Last Day in Cote d'Ivoire

  La Mé and Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
Sunday, September 23, 2007

Today was a busy and taxing day.  We were to have our church service at 10:00, and so I was to leave the hotel at 8:30, but Paul didn't arrive until nearly 9:30.  There had been heavye rains during the night, and because drainage is not always well engineered in this region, traffic was quite snarled.  Although the runoff had ended by the time we started out, it was clear from the state of the roads, the mud and garbage that was thick in some sections, that water had covered large portions of some major roads.  Busses had to stop right in the middle of boulevards, because they risked getting stuck in the thick mud that had filled in the curbs.  So we slalomed among the busses and taxis and other vehicles trying to pick their way through the obstacle course.
 
We finally arrived at La Mé close to 11:00.  We started services right away.

Paul Tia addressing the congregation

We sang hymns - they're learning more and more hymns from our UCG hymnal - which were followed by an opening prayer. In lieu of a sermonette, the children's group performed some "special music" of Bible lessons they had learned with the help of songs.  They sang about being Christian soldiers (actually based on what people have been witnessing in Cote d'Ivoire the song came out "commandos for Christ" - I think I may need to discuss that song with Paul...).

Children singing during services

They sang about various Bible heroes and heroines for about 15 minutes all together.  It was delightful to see the children excited and happy and learning.
 
We gave an offering, a small woven basket was passed around, and then I gave the sermon.  Using a PowerPoint presentation with illustrations of the tabernacle in the wilderness, I explained what the High Priest did in Ancient Israel on this day, and then went through the New Testament passages that explained all the symbolism. 

The congregation at La Mé during Atonement

The pictures helped everyone stay tuned in, I think, even though some concepts were a bit technical for some of the beginners.  We finished about 12:30.
 
I met with some members individually about personal things, and had a baptismal counseling with Michel Tia.  He was fully prepared to be baptized so we made the arrangements.  Last time I baptized people here in La Mé, we went to a little jungle stream that was so shallow, we had to borrow a shovel and dig holes in the stream bed to get the water deep enough to cover people.  It was not ideal.  This time Paul said, we would drive to the Lagoon a few km away through the jungle and plantations.  I agreed, though I wondered what that situation would be like.  
 
While we were waiting in the church hall while Michel changed clothes, Paul and Félix and a few of the ladies presented me with local garments for Marjolaine and me.  

I try on my new "relaxing robe"

They are large rough-woven robes, rather like large ponchos - open on the sides, which go over some other closer-fitting clothes and are what people formerly wore to relax.  It was a very traditional looking garment, and they had great fun watching me put it on.  "Could we take a picture?" they asked, to which I agreed.  I don't think I've every seen them smile so largely!
 
I changed in to my swim trunks and a polo shirt and my water shoes in Albert Oulaï's house near the church building.  It was a house a little above average, built of concrete block not mud brick, and plastered and painted, though that had been done a long time back.  It was about as clean as could be expected considering what people here have to work with.  There were old foam pads - dark brown from dirt and perspiratin - on the floors in the two bedrooms, which is where the family sleeps. Their few clothes hung on hangers on nails driven into the walls.
 
Paul, Félix, Michel, I and the driver got in the Citroën and started out.  We got only a hundred meters when Veïgène took a hole the wrong way and blew a tire (it doesn't take much to blow them, they're usually way beyond their useful lifespan by western standards).  We got out while Veïgène put the spare on.  I attracted a bit of attention with my blindingly white legs (Westerners seldom wear shorts - so this was a new vision for them...).  I shot some video and took photos, while we waited.  Nine other church members piled in another car, whose driver they had paid to drive them along with us.  Ten of them (including the driver) in a small Nisan sedan, one can imagine the engineering involved in getting them all inside....
 
It took half and hour to drive down to the lagoon (a very large jungle-surrounded waterway that connects to the Ocean).  The road was heavily crevassed in places due to the night's heavy rains, but we made it almost the whole way. We finally came to a steep hill which had recently been worked by heavy machines.  The clay soil was soft and soaked.  I looked down the hill, and said "we don't want to drive down there." I was pretty sure we'd have a hard time getting back up, and I was supposed to fly to Paris tonight.  So we got out and walked.  I was carrying my backpack, which had my computer, Bible, cameras etc., since there was no place to leave all that safely.  The pack was fairly heavy, and it was very hot. We hadn't had anything to drink all day, and it was mid-afternoon by now, as we hiked down the hill, through the jungle and finally arrived at a small village on the edge of the lagoon.  We met the chief who gave us permission to use their "landing", a shallow spot where one could walk out into the water easily.  No one said anything about crocs or other such animals, so I assumed there weren't any.  It was my great privilege to baptize Michel Tia, there in the lagoon.  

After the baptism of Michel Tia

This is one of the most gratifying parts of serving in the ministry, to officiate at such an important and encouraging ceremony.  After the baptism and the laying on of hands, I kissed Michel on both cheeks, the appropriate gesture at such a time, formally welcoming him into our Church family.  Then we hiked back through the trees and up the hill to the cars.  We were all soaked with sweat.
 
We made it back to La Mé without any trouble, and I changed back into my church clothes.  By this time it was 4:00 and time for me to start back to Abidjan.  I made a few comments to the whole group which had reassembled.  I encouraged them to keep the faith and continue doing as well as they had been, and I wished them a wonderful Feast of Tabernacles.
 
The spare tire that Veïgènd had put on had problems of its own. Over about 80 kph (50 mph) the car would shudder quite pronouncedly.  No problem, he had things under control....  We made it back to Abidjan where traffic was still snarled due to the rains of the night before.  It took an extra forty-five minutes to get to the hotel.  I checked out at 6:00 to avoid paying for a whole extra day, and at 6:30 enjoyed a meal.  I was so dehydrated from the day, that when I drank a first glass of cold water, even though I was sitting in air conditioning, I broke into a sweat all over.  In the course of the meal, I drank an entire 1.5 liter bottle of water (a quart and a half or so).  That was wonderful.