tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130079952012-01-21T10:20:50.244-08:00Rod & Angelika Ragsdale: activities and projects in West Africa as well as those in Europe and in North America, sometimes. Including periodic news and information on their whereabouts, whatabouts, and just about anything else one might want to know about them if one was so inclined... and some things you might rather not know!Rodnoreply@blogger.comBlogger481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-35086549621636267432011-08-05T23:45:00.004-07:002011-08-05T23:53:48.383-07:00

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-35966100121023528772011-07-15T00:31:00.003-07:002011-07-15T04:50:04.139-07:00

As many of you know,we have been in Germany since June 24th when we arrived from Côte d'Ivoire for a long needed break. One of the things I was able to do last week was to take off in a powered para-glider that a friend of ours has and fly for about 10 minutes. a para-glider is very similar to a parachute so there is a lot of crossover. However, running with a 60lbs motor on your back while

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-76972877416951055392010-10-05T00:01:00.001-07:002010-10-05T00:01:22.409-07:00

As I sit here after 2 hours of speeches, songs, sermons and prayer I can't help but think of how faithful God has been to us and to the Senoufo people in allowing us to see this day. Just yesterday I was able to buy a case of Bibles fresh off the press for re-distribution to those we know who read this language. As we listened to Pastor Dossongomon read the list of all of those who have

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-7041376663915762062010-09-04T00:55:00.001-07:002010-09-04T00:55:44.296-07:00

Last Sunday in churches all over Côte d'Ivoire the announcement was made that the Cebaara Bible Dedication planned for the 4th of September (this Saturday), had once again been postponed. It is because there has been a concerted effort on the part of some of the organizers that the President of Côte d'Ivoire be invited to the party. It was only last week that we learned of the "high interest" of

Rodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-61178981495417996052010-08-24T00:00:00.001-07:002010-08-24T00:00:13.439-07:00

Long before I was born and well into my adult life there has been a translation project taking place in northern Côte d'Ivoire which has come to an end. The translation part of the project has been over for several years now and the final manuscripts have been in the hands of the Alliance Biblique (United Bible Society) for several years now. Last January we were contacted concerning this project

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-29301831506359204262009-07-13T17:34:00.000-07:002009-07-13T17:26:39.341-07:00

We have been in the US a grand total of 3 weeks and we have been through 6 different western states, seen hundreds of friends and colleagues, eaten far more than what has been good for us, spent more money than we ever intended and yes, we are still married and even talking to each other. I have officially entered the 21st century I am told. I recently purchased a Blackberry which I am actually

Rodnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-12083630518273898472008-11-28T11:05:00.005-08:002008-11-28T11:17:09.291-08:00

In the German children’s story Es klopft bei Wanja in der Nacht, by Tilde Michels, we find Wanja sleeping warmly in his hunting cabin in the woods during a snow storm when he hears someone tapping on his door. He gets up to see who it is to find a hare freezing and asking to come in for the night. Wanja lets him in, puts some more wood in the stove and climbs back in bed. Not much later the hare

Rodnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-77081712660327699502008-09-10T09:02:00.003-07:002008-09-11T00:13:10.145-07:00

It has been said that having guests in one's home is better than accumulating riches. If that is the case then we have become extremely wealthy in the last three months. As I sit here at the end of a very long and full summer of ministry and fellowship, I am beginning to believe this saying. During this summer we have hosted no less than 50 people, all but 4 spending at least one night and many

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-63952357513907127952008-08-23T08:03:00.000-07:002008-08-23T08:04:22.429-07:00

Finally last night at about 17h30 I rolled into Bouaké where the roads were uncharacteristically free. Having spent too many days on the road it was good to get back to what we find familiar albeit frustrating at times. It seems that the rebels have accepted whatever it was that their chiefs have told them and they are once again going to let traffic flow after a fashion, normally. When we saw

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-11898345707921325562008-08-23T07:02:00.000-07:002008-08-23T07:46:25.328-07:00

