Evacuation!*

This is a word that brings chills to the bones of every missionary -- something we hope to never experience, but know that chances are pretty high that we might.

For the Tabligbo team, evacuation became a reality today. We struggled with the decision before last Sunday's presidential election, but chose to wait things out and pray that we would not have to exercise this option. We spent several days "living like Martha Stewart, not necessarily her lifestyle, but feeling that we were under house arrest, only occasionally venturing outside of our compounds. That was primarily to communicate with our teammates, as telecommunications were out in the country from Sunday until Wednesday.

After the ruling party candidate was declared the winner of the election, the security situation quickly deteriorated in the south of the country where we live, and where the opposition parties have their strongest support. We heard of attacks on foreigners in the capital city of Lome, and though we felt that we were secure in Tabligbo for the time being, all of our trusted friends and neighbors were expecting the situation to worsen. Not knowing whether or for how much longer we would be able to travel out of the country, we decided to leave in the hopes that we will soon be able to return to Togo.

We left Tabligbo at 5:30 a.m. and did not experience any difficulties with our "flight" out of the country. There was evidence of yesterday's conflicts -- remains of fires and barricades that had since been removed. We passed into Ghana by a little used border crossing. Some Togolese military gave us a few hassles, but by and large, we were well received by border officials on both the Togolese and Ghanaian sides.

The Bontragers and Newlins were scheduled to fly out of Accra on May 8. The Bontragers have been able to change their tickets and will leave here on May 1. The Newlins, who are on a different airline, may be able to leave on May 4. We are so thankful for all these families have meant to our team.

At present, we are all staying in the Baptist Guest House in Accra until Sunday. Their rooms are occupied after that point, and we need to find something a little more affordable for longer term stay.

We can all be contacted by our normal email addresses. In addition, the Parkers and Koonces have cell phones. Here are the numbers as you would dial them from the States:
Koonces 011-233-24-4090298
Parkers 011-233-24-3638990

Please keep the Togolese Christians in your prayers as fears are high in our part of the country. Also pray that we will be able to return to Togo soon, and that our homes will remain secure in our absence.

We plan to stay in Ghana at least through the annual West Africa Missionary Retreat that ends on May 12.  

*Today’s post also appears in the Tabligbo Times, our team’s weekly e-newsletter.  To subscribe, go to www.watchiharvest.com.