Author name: Lois Gillespie

Abidjan – Again! Our luggage didn?t come in last night. Supposedly it came as far as Accra, but the flight from Accra to Abidjan didn?t come last night ? not an unusual occurrence out here. The frustrating thing is that we don?t really know if they know where our luggage is or if they are just telling us what they think we want to hear.

So here we sit in Abidjan with very little to do. We are thankful for the guesthouse apartment we are staying in. It has a kitchen, so we?ve been able to cook some things.

I guess we are getting some days of relaxation that we didn?t know we needed, even if there is the tension of not knowing about our luggage. I washed some things out by hand today, but with the humidity the way it is, I?m not sure they will dry by tomorrow. Now Bob is thankful for the last-minute pieces of clothing I forced in our bags!

Please continue to pray that our luggage makes it. By Tuesday, I think we?ll head up to Bouak? without it. When ? and if ? it comes, we?ll have to make another trip down here or have it brought up by others who have room.

We’re in Abidjan – Finally! But our luggage is not?nothing but our carry-ons.

The man at the airport was able to trace it to Frankfurt and is checking to see when it can be expected to be here.

After waiting in Cleveland for 2 ? hours because of bad weather in Dulles (Washington DC), we missed our connecting flight to Brussels. So we waited in a long line at Dulles for about 2 hours and were finally rerouted through Frankfurt, Ethiopia and finally Abidjan. Rather round-about way, but that was the only way they could get us out within the next 2 days. Of course, since there was a way, they wouldn?t pay for a hotel. Because of bad weather, everything was booked.

We had a 6-hour layover in Ethiopia. I was dreading it, expecting a hole-in-the-wall airport like Abidjan used to be with horrible bathrooms (that make you prefer the bush) and no place to sit but the floor. We were very pleasantly surprised by a modern airport with very friendly and serviceable people who all spoke English! Believe you me, I was very thankful!

It?s hot and muggy here. I actually enjoyed my cold shower! Bob is sleeping. We?re getting ready to go out and do some shopping soon.

Because of the luggage situation, we?re not sure when we will be traveling up to Bouak?. We?ll try to let you know. As for now, please pray our luggage on its way to Abidjan.

This will probably be the last update that we send out from this side of the ‘big pond’. We are busily handling last minute details and packing – and repacking. We’re filled with mixed emotions as we say our ‘good-byes’. We’re very excited to be returning to ICA at last, but so sad to be leaving our friends and family for a while.

God is using you and your overwhelming response to our support needs to show us once again that returning to ICA at this time is what He wants for us – and for ICA. We are close, very close, to being 100% supported; we believe that God will supply even the small deficit before we leave on June 1st.

We will try to send these updates every couple of weeks, but communication from the campus of ICA is one thing that needs to be restored. Currently there are no phone lines to the campus. We will be using an internet caf? in Bouak? for e-mails.

Please pray:
— For our family members. Everyone one of them is supportive of what we’re doing, but good-byes are tough!
— For travel safety, especially within the country of Ivory Coast on Friday of next week. A friend who recently made the trip faced 21 official/unofficial road stops before getting to ICA. These can be very tense situations, especially when you’re communicating with someone in a foreign language.