MISHING IN MALI........................................................

We have worked in and visited many African countries - the ones I can think of are: Burkina Faso,  Egypt, Senegal, Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo, Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Guinea, Guinée-Bissau, Liberia, Togo - and MALI!  People always speak of "Africa" as if it were a country, but it is a huge continent, with many independant nations, each with its own government, kinds of people, many different languages, and different kinds of climate and scenery.  The continent of Africa is made up of vast deserts and sprawling forests,  There are large rivers which go for miles and many small rivers and other bodies of water.  There are enormous cities and tiny villages - and everything in between.  No one can make a general statement about "Africa" -  or "Africans".  Some people like to think that civilization began in central-south Africa; one thing is sure it is a continent of a great age, populated through the centuries by large kingdome and small tribes.  A continent of cities and villages and solitary tribal peoples. Every kind of climate exists in this enormous continent.  And Africa has been part of our family's life and knowledge for many years.

Dad and I have personally visited fifteen or more of these countries. Together we spent a week in Egypt during our honeymoon, visiting the pyryamids and sailing the Nile, staying in a lush hotel and bargaining in the colorful markets. As a child I stopped for a week or so in Guinée-Bissau, as we tried to reah French West Africa, way inland. We have all lived in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire.  When he was field director, Dad went to conferences in Malawi and Kenya and he also was Alliance mission rep to the Alliance affiliated churches of Nigeria for seven years. I visited there two times with him. In my teaching and conference ministries, I was able to go to Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Congo, Gabon, Niger, Guinea, Ghana, Togo and Mali. We all vacationed in Liberia as well.  So we have seen a lot of Africa - but there is still so much more to see. 

The African people are such an amazing, friendly people. I met Malian Muslim traders in the market in Congo and talked Jula with them.  We found the Liberian people very friendly and even learned to understand their strange (to us) English while we vacationed there. Working with some of the "greats" among evangelical African leadeship on the continent was always a delight to Dad when he travelled to these large conferrences. When he returned from his trips, we would sit for hours as he told me the high points of the meetings he attended and all he had learned from African leadership.

 My training sessions led me to the most astounding people and outstanding church leaders in various counties in Mali.  In Guinea I had the joy of helping a whole new "crop"of missionaries adjust to the culture and curiosities of living in Guinea.  I arrived back in Burkina from many of those trips, totally drained as I had been on call day and night in some instances.  But I would not have had it otherwise, listening to Africans and missionaries with a sympathetic ear and trying to give biblical and practical counsel for their individual needs.  On some of those trips, I would drop into my seat on the home-going  plane, totally drained and sleep on the homeward journey.  I count it a special privilege to have been able to participate in God's work in so many countries of Africa.

During those years of giving seminars in various African countries, in addition to the Alliance, I worked with some Baptist groups in several countries, Mennonites,  the WEC and the GMU.  There was both unity and diversity, and I felt welcome in every situation and denomination.  It was an interesting extension of the ministry God gave me in the Alliance in my own country of Burkina Faso.

During many of those years of ministry, Mali played a big rôle in our lives.  I lived with my parents when I was pre-school in French West Africa, the area which is now Mali. When Dad was field director, he directed the mission work in both Mali and Burkina (Upper Volta in those days).  We often visited our missionaries living in Mali and also loved the Mali church leaders and Christians.  The Mali leaders, as well as leaders from Côte d'Ivoire, came to Burkina Faso to our Bible School, Maranatha Institute, during the time I was teaching there.  Somehow, the Ivoirians and the Maliens tended to gravitate to our home near campus for fun and conversation during their years at the Bible School. So we were friends  with numerous students from these two counties, and they enriched our lives. Later on, when we ministered in their countires, we did not have a hard time being accepted by the church as we had helped to train so many of their leaders. 

Part of the blessing of being at San Pedro that year was being in contact once again with the Ivoirian pastors who had been trained at Maranatha.  And we experienced the same blessing when we were sent to Mali for a year - once again, many of the Malien pastors were our old students, and it was such a delight to work with them in their ministries. 

In the district of Bamako, where we lived during our year in Mali (post retirement), there were eleven of our former Maranatha students there. They often stopped to consult with Dad in his office and would also come in and spend time with me, asking questions and discussing many subjects of doctrine and Christian living - just as we used to do years before in Bobo.   At Christmas time we had a special evening with these eleven and their wives. We had dinner together at our place and then played games and just had fun together.  It is a happy memory in our book of memories!

