Well – we asked you guys what you wanted to know about living in Cote d’Ivoire and one of things you wanted to know was about our team – it’s a pretty sweet team, so it makes sense that you would want that information. I thought I’d start with our leaders – Rod and Angelika and then Stephanie, Alyssa, and Devin…

Rod and Angelika

Rod and Angelika are our fearless leaders – seriously!  Who takes on a bunch of young kids who think they may want to live in Africa for two years.  Fearless I say.  Rod grew up in Cote d’Ivoire with his parents being the ones who directed the campus we live on when it was a MK school.  He’s been doing missions forever and is probably more Ivorian then some Ivorians we know.  He’s sarcastic and crazy and wonderful.  Angelika is German, soft-spoken, and puts up with Rod – really what more can I say?  They have a passion for people and have been ministering to us since we dropped down in Africa. 

Steph - Read Her Blog

Stephanie is a Painting and Art Therapy major from Pennsylvania.  She came here in October 2010, spent the first year learning French and living with her host family here in Bouake and started working with Centre Providence, a ministry to young women (ages 12-18) who have a hard time with authority or have been involved in prostitution.  She’s now doing Art Therapy with the girls each week.  She’s planning on staying in Cote d’Ivoire through the end of the year (Lord willing) and then see where God directs her.

Alyssa - Read Her Blog

Alyssa has been our culture guide and schedule organizer since we got here.  She’s from California and came to Cote d’Ivoire in 2010.  She lived with a family in Korhogo (about 3 hours north of here) and worked at the Bible Institute there.  She went back in November and flew back with us in December to get us acquainted with Africa and everything here.  She just left for the States on Thursday and we miss her SO much!

Devin - Read His Blog

Devin is Steve’s nerd buddy (as you can see in the picture).  He is a mechanical engineer from Pensylvania and came in October 2010.  He works with the young people at his church here in Bouake (where he was in a host family), went to Mali to set up some solar…um…something, works in the shop here on campus and even tried to make a solar oven so that his host mom could make cupcakes (I think that was actually a selfish endeavor).  He’s planning on sticking around for the next year (maybe doing some work with Trans World Radio or working with solar power projects and really being the BEST culture guide after Alyssa leaves us).

We'll tell you about the rest of our team - Tricia, Kelly, and Almut - in another post!  Have a blessed day!

Steve and Jessica