Saturday, January 1, 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe that 2010 is over. I think that this idea crosses cultural barriers. I have talked to both Ivoirians and French people and they say the same thing. 2010 flew by. I hope you are praying for Cote d’Ivoire. Things are looking pretty hairy down in Abidjan. I am thankful to be far enough north not to see the effects of this power struggle but almost 200 people have died since the elections and my heart hurts for this nation. I am not afraid for my own well being here but I am afraid for the well being of Cote d’Ivoire. If Gbago doesn’t step down there will most likely be a war. They have been warring for ten years. It is time for peace.

Over the time between Christmas and New Years I was able to travel even farther north to see missionaries and their work up in Ferke and Korhogo. On Monday we headed to the bus station at 8am only to wait two hours for our bus to actually depart [African time (:]. Not five minutes after we left we were stopped at a rebel outpost. No one was completely sure what we were supposed to do. Some said we needed to get off the bus and some were emphatic about staying on. We ended up getting off and going through the rebel post on foot after having our IDs checked. One woman was highly upset by the inconvenience of having to leave the bus. She yelled at the rebels in Jula. I was a bit worried that she would get hurt [She was in her 60s probably] but she would not calm down. This was a wake up call to the fact that people are sick and tired of the way this country is being run. There are few real laws enforced and no code of conduct when going through a rebel post. Most of the time it seems that they just want to feel powerful and it is a waste of time. A three hour drive took 6 hours so plus the two hours of waiting for the bus, it was a LONG day.

My vacation was overall super fun. It was just us 9 girls. We had the opportunity to stay at the Bible school in Korhogo and visit the translation in Ferke, the WorldVenture Hospital in Ferke and the WorldVenture Dispensary in Torhogo. We also played lots of games [I solved the mystery in Clue!] and rested! There is a mountain in Korhogo [If you can call it that]. We hiked up it Thursday morning [about half and hour to the peak (:]. It was gorgeous and God is amazing. French is coming along little by little. Hopefully at the end of this month I will return to Korhogo to live and help out with different ministries for two months.

New Years Eve we had an epic pig roast with a ten foot bonfire! It was a great celebration and time of worship and dancing of course! I love the people that God has placed here with me. Today [New Years Day] we played soccer on an indoor court for two hours, til it got dark. This week we will be learning about the Church history of Cote d’Ivoire. The president of the Bible School is coming down to teach us this week. I am really excited to learn more about the church because my passion is in church planting!

I love getting emails from you even though I can’t always respond because of the internet. So send me an update on your life!

Praying for peace <3

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