Next Week in Cote d’Ivoire

My plan was that when next you heard from me I would be in Cote d’Ivoire. Tomorrow, Sunday, March 14, at the Jubilee church in Abidjan, the new radio station will be consecrated. The radio station is one of the projects that has been worked on jointly between the Ivorian Conference and the Texas Conference. Some of you have raised money to buy the hand-cranked radios that can be used in the bush where there is no electricity.

Then, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the newly formed Boards of the Dabou Hospital and Schools, as well as the radio station, will be trained and have their first official meetings. Bishop Huie and Rev. Rick Goodrich, Assistant to the Bishop, have been planning these meetings and training sessions with Samuel Koffi, the Assistant to Bishop Boni, in Cote d’Ivoire. The thought of serving on the Board for the schools had me flying high, emotionally that is.

For weeks, I have been planning this trip. What would I wear, how should I pack, what kinds of souvenirs would I bring home for which friends… I’ve been trying to brush up on my limited French. I went and got my shot record checked and started taking my anti-malaria medicine. My wonderful husband, Tom, made all my travel arrangements. He booked my flights and set up a car to pick me up yesterday afternoon.

Thursday and Friday morning were a frenzy of activities. Had I done everything on my “To Do” list?  Making sure that Tom knew where the cleaning coupons were, had the name and phone number of the dryer repair man, knew where our new vet is; all of those things that happen in our everyday lives that would continue in my absence.

When I got into the car yesterday afternoon, I had the most fascinating driver. He shared his stories with me from the time he spent in the army in Orleans, France, during the Viet Nam war era.  He was in communications, a cryptographer, and described a time for me when the troops went on a worldwide alert. We talked about our travels and shared family stories. His two grand daughters, who live in Dallas, are coming to spend Spring Break with he and his wife. They are planning to spoil those little girls mightily before sending them back home.  He is planning outings to the zoo and Children’s Museum, Galveston and Kemah. Sounded like great fun!

When I got to the airport, the young man at check-in was just great. He helped me figure out how to make sure my bags got checked all the way to Abidjan which was a little tricky since I was flying two different airlines.  Somehow we started talking about Abidjan and he told me he grew up there!  His mom still lives there and she teaches school. He gave me her name and said if I needed anything just to call her.  He let me practice my bad French as we talked. Of course the airport was packed with Spring Breakers, but in the midst of that crowd, he was just such a blessing. What a great way to start my trip!

The trouble started when I got to the gate. Boarding time of 2:40 was pushed back to a status report on the plane at 3:00. At 3:30 we learned that the plane was experiencing mechanical difficulties and diagnosis was still underway. At 5:00, the gate attendants gave out meal vouchers and at 5:30 they wheeled out a cart of drinks and snacks. The time for making my connection in Paris to the Abidjan flight was getting very tight.  I hiked over to the Air France desk, in a different terminal, to see about moving to a later flight. No, they said, the ticket that I had to Abidjan was a 30-day advance ticket and allowed no changes. No, if I paid for the new ticket to Abidjan I could not use the ticket home from Abidjan to Paris.  No, they would not give me credit for the purchase price of the ticket.  No, they would not work with Continental to fix this situation. No, there was no way to use the ticket on the trip to Abidjan if I agreed to go on the flight with the six hour layover in Tunis.

When I got back to the Continental gate, the gate agent announced that the mechanical difficulties were continuing and there would be another announcement at 7:00.  At 7:00 it became clear that the flight to Paris was not going anywhere. There was talk of putting people up at hotels and bringing in a new plane in the morning. 

I don’t know how the situation was ultimately resolved. When it became clear that there was no way I would make my flight to Abidjan and that a last minute ticket to Abidjan the following day was cost-prohibitive, I asked to have my bag retrieved and Tom came to pick me up. Eight hours later, I was back at home, unpacking my bags, never having left Houston.

What a day! We, the Taylors, love to travel and we do it as much as we can. Never in all of our trips has this ever happened to me before. The good news for me is that I live in Houston and I was able to just come home.  Mary Beth is home for the beginning of Spring Break and we will all enjoy our time together. The weather here today is perfect.  We will do some yard work, take the dogs for a walk and have a great day.

In the meantime, I will be praying for God to work wonders in Cote d’Ivoire this next week. The consecration of the radio station will happen tomorrow during worship. The training and meetings of the boards will go on as planned, in my absence.  I’ve always heard the saying “God works in mysterious ways.” Yesterday was certainly a mystery to me!  Please join me in prayers for our Bishop and Bishop Boni, for Rick Goodrich and Samuel Koffi, for all the people in Cote d’Ivoire who are training and working on those governing boards, and for all the people who will be touched by the work going on in the radio station, hospital and schools. 

Showers of Blessings!

Leah Taylor

The Laity of the Texas Annual Conference

Living our faith, sharing our hope