But now back to our serving in Mali after retirement  - both a blessed and difficult year for us, this return to serve in Mali.  And that tale deserves a chapter of its own!

FATHERS.......................................

And now for a program interruption to talk a bit about fathers in our family. This past Sunday was Father's Day in the States, and your father was well remembered by all of you. Dad heard from you all by phone calls, emails, FB, SKYPE and cards.  We had no sons and daughters with us this year, but we did go out to lunch together and had a very special day at our First Alliance Church.  We are indeed blessed by you, our children and spouses, in that you all know and follow the Lord. What a comfort you are!

Fathers are special - my father was special!  My mom told me of how my dad could hardly wait to take me around to the houses of all his paritioners in Buffalo, New York, to show me off, he was so proud of me.  Dad was not the disciplinarian in our family and honestly, I do not ever remember his scolding me for anything!  He was always my hero and a very mild mannered one as far as his fatherly role was concerned.  I miss him even to this day.  He had lots of jokes and stories to tell, his speech was full of old fashioned expressions. He loved to preach - in French, Jula or English, and he had a big booming voice. He was also full of funny stories and one liners.  Definitely a fun person.

Your father is the best - do I seem prejudiced??  He loved you and cared for you from the time you were first born. He loved to hold you when you were little babies and often offered to even change your diapers. (We did not live in the age of disposables!) Dad is a hands on father, patient, caring, loving, involved...... We held each other and cried each time you went off to boarding school.  Every visit with you at boarding school was looked forward to by both of us.  John and Mark, you are both such a help around your homes and with your children - I like to think it is partially at least the good example your Dad set for you.  He was always a very involved father and still is.  Nothing delights him (and me) more than to get a phone call or other message from one of you.....

We have watched you men in our family develop into wonderful, involved fathers too. Having deep conversations with your children, praying with them, keeping in touch by writing and phoning, joking together, helping at bedtime when your childre are/were little, loving your children's mother - which is such a beautiful example to your generation of boys to make them better dads one day also.  We are so proud of all of you.

I have memories of you dads in our family from many years now:  Steve laughing and cracking jokes with Daniel, Darrell inventing some new toy or game for the boys in Beirut, Joel a hands-on dad in Paris and Côte d'Ivoire, Mark putting on a fireworks display for your boys and putting your kids to bed.  And John, you have such wonderful fatherly characteristics, as you participate in the life of each of your nephews and nieces. 

I salute you, our family of giving, caring, loving, humorous, hands on dads!  You are all such an integral part of our family..... Long may you live!!

SAN PEDRO< continued..................................

Dad read my blog from yesterday and reminded me that it was not Steve or anyone human that saved him from drowning at the beach that infamous day - he thought he was going under when angels lifted him up and landed him on shore. He still remembers well the experience. And we are all thankful for God's messengers to him. The Lord still had work for him to do!

Dad and I had invested our total lives in evangelism, church planting and training believers and leadership for Christ's church in Burkina.  We accepted the assignment to staff the Guest House in San Pedro when asked to do that, never realizing at the time what a wonderful church experience we would have as well. I was especially delighted when we arrived and began to receive visits from several students who had attended Maranatha and were in my classes.  They came to the house to greet and reminisce and invited us to have a part in preaching and teaching in the churches as well - which we were most happy to do.

The church leadership in San Pedro and the surrounding district was an educated cadre and fun to work with.  We soon got used to working with Ivoirians (in contrast to Burkinabe) and found them welcoming, including us in helping to develop Christ's church in that area. It was interesting to work with Ivoirians after so many years investing our lives in Burkinabe. When the Ivoirian students used to attend Maranatha, we not only taught them in class, but for some reason our house was also their hangout, and they came often to visit us in our home not far from campus.

The Alliance district church of San Pedro consisted of the mother church which worshipped in a large building, built by Ray Stombaugh; a smaller new church right downtown, staffed by good laymen and/or various district pastors, a group of business people and students, a very educated congregation;  and a number of smaller churches scattered throughout the Ivoirian forest, several pastored by Maranatha grads. We felt right at home and all of these groups involved us in ministry.  Dad was asked to preach in some of the villages and he also spent time helping to train the church's young people. When we did not have an assignment in a church, we attended the downtown church where the services were all held in French. I was asked to preach in the mother church on Mother's Day which I enjoyed. Dad spoke there also from time to time.

