To Steve

Last Wednesday I received a shocking phone call from our friend and former teammate in Cote d'Ivoire, Andy Rayner. Andy lives and works in Prince Edward Island, Canada and was part of our team for several years in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
Andy called to tell me about Steve Rehn. Steve was killed in a bicycle-car accident somewhere in northeastern Nigeria on September 26. He had been part of our team in Cote d'Ivoire for over 2 years. Steve was, to put it mildly, an avid biker and he loved riding in Africa. He had been in Burkina Faso to help some Bible translators and after finishing his project there, decided to take a "vacation" and ride across Burkina Faso, part of Niger, through northeastern Nigeria into Cameroon, a daunting trip anywhere but both challenging and obviously dangerous in Africa. He had covered well perhaps 1500 miles of his trip and sometime during his second day in Nigeria, a speeding car came around a turn, lost control and hit Steve on his bike. He was killed instantly. The sad part is that the family did not learn what happened for 11 days. The Nigerian police in that area had no phone and did not use personal phones to call the Embassy or even notify anyone. The family finally started a "Mission Persons Abroad" inquiry through the Canadian Embassy which quickly found out what happened.
We first met Steve as an intern in Cote d'Ivoire. We soon learned that he "marched to the beat of his own drum." He loved Africa, he love biking and he wanted to see Africa up close and personal. We often cautioned him about his adventurous bike rides, but he had the "bug" and couldn't resist. He was adventurous. He loved Africa. He was fearless.
After his internship, he returned to his home in Canada where he met the love of his life, Nicki. They met (no surprise here) on a transcontinental bike ride across Canada. After they married, they returned to Cote d'Ivoire to work with the team in Abengourou and chose to live in the village among the people. The only transportation they owned was their bikes.
After their service in Cote d'Ivoire, they moved to Cameroon where they worked for two years before moving back to Canada. Nicki taught in a Christian school and Steve drove a truck for a construction company and continued his mission work, often making mission trips to help wherever he could.
Steve died as he had lived, out on the edge, serving the Lord and riding his bike through Africa. If you would like to follow his adventures up to the moment, take a look at his blog. http://justaboutcrazy.blogspot.com/ I did. You will find his last entry from somewhere near a town name Madawa, Nigeria. He had spent the night with a Muslim mechanic for the French medidal group called Doctors Without Borders. Steve talks about breaking the fast with the family who were celebrating Ramadan and watching the people pray and pondered the question, "What if we Christians took 15 minutes to pray faithfully five times a day?" Good question Steve.
There will be a memorial service for Steve Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Oak Park Church of Christ, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Please pray for his wife Nicki and his parents, Rick and Linn Rehn during this sad and trying time.