Côte d’Ivoire

Hello friends, family, and perhaps the curious stranger reading this, 

It’s time for another country spotlight!

Côte d’Ivoire (“Ivory Coast” in French) is located in West Africa, and my team will reside there for a month this fall. Luckily, I was able to ask my lovely friend and resident French speaker, Rebecca, how to pronounce it. Apparently, to sound like a native, you need to add the phlegmy sound from the back of your throat. 

Here it is in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): /kotdivwa/

Or for you non-speech pathology/linguistics nerds: “coat deev wahh(phlegmy sound)”

As I work to improve my abysmal French “r” pronunciation, I will also be praying for this country. 

Here are some facts I’ve learned about Côte d’Ivoire:

• It’s home to over 21.5 million people (for comparison, this is similar to Beijing’s population). 
• You can thank Côte d’Ivoire for those chocolate eggs you ate last week because it is the world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans (THANK YOU).
• Its political capital is Yamoussoukro, and Abidjan is its cultural capital–the 3rd largest French-speaking city in the world.
• The national football team is named “Les Eléphants” (The Elephants). How cool is that?!

Here are some ways to be praying:

• Côte d’Ivoire gained independence from France in 1960 and experienced a military coup in 1999, resulting in political turmoil and rebellion for the subsequent decade. In 2011, the people freely elected a new leader; however, there is residual disunity and an unstable economy. Pray for peace in Côte d’Ivoire, wisdom for political leaders, and a flourishing economy.
• There are religious tensions between the Muslim north (~38%) and Christian (~33%) /animist south of Côte d’Ivoire. Pray for the Gospel to spread, bring peace and understanding between these two groups, and bridge the divide. 
• Over half of the Ivoirian population is illiterate, and this is a major barrier to the Gospel. Pray for the success of literacy projects, Christian radio stations, and audio scripture distribution. Pray for scripture translation, as there are a total of 93 languages in Côte d’Ivoire, and the Bible is currently available in 65.
• Pray for the people we will meet and the ministries we will partner with. Pray that my team would be genuine lights for Jesus, serving true physical and spiritual needs, and making an eternal impact for the glory of God.

Thank you for joining me in praying for these countries! My senior bible study at school has been preparing for life beyond graduation (IN 6 SHORT WEEKS) and creating “vision statements” for our next stage. I came up with this:

To engage with and embrace the various cultures/people I’ll be meeting, acknowledging the ways God is working there.
To adopt a posture of humble learner and bold Christ follower– to listen first, but courageously speak when the Holy Spirit leads.

Would you also be praying for my future year? That God would do miraculous things in my heart as I fight fear and prejudice and insecurity in these new places?

 

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

 

 

Thanks for taking time to read this blog. I hope you find it to be honest, informative, and a well-spent few minutes! If you have any questions about my trip, myself, or my faith, please comment below or contact me directly. I’d love to hear from you 🙂