Story number 1 for 18 Jul 2000

Our newscast begins today in the Ivory Coast, where financial and political tensions are building to a tinderbox situation. As a direct result of the money problems, and corrupt politicians, looting has been rampant and there have been reports of sporadic fighting and rioting. Evangelical Baptist Mission’s John Jackson explains how their missionaries view the situation. “They are staying in, they are not frightened; they’re not scared. The field director for Cote d’Ivoire must come to Abidjan, and I was concerned about hijacking and he said ‘No, that’s not a problem.'” Jackson adds that the effect has been minimal on evangelistic outreach. “The Gospel is readily received. This last year with International Christian Academy, we had EBM teams that were leading the school and other teachers in the E-E [Evangelism Explosion] program in going out with videos out into the villages and people were being truly born again and saved.”