I got this from Traci when i woke up this monring at about 6am CST. This may be slightly dated information with the lag in their e-mail system at the school and the fact that they are 6 time zones ahead of us here in the USA.

Thank you all for your prayers. I am not sure if my news updates I was sending out were a good idea or not. I have already heard about rumors of evacuation. This has not happened and it looks unlikely it will happen at this point. We are witnessing history though, and this could be the last military coup of the millennium. Seems to me there are better things to put in history books but I have been accused of having distorted views of the world.

Thank you all for your prayers and patience and encouragement.

charley.
Possum Ranch News Service?

Issue #41
December 25, 1999
Dear Friends and Family,

This Christmas is memorable because it is the last one of this century, but it will be much more memorable for those of us living in Cote d'Ivoire during this season.

On Wednesday, December 23, we received phone calls through our campus phone tree that there was shooting in Abidjan. Soldiers were upset because they had not been paid for a mission they went on to a neighboring country some time back. Shots were being fired into the air, shops were being looted, and cars were being hijacked.

On Thursday, December 24, the shooting and car hijacking moved up to Bouake. We received news that coup was taking place and that the military was trying to take over the government. It was unconfirmed for some time on whether there was a coup taking place or not. We were told to stay on campus. We could hear gunshots in the distance. We continued with Christmas Eve activities as planned. During the night, the shooting came close to the school. At one time the soldiers were just across the street from the gate of the school shooting. There are two different stories or two different occasions that they were there. The first one is that they were signaling for a car to come pick them up. The second is that they were getting a car back from some bandits. There wasn't much sleep going on around campus. I finally dozed off in the morning hours sometime and then a cat jumped up on the screen of the window. I about came flying out of the bed.

Today, we went on with Christmas. Some people had been unable to get into town to finish Christmas shopping. Some had to change their plans for today because it involved people from town. There was still quite a bit of shooting this morning, but it has been quiet since early this afternoon. We did have some more close shooting today when the soldiers decided they needed some chickens from the chicken farmers next door. We don't expect to hear any more shooting tonight. It is unsure when we will be able to go back into town. From the best information we can get out here right now they are still stealing cars and looting. We will just have to wait and see what the next few days hold. There is plenty of food and water on campus so we will be fine here.

We have been getting news in regularly from BBC, CNN, French Radio, and television. Most of this you all can get, read, or watch as well. Last news was the Henri Bedie, the former president, was waiting at the airport to be taken into exile by a French military plane. Guei says he wants to have things back to normal by Monday. He is also supposed to be meeting with all of the political parties in Cote d'Ivoire so that the upcoming elections are done in a more "right" way.

I think there is still a lot more going on in Abidjan than in Bouake. We have the benefit of being out of town so we have missed a lot of the happenings. We will continue to hold tight and watch and wait.

Thanks so much for your prayers during this time. We have seen God's protection and provision. Although I have heard of a missionary (not FWB) losing their vehicle in Abidjan, I haven't heard of any injuries. Pray the things will be settled soon.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!_
In Christ,
Traci