Today I find myself once again in Korhogo after trying in vain last night to enter Bouaké. It would seem that the rebels in Bouaké are once again dissatisfied with the promised “payments” for laying down their arms and they have sealed off the city to all vehicles coming from either the north or the south.  Yesterday morning, after about two weeks on the road I was looking forward

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-44950280220468003442008-08-19T03:12:00.005-07:002008-08-19T03:29:15.747-07:00

By now I would suspect that most of you reading this note have heard of my most recent bout with typhoid. It would seem that the rumors are accurate and that I am once again trying to get a clear bill of health. The last time I had this filthy disease was right at the beginning of the war in Côte d'Ivoire after our evacuation from Korhogo. Now that I am down again might be a sign that the war is

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-76682440046595518082008-08-19T02:21:00.002-07:002008-08-19T02:31:49.645-07:00

The comforting sounds of the fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) squabbling as they sort out their sleeping quarters for the day is a familiar sound to anyone living in this part of the world. All night these bats have been foraging throughout the country side looking for ripe bananas, mangoes, papayas, guavas, baobab flowers and numerous other sweet meats and flowers from which they gain the needed

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-14335625651073183622007-12-24T03:37:00.000-08:002007-12-24T03:51:19.529-08:00

What has Tabaski and Christmas in common you ask? Nothing really in my opinion. Also the market here and the supermarket in Europe and the US don’t have much in common. It’s only that both holidays are close together this year. Yesterday, I drove through our sheep market. I have never seen so many sheep in one place in my life. Actually it’s a big empty place here in the City of Bouake, where

Rodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-7374598747159429582007-12-02T07:35:00.000-08:002007-12-03T02:15:59.304-08:00

Well it has been 6 weeks since leaving the land of round doorknobs, slow traffic and restaurants on every corner (the US for those who may not have had the “joy” of passing through that country). Since our return to Côte d'Ivoire we have made a trip to Parakou, Benin and part way back. And herein lays a story.Breakdown – #1Before leaving for Parakou 3 weeks ago, we had been to Korhogo twice to

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-66834077347504956322007-10-10T20:17:00.000-07:002007-10-10T20:43:14.872-07:00

Truth is a House!For the first time in my life I am in dept up to my ears. Today Angelika and I signed a contract to purchase a house from my folks. With Thomas Moore, the lawyer hired to write up the contract as well as both mom and dad, we sat and read through the document which states that I am indebted to them until the house is paid for. This is a big step for the two of us who live in a

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-74071465616082564322007-10-05T07:56:00.000-07:002007-10-05T13:29:30.275-07:00

It has now been 3 and ½ months since we set foot on this nation’s soil and it would seem that it is now time to get out of here. It has been an interesting few months filled with visits, phone calls, meetings, trips, fuel stations, restaurants, rain storms and sunny days. We have put over 5000 miles on our little Nissan Sentra and it is still rolling. We have hiked into some of the most beautiful

Rodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-69033155762552456412007-06-23T05:46:00.000-07:002007-06-23T06:04:30.058-07:00

The month of May came and went in a whirlwind which left me spinning. By the end of the month I had made three trips to Abidjan (5 hrs away), I had said goodbye to Angelika (as she flew off to Germany) and I had welcomed the 15th installment of the French LICORNE peacekeeping forces to our campus. Of course within the same month I tried to bring a close to a year of teaching at IBB (Bethel Bible

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1167733265017373952007-01-02T02:18:00.000-08:002007-01-02T02:21:05.040-08:00

As 2007 begins I thought that it would be reasonable that I write down a few reflections and notions concerning the year gone by and this year coming. First thing on my mind is to thank God that my father is now home and doing quite well for a 72 year old man who has been sliced open twice in the past 6 months by doctors trying to get him to feeling better. We have spoken several times on the

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1167206186873351632006-12-26T23:48:00.000-08:002006-12-27T05:04:03.286-08:00

