Author name: Lois Gillespie

“The night was calm and things remain calm this morning. No troops have crossed the line of demarcation at this point. 

“Everyone slept in their own bed last night and the generator was on all night. Power has been out in Bouake for over 24 hours now but we continue normally. Adequate fuel is available and our deep well pump is holding the water tower level fine. The students are in class now and we continue to monitor the situation.

“The attacks yesterday hit the northern and southern entries of the town, a large military camp and a building which housed the FN offices. Trucks had been blocked at the entries to Bouake and, since the drivers sleep with the trucks, many were wounded. No count is available that I know of. People in town are able to circulate some but everyone is nervous and ready to hide if an attack seems immanent. This situation will become more and more difficult for people as many do not keep extra food or water in their homes.”

This morning around 7:15, a military plane flew overhead, surrounding Bouake at a low elevation, and subsequently shelled a location in Boauke – not sure where. Later, around 10 or so, two military planes did the same, this time dropping a few bombs (Bob actually saw them drop). We later heard some gunfire exchanged in the distance.

Needless to say, this is significant. We’ve been told to pack to be ready to go, although no definite decision to evacuate has been made. At this point in time, we’re unclear how we would go if we go. The French military is in the process of evaluating that – whether it’s safe to drive out or whether we need to go by helicopter.

Cellphone towers are out; our only communication is by satellite e-mail, so I’m not sure how often we’ll communicate. But we did want to let you know that we are safe. It would be extremely unwise for either side to attack us here – a group of French and Americans. We’re probably safest staying put.

No big news to share today – just a few little things:

Although when we wrote 2 weeks ago, we were ‘under the yellow flag’, things have been relatively peaceful since. Then again last night, we were informed that we are ‘under the orange flag’ because of 2 separate incidents elsewhere in Cote d’Ivoire. They don’t seem to have affected us here at ICA, other than a little more hassling at the roadstops (on the way into town, etc.).

Two of the commanding officers of the new French troops are protestant – not muslim or catholic – and are interested in attending our services, along with some of the other soldiers. Sunday, their chaplain – who is a member of the same protestant organization in France to which some of our missionaries belong – read the Scripture passage in french, and we sang several songs in french. It is possible that we may be doing more and more of the service in french (as well as English) in the days ahead so that more soldiers would be encouraged to come.

A friend just returned from the states with new parts (motherboard, etc.) for our network server – all purchased through funds given to ICA from a VBS. This server upgrade with allow the teachers to move into more online course offerings that can even be made available to home schoolers in West Africa – once we finally have internet connection from campus. For now, these options will be used to supplement the current coursework. Lois is excited to have new toys to play with even though there is lots of work ahead – rebuiding the server AGAIN.

Internet connection/telephone land lines on campus – well, it seems we’re no closer to this than we ever were, although we regularly hear of ‘progress’. Caught between political maneuvering and theft of newly installed equipment, the solution seems to be far in the future. Even more than being an annoyance (daily trips into town to do e-mail), this is a security concern for us. Please pray that we see these phone lines on campus – to stay – in the very near future.