

-Pray for medical needs of rural peoples in our region, access to safe surgery and birth assistance.

God bless you!

Lindsey for the Coopers

Speaking of small things, here is a small baby born yesterday.  Please pray for her.

 

5-Day Trip Back to Africa

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

Fall 2023 Newsletter