The church committee of the downtown church was composed of highly educated business people and professionals.  They had been trained in their field of work but had not had a lot of Bible training and yet sometimes one of them had to preach on Sunday. They knew that I had been a prof at Maranatha and came to me one day, asking if I  would teach them each Sunday morning to train them in Bible and theology. Wow! What a privilege that was - I readily agreed!  The class started at seven am, and every Sunday morning found me at the church with a group of about eight men and women, leaders in the church, anxious to learn all they could theologically and biblically. That was a highlight in my week during that year!

The Ivoirian church tends to celebrate all church holidays and Palm Sunday was an outstanding memory that year.The whole church body was individually given palm branches and we walked together in parade through the streets of San Pedro, waving our palm branches and singing!  

Another Sunday was memorable as we had received the news of Marilyn Hanscome's terrible head injury in the car accident on the highway from Atlanta to Toccoa. She was in the hospital, in a head cast-cage, in terrible pain - and the family wondered if she would make it!  The church got the news that morning and they went to prayer - I mean they really prayed. Dad and I had never been in such an intense prayer meeting, people raising their voices all together and imploring God to save their missionary, Marilyn.  God did a miracle - she lived to go back to Africa again and is now in Mali working at the Hospital in Koutiala.

Well, all good things come to an end. And our good year in San Pedro was coming to an end too. The church organized a big fête for us on a Sunday afternoon.  (Tim and Ruth were visiting us that week so were present also.) They had great singing - and of course finished with the traditional African Christian shuffle.  There were testimonials and fond goodbyes, they called us up front and presented us with African material clothing.  Then more dancing and a meal together.  It was a great afternoon.

The church leadership also wanted to honor us with a meal in the lovely home of one board member.  Again we were heaped with thanks and blessings and had a wonderful evening visiting with these good friends who had become close to us during that year in San Pedro! 

The icing on the cake of that year was to be able to attend the dedication of the new FATEAC campus in Abidjan. Debbi and Steve, you had worked hard and long to help make a success of that school, and I had been on the very first board of the school when we were first organizing.  I used to fly down from Bobo for meetings or else we would come together by car if Dad also had business in Abidjan.  We had gone through a lot to see that school become a reality - meeting in a less than adequate rented campus for some time, looking always for buildings to rent or land to buy and build, and nothing seemed to pan out.  We needed patience, as God all along had this beautiful property in a perfect location. 

I was on tour in the States and the board insisted I fly back for the board meeting. (They paid my way!) I stayed with Tite and Marie, and Tite took me out to show me a property he had found.  It seemed just perfect, a half finished building already there and lots of room for a beautiful campus, not far from the sea!  It was worth the  trip  back to Africa to see the possibilities of this property! 

Building started, Dave Knickerbocker was principal builder, working with an African crew, and the buildings went up.  At the end of this year we spent in San Pedro a large part of the main campus was completed; classrooms, library and other facilites were in use. Plans were drawn also for dorms and other facilities.  So it was decided to have an official dedication.

We were there for that, before we returned to the States after our year of ministry in San Pedro. How special of the Lord to arrange for us to be there for that beautiful dedication ceremony.  I was even asked to pray during the ceremony and was escorted across the field to the podium for my prayer.  The RD at that time, Dennis Westlake, gave a good, short speech and I complimented him afterwards on his French and delivery. His answer was, "Thank your daughter, Debbi - she helped me write the speech!"  Debbi and Steve, you were both such an important part of the staff there during those first years of class in the new campus and I know Isaac really appreciated you. 

After the ceremony we were all invited to another building for a huge sit down meal and fellowship.  Again this was a joyous time and capped the day just perfectly.  Soon afterwards we headed back to Georgia, thanking the Lord for the great year He gave us in Cote d' Ivoire!

A YEAR IN SAN PEDRO......................

Visiting San Pedro, one might think that this is an African paradise - and in many ways it is.  Our house and guest house were on a hill overlooking the Bay of Guinea, blue and beautiful with the white waves rolling in. White sandy beach - all visible from our new home.  But we also found that San Pedro had a darker side, which we experienced during our year there.  We experienced near drownings, finding a dead body on the beach and news of a French woman being raped - also on the beach, a coup throughout the country of Côte d'Ivoire and a massive break-in to our compound with armed thieves.  It was an exciting year, that's for sure. And also a year of blessing for us as we were able to bless others who stayed in our guest houses and as we worked with the great Alliance churches there in town.  Fortunately, life is never just "downs" but also has its up side, and in thinking back to San Pedro and our ministry there, it is a happy memory now.

