Good-bye, ICA

Tomorrow we leave ICA probably for the last time – at least as ICA. Our stuff is packed away, hoping we will be able to retrieve it later, but knowing full well that we may not. We have given many things to our workers, especially all the food that remains (many things brought out by our friends 8 weeks ago), and we have said some rather tearful good-byes. We look forward to reunions with loved ones; they look forward to unemployment in an environment where jobs are non-existent. But we all share the hope of being re-united some day. With Abby, our house girl, we know we will see her some day in heaven if not here at ICA. 

About half of the staff and students will fly to Bamako, Mali, tomorrow on MAF planes, leaving Bouake airport around 10:00 – with limited luggage. The others of us will travel by convoy, taking as much of the luggage as we can fit in our vehicles, and hope to arrive in Bamako sometime on Sunday with all that we are taking. We will be traveling with a New Forces (rebel army) escort; the French commander here feels we will have no problems in this kind of convoy. Please pray that he is right.

Last night in our dining hall, we hosted our traditional fall banquet. This time, however, instead of serving our students, our students served the french military while the staff did the behind the scenes work of preparation and cleanup. It was an effort to not only say thank you for their protection – now, in the past and in the future, but also to allow them a time to come together and grief their fallen comrades. Their appreciation was expressed by an impromptu receiving live – about 20 of us and about 90 of them. We fervently pray that they have seen Christ in us.

Today, pray as we say our good-byes to very special friends and co-workers, but also to a dream. None of us fully understand why God brought us back to the ministry we love only to be torn from it once again a few short months later. Pray for our safety in the air and on the road tomorrow. Pray that God will soon direct all of us as to a future ministry – we need His very clear direction in this time of confusion.

We hope to be stateside for Thanksgiving. We\’ll see some of you soon.