September 30, 2002
Missionary kids safely evacuated from school
___By John Hall
___Texas Baptist Communications
___BOUAKE, Ivory Coast--More than 100 children of missionaries, including several International Mission Board missionaries from Texas, were safely evacuated from a boarding school Sept. 25.
___The International Christian Academy in Boauke, Ivory Coast, had been surrounded by armed forces during a military uprising. The school serves missionary families from across West Africa.
___All the students and about 100 staff members are safe, according to James Forlines, director of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, which has ties to the school.
___School staff locked the students in a dormitory Sept. 20 as armed rebel troops moved just outside the campus. Gunfire erupted over the next six days as the military took control of the city.
___Reports as to whether or not rebel soldiers fired toward the school or if they entered school grounds vary. A report from inside the school stated that no militia entered school grounds and rebel troops only fired in the air.
___However, Forlines said two men walked on to the south campus grounds and fired into the air, which "scared the students to death." On another occasion, a group of rebels came down a hill in front of the school firing, but it was unclear whether they were firing at the school, he said.
___Staff gave the students, who had plenty of food and water, more freedom Sept. 21 as the soldiers moved closer to the city and away from the school. Students roamed freely within a restricted area as staff with radios kept watch.
___Staff witnessed some locals walking out of town in an attempt to escape the country's bloodiest uprising to date, but noted those who fled were in the minority. The town has no running water or power. The school ran a generator for an hour a day to power communication with the outside world.
___About 100 French soldiers secured the school Sept. 25 and escorted the children to Yamoussoukro. They were to be taken to Ghana and processed by their respective embassies.
___Forlines views the rescue as the direct result of worldwide prayer for the children.
___God intervened in the situation to save the children, he said. "I believe there has been a hand of protection over the campus."
___An IMB spokesman confirmed the presence of IMB missionary children at the school but did not release the names or exact number of IMB missionaries' children. IMB missionaries remain in the country. Meanwhile, rebel forces continue to control Bouake and Korhogo, located in the north.
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