The Hanscomes were leaving for a year of home assigbment and we had been asked to fill in for them that year, so we did. We flew from Atlanta to Abidjan via Europe and had a good flight. We were met by Clousers and Bubnas in Abidjan, which was a blessing. Clousers had a car which we could use to get us to San Pedro, and so we piled in all of our baggage and supplies and took off for San Pedro early one morning. The car started acting up and we kept driving, but finally it clonked out totally right in a little village. The people helped to push it to the side of the road.  Knowing that it was something major,  Dad hopped a ride on a truck to the next village to get help, and I sat there among a crowd of inquisitive, jabbering children - who didn't speak any language I knew - and relaxed until Dad got back. He returned in a big old Rapide and we paid the driver to load our bags into his vehicle and take us to San Pedro.  On the way we ran into a fierce rainstorm, as is frequent in forest country. There were no windows to close - just open holes and we got soaked with the driving rain. But at least we got to our destination. (And the car was taken care of later and fixed.) 

The Hanscomes were waiting lunch for us and it was good to arrive in a dry place. They very graciously left out all their furniture - including a nice TV and video player - for us to use, as we had taken only our suitcases with our clothes and personal items.  Craig and Marilyn spent time to show us all around and to explain everything about running the guest house. They got so involved in this that we had to encourage them to leave for Bouaké as their son was graduating and they were going to miss his banquet if they did not leave right away!  We had taken care of guest houses before so we knew the ropes, and we had good house help there to inform us of things we did not know, so we settled right in.  And Hanscomes made it to Bouaké and Daniel's graduation festivities before leaving for home assignment for a year.

We had a host of guests that year - from forty different missions and churches. We did everything we could to make people feel welcome. For Alliance personnel, we gave them a hot meal their first evening in San Pedro. I did all the cooking but had a good right hand in the house help,  And we did what we could to make the guest rooms attractive, put in flowers, etc.  I had run guest houses in Burkina, so knew the drill, and we fit right in there. 

The house we lived in had a screened in porch facing the beach and the ocean, Dad had the floor tiled and it made an extra room for us where we could feed guests who came. I also loved to sit out there in the early morning, meditating and praying with my Bible. Very soothing.

One mission had about twelve people who wanted to have a retreat at our guest house and asked if I could board them, which I agreed to do. They loved having their meals ready each day and sitting on that beautiful front porch to eat them.  Our guests were for the most part very congenial - many of them we knew from our time as missionaries in West AFrica.  We also had some church guests who would come for a day or two just to have a rest and we liked having them also. Some of the pastors in the San Pedro area had been my students at Maranatha Bible Institute and it was a delight to visit with them again and entertain them in our home. 

Clousers and Bubnas came at different times to vacation with their children, and that was a special treat for us.  When Steve and Debbi were there one time, we were all down at the beach - Dad was in swimming and the rest of us were sitting talking on the beach. All of a sudden we became aware that Dad was strugging out there in the water and Steve swam out to help him and brought him back to shore. All he could do was lie there and get the water out of his system.  That was a close call!   Another time the Brauns were visiting and a lot of people were in the water. Chris got caught in the undertow and he had to be brought in as he was nearly drowned also. We got a car from the guest house and had to take him up as he was too weak to walk!  So those were some close calls!!

Soon after we arrived, we got the news that a French woman had been raped on the beach just the other side of our guest house.  I went down to the beach early one morning and as I walked up towards the city (we lived a couple of miles down the beach from the town) I saw something that looked like a body lying on the beach. And sure enough, it was a body. I turned around immediately and went quickly back home. That was the end of my beach walk that day. Dad thought it best not to report it since we would be questioned by the police - and we had nothing to do with it. But we watched from our front porch and finally saw the police arrive to take the body.  So we had some excitement during our year in San Pedro. 

Often when a gang came to stay at the guest house, we would all go out to Grand Bereby for an outing. That is a resort - a beautiful place with a great restaurant and white sandy beaches with clear water. A great place for a day off.  One time when we were there, an American yacht had docked there, from North Carolina.  The Americans were fishing for blue marlin and they had caught the biggest blue marlin ever captured in that area. The restaurant had it stuffed and put it up in their bar. The wealthy of the world flew in there to spend their vacations, and it was a beautiful and interesting place to visit!

