BMS World Mission

Shooting and looting in DRC

The experiences of a BMS mission worker

 

BMS World Mission has worked in D R Congo for over 120 years. From the initial explorations along the River Congo in 1878 by Thomas Comber and George Grenfell, many mission workers have gone to the country. However, times have not always been peaceful. Escalating violence in the 1990s led to the mass evacuation of around 70 BMS personnel. This is the story of Ruth Montacute, a former BMS mission worker and headteacher of the British school in Kinshasa, who experienced it first-hand.

 

“Monday 23 September 1991 now seems a long time ago, but it was the day when we never knew what would happen next and where we totally relied on God our Father for his protection and deliverance.

 

No normal daySchool was due to start as normal at 7.30am, and I was in school at around 6.45am. We soon heard that angry-looking soldiers were around and that there would probably be trouble.

 

I radioed the British Embassy. I was instructed to close the school, send everyone home and stay at home.

Ruth Montacute at her desk in 1990

Ruth Montacute at her desk, a year before the trouble started

The next few days were times of madness, uncertainty, weird fascination and utter confusion. From my fifth floor flat, I had a great view of the mayhem below. I reported to the embassy and mission. Even now, it all seems totally unreal: soldiers going around and shooting wherever, sitting on the bonnets of cars, swigging beer with one hand and shooting guns with the other.

 

Soldiers, who hadn’t been paid for months, had finally had enough. They went on a looting spree and the general population joined in.

Street in Kinshasa in 1993

A Kinshasa street

Bullets and bath tubsAfter spending one night alone in my flat, it was decided by Pastor Koli and Pastor Enguta that I ought to be with all the other missionaries on the compound. One problem: how to cross the road. Pastor Enguta came to get me. His wife, Mama Nelly, stood in the middle of the road to watch out for the trigger-happy military.

 

The insanity went on. From my flat, I’d seen no end of looted goods going by on people’s heads. Whatever happened to all the pink bath tubs? I can still hear the sound of reinforced iron being dragged along the road. Looted houses were left looking like bombed-out ruins.

 

Then came the big question. Should we stay or should we go? The embassy instructed us to leave and Pastor Koli agreed. So arrangements were put in place.

 

Where was God?Where was God’s protection and care? Maybe, looking back, it was in the communication systems. All the CB radios, telephone and e-mail were working – miraculous at that time in Kinshasa.

 

It was decided, I never did find out by whom, that I would be the BMS leader/monitor of the Kinshasa evacuees. As someone said, “You’ll cope, you won’t have a nervous breakdown… or if you do you’ll wait until you get home to the UK!”

 

So off we went, through Kinshasa with French military escort, looking at the faces of the people who had no choice, and no chance to get out. We felt guilty, tired, fed up, strangely excited, frightened and confused all at the same time.

 

At the airport in Kinshasa we walked over bullets; it was a bit like a shingle beach. We got on a special charter flight to Johannesburg where we were met by British officials. We were so thankful that the Baptist hostel didn’t have enough room for us, so we had to stay in the Holiday Inn!

Evacuation from Zaire in 1991

The evacuation

Pink Rice KrispiesI had a meal last year with one of the evacuated missionary kids who was with us. She’s now teaching in Tring. I asked her what she remembered of the evacuation. “Pink Rice Krispies,” she said. Kids are so resilient, and missionary kids especially are never slow in coming forward and enjoying their food to the full! God was taking care of the little details even down to the lovely food!

 

So, back to the UK: one very tired and somewhat dishevelled group, just with small bags and the kids with one favourite soft toy.

 

Back againI went back to Kinshasa later that year, and in 1993 was there for ‘round two’ of yet more looting and shooting. Again, total mayhem broke out. Gwen Hunter, who was staying with me, and I watched the bullets flying around; at night they looked quite pretty, but even now I hate bangs, especially from fireworks. It’s quite scary in a fifth floor flat with mounted machine guns going off below.

 

On the Sunday, Gwen and I decided to go to church. We were challenged by a heavily armed soldier, who obviously thought we were quite mad, but let us pass.

 

Street in Kinshasa in 1991
With all the anarchy going on, and although I didn’t see any of the bodies lying in the streets, there was obviously some concern for our welfare. We were asked on the phone what we were doing. We were actually watching Fawlty Towers on video and Gwen was soaking an infected foot in a bowl of hot salty water. We said we were OK, but it can’t have sounded very convincing when the machine gun started off again!

 

Mama Enguta, with her kids and grandchildren, hid under her bed singing, ‘Master the tempest is raging’. The soldiers told her to shut up, which only encouraged her to sing more loudly. She liked the bit, ‘Peace be still’!

 

So many memories. So where was God’s care and protection? We got out safely. Most of us have remained sane, I think! We’ve moved on to other things.

 

Trusting in God whatever happensIn 1993, I went to pack up and sort out seven missionary houses, one children’s hostel and one school. Opening up and sorting through yet another cupboard in school, Junior Praise was open at the following song which contains these lines:

 

Father I place into your hands
The times that I’ve been through;
Father I place into your hands
The way that I should go;
For I know I always can trust you.

 

 

My late father wrote this while I was still in Kinshasa in 1993:

 

"Keep at it as best you can and the interest shown and prayers promised by so many friends in the UK will, no doubt, come to fruition in due course and, if that’s a little longer than you, or we, might have wished ‘let us run with patience the task which is set before us’. Most of us, at some time or other, have been in some pretty sticky situations but our experiences have proved that things do work out.

 

 

God’s plans don’t always fit with what we think is best. I didn’t want to leave Kinshasa, but I haven’t been too idle since returning to the UK.

 

1 Thessalonians 5: 24 says, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” ”

 

 


Written by Ruth Montacute, a former BMS mission worker in Zaire (now D R Congo).

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