First Term Updates – Cote d’Ivoire/Senegal

School has started again at Dakar Academy. We have only 6 short weeks left with lots of activities, in addition to school work, jammed in these weeks. Graduation, June 4th, will be here before we know it. 

Our time at ICA was profitable. Slowly the campus is getting cleaned up and organized, and we’re able to start making plans about what will need done to re-open for school in August, 2004. It will be a big task, but not an impossible one. While at ICA, we became familiar with another ‘affordable’ option for language study for this next year.

We ask for your prayers that we make the right decision and choose the school where we can learn with the fewest distractions. When we know something more definite, we’ll let you know. Thanks for praying us safely back from ICA.

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.