MISSIONS TO CÔTE D'IVOIRE 2017

Pastor Albert KOUASI's Church in DABOU

Mission to Côte d’Ivoire 2017

I visited Côte d’Ivoire twice this year, first from April 13 to 27 to take part in the CRAF 2017 Consultation held in Grand Bassam from April 18 to 23, 2017. I was to continue a second program which had been prepared by the Regional Delegate for West Africa of the Maeva Sev CI. The meeting was to be held in Bouaké from April 24 to 27. I visited the country the second time from June 13 to July 12 for the same program which was not able to be held as planned before, and for the dedication of of the humanitarian container that the Maeva Sev France has sent to Bouake with the partnership of the Regional Council of Bouake for the public hospitals and the Maeva Sev Helth Centres of this Region.

First trip

The first part of this mission had gone well and to my surprise, nobody had taken over to organize my visit to Bouake. The program included a training seminar for Christian women on miro-enterprises, a visit to the ongoing micro-entreprise of cassava and atieke production, a staple food in the country. I had to meet with the ladies who benefited from this funding from Maeva Sev in order to take stock of the evolution of their company. I then had to train the preachers of the EMU (United Methodist Church) Bouake. But to my surprise, once again, no official answered my call. As concerns the clearance procedure of the container, no one spoke of it. So, after Grand Bassam, I had to fall back on Dabou where I was received by Pastor Albert KOUASSI. From there I decided to convene the office of Maeva Sev in Bouake to designate a new interim manager for the assumption of responsibility of the Ivorian Antenna and to begin the customs clearance of the container which had been at a standstill since the accident of Dr. Mambo. After a quick trip to Bouake and a marathon meeting with the Bouake office, Brother Dadie Abraham KOUASSI was unanimously approached. He undertook to make the necessary arrangements for the clearance of the container. Before embarking on the trip to Bouake I went to the Administrative Center in Abidjan with Pastor Albert to meet the Regional Councilor of Bouake who had given us all assurances that his services would take care of this clearance. That is why I agreed to a second mission in June for the reception of this container and the realization of the seminars that could not be held.

Second trip

The second trip was immediately scheduled for June. I then went to Côte d’Ivvoire for a second time in the same year, to catch up with the failure of the first mission. That was my surprise when I realized that nothing had advanced, any more than my first visit. I had to go several times to Abidjan to help Brother Dadie take steps to clear the constainer. We had succeeded in obtaining several exemptions for the TC, but in spite of that we found ourselves with a sum of 6 million CFA Francs to be settled, half of which in demurrage. As of today, this amount has considerably increased! It was on this disappointment that I left Côte d4ivoire on 12 July.

Once again, no one was able to organize the second program of Bouakke, Brother Dadie being absorbed by the clearance of the TC in Abidjan, no one took over in Bouake. Had it not been the program with the church of Pastor Albert KOUASSI, this second mission would also have ended in failure.

Indeed, my whole stay finaly happened at Pastor Albert, who entrusted me with all the preaching of his church, where the four Sundays of my stay in Côte d’ivoire I gave a series of seminar teachings on the theme of “Theology of the Love of God.” These were memorable moments of sharing, praise and worship with the people of God.

At Church with Pastor Albert KOUASSI