"Go back to sleep it will stop", I assured Ann when she woke me up at 3:30 in the morning to tell me there was sporadic gunfire in the street. It had been a while since such events had punctuated the evening hours so I surmised that these random shots were caused by one or two soldiers returning from a late night bar. "These things happen", I rationalized as I rolled over in my sleep. That next volley of gunshot fire sounded awfully close to the house I thought, as I dug my head deeper into the pillow denying that inner voice of caution. Then "BOOM!' a tremendous burst shook the entire house and rattled the windows rapidly pulling me out of my slumber. "Ann" I exclaimed, "they're shooting weapons!" "Yes Bill" she calmly said, as she walked over and handed me my radio and mobile phone and proceeded to pull shut the drapes and turn on the night light over our bed so I could see to initiate the phone and radio tree. There is a protocol we follow in times of danger.

More explosions and machine gun….Ann gathered the children in our room… "no, this is not a thunder storm" Ann told them, "but shooting like we had in the past. Remember when this happened before?" she calmly asked them. The biggest danger to civilians in such situations is being caught in the middle of cross fire…so we had the children pull their mattresses into the hallway where cement walls would protect them from stray bullets and shrapnel. I was still fumbling with the radio as Ann was getting everyone settled. In the time it took me to call and transmit messages Ann had taken out our back packs, gotten together our passports and essentials, and even managed to start a pot of coffee. She was reassuring the children as harsh gun fire continued all around us; and at the same time was asking the kids what items they would miss the most if we had to leave the house for a little while. I could see that small piles of clothing and toiletries were already being assembled in the hall. "BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!" the house again shook as even the cat ran into the hall to join the children on their mattresses. Volleys of AK-47 machine gun fire then erupted around us sounding as if they came from our back yard. We still didn't know what was happening…only that it didn't sound good….and we were seemingly in the middle of it.

Eventually I had to leave the house and make contact with neighbors on the school compound where we lived. "Keep your head down and don't do anything foolish Bill", Ann admonished as I peered out the front door. "Better go on foot than drive around the compound with your lights on" she added, as I headed out the door with the keys to our Jeep in hand. More noise and uncertainly greeted me outside…. and the pitch-dark night only heightened my apprehension. I circulated the school campus with the superintendent, checking the gates around the 15-acre compound and talking with the night guards who had pulled back from the school gates to the shelter of the classrooms for fear of stray bullets. We reassured each other that ‘the school was not a target'.We informed the embassy by radio; "monitor the situation", they told us, and then proceeded to make contact with other teachers and families living on the compound.There is a fortified basement on campus (bomb shelter) that one would evacuate to, only if shells started to hit the school compound.Under the current scenario, it was prudent to stay put.

I returned home; Ann had everyone sitting on mattresses in the hall, dressed and eating. They were quite calm. We thanked God for his protection and reminded each other that God was in control and then "waited it out" as firing and mortar rounds traced the night sky. "You know how you were searching for an article to write for God's Kids?" Ann jokingly asked our youngest daughter.

Almost simultaneous with daybreak the fighting stopped and there was calm in the streets. We were advised by the embassy to "not venture out of the school compound" and that "the situation was being defined."We got up around the house (things seemed to be all right) and had an early breakfast on what normally would have been a ‘sleep-in Sunday'.Church was of course cancelled, so around 10 families at the school compound gathered in one of the missionary's homes for a time of worship and praise. What a blessing it was to hear of others who spent the night in uncertainty but counted on God for protection.

We learned later that day that this had been an attempted coup against the President. Government soldiers had successfully repelled a well-organized attack by rebel soldiers from the old regime who had crossed the Congo River under cover of darkness and infiltrated several strategic sites in town hoping to turn the soldiers to their side. It didn't work.

What did work was the power and presence of God in the midst of turmoil…working through others to calm our souls and spirits during a night of gunfire and uncertainty.

Psalm 91:4….and under His wings you will find refuge.

Bill and Ann Clemmer

Kinshasa

Democratic Republic of Congo