Written Christmas Eve, 2006 from Bouaké, Côte d'IvoireI am sitting here in Bouaké reminiscing just a bit this morning about my dad. We received a call from my mother this morning saying that dad was admitted to the hospital and had emergency surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder. As many of you know my father has been on a 6 month course of chemotherapy due to colon cancer. Apparently a few

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1163093235908825302006-11-09T09:21:00.000-08:002006-11-09T09:27:15.933-08:00

1633 to 1721As of the end of October Côte d'Ivoire is supposed to have had a new president according to the UN Security Counsel’s Resolution 1633 which has been, until the end of last month, the ambiguously worded document which permitted the actual president to remain in place as the actual president even though Côte d'Ivoire has had a UN named Prime Minister since last year at this time. In the

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1154454751015757342006-08-01T10:49:00.000-07:002006-08-01T11:17:09.046-07:00

So, what does one write after not having written for over 3 months? Maybe “Sorry” would be a good place to start. Excuses? You bet, I could start an entirely different blog listing those but I don’t think it would make for very interesting reading.Since our last entry we have hosted at least three other major groups here at the school, besides the French Military who we continue to provide

Rodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1148129478404513432006-05-20T05:38:00.000-07:002006-05-20T05:51:18.406-07:00

For the past two weeks we have been running up and down the road to Sepikaha, a village outside of Tafiré in northern Côte d'Ivoire with a crew of 6 young men from Bethel College in Indiana, USA and a seventh from Canada who joined the Bethel crew for this trip. The reason for this visit was to roof a chapel that has been sitting for close to 12 years waiting for a roof. This chapel was the 6th

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1145521349096826612006-04-20T01:06:00.000-07:002006-04-20T01:22:29.110-07:00

Today is the big day! He is Risen, He is Risen indeed! This morning when we got up were just a little bit tired out from all of the activities leading up to this great day of Easter but as ever thankful for what it means to each of us to know that the King Lives!Being into the kingdom building stuff let me give you a run down on our more recent activities. Angelika has been running flat out for a

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1143186176702356542006-03-23T23:40:00.000-08:002006-03-23T23:42:56.733-08:00

Today finds me sitting in the Java House in the Nairobi airport in Kenya waiting for our flight on across the continent and back to Abidjan. We have just spent 3 weeks in Johannesburg with family. We had the rare and exciting possibility be with my younger brother John and Carol his wife for the duration. They hosted not only us but my sister Carmel and Victor Madsen, her husband, and their four

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1141572689047102592006-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:002006-03-05T07:34:18.993-08:00

by Braden Mugg, ICA Grad 2001I must say that it was odd to come back and visit Cote d’Ivoire and ICA after having been gone for almost five years. Although the places that I knew as a child have remained very much the same, almost all of the people that I knew in those days are gone. Surprisingly, even with all of the changes, I was particularly struck by how much my visit reminded me of the time

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1137754377640613622006-01-20T02:41:00.000-08:002006-01-20T02:52:57.656-08:00

Yahoo, ambiguity!As you may have heard by now, there has been renewed unrest in Côte d'Ivoire due to what seems to have been a simple misunderstanding of what had been said by the UN’s International Working Group (GTI) assigned to help in the resolution of the continuing conflict in Côte d'Ivoire. Wednesday, Obassanjo, the president of Nigeria, flew into Abidjan to meet with the leaders of the

Rodnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1136570811493480272006-01-06T09:52:00.000-08:002006-01-06T10:20:35.836-08:00

Several months ago the thought came to me that with all of the trees that we have on this campus that we might be able to make a go of raising bees in the hopes of harvesting a small bit of honey. Of course any of you reading this and who have raised bees and done the honey collection dance in the more temperate zones might find our methods a little curious at best. However, there are several

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1131129691029232222005-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:002005-11-04T10:41:31.070-08:00

Today Ramadan is over. Last night somewhere in Côte d'Ivoire someone saw the new moon and it is now official. This morning after the call to prayer we could hear the drums in the distance announcing that this is indeed a new month and that today at 10h00 all those who can will go to their “Friday mosque” for prayers to mark the end of another Ramadan. In town the next few days there will be

