Pastor Raoul, his wife Denise and their five kids, plus Pastor Raoul's younger brother, have been living peacefully in a small courtyard in the south of Kandi for a long time. But a few weeks ago, they suddenly found themselves 'under attack' from other families living in the courtyard. Vicious rumours, angry looks and disrespectful remarks became the norm and as if that wasn't unpleasant enough, someone then decided to cut off their electricity supply...
That was the final straw. They immediately started looking for a new and happier home, and were pleasantly surprised to learn that the house next to their friend, Professor Arsène, was available. Pastor Raoul has been praying for Arsène for some time as he got baptised a few years ago and then drifted away from church and from God. Divine providence seems to have intervened!
On Sunday, we helped them make the move. I have never seen a removal truck in this country. All house moves seem to be DIY, usually involving a Peugeot 505 estate taxi, loaded several metres high with all furniture and belongings including beds and motorbikes! In Raoul's situation, the plan was to use Michée's pick up truck... Of course, the plan was scuppered after only a few minutes!
Etienne reversed the pick up truck out of the Badés' driveway by releasing the handbrake, with the idea that Florentin and I would push the truck down the road to bump start it (there's a problem with the starter motor which would be incredibly expensive to fix so everyone has got used to bump starting it). Well, we pushed it a long way down the road, with some help from the neighbourhood kids, but regardless of everything Etienne tried, it didn't so much as cough...
Etienne figured the battery was completely utterly dead (turning the key resulted in no noise whatsoever) and so we were forced abandoned the truck at the side of the road (I certainly didn't have the strength to push it up hill!), where it quickly turned into a climbing frame for the kids!
It was time for Plan B!
We rushed back to the house and grabbed the 4x4, sped over to Raoul's, and discovered a house full of busy and grubby kids! Danny, their 1 year old, had spent the morning playing mechanic with Raoul's motorbike which was parked in the house with a flat tyre. He had black smudges all over on his face, arms and legs, which made for a very funny sight!
The other kids and the adults were shoving things in refugee bags and other sacks, ready to load into the car. The boys did a great job carrying all the heavy furniture and packing it compactly into the interior of the car.
Raoul was tempted to serenade us all with a guitar piece but decided efficiency was the way forward!
Three car loads later, everything had been deposited in their new home, on the west side of Kandi, just opposite CEG3...
We pray they will make friends quickly with their new neighbours and enjoy developing their friendship with Arsène :-)
That was the final straw. They immediately started looking for a new and happier home, and were pleasantly surprised to learn that the house next to their friend, Professor Arsène, was available. Pastor Raoul has been praying for Arsène for some time as he got baptised a few years ago and then drifted away from church and from God. Divine providence seems to have intervened!
On Sunday, we helped them make the move. I have never seen a removal truck in this country. All house moves seem to be DIY, usually involving a Peugeot 505 estate taxi, loaded several metres high with all furniture and belongings including beds and motorbikes! In Raoul's situation, the plan was to use Michée's pick up truck... Of course, the plan was scuppered after only a few minutes!
Etienne reversed the pick up truck out of the Badés' driveway by releasing the handbrake, with the idea that Florentin and I would push the truck down the road to bump start it (there's a problem with the starter motor which would be incredibly expensive to fix so everyone has got used to bump starting it). Well, we pushed it a long way down the road, with some help from the neighbourhood kids, but regardless of everything Etienne tried, it didn't so much as cough...
Etienne figured the battery was completely utterly dead (turning the key resulted in no noise whatsoever) and so we were forced abandoned the truck at the side of the road (I certainly didn't have the strength to push it up hill!), where it quickly turned into a climbing frame for the kids!
It was time for Plan B!
We rushed back to the house and grabbed the 4x4, sped over to Raoul's, and discovered a house full of busy and grubby kids! Danny, their 1 year old, had spent the morning playing mechanic with Raoul's motorbike which was parked in the house with a flat tyre. He had black smudges all over on his face, arms and legs, which made for a very funny sight!
The other kids and the adults were shoving things in refugee bags and other sacks, ready to load into the car. The boys did a great job carrying all the heavy furniture and packing it compactly into the interior of the car.
Raoul was tempted to serenade us all with a guitar piece but decided efficiency was the way forward!
Three car loads later, everything had been deposited in their new home, on the west side of Kandi, just opposite CEG3...
We pray they will make friends quickly with their new neighbours and enjoy developing their friendship with Arsène :-)
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