The graduation was really nice. Joel and Gramma and Grampa Heiney all came down from Michigan, so we had quite a reunion! It was just a great couple of days. Soon after the graduation the Michigan crowd took Andrea and headed back north. Two days later I boarded a flight headed to Europe and then Kenya for a financial manager’s meeting there.

Kenya was really fun too. We did get everything done that we wanted and made a little time for seeing some of the local animal population…the elephant orphanage and the giraffe park. Awesome animals all!!

My flight home took me through Dakar where I laid over for 9 hours. So I got to spend time with Katie. She’s doing well and is in the midst of exams. She will get home this Thursday, so we’re real excited about that. Just arrived home this morning (the 2nd of June) at 6:00 AM. In order to ARRIVE at 6:00 you have to leave pretty early. My flight was from Dakar at 3:45 AM!! That’s when all the action is at that airport. So today was a lot of catching up and sleeping!!

Tim is in the Forest and will be there until later this month, so we won’t even see him until he gets to the USA in early July!! A long separation this time. Katie and I leave on the 11th for the US. We’ll go through Minnesota for a Volunteer Coordinator’s meeting, then on to Michigan. A lot of traveling these few months. Thanks for your prayers for us!!

First of all, thanks for all your prayers for the elections here. I know there was some violence just before but things since then have been pretty calm and we’ve not seen any trouble from here. School is back in session without interruption which is also a blessing.

Guinea: Things are changing fast there. We heard on the 26th (Monday) that negotiations were taking place and that the president had agreed to select a new Prime Minister, and one that was on the list of approved choices. People were ordered back to work and the strike was “suspended”. The unions are not going to officially call it off until they see that things are going to change. By yesterday a new Prime Minister was chosen and he was, indeed, one that was approved by all. The only question that is left now is, How much power will he actually be given. There was an agreement signed by the president and the unions back in January that said that the new PM would be given the right to chose his government and “clean house” (so to speak). He is to get rid of the corruption that has held the people close to starvation point for too long. The agreement was signed but then a PM was chosen that was close to the president. In the past Guinea has had Prime Ministers but they are more just figureheads. Whenever a PM would try to actually do something for the good of the country, he was sacked. So the question now is, Will this new leader be given the power to do the things he has been asked and even chosen to do?? If so it looks like we may be able to go home soon!! Some say that if he is not given that power and is not supported by the president, the backlash will be worse than the first one when the other Prime Minister was chosen. The  situation continues to need prayers so that a good outcome is achieved and we can all go home!!

The Heineys: AHHH! What can I say?? We’re watching plans being made right and left…this person is moving here, that person will stay there. It will be a long time before our little mission community looks like it did before we left. Even for us, we have Donna leaving for the US tomorrow, Tim in Togo, Andrea trying to decide if she wants to stay here at the Academy to finish the year, and I’m making plans to visit Togo as well. Andrea asked me, “Mom, don’t you wish sometimes that you could just know the future even just a little bit ahead?” I instantly said “YES!!” but then we decided that maybe then we wouldn’t have the chance to trust God for what we don’t know. Sigh.

Meanwhile, thanks again for all the prayers and support. For more information on what’s going on with Guinea please go to: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702270431.html or http://www.afrol.com/articles/24507 

Prayers for all of us would be greatly appreciated as well, as we try to make major decisions in the midst of having our lives all tossed up in the air. Pray for our co-workers, Tim and Heidi Norton, and Andrea Herman, still in Bamako as they decide too what is best for them in this situation. But mostly pray for Guinea and the people there, and for peace and a good solution.

Quick note on Guinea: martial law was lifted after the General Assembly voted to remove it, however people are being ordered to go back to work on Monday. Somehow I don’t see that going over real well. Please continue to pray for a solution for Guinea!!

Many have been writing and asking how we are and where we are, etc. We are staying about 2 blocks from Katie’s school at a guesthouse run by the CMA mission. So Katie is able to visit often and we can go visit her at school as well. She’s doing much better, by the way. We still have to figure out what to do about that foot. Her x-rays are being sent to the US and we’ll wait to see what is recommended. It bothers her a lot. But her esophagus seems to be healing up and she can eat again.

Our colleagues, Tim and Heidi Norton and Andrea Herman are also doing well. They are in a guesthouse in Bamako run by Norwegian Lutherans there who had also been “refugees” at one point so have been very sympathetic to their situation. Andrea is starting her language work as there are Maninka in that area. They were able to “debrief” with a counselor from the Southern Baptist mission and that has helped a lot. We will do our debriefing this Thursday when counselors are available for those of us here who had to run.

But always not far from our minds is our home and Guinea. What does the future hold? What will the country look like if we are able to someday go back? Will we have a home to come back to? There was a good article in the Times recently you may want to check out if you have a chance:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/africa/20guinea.html?ref=world
Please continue to pray for the country. I do believe this will go to the end one way or another. Also pray for the missionaries that are still there, that God keeps them safe. And pray for our church there and our leaders. We did hear from them just before we left and the situation there was much like it was in Conakry. Pray for their safety and for a good change in Guinea for the people.

We can’t thank you all enough for all the prayers, notes, and words of encouragement we have received.  I thought of that last Thursday as I stared at the great big grey Air Force plane I was standing beside, imagining the wings being lifted with the prayers of thousands. May those prayers now blanket the entire country of Guinea until we can return again to its shores!!