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1128588072490643292005-10-06T01:39:00.000-07:002005-10-06T01:41:12.500-07:00

It has been over two weeks since I arrived back in Côte d'Ivoire. It has been an interesting two weeks as we are back this time for at least two years before we are even thinking of returning to the US. As I mentioned in my last posting, Angelika and I flew to different cities in West Africa and we met up in northern Côte d'Ivoire one week ago. We are now back in Bouaké and this morning we are

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1127497847010766992005-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:002005-09-23T10:50:47.043-07:00

This is it, as it would seem, for the next couple of years. We are once again this year flying across these United States on our way back to Africa. We have had a great year here in the US visiting many of you, learning new things and in general, having a good time. Now, because of our responsibilities in Côte d'Ivoire, we are on our way back to that part of the world that we call home. On one

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1127227965406712382005-09-20T07:52:00.000-07:002005-09-20T07:55:46.423-07:00

It would appear that we will soon be on our way outta here ! We have come to the end of our visit to this country and we are on our way back to Africa. We are going with mixed feelings. On one hand we are glad to be getting back to where life seems a little bit more normal, where the lives of pets and people do not hold similar values and where hurricanes and tropical storms are not blamed on the

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1123348201508744312005-08-06T09:46:00.000-07:002005-08-06T10:29:04.500-07:00

It has happened. On Monday of this last week, August 1st 2005, the International Christian Academy (ICA) campus was turned over to Mission Baptiste de Côte d'Ivoire (MBCI) now known as WorldVenture. Having been asked by MBCI to be the one responsible for the running of the former school campus, I was the one to receive the keys. So it was, less than one week ago, Dan Grudda, the former director

Rodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1122261898873720172005-07-24T13:00:00.000-07:002005-07-24T20:27:35.176-07:00

It would seem that I am off to Côte d'Ivoire tomorrow flying from Portland to Atlanta, Atlanta to Paris and Paris to Côte d'Ivoire. It is going to be a long couple of days and I am hoping that we will actually be able to land in Abidjan. According to the news this morning there have been five police killed in a series of attacks in Anyama and latter in Agboville, two cities north of Abidjan. It

Rodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1122245715661482492005-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:002005-07-24T15:57:18.466-07:00

It is about 8h00 in the evening and I am sitting here at Camp Jonah up in the hills to the south of Mt. Adams. We have spent the past few days here at a Kid’s Missions Camp that has been a great time of talking to kids about what it is like to be a refugee and how they might be able to have an impact in our world. It has been challenging and faith building. The first night here they were awakened

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1120759563566127182005-07-07T10:52:00.000-07:002005-07-07T11:29:19.956-07:00

Hey, Angelika arrived about a week ago and it has been constant movement since. We have not had one evening at home alone since she got back. Unfortunately for her, the sky has been relatively clear since she returned which meant that I was spending a lot of time doing tandem skydives for Skydive Oregon. About two weeks ago one of their main tandem guys from Australia went to Canada for a few

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1119918883528712122005-06-27T17:17:00.000-07:002005-06-27T17:39:23.966-07:00

In a little over 24 hours I will be driving to the Portland Airport to collect my bride who has been, for the past 3 weeks, in Germany, helping a good friend of ours get married. She has also had some good times with her mother and sister as well as others of her family and friends. I am glad that it worked out for her to be with them for this short spell but I can tell I need her back here. I

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1119846851640583572005-06-26T21:19:00.000-07:002005-06-26T21:34:51.590-07:00

We have a special friend who lives in Mackay, Idaho and heads-up a foundation called the "Moose Foundation". Marty is one of those people who is generous, resourceful, energetic, and prays a whole bunch and we think a great deal of her. This foundation was created for the promotion of moose, one of those great ideas that she and a few others came up with to promote the largest species of

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1119017769906948112005-06-17T07:16:00.000-07:002005-06-17T07:16:09.926-07:00

