Abidjan, Abidjan Autonomous District, Cote D'IvoireThis morning, I had asked Paul to pick us up at 08:00 for
the trip to La Mé for our service. I expected him a little before 09:00 which
was the time I really wanted to start, and that’s the way things usually work.
I was about to head down to breakfast at 7:45 when Paul called to say he had
already arrived. Well that changed out schedule! I called Lee and asked him to
meet us for breakfast and then went down to welcome Paul and invite him to
breakfast too. We ate fairly quickly from the buffet, and then I went up to
gather my things for the day.
I had my daypack and the little suitcase full of glasses and
literature and called the elevator to the 6th floor. Only one of the
two elevators was working, so the wait was fairly long. In fact on the 6th floor, only the
up button would work, not the down
button, which created some confusion and delay. In any event, by the time we
reached the ground floor, the little elevator contained six people, three women
and three men, several of whom were were plus sizes, which meant we were really
tightly packed. There was no way not to be in physical contact with at least
two other people. This would take on a certain importance in the next minutes.
When we reached the ground, the elevator lurched and bumped
hard.
The door did not open.
I tried pulling the doors open with both hands. I could not.
So I pushed the alarm button. Several people whom we could not see of course,
only hear, came to the door, we shouted back and forth about what was
happening. A man said he would call the technician. A woman in the elevator
panicked and said we were going to die. We tried to reassure her that we were
in no imminent danger. “We’re going to suffocate”, she wailed. Again we tried
to calm here, explaining that the elevator was not hermetically sealed.
Then the lights went out.
So, we were six people, tightly packed in a small elevator,
with no ventilation and now, no lights. One woman was very nervous, another was
panicking. I pulled the doors open about an inch, and someone outside wedged a
plastic cone in the door to keep it open that much. The panicky woman pushed
her way past a man across the elevator, so she could be by the opening. She did
not ask, or say excuse me; this was
primal.
Since the elevator was not air conditioned, in fact there
was no ventilation at all, we quickly began perspiring. One of the men offered
a bit of information, I wished I’d had earlier. He said “the very same thing
happened yesterday….” Wait, what? Why was the elevator not fixed already?
The anxious lady had the phone number of the owner of the
company that maintained the elevator, she called him. Other fellow detainees
yelled to the outside world to call the fire department. I asked for the general
manager to come to the elevator, but as it was the weekend, the general manager
was not there, and other managers were busy at the moment....
We waited and sweated in the dark, light coming from the
inch-wide crack in the door and from our cell phones.
I received a text from Lee, stating that he would wait for
me in the car. I texted back to explain my predicament. He came back in and
stood by the door.
10 minutes passed.
20.
30.
Where was the technician? The panicky woman decided she
needed to sit down. This packed the standing ones even more tightly. My shirt
was soaked as if it had been dipped in a basin full of water.
40.
A technician arrived (it’s the weekend….).
He said, “We are going to haul you up to the 2nd
floor and let you out there, but I will have to close the doors to do that.” How
would they haul us up without electricity?
The panicky woman exclaimed that we would die of
suffocation if they closed the doors. He explained, and others of us agreed that the elevator is not
sealed. “But” she said, “there is no ventilation and we are six, who knows for
sure what will happen?” She had a point, but we did our best to reassure her. I
couldn’t think of anything else to do but pray. The cone was pulled out and the
doors closed.
For a minute or two nothing happened. We waited in the heavy darkness. Then the car lurched
and seemed to rise in fits and starts. We waited in anticipation. Finally the
doors began creaking open. We were actually below ground level by six inches.
When the open space between the doors reached the width of a hefty person, the panicky woman left us
like a lightning bolt and did not look back. I let the others go before me, in
part because they were pushing to do so, but also because I wanted to observe
to make sure the elevator would not suddenly come back to life and cause bodily
injury to someone in the opening. I’m attached to all my limbs, and wish to
stay that way.
When everyone else had gone, I jumped through the door as
nimbly as I could into the glorious air-conditioned air, happy to see Lee and
Paul. I was very, very moist, which they noticed right away. Having finally
escaped this Titanic of an elevator, I had the passing sensation that there
should be a celebration of life and freedom. But all just went back to what
they had been doing before the incident, so I did too.
We walked out the door of the hotel into the muggy heat of
the African tropics and to our car. Among the longest 45 minutes of my life had
finally come to an end.
