Thirty five years ago, just before noon US Eastern Time on January 28, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
At that same moment, Marina and I, and our children, Peter (6), Laura (3) and Kyle (6 months) were on an Egypt Air Airbus A300, flying over the Mediterranean Sea on the first leg of our very first journey to Ivory Coast, West Africa.
We spent that first night in Africa sleeping on a rickety old bed at Cairo airport, Egypt. The following day we continued our trip south, along the River Nile and across the Sahara desert, to Ivory Coast.
Looking back over the past 35 years, we praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us as we have lived in three different countries in West Africa and ministered in several others across the continent. We thank Him for His care, and for all that we have witnessed as He builds His church among many African people groups.
We are disappointed that we cannot be in Ivory Coast at this time, but we are thankful for several means of communication that enable us to continue to be actively involved in various aspects of the work among the Loron people.
The Loron Bible translation team recently had a successful check on the book of 2 Corinthians. They are now preparing for another check in June when they hope to get four of Paul’s shorter epistles verified and ready for printing.