I’m not sure when you’ll get this since the phone lines have been working off and on here in Cote d’Ivoire. We’re told they’re working fine, only to loose them again in another half hour or so. Hopefully, this will slip through the pipeline.
What a whirlwind weekend. Five vehicles with some trailers and 48 staff and students left the campus at 5:00 am on Friday morning. About 7 hours later we came to the end of the road – the paved road that is. We had another hour and a half on dirt road through little villages until we got to a village in the middle of nowhere. There were paved roads, lots of people and animals but very few cars – and a gas station?!. We arrived at the school for Liberian refugees who were all standing by the gate singing songs to welcome us.. They were so happy that we got there. That afternoon after pitching our tents for the night, some of us went to the school rooms to work on the roof. We had to fill in the floor with dirt and ready the roof for the tin. That evening there was a big rally in town. An African choir made up of people from the area churches sang and people started arriving from ‘nowhere’. By the time our team got up to sing there must have been 1500 people gathered around. There was singing, drama, preaching, and a gospel film. It lasted about 3 hours. Lightning was flashing all over that night but not a drop of rain fell; one African pastor was sure it wouldn’t since that’s how they had prayed. The next morning was full with efforts to finish the classrooms. Everyone worked very hard. The African men were impressed at our girls who shoveled dirt all day just like the guys. (I was impressed too!) That evening the rally crowd was about 2000. Our sound system got the message out and there were about 90 decisions for Christ between the two rallies. The next morning was church at 7:00 AM and then on the road by 9:00. We got back to the school in time for evening service to share the whole thing with everyone at ICA.
Lois and I took off Saturday afternoon and drove back to where the paved road starts. There we found the home of Jim and Rosie Johnson, missionaries supported by our home. It was good to fellowship with them and see the church that was built with the Thanksgiving offering from our church. We went to their church service until the caravan drove by and we joined them for the trip back.
We can tell that there were prayers sent up on the team’s behalf. There are so many things that can go wrong and destroy all the best laid plans. We could see God?s hand in guiding all things to work for His glory. We feel fortunate to have been able to help these African school children who have nothing, and we thank you for your partnership of prayer for this past weekend.