Y2K also happened when we were in San Pedro that year!  Everyone was talking about it in the USA - and also in Côte d'Ivoire.  We were not convinced anything was going to happen and so we planned a big party. (I think Clousers were there at that time).  There were about seventy missionaries in the area and at the guest house and we invited everyone to come and bring pot luck dishes so we could have a meal together. Some of the men also bought a bunch of fireworks which they contributed to the evening's fun. We had a wonderful party and everyone stayed till midnight.  When nothing happened, everyone rushed into our house and used the computers to send messages to their families that all was well in RCI!  It was a fun evening and turned out well.  Just in case, we had stored huge amounts of filtered water and also had plenty of kerosene lanterns ready for use.  You can't be responsible for that many people in a guest house without making provisions, just in case..... 

We had a lot of personal guests that year also. Blaise, a friend of Dad's from BF, came with his little girl and spent a week. His hostess gift to us was a jar of fried flying ants, as he had heard the Bobos love those to eat!!  Prosper and Justine and their children came over from the FATEAC and spent a weekend with us. Abdoulaye and his wife, in radio work in Abidjan, also spent a weekend with us.  And of course we had the translators there from time to time as we worked on the finalizing of the Bobo Bible translation project. I was able to work on that during that year and we finished the manuscript before returning to the USA. 

That was the year Daniel was a senior at ICA, and his class planned their class reunion at San Pedro. Debs, you came and we worked on that great weekend together, providing all meals for the kids. They also had sponsors. It was really a fun time and the kids loved it and so did we. We fed them and they spent a lot of their time down at the beach.  The last night they were there we all went out to a restaurant in town and the school treated us to our meal in thanks for a fun weekend for the Seniors. 

On a more somber note, we had our massive break-in that year, towards the end of the year. We had packed our car and were ready to leave early the next morning for Abidjan to work on translation.  Dad parked the car out beside the storeroom instead of in the car port attached to our house. We were wakened during the night by a scared(and hurt) guard.  Dad went out and then came and got me up. We had a few people staying in our guest house out back, a new missionary couple from another mission. They had two children.  The thieves crawled over the wall, tackled the guard and hurt him and tied him up. They wanted into our house and he lied and said we were not there - that was obvious as our car was not there!  So the burglars went out back to the guest house and burst into the room of this young couple, turned on the lights, hauled the woman out of bed and hurt her, scared the kids to death and demanded money. The man had just taken thousands of francs out of the bank that day and he took them from their hiding place and gave them all to the men to get rid of them.  We spent the rest of the night doctoring the guard, going to get the police, comforting the poor new missionaries. It was really a nuit blanche.  They had also broken into our outside office and messed up things, stole some money and walked off with our movie camera and some other items.  It was a disastrous weekend - in this paradise of San Pedro.  Taking care of all these things with the police the next day delayed our trip to Abidjan until the afternoon. But we did go as we had appointments to meet there.  We felt so bad for the young couple - they had just begun their first term in Togo I think, and they never made it through that year but returned to the States. The trauma of that break in was just too much for them...and who could blame them?? 

One other big happening took place that year while we were in San Pedro.  There had been a lot of rumors and small fights going on around the country and we heard echos of them. Everyone was talking against the president and what would become of the Côte d'Ivoire. Dad was down at a store in town one day and a clerk was talking to him about the trouble in the country and Dad ventured the idea that it seemed like the threat of a coup to us - we had been through this in Burkina and knew the signs!  But the local people said this could never happen in this country.  The next day the coup happened. We followed the announcement on TV and then the military music that sounded so familiar. No one could travel. It was the week of Christmas.

Nevius's and Webbers were staying at the guest house that week. I had asked Marjorie what they were doing for Christmas and she said they had brought a cooked turkey and were going to have a family meal and so we did not make any big plans for a meal.  The Nevius's were to leave the next day when the announcement of the toppling of the president was announced and they could not travel so were stuck there with us. Nevius's had certain traditions about food and gifts and the girls were upset because they could not do those things. Wes was worried about his missionaries as he was field director.  So I took Corey downtown and we were able to buy all the favorite foods the kids liked for Christmas, plus other things, Webbers decided to contribute their turkey and join us all. And we had a good Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in spite of the coup!  We all stayed glued to the TV for any news coming through.  And finally travel was permitted and our guests were able to leave and other people came to fill their places.  One more event in our eventful year at San Pedro.  Being seasoned people from Burkina helped tremendously for us to minister to our guests. They were all so fearful. We were able to reassure and pray with people concerning the crisis and that was a ministry for us also that year.

