Missionaries Safe after Rescue

November 20, 2002
by John W. Kennedy

IVORY COAST – Assemblies of God missionaries Phil and Robin Malcolm returned safely to the United States in late September after prolonged fighting by government troops and rebel soldiers in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) prompted the evacuation of foreigners.

Fighting in the West African nation of 16.4 million isn't new. But this coup attempt touched the Malcolms personally.

On September 19, they awoke to gunfire at a police checkpoint about 100 yards from their home on the edge of Bouake, a central Côte d'Ivoire city of 500,000. Sporadic fighting continued for the next six days around the city, and the Malcolms, with 8-year-old son Jacob and 5-year-old daughter Grace, remained stranded in their house.

The experience for students boarding at International Christian Academy in Bouake was more harrowing. The school, the largest in West Africa for missionary children, had been caught in the crossfire between loyalists and rebels. For the next several days, fighting moved closer to the school's perimeter.

Students and staff sought shelter beneath their beds. They sang hymns and recited Bible verses as the sound of bullets thundered and trucks carrying soldiers and rebels rumbled past the school's gates.

On September 25, French troops negotiated with the Côte d'Ivoire government as well as rebel troops to escort the students – including Assemblies of God missionary children Sheree Lear, 17, and Joey Lear, 15 – to safety. Their parents, Joe and Alice Lear, are church planters in Burkina Faso. The Lears, Assemblies of God missionaries since 1991, returned to Rosetto, Pennsylvania, in October, eight months before their scheduled furlough.

"I was scared when the shooting started but I didn't want to cry because of the younger children," Sheree Lear, a senior, said. Students at the school, which includes grades 1 through 12, had to leave with the belongings they could carry.

The next day, the Malcolms joined other American families, as well as Canadian and French citizens, in fleeing the country under guard from French troops. They passed armed rebels and burned out cars along the route.

"We didn't feel we were in any danger," said Robin Malcolm, 31.

The rebellion began with a coup attempt by soldiers angry at being ousted from the military, but it quickly escalated into an ethnic and religious conflict influenced by forces outside the country. The Malcolms' vehicle was the third in a convoy of 450 vehicles that traveled to the capital, Yamoussoukro, 60 miles to the south. U.S. Special Forces met them there.

The Malcolms, the only resident Assemblies of God missionaries in Côte d'Ivoire, returned to Bellevue, Washington. Nearing the end of their first term, they had been scheduled to go on furlough in December. They assisted national churches by conducting children's ministry seminars as well as AIDS awareness seminars and health care outreaches.

"When it's time for us to go again, we'd like to go back to the Ivory Coast if it has opened up," Robin said. "If not, we'll pray about going somewhere else."

A proposed cease-fire unraveled October 6, and fighting intensified in Bouake.

AG-NEWS: The Assemblies of God News & Information Service, (c) 2002