SLEEP TIGHT
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world. John 16:33
Psalm 121; John 16:33; Acts 12:1-19
We were visiting local churches when the coup d’etat we had been expecting finally took place. We had just arrived in this village and parked the truck beside the church building when we heard gunfire. Partisans of the deposed president were threatening merchants to get cash as the weekly market was ending. People around us were deeply concerned. We inflated our mattress in the bed of the truck and ate supper with the pastor and some saints from the church. I lay down at my usual bedtime. Before I went to sleep louder and more regular gunfire erupted. I went to sleep quickly (per usual). Ruth stayed awake to discover how long the noise would continue. It ceased after 3 ½ hours!
The professor from the Chadian GBC School of Theology was barricading himself in the hut the church folks had given him for the night. That hut was “completely safe,” having the normal door of a tin roofing sheet nailed to a frame of one-by-ones. What soldier with a machine gun could penetrate that!?
In the morning the professor asked me how I had slept all night. He had not slept a wink but heard me snoring all night! My response was, “Sam, I told my heavenly Father, ‘I am tired. You are going to be up all night. So, good night.’” The pastor thanked us for staying put. He told us that, if we had not remained the people would have run into the bush out of fear for their lives. Our presence had a calming influence.
In the morning we discovered the source of the noise. A group of soldiers who had decided to be loyal to the new president had come across a group of those loyal to the deposed president who had been robbing citizens as they fled toward the Central African Republic where they were hoping to find refuge. A gun fight ensued involving bazookas and recoilless rifles. Men on both sides were killed, and vehicles and houses were destroyed!
Les Vnasdale