International Christian Academy (ICA) was an American
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
.
History
It was established in 1962 as ''Ivory Coast Academy'' by the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (now
Venture Church Network
Venture Church Network (formerly known as the Conservative Baptist Association of America) is a Christian association of churches in the United States with each local congregation being autonomous and responsible for their own way of functioning. ...
) and its main purpose was to provide a standard American education to the children of
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. In 2002, it had some 160+ students from 13 nations in grades 1–12.
In September 2002, during the Ivorian Civil War, children were trapped at the school for a week by fighting between government soldiers and rebels opposed to President
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo , FPI website . ( Children evacuated from Ivorian school news.bbc.co.uk, UK, 25 September 2002 Eventually they were evacuated unharmed by French troops to government held Yamoussoukro. Some of the students and staff then relocated to Dakar Academy in Senegal in order to complete the school year. The ICA campus in eastern Bouaké was then used as a French military base in rebel-held Côte d'Ivoire.
ICA was accredited by the
Association of Christian Schools International
The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), founded in 1978, is an association of evangelical Christian schools. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
History
ACSI was founded in 1978 through the merger of three as ...
and the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...
.
In February 2005, the ICA School Board formally closed the school with no prospects of reopening.
The ICA campus is presently known as Village Baptiste. The campus is administered by The Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Côte d'Ivoire (AEBECI). A portion of the campus has been rented to the medical branch of the local university. Journey Corps, a branch of Mission Baptiste has its base on the campus. There is also a church meeting in what was previously the ICA chapel. A Bible study for medical students and other resident occurs weekly. The houses and dormitories are full and much activity occurs daily.
See also
*
Christianity in Ivory Coast
Christianity in Ivory Coast is practiced by 33.9% of the population and dominates the south.
Roman Catholicism
About 24.9% of the population (28.5% of the citizenry) is Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism made a brief appearance in Ivory Coast in ...
*
Education in Ivory Coast
Education in Ivory Coast continues to face many challenges. Among sub-Saharan African countries, Ivory Coast has one of the highest literacy rates. According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2019, 89.9% of the population ...