The outstanding memories of that year, however, had to do with the church. But I will save that for another chapter......

RETIREMENT AND BEYOND .....................................

Dad and I were never ones to count the years until retirment, but that time crept up on us, and we had to make plans for what we were going to do.  We wondered where we would live. Nyack had been our home for many furlough years, but living there and buying a house in that area was much too expensive.  We also were not keen on living in a cold climate after our bones had been Africanized over the years! 

Dad and I sort of came to the idea of Toccoa at the same time. Actually, we were too busy with finishing the translation to give much thought to our immediate future. But we did need a home. We decided to reserve one of the Nyack furlough apartments, as we had already been asked to go on two tours, both in the north.  This would give us the opportunity to have some space to make a decisiomn about a new resting place!

You three girls were all in overseas countries working and you boys and families were living near Atlanta.  The areas where you lived were too expensive for our pocket, as far as buying a house. But we had heard that houses in Toccoa were a good price and so we proposed to you kids that maybe we would look there.  There was a bit of an outcry, but it wasn't too loud and so we decided to at least look in Toccoa. So in August of '98 - the month before we started our tours - we came down to look over the market. John and Jennie were in Puerto Rico, so Mark told us he would take a day and help us to look.

We had decided there were certain things we wanted in our new home - a living room, dining room, den, fireplace, three bedrooms, two baths, a nice yard.  I called Aunt Doris in Toccoa and asked her for a realtor. She recommended a former missionary and we wrote our requirements to her and asked if she could show us some houses in our price range. (We had reserved the amount of money Grandma Pierce had left as a legacy to buy us a home.) We set up a date and the realtor had listed nine homes that she thought we might like. Mark came with us and went from house to house with us, along with our realtor. About the fourth house that we looked at was the one we bought, but not right on the spot. The people were teaching at TFC but moving out west so needed to sell their house.  We liked it, but decided to go and look some more. After a couple more houses - one of which was kind of  a dump - we decided to come back and look at this one again.  And sealed the deal with the people. Needless to say, they were very happy! It took us one morning to find our new home!

The former owners were not moving west until December, and so agreed to rent the house from us until then, as we did not need it until then since we were on missions tours.  We moved in the morning they left for the West!  So that worked out very well. As you know, we have made some changes, added our sunroom (thanks to Joel for fixing that doorway into the den), and also took the washing machine and dryer out of the kitchen and put it in the small storeroom off the carport. Then we had a nice cabinet made to fill in that space in the kitchen.  Later on Jennie (and John too) painted our whole house and then we put in new carpeting and finished off the hardwood floors in the bedrooms.  We have already had many happy years here in this home - it is ideal for us.

Before leaving for tour that year, we went down to visit John and Jennie at their little hotel in Puerto Rico. We stayed at the hotel and enjoyed that, as well as the beach nearby. We toured the island with John and Jennie, got to visit Jennie's family there. We enjoyed our little vacation before taking off for tour from New York state.  Later on in the winter that year, the hotel did not work out and John and Jennie came back here to stay with us a while.  That was a pretty discouraging time for you, John, and we were glad to be here and help bear your burden. Mark and Katy made a home for you with them, and eventually you got settled on your own, and have been doing well ever since.

We loved having opportunities to be with you boys and your families here in Georgia - it was ideal.  Little did we know what lay ahead.  We did settle nicely in Toccoa, got involved in the church and the community, made many friends here.  Enjoyed the fact that so many missionaries furlough here, so we keep in contact with the Alliance world. We got jobs as substitute teachers, which brough in some extra cash. We were on boards and committees in our church, did some teaching at the College, mentored needy students in the school system, and made a life for ourselves.

But soon after we bought our house and moved in that December, we were asked if we would consider going back to the field - to Côte d'Ivoire this time, to run the San Pedro guest house!  Surprise, surprise!  We consented to go in June and in the meantime fixed up our new home. In the Fall, our long time supporting church gave us a very unexpected gift of ten thousand dollars, which helped us to buy furniture to fill our empty new home!  It has always blessed us the way God provides for all of our needs, and often in unexpected ways. 

