Several years ago, I was in Matadi, a port city in Bas-Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo to give a lecture on Christian Science. The Christian Science Society in Matadi had rented a room for the lecture in a building next to a large outdoor market.
The day we assembled for the lecture—the guests, members of the church, and I—the market was open and bustling with people. Suddenly we heard voices outside shouting, “We will die!” and through the window we saw people running in all directions. Some ran in telling us, “Get out; they will come and kill you!” There was panic in the room—I could see the fear on people’s faces.
What had happened? The Minister of the Interior had sent troops with orders to arrest all members or partisans of a sect in Matadi, because this sect was still threatening the country’s government and advocating the separation of Bas-Congo (Lower Congo).