I asked the driver to turn up the air-con as we drove away
from the Ibis and toward the village of La Mé about an hour distant. The road
is very much better than it was when I first traveled here. The areas of
washed-out pavement have been shored up and repaired. The place where the toxic
chemicals were dumped by unscrupulous European ship operators has been cleansed
and secured. The passes of bamboo that blocked the sky and threated to choke
the road have been thinned. Finally we passed the scrubby fields where I had
baptized the first Church members in the country; the stream was so shallow
that we had to borrow a shovel to dug a hole in the stream bed deep enough to
allow a person to submerge completely. So many memories here. Some of triumph,
some of sadness, some of betrayal. This life.
We pulled into the area of La Mé where our little group
meets. I had left some funds last visit to improve the little shelter. But
prices had risen and the structure was not complete. There is now a sturdy
corrugated tin roof, supported by concrete based pillars, but no walls. It was
enough for a meeting.
Because of our late departure, we were later than expected
so we started our service right away. After hymns and a prayer, I gave a few
announcements, and then formally introduced Lee giving some of his background
and service. Then I announced him for the first split sermon, which he gave on
the topic of the importance of faithfulness. After another hymn I gave a second
split on preparing to come before God.
Afterwards, some of the ladies when to get the meal and
prepare to serve it. During that time we had a few private counseling sessions
with three members. One was of the kind I really like, but that rarely happen.
A hard-working mother who had asked for some financial assistance to buy a
small field to cultivate. She came to thank the Church for the help and to
report that she had planted the field herself and that it looked to produce a
fine crop. She said she would certainly give God His tithe and that she just
wanted to express her thanks once again.
Two men new to the church arrived after the service was
over. One of them was very interested in the teaching of the Bible. His younger
brother came with him but announced that he was an unbeliever. The older
brother asked about the Sabbath as opposed to Sunday worship. I had brought some
booklets with me and among them was one about the God’s gift to us of the
Sabbath day of rest. I also gave him a copy of The Mystery of the Kingdom.
He was very happy to receive them. After the brash younger brother
looked through them out of curiosity, he asked if he could have a copy of the
booklet about the Kingdom of God. I teased him a little saying that it would be
wasted him since we was an unbeliever. He replied that maybe the booklet would
make him a believer. I told him he could have one if he kept an open mind, and
he said he would.
I spread the eyeglasses out on a table and said they could
have two each if they needed to correct
their vision. People will sometimes line up for things they don’t really
need, if they’re free!
About the time we finished all this, it started raining
lightly before turning into a downpour. I knew this would slow traffic down
drastically in Abidjan, so about 3:00 when the rain relented, we made a run for
the car and started the trip back, which took about half an hour longer than
usual.
Lee and I had a late lunch/early dinner and rested into the
evening. We are both pretty bushed after getting here and starting right in on
a full day on less sleep than we normally have, so I will make it an early
night. I hope there will be no elevators in my dreams….
Clyde Kilough
2020-02-26
Oh wow - may you have no more of that type of excitement! So sorry you had to go through that! Never thought of mentioning "please see that the elevator works" as part of our prayers for your safe travels, but I'm sure that will now come to mind on occasion. Take care!
Lynn Marshall
2020-02-26
praying you wont have another 45 mins like this again.
Glo
2020-02-26
Yikes! Not fun! Hopefully the rest of your trip is better.
Janel
2020-02-26
As always, you're in our prayers.
mary
2020-02-27
What a nightmare with the elevator, made by the failure to repair it. We're glad that you had a good Sabbath and will pray about your safety and success in the coming days.
Tess
2020-02-27
Mr. Meeker, I'm sorry but you made me laugh so much! Hopefully, you'll rest up and sleep well after an incident like the one you just went through! I've been thinking and praying about you and Mr. Page.
Robert Worsham
2020-02-27
Joel Meeker ... the real-life Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Elevator" and "The Hotel of Doom". I love reading of your adventures (and misadventures), Mr. Meeker. :) Thank you both for your work and love for the brethren there. Praying for profitable and safe journeys ahead for both of you.
Sherry B
2020-02-28
Mr. Meeker, I was sorry to hear about the elevator ordeal. You were a great example through it all. I am sure you will never look at an elevator in the same way again. Hopefully you will never have to go through that ever again. We will pray for both you and Mr. Page. I am so happy he is there with you. Take care!!! :)
Nicholas Aboagye Ayitey
2020-03-01
Massive meeting day may God gives you all understanding to understand His laws and His words
Cecil
2020-03-04
Of all the threats to face in Africa... "trapped in an elevator with panicked passengers" isn't one I would have thought of. I am thankful that things worked out!
James Hunter
2020-07-31
I always love your stories for even when you have biblical messages they are interesting and exciting but not like the excitement of a near disaster. Yet, the Lord is always with you wherever you go with the end result great.