BMS Missionaries Caught Up in D R Congo Clashes

BMS World Mission workers were among those ducking for cover as intense fighting broke out in Kinshasa, D R Congo's capital city, over the last few days.

Kevin and Gill Jones were forced to lie on the floor of their bedroom as the sound of artillery shook the windows from nearby shelling, gunfire and bullets in the Gombe suburb of Kinshasa on Thursday night and Friday morning (22 and 23 March), forcing

"It was quite a frightening experience in many ways," said Kevin on Friday afternoon. "There was tremendous noise, there were soldiers in our compound and it was pretty scary. We spent several hours lying on our floor between our bed and the wall. It would have been quite romantic if it hadn't been for all the gunfire!"

Kevin and Gill say they were grateful to have made it through the night and insisted they were much safer than many other people in the city despite being so close to the fighting.

Fighting broke out when militias loyal to Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba refused to meet a deadline requiring them to disarm as they had agreed before Congo's elections. Mr Bemba took refuge within the South African embassy, about 500 metres away from the Jones' compound, where much of the shelling and gunfire was centred. According to Kevin, fighting has almost completely ceased, save the occasional burst of gunfire.

Kevin and Gill ask Christians to pray for the people of Congo, that peace would last and the continuing plight of the poor, exacerbated by the conflict, would be improved.