Ivory Coast Cru

One more day until Semailles 7! Students around the country will meet online for the next 3 days to worship the Lord, grow in their love for Him, and learn how to share Him with others!

Traditionally, there are 3 wedding ceremonies in Côte d’Ivoire. The ceremony at the church—the idea most Americans are familiar with—is the final ceremony. Earlier that day, the second ceremony is held at the local city hall. Typically, a few weeks before this day, the first ceremony is held between the families—the traditional ceremony.

Our teammate, Wilfried, celebrated the traditional ceremony with his fiancé Mara this past weekend!
We asked Wilfried to share with us how the traditional wedding ceremony works (for the Baoulé people group), and this is what he shared!

“This is the occasion when the parents of the groom and himself will go to the parents of the bride to marry her customarily. The groom and his parents send the things that the parents of the bride have requested. During this part of the ceremony, the bride is inside the house.
When my parents had finished giving gifts to Mara’s parents, they asked, ‘We gave you the gifts you asked for, but where is the bride?’ (It’s just be funny, it’s not obligatory to do this.) Mara’s parents said, ‘Mara is hidden somewhere and she has to come. But you need to pay for the transportation of the person who is going to go get her!’ So, we gave them a little bit of money to “cover the transport”—5,000 or 2,000 CFA for someone to “go get her”. In reality, she wasn’t far—just in the house, hidden. It’s just a little game. And when people went to get her, they sent another girl—it wasn’t Mara. They hid her face (so I couldn’t see her very well) and asked “is this Mara?” And I said, “No, this isn’t her.” They went back and sent someone else outside—another girl who was really well covered. And they asked me, “Is this her?” It still wasn’t her. Then they responded, “Okay you need to give us more money for transport because we used all the money you gave us.’ So, we gave a little bit more money. The third time they sent another girl out. They had her face hidden as well and asked ‘Okay Wilfried, is this Mara? Is this your fiancé?’ Thankfully, I saw her feet and recognized her! And I said, ‘Yes, that’s her!’ And everyone applauded!”

[The idea behind covering the bride so that she is harder to recognize is to ensure that the groom can recognize his wife even if he can’t see her face. It proves that he really knows his bride and the wedding can move forward. ]

And about that 5 francs? Wilfried explains again:
"In Africa, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire when you give the gifts to the bride’s family, you always add a 5 francs coin. The tradition is that when there is an argument, the wife might say, 'Ah, you’ve never even given me 5 francs!' (In reality, she has received a lot more than that!). But the husband always gives her 5 francs during the traditional ceremony to make sure she can’t say in the middle of a disagreement later on, 'You’ve never even given me 5 francs!'"

What does this 5 CFA coin have to do with a Baoulé wedding tradition and conflict resolution? Check in Wednesday to hear the story!

Like most of West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire is largely split between its primarily Muslim north and Christian south, with approximately 41% claiming Islam and 33% Christianity. Yet even amid national division, the Church is growing in unity through partnerships in radio broadcasting, publishing, and much more. Muslims and Christians are even working together to better their nation through literacy and health centers. These types of partnerships have become powerful avenues for the Gospel.

Religion: Muslim 42.9%, Catholic 17.2%,Evangelical 11.8%, Christian 4.9%, animist 3.6%,other 0.5%, none 19.1%

Vanessa came to Côte d'Ivoire last summer and caught vision for discipleship, check out her story and let us know what the Lord taught you during your time here!
"Walking alongside the faithful, Jesus-loving staff in Côte d’Ivoire, I was able to get to know their stories and create friendships with them! Discipleship became my heartbeat after my summer in Côte d’Ivoire. I truly understood the importance of it, saw it in action, and actual reproduction happening in the lives of the Ivorians who are thirsty and eager for the gospel! My heartbeat for discipleship came back to my campus and now I am going into college ministry where I will continue to do the same full-time with students!"

We asked one of our staff, Alida, to share some prayer requests, this is what she said! Pray with Alida today for the students of Côte d’Ivoire and let us know how we can be praying for you!

Can you believe that the only elephant in Abidjan is the one in the zoo (and our wooden friend on Cocody’s campus)? What did you expect (or not expect) to see when you came to Cote d’Ivoire? What surprised you the most?

If we were able to receive summer missions, GCU would be serving alongside of us this week. Although we wish this could be a reality, we are still praising the Lord for what He did through this group last year, check out Jack's testimony about being emboldened to share his faith, "A memory I always think of when I think of Côte d’Ivoire was our first day of ministry. I was a little bit nervous about talking with people and sharing the gospel. In that moment God talked to me and asked me if I trusted in Him? If I trusted that He would be with me and if He would speak through me? I was like of course I do. And He said then you don’t need to worry about it, because I’ll be right by your side.
Then I shared with a really large group and it was really awesome and the Holy Spirit spoke through me the whole time."

Today the world is praying for COTE D’IVOIRE! Join the prayer! :)
(If you want to read more about the country: http://www.operationworld.org/may03 )

COTE D’IVOIRE: Pray for the Church of this nation. The Catholic and Methodist Churches have the most followers - each containing many committed believers and a lively charismatic movement. Evangelical churches have also been growing – in fact Abidjan alone probably has over 3,000 churches now. Nearly every denomination has at least 1 Bible training institute. But, many Christians still do not know or understand the Bible, and many churches pursue prosperity teaching, or focus on miracles and healings more than Christ.
http://www.operationworld.org/today
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Have you ever met the Hauquitz family? Check out this video and experience just a brief glimpse of what it's like to serve in Cote d'Ivoire! :)

Day in the Life of Cru's International Staff - Hauquitz Family Experience just a brief glimpse of what it's like to be an international staff with Cru. Craig and Bryn Hauquitz are serving in the African country of Cote…