March 04 2007 Newsletter #54 from the Moores.

Dear Family and Friends,

“As Christians, our peace of heart and freedom from fear do not depend on our circumstances, but on our trust in God.” Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure

by Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Greetings from France! In our last newsletter we told you about the turmoil that was taking place in Guinea and that we had decided (along with almost all the other missionaries and most ex-patriots) that it would be best for us to leave Guinea for a while until things settled down. The US Embassy had already brought in one military plane and evacuated the extended family members of the diplomatic employees. It was virtually impossible to try to get seats on regular airlines such as Air France and Air Ivoire. There were hundreds of people at the airport each day and it became a mob scene several times as people were panicking trying to leave with their families.

On February 15th we got word that another US military plane was coming in on the 16th to take more American citizens out of the country. We put our names on the list and we were told to start getting ready because when the plane arrived we would be given a call and be told what time to be at the airport. When the time actually arrived, we had just a little over one hour to get to the airport. Talk about your adrenalin working overtime! Tom told me to hurry and get ready in 20 minutes because he would drive me down to the airport with our suitcase then he would take the car back to the mission and walk down to the airport (since we only live about a mile from the airport). I threw last minute things into the suitcase, quickly changed clothes, grabbed our light coats and off we went to the airport! Tom had two of our young men stay with me at the airport and he quickly returned to the mission. On his way back to the mission he was stopped by a drunk military man waving his gun at him. He stopped because we had heard that some tried driving away from military men when they were trying to stop them and they were shot! The military man told Tom to take him to the big round point just past our house. Tom said he could take him part way, but when Tom came to the railroad tracks he turned off the main road. (He had to hurry to get back to the airport!) The military man asked him where he was going and the young Christian men with Tom told him we were going to where we lived by the church down this road. The guy stuttered around and said he would get down then – which he did! Thank God for His protection over Tom and our young men who were with him! (Drunk military men had been doing some pretty atrocious things in our area of the city!) Tom walked back down the hill and got to the airport five minutes before our deadline.

Many of the missionaries and other ex-pats who had to get to the airport paid a military man to ride with them in their vehicles so there wouldn’t be any problems if they were stopped along the way. There were Guinean military men with big guns walking all around the airport. People were fearful, some children were crying as they had to leave with their moms and their dads stayed behind to take care of their businesses etc. You could feel tension in the air.

The US Embassy had personnel at the airport and they started to process each of us who were leaving on the military plane. (There were 33 missionaries and 20 some others. A little over fifty people in all who fit into the plane.) The plane was coming from England and it took them longer to get there then expected. (They had to stop in Germany to pick up some armed Marines!) We ended up waiting a little over four hours for the plane. But when it arrived things moved quickly! We were taken by buses out to the plane. It was an older Air Force plane with armed Marines standing guard around it. It was an impressive sight! As we went inside the plane we understood why we were only allowed one suitcase per person. There were huge wooden crates strapped down the middle of the plane with the baggage in them. We sat on seats along the sides of the plane. There were a few regular seats up front that some of the moms with little kids sat. We were all given a pair of ear plugs. (That was a hint!) We were given papers to fill out for our processing when we reached Dakar. When the plane started up we understood why we had been given the ear plugs. It was an hour flight to Dakar. We talked with the people next to us a little but mostly our hearts were in prayer! We prayed for Guinea, the leaders of the country and for the people we had left behind who had no way to leave. It was their country and they had to live through whatever happened! As we flew into the air we thanked God for our nation. We thanked God that we were Americans. We thanked God for our military young men and women who serve their country to help keep Americans safe around the world!

We were well received in Dakar not only by the US Embassy staff but also by leaders of the CMA mission there. Stan and Jaynee Walker, who were with us in Guinea for several terms before going to Dakar, had prepared little brown bags of snacks for each missionary family who came off of the plane. We are not with their mission, yet Jaynee handed us a bag with our name written on it! That about reduced me to tears! They cared, God cared and we are all a part of God’s family together! What an encouragement that was to me at that particular moment! Thanks Jaynee and Stan!

We spent one night in a little hotel by the airport because we weren’t able to get a flight out to France that night. God worked another miracle. Air France honored a return ticket to Paris that we had bought at the time of our return to Guinea in January. (It was less expensive to buy a round trip ticket than a one way ticket. God knew what lay ahead!) Normally they wouldn’t have honored the ticket because the date had passed. However, because of the strike and the conditions in Conakry at the time – they honored the ticket! God is good.

We have been in Paris for two weeks as we wait to see what will happen in Guinea. The first week was pretty emotional for us. Just the getting away from all the gun fire day and night was emotional for me. Questions like, “What do we do now?” kept going over in our heads. But you were praying and we were praying and we believe that God has shown us what to do for the next month.

The president of Guinea has finally chosen a prime minister that the union leaders and the general population accept. The prime minister is supposed to be choosing the men he now wants to be ministers in the government. We have received some e-mails from Guinea and the people are positive and say that things are getting back to normal. But the big question is, “Will the president really let the prime minister run the government or will he try to take it back as he did before?” A few missionaries (men) have gone back to Conakry to check out the situation. But many missions are not sending missionary wives and kids back in yet. Some missionaries have decided to stay out until about mid-April just to make sure that things will keep running smoothly in the country. It will take some time for the country to really get back on her feet. We’ve heard that about 80% of the gas stations in the country were ransacked, the fuel stolen then the stations burned. Where are the people going to get their fuel to run all the taxis now? Also we heard from a French friend today that there is a shortage of money in the banks. Even if people have put money into the bank they aren’t able to get out as much as they want!

So, after much soul searching and praying, we are flying back to the States for 3 – 4 weeks. It’s too expensive to stay long term in Paris and we feel we can do more if we are in the States. We hope to visit some more churches while there and raise more prayer support for Guinea and her people. If things remain stable we plan to return to Guinea around the first of April.

Thank you for all your prayers for us especially over the past three weeks! Please continue to uphold Guinea in prayer. Also pray that things will really settle down within the country so we will be able to return soon to continue the work there. Continue to pray for the pastors and Christians during this time. And thank you for remembering to pray for Had – that God would continue to protect her and keep her safe from her family.

We want to say a special thank you to all of you who support God’s work in Guinea financially! We couldn’t work there as we do without your support. Thank you for your generosity and faithfulness in giving! We appreciate it so very much.

In His Service,

Tom and Sherry Moor