December 26 was David’s 30th birthday. We planned to get together with our colleagues at 8 p.m. for cake, cookies, prayer, and worship. At 7:30, after the buffet was set and the cookies were just coming out of the oven, a co-worker called to cancel. They had already baked a birthday cake for David when they remembered it was the first night of a country-wide 8 p.m. curfew. The wife quickly brought the cake to us, returning to her own home minutes before eight o’clock.

Just a few minutes after 8, gunfire could be heard all around our home. David quickly ran in from the office, bringing the computer with him. We turned on our two way radios so we could be in contact with our colleagues, turned off all our solar lights so we wouldn’t draw unnecessary attention to our home, locked all the outside doors and retreated to our bedroom on the back side of the house, the furthest room from the street. We prayed that a stray bullet wouldn’t hit us, our car, or our solar panels.

As we waited for the gunfire to stop, we watched a recently borrowed movie. About half way through, an extremely loud bang came from the office building that sits just beside our bedroom. “What was that?” I asked. David paused the movie, turned, with wide eyes and said, “I don’t know, and I’m not going to look.”

At about 11 p.m. the shooting stopped and David was able to go to the office to call his mom for a birthday chat. He opened the office door and saw that a stray bullet had come through the tin roof and landed beside his office chair.

It was later reported that soldiers were firing into the air to both to honor the late president, and to celebrate the fact that the new president is a military man.

We were thankful there was no serious damage to anyone or anything, and we were able to reschedule David’s party for the next day.

We have been back in Guinea for about a week now.  It is good to be back home after all our travels.  Some things in Guinea haven’t changed.  This past Sunday, riots broke out in Conakry over fuel prices.  The government lowered the price of fuel by about twenty percent.  Since the price of a barrel of oil has fallen more than fifty percent on the international market, the people were not satisfied with the price reduction.  Some people blocked roads, burned tires in the streets, and threw rocks at passing cars.  The police and military began clamping down.  The demonstrations have continued for about three days.  News reports have listed at least three deaths resulting from the unrest.  Fortunately, we are about 400 kilometers away from the capital at our home in Labe.  All has been peaceful here.  Please pray for peace in all of Guinea.