It had been very hard for us to leave Africa after our long life there. We hated leaving our people and the work we were called to do. We had even gotten our citizenship in Burkina Faso and proudly carried our Burkina passports.  We wondered how we would fit back into the USA after all those years in Africa! Well, it looked like we were going to have a second chance through this invitation to go to San Pedro, which we gladly agreed to accept.  The Strongs had also retired and needed a place to stay so they rented our house for nine months until they found a house to buy themselves. So that took care of our house.  At other times our home served as a refuge for two other families for periods of time, plus the year you lived here, Mark and Katy, while you built your new home in Flowery Branch.  So God knew all of our needs and we just walked in the way He led us.

We have always felt wealthy beyond imagination - not in money so much, but in friends and especially family, and in God's provision for our every need.  We had worked long years in Burkina and were able to leave behind a growing church among the Bobo, plus educational programs for the church and a Bible for our people. Other missionaries continued ministering to the Bobo people. We have maintained strong ties of friendship and love in our Bobo Madare missionary team. Our children are all following the Lord and bless us in so many ways.  These are blessings which God has showered on us, and we are most grateful. 

ILLNESS....................................

For the most part, we have been a pretty healthy family.  I guess most of us had the normal childhood diseases - measles, chicken pox,  mumps, etc.  And of course living in West Africa meant that we had occasional malaria attacks.  Medication for malaria has gone through various cycles. Some say take nothing until you feel the first symptoms, others take regular daily or weekly medication.  But no medication seems to be foolproof.

When I was a child I was very prone to malarial attacks and to this day I can still remember the high fevers and aches in every joint and weakness when I had malaria. My Dad also was frequently down with malarial attacks.  Dad had malaria when he was a young missionary, but by then I guess I had built up enough antibodies to not be bothered by it.  After we had been on the field for some years, neither one of us took daily anti-malarial medicines, but just took the cure if we came down with it. Which was seldom.

The year we were in San Pedro we both had malaria and so we began taking something as a prophylaxis and that seemed to hold us.  When we went to Mali, the prophylaxsis was some kind of antibiotic which we took regularly and I don't think we came down with the disease itself.  You kids were sick with malaria from time to time during your growing up years and we were never without a cure in the house during that time. Of course, Dad treated a lot of malaria in the villages as well.

Hepatitis is another disease that seems to be prevalent in West African in recent years, and I already mentioned the terrible case I had. When Dad took my blood sample in to the lab, the nurse came out and wondered who this person was as the counts were so high.  I got over that by staying prone most of the time for seven weeks - and lots of prayer.  I had the most awful color of my skin -  orange and green.

Dad's most painful malady was a large kidney stone. He was writhing in agony until the stone passed. But it was very painful and he has never been bothered by it again. He had gout badly while I was down in the Republic of Congo and I came home to find him on crutches. Another time he fell while building the primary school at Santidougou and knocked his shoulder out and had to be rushed to the hospital. Terry Everett was out helping us that year with the building and he went with Dad to the hospital and described it afterwards, how the doctor had had to pull the shoulder back into place again - VERY painful! 

I had most of my sickness when I was a child in Africa and stayed pretty well as an adult. When I was pregnant with Mark and in my last month, I got a terrible flu which knocked me out and they put me in the maternity at the hospital. Dad stayed with me. This awful French midwife was wanting to take over my case and we finally ended up walking out of there, carrying our bedding, with the French sage femme calling out after us and me in my housecoat with Dad walking beside me!  I made it through that last month and went to Ferke to deliver you, Mark. 

John broke his arm at school and had to have a cast. Debbi had gotten very ill at ICA and we did not know anything about it. But when you did not get better, Debbi, the school officials decided to take you to Ferké and to send for us to come down and stay with you at the hospital there.  Well, the word got to Grandma and Grandpa's in Bobo and they sent a man up on a bike to where we were staying in the town of Kawe, evangelizing. It was about midnight and this motor bike came roaring into our camp and Dad got out of our tent to see what was wrong.  It sounded like you were dying or something, and so right there in the middle of the night we took down our equipment, got into our van with the younger kids and headed for Bobo.  From there we unpacked the camping stuff and headed on down to Ferké.  What was our surprise upon arrival to find you, Debs, when we got to Ferke after that long trip, up and walking around but still a little pale from whatever bug had hit you!  We were both relieved to see you well but exhausted from the trip from Kawe to Ferké. 

