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THURSDAY AT 12:30 PM

Last Thursday our 23-year-old driver Saloum was on his way back home from school after having picked up 14 children between the ages of 3 and 17 from two different schools. He was not far from home, on a long, straight, paved road where you drive pretty fast, when one of the bus's wheels suddenly came loose and came off. Witnesses say that Saloum tried hard (and succeeded) at not hitting any pedestrians but he hit an electricity pole head-on at full speed.

Now these little African buses have wooden benches along the walls in the back and no signs of seat belts. From the first report I got it seemed that Saloum was injured severly; thankfully the blood everyway betrayed the severity of his injuries. He had to be sown up but it seems that it was just an outward injury on his forehead (and his foot). It's a miracle he was not injured more or even killed!

Witnesses say that Saloum acted bravely. The windshield was totally shattered; Saloum couldn't get out but was passing the children through the windshield to the firemen that had already arrived. Ambulances then took all the children to a nearby hospital and also removed Saloum. By then Paul had arrived at the scene. The firemen also had to put out a fire that had started to burn near the battery.

Paul later told me that he had gotten into the bus with the children as he wanted to talk to one of the school directors about our tuition payments that we have been struggling to make. Then he changed his mind and got back off the bus. I had shivers running down my spine at the thought that he could have been in the wreck, and the implications thereof!

Arriving at the hospital, the first thing they do is give you a list of supplies to buy at the pharmacy before they start taking care of anybody. That's when the expenses started. I had just told Paul a day or two before that he needed to stop withdrawing with any of our cards for now as there was no more money. So he contacted some friends to borrow money to pay the hospital.

The picture shows only 12 of the 14 children (plus driver)
that were in the bus - 12 boys and 2 girls.

Paul spent the rest of the day at hospital, having to take them to a big hospital downtown for the x-rays they all got. They thought Youssouf (13) might have a broken thigh bone which turned out not to be true. Amadou (14) re-broke his arm where it had been broken before, and both Yacouba (14) and Karim (17) also have broken arms. All the children have wounds and are hurting all over. I was glad to hear that they were all able to return home late Thursday night.

The hospital bills so far are about $1000 or 700€.
The electricity company wanted another $1000 to repair their pole but thankfully our car insurance is covering that expense.
Fees for all the police had to do are about $250 or 200€.

Already a few thousand dollars/euros short because of the beginning of the school year and just a handful of donations to help with that, this makes our bad financial situation worse. And there are certainly more bills coming.

The mechanic is going to look at our little bus but I'm not very confident that this 20+ year-old bus is repairable, and if it is, it will probably be way too costly.

I hope that most children can go back to school on Monday; they'll be back on the back of our pick-up truck. Our little bus had only been in operation for two weeks since our driver had to first get a third driver's licence to be allowed to drive it, and we had the bus repaired just in time for the beginning of the school year.

I'm so thankful for God's amazing protection of our children, of our driver, and for keeping Paul out of the wreck. I'm thankful that God answered my prayers to give Paul peace and a sense of His presence in the midst of all this. It's great to hear that Paul is actually of good cheer if tired. Please keep praying for him and the children.

I can't wait to return a week from now, and apply all the knowledge God has given me about essential oils this past half year, because I know that He's going to use them to heal their bodies and remove their pain (through the Raindrop Technique that applies oil straight to the back).

I also rejoice about all God has been doing this season and that the enemy trembles at what lies ahead, trying everything to keep us from entering this next new level. And I'm still going to send you the awesome report that would have come had the accident not happened; it will just be a few days later.

All glory to our wonderful heavenly Father!

QUICK NEWS

•       School Expenses - So far we've spent 4200€ ($5,800) on school fees and supplies; money we don't have. We still have to pay the government fee for the 14 kids that had to transfer because of the school closure, as well as all the school uniforms, which is 1100€ ($1500) each.

•        Unrest - These past 2-3 weeks there has been quite a bit of unrest and problems in the north of Mali again. The French are now staying longer than planned. Also, the coup leader was nominated special advisor to the president.

•        Joseph at YWAM - Joseph's disciple school in Dakar starts January 13th and lasts 6 months. He's been an invaluable help to Paul in the midst of this week's crisis.

•        Dakar & Timbuktu - We've now been praying for a while specifically for those two towns to start centers there. We're praying for God to send us the right Western leaders to head them up. It looks like Joseph will be the indigenous leader at one of them.

•        Documentary - When I get back to Mali next week, the TV crew doing a documentary about us will start shooting. They also have it on their hearts to intervene on behalf of us at the government so we get financial support.

•        Outpouring in France - I've just spent 10 days ministering in France and was blown away by the way God is moving there! It reminded me of the renewal days in the 90's. Awesome God! More pictures here.

•       Volunteers - We always need volunteers in Mali who can stay a few months or more. If you'd like to come help us, please contact me.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (Isa 43:2)

Loving the Faithful One,

Claudia