Author name: Lois Gillespie

We’re again writing from ICA. We’ll be here through Friday and then travel to Abidjan and fly out to Dakar. It’s been a profitable time as we have been able to clean up and organize quite a few areas of the campus. We’ve enjoyed the refreshing rain at least every other day; trees are blooming and the campus is turning green. This is the time of the year when the campus is most beautiful. Being here reminds us again of what the Lord has provided for the education of missionary kids, and why we feel it’s important to ‘preserve’ it.

Bob has been working in town with a friend of ours who has come back to pack up his house since he and his family are changing ministries. It’s hard to see them go. We rejoice in the close friendships we’ve made while being here, knowing that some of these are truly forever friends. 

We’ll think of you all this Sunday as you enjoy Easter with your friends and family.

WOW – are we dirty and dusty!!! We are going around to places that haven’t seen a broom in six months during which we experienced harmitan (dry dusty winds blowing in from the Sahara). At first, everyone wanted to wash things before packing them away, but in the interest of time (and realizing we would just re-wash them when we unpack them), we started just packing them away. 

You might be asking: “Is this missionary work?”  I have to admit that we don’t really feel like missionaries at the moment (whatever that feels like). But, these are some of the mundane things that missionaries have to do – just like you do. We feel like we’re on a short-term missions trip since there are people here working from various mission works throughout Cote d’Ivoire. All of us are doing whatever we can do to make it possible that ICA can re-open in August 2004 by protecting equipment etc. bought with money given by God’s people and used in the education of missionary children.

We recently sent out a letter to our supporters detailing various projects for which we are asking the support of God’s people, both financially and in prayer. If you haven’t seen this letter and would like to know more, please e-mail us and ask. We’d love to share how God is leading in our lives for the near future.

We start this week’s update with a praise. We finally have a land line phone – something we’ve been trying to get for 6 months. This not only means that we can now do e-mail from home, but we can also check what’s going on in the world before we leave home in the morning – recommended by the American Embassy. 

The next few days will find all of the boarding students and some of the staff from Dakar Academy ‘on the road’ again. Our spring break starts on Friday and lasts until April 21st. When we return, we will only have 6 weeks of school remaining – not much for all we want to accomplish here in the technology department. 

We have been asked by our ICA director and EBM mission representative to return to ICA over this break and help with getting the campus ready for a year of hibernation. This will include packing up the EBM dorm as well as moving the rest of the electronic equipment and school textbooks into the library which can be environmentally maintained. Our group will include 6 adults and 3 staff teens who have a lot of work to do in the next 2 weeks. We will fly to Abidjan this Saturday and return on Apr. 18th; again we will have a French military escort through rebel-held territory. We ask you to pray for our safety as well as the safety of many others who will also be returning to countries that are torn by strife. For some students, this will be their only chance to say ‘good-bye’ to their homes – maybe for the last time – as they will be returning to the states for college, or their parents may be leaving that field, as soon as school is out.