Back To Africa

Friday, May 23, Greta and I returned from a three week trip back to West Africa. It was Greta's first trip back since we left in 2002 and my 4th. Our trip was divided into 3 parts.
First we actually drove in a pick-up truck with no AC from Accra, Ghana to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire - 12 hours and about 600 kms. The drive was long, hot and challenging, but we drove by some beautiful country. In some areas, the road is along the coast with beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean. Other parts of the road are less attractive and crowded with truck and "Tro-Tro" (busses) traffic. We found that the things have not changed much since we lived there except that there are a lot more people and many more vehicles on the roads. In Ghana, much of the road has actually been repaved and/or improved a lot since the last time we made this trip. If I remember correctly, we have made the same trip at least a dozen times over the past 10 to 12 years.
Abidjan has changed a lot. Since we left there has been a war and the country is still largely divided between the Muslim north and the Christian/Anamist (African religions) in the south. The French army, in conjunction with the United Nations has been keeping the peace. Most of the missionaries we knew have left the country and many others havemoved away as well. We visited our co-workers there, missionaries from Liberia, Roujee and Juliet Morris. Roujee actually continues to oversee the mission work Greta and I were doing during our 13 years in Côte d'Ivoire.
One day we visited church leadership training classes on the Island of Vridi. The island is in the harbor area and requires a 15 minute boat ride through the harbor. There are several churches and three leadership training classes on Vridi and another island, Boulay, which is near by. We were encouraged to see the churches still functioning well on their own and the leadership training classes still going on under local leadership. We were able to visit with the leaders and some students on Vridi. We did find that one of the pastors of the church on Vridi was very ill and had gone to Ghana to get medical treatment. Most of the people living on the islands are fishermen who come over from Ghana to fish the seas around Abidjan. Ivorian fishermen are afraid to go to sea, so they have a have made a mutually beneficially agreement - Ivorians fish the lagoons and the Ghanians go out to sea. The pastor's name is Baidoe and he would appreciate your prayers as he tries to deal with high blood pressure where medical treatment is less than the best to say the least.

Pictures:
Top left - The "Gold Coast of West Africa"
Center right - The Morrises and Meeces: Roujee, Juliet, Greta, Easton and Wayne
Center left - A fishing boat - made of a hollowed out log with boards added to the sides. The boats are usually powered by outboard motors mounted on the side.
Bottom right - Church leaders and students with Roujee Morris at the right