Author name: Lois Gillespie

Our first trimester is officially over today and everyone is breathing a sigh of relief. Students are excited as parents are arriving to pick them up for a nice 5-week break. They won’t return until after the new year.

We leave at 4:00 in the morning tomorrow for a missions trip in Gao, Mail, and should be traveling all day on Thanksgiving day. We won’t even be in touch with anyone by phone or e-mail – not the way we would choose to spend Thanksgiving. But since we are caravanning with others, we need to fit in with their schedule. I’m not sure if we’ll be anywhere near e-mail for the next 2 weeks, although I will be able to check my mail if I can find an internet connection. You know I will definitely be looking. If you don’t receive a Wednesday Update in the coming 2 weeks, you’ll know I wasn’t successful.

Thank you for thinking of us and for praying for us at this time. Please pray for our safety as we travel, as well as the safety for all the students and their families as they will also be traveling in the next few days. Some of them have 3-day trips ahead of them before they reach their remote stations.

Once again, no news is good news. We’ve had no new muggings or political unrest, and most everyone is beginning to feel ‘safe’ again. 

This is a very busy time for the students. They have 5 more school days left in this trimester, so final projects are due, and final exams are being given. The computer lab is constantly occupied with students working on papers. Although everyone is tired, anticipation of the coming 5-week break keeps us all ‘sane’.

Here’s a glimpse into our lives today. Bob is working with his 8th Graders who are making ‘ancient artifacts’ out of clay. I don’t know who is having more fun – Bob or his kids. I am overseeing some local technicians from whom the school has purchased 3 computer systems as they assemble and load these new systems. Kids and computers are the same all around the world.

Pray for students and staff as we finish school work and prepare for different ministries over the break. We thank you for these prayers; we get a ‘warm, fuzzy feeling’ when we think about your praying for us. Those prayers reach across the miles.

Praises were offered yesterday in our All Staff meeting for improved conditions in the local area. As most of the bandits who were responsible for the recent robberies have been apprehended (and killed), we aren’t hearing of any more thefts taking place in town. Some have even felt safe enough to venture ‘out to eat’ in the evenings.

As our trimester is coming to an end (only 2 more weeks), we are amazed at how quickly time has flown. We will soon be 1/3 of the way through our first year. We praise the Lord for the warm reception we received here and for being able to jump right in to the ministry without being made to feel like rookies. (Although at times, our rookie status definitely shows.) Adjustments have been less than expected, and we’re sure this is because of the willingness of all around us to help wherever they can.

But the tough times are coming, and this is what we ask you to pray for. Holidays have always been very special for us as we gather with family, especially at Thanksgiving. We are told that there are some wonderful traditions here at ICA to help us through these times. We are also planning on traveling with a missions team from our home church to Mali over the break; this will help fill some of the ‘void’.

Pray for our families back home, also. Although we all rejoice in how the Lord has placed us here, we will all still feel the ‘missing’. I know your prayers will go a long way in helping us through this time of celebration.