Beauty In Bouaké

March 2^nd: Well, I’m sitting in the dining room at École Baptist in Bouaké now, here with everyone for a 3 day debrief about out alst month. Arriving earlier this afternoon, I’ve got a bit of reverse culture shock here! The city of Bouaké is so big, and there are so many cars! Also, it’s been raining a lot here lately so it’s very green! I’m used to a small dusty town with tons of motorcycles and bicycles. Regardless, it feels good to be back here at Betheden (my dorm), and to be speaking my heart language for a couple days.

So yeah, life has been pretty interesting lately! I’m feeling well adjusted to life in Korhogo now, though things are by no means easy. Gbagbo’s troops took control of the powerplant in Abidjan a while back, and because of the current skirmishes in the south, has shut off electricty and running water for the northern half of the nation. It’s a huge burden for people, but I’m amazed at Africans’ resilience. In the States if that happened, a lot of people would probably die because the wouldn’t know what to do; in Africa people have been living without those things for thousands of years, and so now those things are seen as luxieries moreso than as necessities. As I write this it’s been roughly 72 hours since the switch was flipped, and by the time I get to post this I’m sure it will be more. The only reason I can use my computer right now is because the French Military pays for all of the fuel for the generator here, since they want 24 hour power. Anyways, the political situation is just tons of fun, you can read about it on BBC or something, no need to hear me babble. The last thing I’ll say, is that I’m glad I’m here – God has been using our presence to boost morale where we go, which is important for peace.

God has been revealing much to me through scripture lately, and my “cup” has been pretty full lately. Right now in Korhogo, I don’t have much to do during the day, until I find activities to be involved in. Therefore, I used the blessing of that spare time to read the Word, and other books I’m working on right now. For example, two days ago I read the entire books of Acts, 1 Timothy, parts of several others, and about 1/3 of 1 Kings in the afternoon. Furthermore, I have been working on memorization of scripture, which has been really good for my spirit and my mind as well. It’s amazing how much more sharp my mind is on spiritual matter due to that activity. Psalm 119:11 really makes more sense the more scripture I memorize.

Language has been good, I’m making lots of progress – leaps and bounds ahead of where I was at the end of January. You just can’t get training like this is classrooms, I have no doubt that I will be speaking French with ease by October. The difficulty is that many Ivorians slur their speech a lot, making it difficult to hear. Furthermore, they are so used to this slurred French, that sometimes when I speak it articulately, they can’t understand me, and some of the other journeyers too! Tonight during French bible study we went through 1 Samuel 22, and I was able to understand a ot of what was being said which was encouraging, but I couldn’t completely comphrend what was being discussed, so I can see that I have a lot of room fro growth still. As for Tymbara, the classes I attend 2 nights a week have been good for me, though more for Balophone learning and building relationships with the youth than for learning Tyembara. The balophone is their marimba type instrument (but based off a pentatonic scale), and I can play a few songs on it already!

Well, I ought to head off to bed, it’s getting late here and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.

UPDATE: It’s March 4^th now. Power has been out for 5 days in the north, including here in Bouaké. Glad for our generator here, and that I was able to eat ICE CREAM at Hotel Mon Afrik and swim in their pool. That was amazing. My family just bought a generator, so that they can keep phones charged, and computers. I was worried about his business, but this will be a big asset to have.

A bit about my time in Bouaké here thus far: the basement is all cleaned up and Peter has put in considerable effort refurbishing it! It’s dark and cool, but with cool incandesant lamps, a pool table, a foosball table, ping pong, and tons of board games, luxeries left over from when this place was a school. Also it’s a great place to hang out and read and be cool, since it is underground. It’s been really good to have worship and bible study in my own language, a great mental break. Prayed through the book of Philippians this morning, which was really good for my soul. Katrina has gotten wind of our difficulties eat rice and sauce (that’s all I eat basically), and has prepared hamburgers, salad, brownies, and other awesome American meals for us. SUCH a welcome change for a couple days!

Well, I really better be going now. The next time I write will hopefully be in another week, in Korhogo. Please be praying for the country, and that God will resolve this situation soon and not let it continue for years like some other countries have let happen. I am glad to be experiencing the discomfort alongside my friends and family here, but I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience this day in and day out for decades as they have.