Once at the airport we followed the directions of the embassy representative who explained how things would be done. After waiting close to 5 hours we were finally bussed out to the military Air Force airplane that was to take us out. What a thrill to see armed American soldiers waiting next to that big gray plane!! It was a real experience. Definitely “no frills”, canvas seats lined along the sides of the plane. We did get ear plugs to help with the noise. I think we were all just in awe of it all.

Once in Dakar we were whisked right through the airport and taken to a nearby hotel where there were sandwiches and water, a play area for kids, information centers on Dakar and possible flights for those continuing on, and a phone line where we got to call the boys. Good friends of ours here in Dakar had also picked up Katie at school and brought her along so she was there to meet us as well. I think it was then that we finally just relaxed. We were finally out!

So what next?? We don’t really have any idea at this point. Right now we’re just enjoying the feeling of being safe and not jumping every time shots ring out!! Tim was actually scheduled to fly to Togo FROM DAKAR tomorrow, so he may be able to just catch his connecting flight from here and go on, depending on what we find out about how things will work here. We’ll continue to work with our mission on what our long term plans are and what we’ll do in the future. Meanwhile, please do not slow down prayers for Guinea because we are out. We want things to work out so that Work can continue and we can all get back to our homes. There are also still some missionaries in Guinea. Some have chosen to stay, some can’t get out. Please keep them covered in prayer daily.

Will keep you informed as we have news.

We have been overwhelmed with the amount of support we have seen through all this. Thank you to those of you praying and to those passing our requests on for others to pray as well. Maybe that is the reason for the peace passing all human understanding that we have felt through all this!!

We pray that the next letter will be from Dakar!!

It’s hard to remember what I have written and what I haven’t. It’s hard to even say what’s going on!! It feels like we’ve been in solitary confinement for a while now…no internet, we ran out of cards for our phone so only had incoming calls. We do have the radio but there just hasn’t been a lot of news.

I want to write this quickly just in case this isn’t going to stay on for very long. Basically the country is shut down. The president declared martial law two days ago and we have all of 4 hours a day when cars are allowed on the road. Yesterday a flight took off with some family members from the American Embassy. The airport is not functioning as normal, though. We did hear there was an Air France flight that came in last night and was going out as well but was totally full. There may be another coming in tonight be we’re not sure. Otherwise flights are not going in or out. The gunfire has slowed down considerably which makes it a lot easier. Last night when curfew ended things almost looked normal. Cars were on the road, people were out of the house (including us!!). That’s when Tim made the dash to the CMA to get our mail out. It is getting a bit discouraging in that many have left now. Several missions were able to get some of their own people on the US plane that went out but we don’t have those connections. Just a few families left now. We’re to the point that we wish it would either break or finish. Just sitting here not knowing and not being able to do anything is frustrating. If we leave we will probably head to Dakar where everyone else is headed, since Katie is there. Also, Tim was supposed to leave for teaching in Togo tomorrow. That doesn’t look possible anymore.

So what to pray for?? I guess just that everything finishes one way or another. At least if there is trouble we’ll get out. If not then we can get back to some kind of normalcy. Thanks for all your prayers. We do continue to trust that God is in control of all this and that He is our protection. Thanks too for all the notes of support. We appreciate all the prayers for us here. The Nortons and Andrea are fine too, up in Bamako, but also anxious to see this end. Will continue to keep in touch as we can!!

I mentioned in the last letter that Tim and Heidi, their kids, and Andrea had left Mamou, 5 hours from us, and headed to Siguiri. On going through the town of Dabola they were met by a small crowd of angry people swinging machetes. They began throwing rocks at the vehicles. Tim and Heidi had a window busted out on their truck. Blessedly it was the one window that had no one sitting by it, the children were on the other side of the truck. Once out of town the two trucks stopped to do some damage control and remove the glass. Come to find out, Andrea had TWO windows broken out of her truck. They tried to clean up and get back on the road right away. Just outside Kouroussa, a town closer to home, some motorists stopped and told them that things were very hot in that town, so they decided to get off the main road. The going was slower but they were finally home by about 6:00 that evening. Meanwhile we had heard nothing since 10:00 that morning, and that was after the incident in Dabola!! Talk about urgent prayers going up!! We were so thankful to hear that they were home and safe.

Gangs of people have been robbing and looting government agencies, buildings, and businesses, even the homes of government officials, to show their disapproval of what is going on. Some blockades have been put up. Even in the town of Siguiri where the Nortons live, the hotel was vandalized and looted. They called this morning and we decided it would be best for them to pack up and head to Bamako until things calm down a bit. We are keeping our ears to the radio and have our bags ready in case the word comes to move. We pray it does not come to that but just want to be ready. All are staying indoors now. Still, I have to say, we have not seen anything here in our neighborhood and are happy for that. We’re still praying that the military will be able to get things under control until this is all worked out. Thanks for your prayers for us in this!!

I’m going to try and attach a photo we took of our team while we were all together. Andrea is all the way to the left. Tim Norton is in the left chair and Heidi is just above him. Donna Meyer, Andrea’s teacher, is between my Andrea and myself. The Norton’s children, Philip and Leslie, are on the laps of the two Tims.

Our internet is already down, so if you don’t hear from us that’s why. Tim is going to try and make it over to the mission later to see if he can send this out. Phones are still working for which we are thankful.

May God be with Guinea!!