Christmas Coup d'Etat
{mosimage} Two days 'til Christmas – time for a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up some last minute goodies… Strange how there's so much traffic on this little back road, and all of it going the opposite way to us!…Well here we are at the main road anyway… What's that army truck doing parked right across the main carriageway?… Perhaps the President is passing through and they're closing the road off… That taxi's going very fast…and why is its back door open?… Hey there's a soldier leaning out of the door pointing a machine gun back down the road… I'm sure those were gunshots… Let's get home NOW!… Daddy I'm scared, what's happening!… It's OK Christopher they aren't shooting at us… Dear Lord, please get us home safely… Thank you Lord, we're safely home… Pass this message around quickly: "Everyone must stay indoors. Something very serious is going on!"
That's how the Christmas coup d'état began for us. The following few days were not easy. That night there was a lot of gunfire, even within yards of where we live. We stayed in with the lights out and kept our heads down. On Christmas Eve our local shopping centre was looted and ransacked. Amazingly, on Monday 27th everyone went back to work and life returned to normal except that we were now under military rule. Most Ivorians seemed delighted to be rid of President Bedié and very happy that the military were promising a swift transition to truly democratic civilian rule.
Now, the political temperature is rising again. Various parties and personalities are jostling for support in advance of the elections, which have been promised before the end of the year. A new constitution is due to be submitted to a national referendum at the end of May, but the constitutional committee is finding it hard to reach consensus on what to propose. Please pray for peace, justice and righteousness. Pray also for the interim president, General Robert Guei, who has the difficult task of maintaining unity in a very tense situation.
Margo Plans to Lose a Stone!
In mid January, Margo
developed terrible pain in her right side. It was so severe that she
could not even lie down. A doctor gave her strong painkillers and sent
her for an ultrasound scan. This showed a two centimetre diameter
gallstone. The immediate crisis passed, but we were unsure what to do
next. Should go back to Britain this summer or try to wait until we
return home next year, with the risk that a further crisis might
require emergency surgery here? As we prayed about it, the Lord
prompted several friends to offer us money towards a flight. This has
convinced us that we should get it done this summer. We are very
grateful to those of you who have made this possible, and also to a GP
friend in Swansea who has made arrangements for the operation. It will
take place on July 22nd (our wedding anniversary!) In the meantime
Margo is sticking to a very low fat diet, and trying to convince Paul
to do the same!
Air
Tragedy
At the end of February, Paul spent a
week in Bamako – the capital of Mali – attending a meeting with leaders
from other branches of the organisation around West Africa. After these
meetings, a number of people returned with us to Abidjan in order to
get flights back to where they live. Among them was our Africa Area
director and his wife Bob & Ruth Chapman. They spent the following
day at the beach with our branch director and got on the flight to Kenya
that evening. The aircraft crashed into the sea almost immediately after
takeoff and Bob and Ruth were taken to be with the Lord. This was a
great shock to us and to many others. Bob had only taken over as area
director a few months before and was already having a very positive
impact in many areas. Paul had benefited personally from his wise counsel
during December's coup d'état. We don't know why the Lord took
them, but we trust in his good and perfect will. Bob & Ruth leave
behind a 19 year old daughter, Erin. Pray for her as she continues to
work through her tragic loss. Ten years ago she lost both her brothers
to malaria.
But we have this treasure in
jars
of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from
us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4 vs. 7-9
Vive
les Mariés!
On
April 8th, Carlos and Mariam were married at their church in the
north of Abidjan. The wedding was scheduled for 3 o'clock. Carlos
had asked us to meet and join the procession of cars driving to
the church, horns blowing and lights flashing! We got to the meeting
place just after 3. No one else was there. {mosimage} A brother we had given
a lift to went off in search of Carlos. No we hadn't missed them
– Carlos was still getting dressed! A little later he arrived,
and by 4 o'clock we were ready to drive to the church!
The church was bursting with about 700-800
people, for what turned out to be a double wedding. Singing groups
from several churches took turns to present items. As usual on
such occasions here, Sunday school children sang/danced several
pieces about how the husband should love his wife, and how the
wife should obey her husband and look after him well! At around
6 o'clock, we finally got to the vows. Unfortunately Paul missed
this because he (or more precisely our pickup truck) was needed
drive to the other side of the city to fetch the 6 tier wedding
cake! A reception followed at the church – some snacks, the cake,
and more singing. It was long and rather chaotic, but nevertheless
great fun.
With all the work of the wedding finally
behind them, Carlos and Mariam are now preparing for their planned
move across the continent to Nairobi later in the year. Carlos
is working hard to get his English up to standard. Mariam is also
hoping to do some English study before they leave.
Unfortunately all the application papers for the translation training
course were in Bob and Ruth Chapman's luggage, so Carlos &
Mariam had to complete them all again. We are now praying that
they will be accepted by the admissions board of the Bible college.
{mosimage}While
Mummy and Daddy were at Carlos's wedding, me and Emma went to Bouaké
because it was the start of retreat. Emma went with her friend Rachel,
and I went with Sam. Mummy and Daddy came the next day. We stayed in
Bouaké for a week, and it was brilliant fun with all the other
kids. Mummy says she likes being in Bouaké, because it's the only time
Emma sleeps through the night!
I'm very disappointed because Sam is leaving
in May. I play with him every day at school and at home, so I don't
know what I'm going to do when he's gone.
We got a hamster in January, we called him Scamper.
He was brown and white, but now the brown is turning black. He eats
a lot and sleeps a lot. He gets on his wheel when everybody's asleep.
I said in the last ShadKids that I only had 2 more exams to pass to
be a yellow belt in Judo. Well, I passed them while Gramma and Grampa
were here, so they got to see me with my yellow belt. Emma doesn't do
ballet anymore, she said she didn't have enough time to play! She still
likes to wear her ballet suit though.
30 years in Côte d'Ivoire
{mosimage}This year SIL
celebrates 30 years of work here. In March we held an anniversary meeting
at a prestigious hotel in Abidjan, to which we invited influential pastors
and church leaders. The theme of the meeting was "One Bible and
so many languages". The speaker was a well-known French evangelical
writer and Bible translator, who flew in especially for the meeting.
We were very encouraged by the turn out, with over 200 people present.
Sungwan Kuyo (the president of the Bhete language association) chaired
the meeting, and at the end gave a stirring impromptu speech. Many were
moved by the desire to have the God's word in their own heart language.
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