Time to go

I started writing this a couple days ago from a hotel room in Nairobi, trying to process what's happening.  This past Saturday we drove away from Tenwek Hospital, the place we've come to call home these past two years while a part of the Samaritan's Purse Post-Residency Program.  Several things are weighing heavy on my mind...

Faces and stories of so many patients...

Uncertainty of what will happen to neurosurgery while I'm away...

We made a lot of progress in the OR during these past two years

And joined efforts to improve neurosurgical care country-wide. This is a photo from a recent course held at Tenwek in which 86 general surgeons and medical officers from 31 of Kenya's 47 counties (like states) attended.

The hardest part of leaving? Relationships being put on hold...

The surgical department

The clinic

The neuro team

Tomorrow we get on a plane to go back to Arkansas.  As I struggle to walk away from the patients, my hopes for neurosurgery at Tenwek, relationships, and so much more, I'm reminded of two things.  One, I'm not that important.  Tenwek Hospital went on just fine without me and it will continue to this next year while I'm away.  Secondly, God will accomplish His purposes, in His time, regardless of me or what I think needs to be done and when.  In the midst of my uncertainties of walking away, this assurance of His sovereignty is comforting.   "I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things not yet done. Saying, 'My counsel will stand, And I will accomplish all my purpose.'" Isaiah 46:9,10

We're excited to see many of you in person and have the chance to tell more fully of what we've witnessed God doing at Tenwek. Our time with the Post-Residency Program has come to an end and we are returning to Little Rock, where Alisa and I grew up and both our families still live.  We anticipate being stateside for about a year as we go through the process of applying with World Gospel Mission, Tenwek's long-term mission partner. During these past two years, God has affirmed for our family that this is where He is asking us to serve Him, and so we are eager to take this next step.   We will no longer have financial support from Samaritan’s Purse so we are actively looking to grow our monthly support team.  If you would be interested in being a part of the work at Tenwek, we'd love to hear from you.  Feel free to email us at wrcopeland3@gmail.com or willnalisa@yahoo.com.  For details on how to support financially each month or to give a one-time gift, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/wmmgiving.   If you are already part of our financial support team, please continue to give as you have been through Samaritan’s Purse.  We will continue to have ministry-related expenses while in the U.S. and we are required to be fully-funded before being allowed to return to Tenwek. We will then notify you when things officially changeover.   Thanks again to each of you who have supported us in various ways these past two years.  It has meant more than you know. Will

Going home or leaving home?

When we moved our family of almost 8 to Kenya, we left behind what we called home and everything that was familiar.  Minnesota was home.  

We arrived in East Africa and felt far from home.  Separated not only by distance, but also by culture, by language, by complete change of routine, by physical challenges, by new ways of doing daily tasks and schooling.  

And we talked about home.  “I wish we could go to Costco and get all the samples.” Or “I miss my friend at church.” or “We need snow.” And the most repeated “I just want a Chick-fil-A sandwich.” These things were part of the home that we had left behind.  

Nearly two years have passed now and Chick-fil-A and Costco are hardly mentioned.  In May, Will flew back to the US for a short medical conference.  Before flying back to Kenya, he went to Wal-Mart and called the kids and I to see what we might want him to bring back to us.  Joyfully, I announced, “Y’all, Dad is at WAL-MART!!!”  

Only 3 of the 6 kids knew what Wal-Mart was.  Charley said, “Is that a red place?”  Clearly, she’s having Costco flashbacks but just can’t put a name to it.  

It’s time now to pack up and go back to the states.  Our two-year term serving with Samaritan’s Purse is coming to a close. We board the plane in almost a week.

But are we going home or leaving home?

Pieces of our life here:

The road behind our house
(Emery, 1, Liam, 11)

the ladies that help us in our home and my friends
(Me, Joyce, Sheila)

first broken bone
(Will, Dr. Kiprono, Liam and Caleb)

growing up
(Charley, 5)

birthdays
(Harper, 7)

Chai with Ms. Joyce
(Doreen, Nora and Joyce)

Christmas

the everyday

church family

black eye and missing teeth
(Harper)

potty-training
(Nora)

great friends

baths

loved by Ms. Sheila

girls, girls, girls
(Nora, Harper, Charley)

co-workers and friends
(Will, Nellie, Umi, and Weldon)

Pizza night with friends
(Caroline, Joy, me)

Easter

vacation
Nora (2.5)

east coast of Kenya
(Hayden, Liam)

time with cousins
(Copelands and Nicholsons)

homeschooling

lunch at our gardener Felix's house

the beauty of this country
(Janeth, Nora, Purity, Emery)

Masai Mara retreat with co-workers

baptism
(Will and Hayden)

playing outside
(Nora, Emery, Harper)

our Kenya baby, Chepkemoi
(Emery, 1)

Saturday night with friends
(Will, me, Lydiah and Kimutai)

new hair
(Harper)

Kenya has become home.

So when we are asked “Are you excited to go home to the United States?  Won’t it be nice to be back home?”, it is not an easy answer.

I think we are forever split. Torn.  It is hard to leave our home in Kenya. But we also look forward to going back to our home in the U.S.  

We will be returning to Arkansas this month and staying in a rental house on the same street where Will grew up in Little Rock!  He may revert back to his childhood – sleeping in late, playing X-box, egging cars, and of course pining after his high school girlfriend (me). Probably not...

Will will be working, doing neurosurgery at the Arkansas Neuroscience Institute.  No time for egging cars.  

Our hope is to be in Little Rock for about a year as we prepare to return long-term to Kenya.   We are in the beginning stages of applying to get back to Tenwek Hospital in the summer of 2019 with an organization called World Gospel Mission.  

We will no longer have financial support from Samaritan’s Purse so we are actively looking to grow our monthly support team.  If you or your church would be interested in being a part of the work at Tenwek, please contact us at willnalisa@yahoo.com.

For now, if you are already part of our financial support team, please continue to give as you have been giving with Samaritan’s Purse.  We will continue to have ministry-related expenses while in the U.S. and we are required to be fully–funded before returning to Tenwek. We will notify you when things change.   

Thank you to our supporters for sticking with us and being a part of this work here over the past two years.  We remain grateful and happy that this is just the beginning!

For all of this, to God be the glory!

“For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.”

Hebrews 3:4