(April 8, 2011 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) A message of grace and hope continues airing on HCJB Global partner station Fréquence Vie (Life Frequency) in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) even after its repeater transmitter north of Abidjan was destroyed by fighters from warring factions in a civil conflict, and stray shrapnel from rocket fire also pierced the studio building.

Violence in the West African country has pitted supporters of the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, against the internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, following November 2010 elections.

Pushing toward the coastal city of Abidjan, Ouattara's supporters early this week joined those already engaging in street battles with Gbagbo backers in Abidjan, which is home to 5 million people. Fighting elsewhere in Côte d'Ivoire resulted in deaths reported to be in the hundreds. Gbagbo maintains that he won a Nov. 10 runoff vote, but election officials have concluded that Ouattara was victorious.

By the evening of Tuesday April 5, HCJB Global Sub Saharan Africa Director Lee Sonius wrote from neighboring Ghana, "I am hearing that fighting has died down in the last few hours and that people are venturing out of their houses to look for food and water." For some, including families connected with Fréquence Vie, it was the first time out in several days.

The Fréquence Vie studios are 1,500 to 3,000 feet from the Ivorian national radio and television network, Radio-Télévision Ivoirienne, and so collateral damage came with the fighting. Earlier in March at a government-owned transmitter site, Fréquence Vie's primary transmitter was also destroyed in the crossfire.

"On March 31 the radio station was struck by some shrapnel from a rocket, putting a gaping hole in the roof, breaking many windows and also a door," wrote SIM's Tim Welch from Abidjan once electricity was restored. He directs the missionary and national staff of the U.S.-based mission. Launched with HCJB Global's help nearly 12 years ago, Fréquence Vie is operated by SIM in partnership with local churches to share the gospel in various West African languages.

"The [station] director's apartment about 50 meters (160 feet) away also had some minor damage from shrapnel," Welch continued. "So now the director and two other families are living in the recording studios."

Two days later, Abidjan's chaotic situation continued with Ouattara's men having hemmed in Gbagbo at his residence. At the Fréquence Vie studios a staff member named Ephraim contacted HCJB Global's Françoise Dossmann with an update that included, "Food and cooking gas is becoming very scarce."

A nearby evangelical church has housed more than 100 people during the street conflicts, according to HCJB Global's Françoise Dossmann, now living in Normandy, France. She and her husband, Daniel, produced French-language programs in Abidjan for several years after decades of broadcasting from Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador. Forced out by Côte d'Ivoire's civil conflict in 2004, the Dossmanns have been calling friends there to ascertain their safety and keep abreast of developments (see sidebar below).

Begun prior to their 2004 departure, Daniel's "Path of Life" radio Bible study continues to air during the present unrest. A new program, "Facing the Crisis," had just gotten under way. Two programs aired throughout the week of heaviest fighting in Abidjan, including one that Welch recorded on the topic of living together in spite of ethnic differences.

"Also, one pastor has braved the current conditions and come to record a program, which I believe was a program on loving your enemies," Welch added. However, Dossmann learned that, "the station has been passing only songs and a few pre-recorded programs in the last days. Their stress is such that it would be impossible for them to produce new programs."

Already in late February, the fighting had taken a toll. "Our 4,000-watt transmitter was destroyed and it has been replaced by a spare 300-watt transmitter for now," Welch explained. "Our coverage has not changed geographically; it simply got a lot weaker."

"The situation in Abidjan has worsened considerably in recent days, and we are praying much for Fréquence Vie which has their station there," said HCJB Global's Curt Cole on Tuesday. He is one of HCJB Global's vice presidents of international ministries. "In addition, our partner station in the north, Radio Sinai, in Korhogo has been affected by power outages, some of which have gone on for days at a time."

As Côte d'Ivoire's political crisis deepened earlier this month, Welch's wife, Janet, traveled to the U.S. She communicates with Welch as conditions in Abidjan permit. SIM staff members who stayed on with Welch are planning to evacuate. Since Ouattara supporters reached Abidjan, however, it has become increasingly difficult to get to the airport. They may just have to wait it out.

Sources: HCJB Global, SIM, BBC

Sidebar: Short on Water, Families Pray for Calm in Côte d'Ivoire
(April 8, 2011 - by Ralph Kurtenbach)

Welcome background noise assured Françoise Dossmann in Normandy, France, in her recent phone conversation to check on Ivorian friends Laurent and Mariam in Abidjan during Côte d'Ivoire's conflict.

It was the sound of a prayer meeting. Neighbors and friends had gathered at the couple's home in the city's Cocody area where gunfire between opposing factors was going strong as late as Wednesday, April 6.

"They were just getting together and praying. When I called they were finishing the prayer. I heard the end of the prayer," said Dossmann, who served with her husband, Daniel, as radio program producers for several years at Fréquence Vie, a partner radio station in Abidjan.

The conversation and others like it compiled a picture not unlike the strife the Dossmanns themselves experienced in Côte d'Ivoire. "No one can go anywhere shopping, even the little stores are closed," she said.

A French missionary friend who evacuated with the Dossmanns in 2004 has since returned to ministry in Côte d'Ivoire. Bullets or shrapnel have struck her family's apartment and "they didn't have any more water," Dossmann said.

The scenario of people laying low and staying home has played out throughout Abidjan since tensions wracked the country after the contested November 2010 presidential elections.

Offering a message of forgiveness through Jesus, Laurent ministers to those with physical limitations such as he has lived with since childhood. "He was given a wrong polio vaccine when he was a small child," explained Dossmann. "Consequently, his leg never grew. He has prosthesis."

Laurent's ministry reaches farther north. In fact, they proclaim Christ's forgiveness across Côte d'Ivoire, according to Dossmann.

Source: HCJB Global