Let’s begin by wishing you a belated Happy New Year! We are settling down to life back in Bristol for a while at least. It is good to be away from some of the stresses of the situation in Africa, but those we have left behind are still very much in our thoughts. We found another house to rent in Bradley Stoke and moved in at the beginning of January. Christopher and Emma are happy to be back at their old school and looking forward to the new baby. All is going well with the pregnancy and we are finding plenty to keep us busy here. It took a frustratingly long time to get our phone connected and get back on line, but we are glad now to be able to follow events in Africa and keep in touch by e-mail.
Please e-mail us if you would like to know our new address and phone number.
At this time we want to particularly update you on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire. At the end of January, peace talks in Paris ended with an agreement between government and rebel forces to bring an end to the armed conflict. Both sides had to give a lot of ground but at least there was some hope.
Unfortunately, during the days that followed the agreement there was a lot of rioting and looting in Abidjan by loyalists who were incensed at what the rebels had gained through taking up arms against the elected government. Their anger was mainly directed at French interests, because people believed that France has imposed an unacceptable deal on them. French schools in Abidjan were systematically looted and vandalised, including the school that Christopher and Emma went to. This is sad news for us and will do nothing to help the country on the road back to peaceful normality.
Some of our Wycliffe colleagues were caught in Abidjan at this time during a short working visit. They were forced to stay indoors for fear of being mistaken for French. Eventually they were able to get out safely to the airport and flew back to Mali. Many more Westerners have also left in the last couple of weeks including most missionaries we know. The violence has now subsided somewhat and the President has said that he wants to see the spirit of the peace accord followed. A new prime minister, Seydou Diarra, has now been appointed. He has the very difficult task of forming a new power-sharing government. The rebel groups are saying they will return to fighting unless they are given control of the defence and interior ministries, which they say they were promised them in Paris. However, the army has said it will refuse to serve a rebel minister. Please continue to pray for a real return to peace.
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