13 – June 2005, Paris – Gare du Nord I am sitting in front of Gare du Nord having a drink and just watching life happen in this rather interesting part of town. Paris is of course a big city like many others, although, it has been said that Paris is for France what LA, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia are for the US. It is the economic, business, entertainment, and historical capital of

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1119014993880173802005-06-17T06:29:00.000-07:002005-06-17T06:29:53.896-07:00

This morning after catching a taxi to the Patisserie Abidjannaise, a coffee and a croissant, I caught another taxi to the Airport where I checked in and found my way to the waiting area for Air France flight 703 to Paris. My flight to the US is not until tomorrow afternoon. Thinking about getting a room in a hotel not far from the airport. Unlike our flight out of Oregon three weeks ago, the

Rodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1118304915113134212005-06-09T01:15:00.000-07:002005-06-09T01:15:15.116-07:00

9 June 2005 Monday morning I dropped off Angelika at the Airport in Abidjan. During her short stay we traveled from Abidjan to Bouaké, Bouaké to Korhogo and Ferkessédougou, back to Bouaké and then back to Abidjan. All of that to meet with different and various persons whom we needed to see concerning our future in Côte d'Ivoire and our return to this country in September. As many of you have

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1118226708637568332005-06-08T03:31:00.000-07:002005-06-08T03:31:48.656-07:00

Yesterday I dropped off Angelika at the airport in Abidjan so that she could get her flight on to Paris and then the train to Germany. We had an interesting week and a half traveling as far as Ferké where the mission hospital is operation and spending the night in Korhogo where Kéo and his wife are living and Kéo is directing Bethel Bible Institute. It was a great time to get caught up on their

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1117532731398669362005-05-31T02:45:00.000-07:002005-05-31T02:45:31.406-07:00

It has been a couple of days since we arrived in Côte d'Ivoire. We spent our first day, after arriving a 7h00 in the morning, on the beach with the Grudda family. Before leaving for the beach we had coffee and croissants at the Patisserie Abidjannaise, one of our favorite coffee and pastry joints in Abidjan. It was nice to see that after the turmoil of November 2004 this place had not been

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1117281002929789582005-05-28T04:48:00.000-07:002005-05-28T04:51:19.643-07:00

24 May 2005American Airlines flight 1168 to Chicago. We just took off for Chicago and caught one of the most spectacular views in the US I believe when we lifted out of the clouds in the Portland area. It was indeed stupendous to see Mt Rainer, Mt St. Helens, and Mt Adams to the north and after turning around to see to the south, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Three Finger

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1116946971685127302005-05-24T08:02:00.000-07:002005-05-24T08:02:51.700-07:00

Rod's Blog We have comme through security and are sitting here waiting to board our flight outta here to Chicago, Paris and finally Abidjan. Interestingly enough while getting a cup of coffee after checking in we happened to meet Dave Ragsdale and his family who were up from Eugene to pick up his son Seth who is back from Afghanistan. He is with the Air Force and it looks like he is to be

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1116732721580638892005-05-21T20:32:00.000-07:002005-05-21T20:35:18.303-07:00

Rod's BlogAt this point we are two days from flying to CI for three weeks. Today we had a little missions program at FBC in Hillsboro for children. We gave all the kids passports and plane tickets and then "flew" them first to Johannesburg in South Africa where my brother John and his wife Carol work with TWR. They visited with a "Swazi warrior" who told them how the mango got its name. After

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1116463573121193082005-05-18T17:46:00.000-07:002005-05-18T17:46:13.123-07:00

So what are you having for supper? 

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1116463497190310062005-05-18T17:44:00.000-07:002005-05-18T17:44:57.193-07:00

Long Beach 

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13007995.post-1116453950619075342005-05-18T15:00:00.000-07:002005-05-21T20:38:52.233-07:00

May 2005Have you ever felt as though you had no roots, that the closest thing to feeling at home was when you hopped into the car and started off down the road… again…?For some reason we are beginning to feel a bit like that. Since the first of this year we have traveled from Oregon to Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Southern California and back home to Oregon. March began with a quick trip to

Rodnoreply@blogger.com0