THE LITTLE FM THAT COULD - Part III

Happy to be alive!

While they were together hiding from the "foreign" soldiers, the McDonalds shared the Gospel with the king. Before they parted, the McDonalds gave the king a Swahili Bible to take with him. As he fled his beloved mountain home, he left the new FM relay unprotected and silent. His people on the mountain and down in the valley became very frightened. Some could no longer hear The Little FM so far away in Bukavu and fled into the jungle and mountains to wait out the war.

While the king was away the marauding soldiers plundered Walungu and made the king's home their command center. When they left the king's home they took down the relay and the antenna and took them away with them.

As they marched for many kilometers carrying all their guns, ammo and the precious radio equipment they walked into a village to rest. The soldier who carried the radio equipment grew tired of his load.

He saw a goat beside a hut and decided the goat was of more value. The goat was a prized possession of an older African man, but when the soldier declared he wanted to swap the box for his goat, the man did not refuse. The man feared that the equipment had been stolen from the (Mwami) king. Though he had no desire to have the equipment, he exchanged it for the goat, considering his goat an offering for his king.

Fearing the marauders would return later, the old man abandoned his home and village and fled taking the heavy box to a distant, isolated location to wait out the war. There he carefully buried the box in the ground beneath his hut.

Years passed by, and much transpired including the death of the old man's wife, but he remained faithful to his king carefully guarding the heavy box.

While the relay / translator lay silent in its hiding place for those ten years, many prayers went up to the Father's Throne for the FM Translator's protection and return.

(When Bukavu was invaded, most of the population fled to the mountains and jungle and four station staff members of one family had to flee from their home along with thousands of others. They walked for over a month through the jungle with little food or water to reach safety. Later, a Red Cross plane flew them back home and back to work at Radio Kahuzi.)

Two years later, in 1998 the War of Rebellion began. On the third day, Richard had walked a kilometer up the avenue to help a neighbor sew up the wounds of their doggie that had been abandoned when many people evacuated the city. Unknown to Richard, when he entered the house to help save the doggie, an elite troop of soldiers came across the street and marched down to Radio Kahuzi. They surrounded the house and studio with machine guns and grenade launchers. Kathy, and Jack, the staff announcer, and The Little FM were on the air for another day of broadcasting. 

Kathy heard Jack saying, "Madame, there are many military in the yard!" She quickly brought the three doggies into their pen for their own safety, and then she went out to greet the seventeen soldiers jumping off their truck with their automatic weapons in hand. They had set up mortars and surrounded and occupied the station where The Little FM was sounding out its "good moral message." The Commander demanded Jack to silence The Little FM. Another shouted demands and threats at Kathy and told her she could no longer broadcast. They were going to take control.

Kathy quickly retrieved a "Broadcasting Permit" from the house. Richard had it signed the day before by the Number One Commander.

Still, another soldier came closer and grinned at Kathy, saying, "Aren't you afraid to die?" threatening her with rape and death. Even though Kathy's heart was pounding because they had just pillaged the city for two days and hurt the women, she knew she must not show fear. She looked him in the eyes and said with confidence, "Oh, no, God watches over me. God protects me. If I live, I live with Jesus, and if I die, I die with Jesus."

Shortly, the Commander gave a hand signal and, in an instant, the soldiers and their guns were gone. When Kathy looked again, she was amazed--there was only the gate standing open!