Those are all of the sickness events that come to mind now.   We actually stayed well as a family throughout our many years in Africa.  God gave us good health and happy spirits to enjoy our forty three years of missionary service, with all of you. We can certainly affirm the goodness of God in our lives, protecting us from harm and from serious illness.

My most serious illness was after our retiral when I had the tumor on the brain, which now is history.  The whole family was involved in that as I was so far from home when it hit me. And like the good troupers you all are, everyone helped out - staying with Dad, nursing me, bringing me home from North Carolina in Mark's van when I could no longer sit up in a car to make it. I have written in detail about that and so will not go into that whole ordeal.  Only to say I now feel a hundred percent again and I am so thankful to all of my extended family who helped to pull me through!  I am indeed blessed to have you all!

THE TOWER OF BABEL....................................

Many international workers who go to other countries face their first language learning once they land in their country of ministry.  Not so in the Pierce family - we speak a variety of languages in our home and in doing ministry.  That is one BIG thing I miss in retirement - living in a boring country where everyone speaks one language, English. (We manage  understanding  "Southern" most of the time!)

We do speak English in our family - all of us. But we also speak (among us) French, Jula, Bobo, Spanish, Baoulé, Wolof, Arabic, Kurdish, Dafing, another dialect of Arabic and Mooré.  Some say that when the Tower of Babel fell, its top fell into West Africa.  And it is true that there are abundant languages there. Many of those languages still do not have a word of translated Scripture. The Bible Society and SIL are working to alleviate that situation and make God's Word available for more people in their own tongue. 

In addition to English, I had always spoken French and Jula, then as an adult learned Bobo Madare. Dad, on the other hand, was totally mono-lingual.  He had to work hard to learn French, then a year later start studying the Bobo Madare language. But today he preaches in any of the three languages he knows and does very well.  You girls, Cheryl and Debbi, learned a little French in France to add to your English. You were both early talkers also. In Africa it did not take you long to pick up the Bobo language, including some of the bad words, which Yusufu  quickly took out of your vocabulary!  Elin, you learned Bobo and English at the same time, as well as hearing smatterings of Jula and French around you every day.

Then there was John, born in Bobo, who ignored the English - our family at-home language - and chose to be completely Bobo, including the idea that he was also black like his friends!  Mark was not an early talker and he spoke a mixture of languages as he heard English, Bobo, French, Jula, Dogoso and Dafing every day and could understand the basics of what was being said to him in all those languages by the age of two or three. 

Our dear daughter-in-law, Jennie, spoke fluent Spanish in addition to English. John learned much Spanish from her and from living in Puerto Rico. John also speaks fluent Bobo and French as well as English now!  Our Katy, Mark's wife, knew some French from living in Africa and perhaps some Ivoirian language as well. Joel and Elin learned French and studied Baoulé, then moved to Senegal where Wolof is spoken. Darrell chose one of the world's hardest languages, Arabic, for his first language to add to his Pennsylvania English. And now he is also studying French to be able to minister in his new country.  Cheryl added fluent Arabic to her four other languages she speaks, then tried her hand at Kurdish and now is studying yet another dialect of Arabic.  Steve and Debbi spent a year in France and learned French, in addition to Debbi's Bobo and a bit of Jula. Then they went to an unwritten language, Dafing, and learned that well as they worked among the Dafing tribal people group. They now live among the Mossi people of Ouagadougou and so have added some Mooré to their other languages.  No wonder we might sound like the Tower of Babel to someone visiting in our family. The grandchildren all speak other languages too.

Cheryl's and Darrell's three children were all surrounded by Arabic as they were toddlers and learning to speak and Arabic was their language of choice!  They all speak beautiful Arabic. I remember visiting them in Lebanon when the kids were small and we needed a translator to talk with those grandchildren!  The same was true with the Clouser girls, their English was pretty sparse at first!  Daniel had learned French in France - but he also spoke English. And then he learned Dafing in Safane.  He even wrote a little tract in Dafing with some pictures to explain salvation to his older friend, Yaku, and Yaku says Daniel led him to the Lord with that paper! The Bubna grandchildren are also fluent in French as well as English. I remember visiting Josiah when he was very young in Abidjan and I conversed with him in French! 
The four Pierce grandchildren are all English speakers, but I think Katy tries to teach them some French or Spanish as well. 

So there you have it - a multi-lingual family - but we all speak English when we get together , as that is our common denominator language.  We still receive many phone calls, letters and Facebook messages in French which continues to enrich our boring English lives in the United States.